The Codex’s Best Computer RPGs (pre-Diablo)

[MSP]

4: Wizardry 7
3: Albion
2: Dungeon Master 2
1: Arena

Also, no Jagged Alliance? I remember how happy I was when I managed to bypass 8MB RAM requirements (only had 4MB) by installing Windows 3.11 and using virtual memory. Slow as hell, but worth it.

 

[Erebus]

3 : Dark Queen of Krynn
2 : Champions of Krynn
2 : Betrayal at Krondor
2 : Dark Sun : Shattered Lands
1 : Might and Magic 5 : Darkside of Xeen

 

[Snorkack]

5:
Might & Magic 2
Realms of Arkania Startrail

 

[Elwro]

4: Dark Sun: SL
3: Ultima Underworld 1
2: Dungeon Master
1: Eye of the Beholder 1

 

[visions]

4 points: Quest for Glory 4
3 points: Quest for Glory 1 (Hero's Quest)
2 points: Quest for Glory 2
1 point: Dark Sun 1

I've briefly tried a bunch of the old classics and usually found them a bit hard to approach and also I have often had little patience to deal with the cumbersome UIs at the time and hence I've saved them for a later time when I can muster up the effort. Some others I've found quite easy to approach but ultimately on the boring side (for instance Arena, Daggerfall). In general I'm not a huge gamer compared to most people here but I'll still throw in my 5 cents.

I found Quest for Glory (starting with the EGA text parser version of QfG 1) and Dark Sun quite easy to get into and intuitive, even though I'm barely older than QfG 1. So even though I haven't played many games in the list at length, I think the easy approachability of QfG and Dark Sun (which lead me to play through them, rather than file them away for later after briefly trying them) is a strong point in their favor. I think Dark Sun should be quite easily approachable to people who've played the IE games, TOEE and/or Knights of the Chalice. As for QfG, I was surprised how easy I found to get into an EGA text parser adventure-rpg hybrid.

It's hard to pick a favorite between Quest for Glory 1 and 4 but ultimately I liked 4 a bit more. Cooler setting, great soundtrack, more spells to play with, also I think it has the most soul of all the games in the series (basically if it sang the blues, I would listen). QfG 1 comes next, as the game that established the basics of the series and has quite a bit of charm (athough the setting is vanilla but this kind of standard European fairy tale feeling also has its appeal). I liked QfG 2 a bit less but it's still really cool and I liked how you could get lost in the desert and die of dehydration there. Also I think the QfG games lost something when they got rid of the text parser, interacting with a text parser is more engaging and fun than just clicking on stuff. The ability to take your character all the way through 5 games is another really cool thing about QfG that is quite unique compared to most game series (I know some Gold Box games for example also let you do that but in general it's not a feature that shows up often). I'd like to see more QfG clones, something about this kind of rpg and adventure game hybrid really appeals to me (I've played Heroine's Quest and Quest for Infamy is on my to play list).

Regarding Dark Sun, the setting is cool, the combat system is fun and the start of the game and the last battle are very cool but a lot of the midgame suffers from trivial difficulty (if you make a party with mostly or all three class hybrids, but then again so few D&D games let me play Druid/Fighter/Psionicist or similar multiclass chars with no equipment restrictions, so why wouldn't I take the chance when I get it?), which lessens the combatfag appeal, so I'll give it one point. Also the soundtrack is great (if you have a decent MIDI setup to appreciate it at least).

 

[Major Seven]

Very tough choice, so many good games!

2 - Wizardry I
2 - Darklands
2 - Wizardry VII
2 - Rogue
2 - Pool of Radiance

 

[Doctor Sbaitso]

4: Ultima Underworld
2: FRUA
2: Ultima 7 The Black Gate
1: Uukrul
1: wizardry 7

 

[Rincewind]

Betrayal at Krondor (RPGs generally don't do "story" right, but this game does, and does it on a phenomenally shitty flight simulation engine)

Yes, and imagine my disappointment when I realised I just don't care about the story much (it just didn't grab me, very cookie-cutter cliched high fantasy stuff, plus there's too much random silliness). That leaves you with an okayish adventure with a really shitty interface plus some quite alright combat.

I can see it could be good if you're really into the story though. Although, I still can't get over that whole chapter business and taking away your characters without warning. Hate that shit.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Wouldn't such a project be rather similar to Felipepepe's CRPG book?

Yes, but this time I would be the one writing the entry for Dungeon Master.

 

[Paper]

5 - wizardry 1
3 - the dark heart of uukrul
1 - might & magic 2
1 - deathlord

edit: fucking rules

 

[Stormcrowfleet]

3 - Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss (objectively the best of the three)

3 - Darklands (the most ambitious and crazy of the three)

3 - Eye of the Beholder (the one I had the most fun of the three)

1 - Betrayal at Krondor (because it's really cool)

Special mention: Dark Sun: Shattered Lands, Ravenloft: Strahd's Possession

 

[Humanophage]

My favourite two are Alter Ego (1986) and ADOM (1994, if it counts). But they are not on the list.

4 - Ultima VII: The Black Gate
3 - Darklands
2 - Dark Sun: Shattered Lands
1 - Princess Maker 2

Frankly, I think strategies and adventures were more fun at the time. Master of Magic, Master of Orion I and II, Civilization I and II, Sim City 2000, X-Coms, Sam and Max Hit the Road, Woodruff, Day of the Tentacle, I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, etc. are more memorable or more enticing to me.

(Admittedly, there is the fact that the pirated versions of older RPGs kept crashing more than other interesting genres. Ravenloft had fun character generation but then kept crashing, and crashing, and crashing.)

 

[Decado]

Special mention: Dark Sun: Shattered Lands, Ravenloft: Strahd's Possession

I always found the Ravenloft games to be fucking hard. I don't know if it was the real time combat attached to a non-grid movement scheme but man it was just pure chaos.

 

[Null Null]

Nothing wrong with another RPG book, you can always focus more on a specific era.

 

[Stormcrowfleet]

Special mention: Dark Sun: Shattered Lands, Ravenloft: Strahd's Possession

I always found the Ravenloft games to be fucking hard. I don't know if it was the real time combat attached to a non-grid movement scheme but man it was just pure chaos.

I'll be honest I never managed to finish it. But I do think it had some great ideas and it's always nice to see good adaptation of actual D&D books/campaign/mechanics into video games.

 

[GrafvonMoltke]

No Fallout = no me.

 

[Beans00]

I can only vote on games I've actually played

5 points
Betrayal at krondor
3 points
dungeon master
2 points
world of aden thunderscape

 

[Funposter]

5 points:

Darklands
TES 2: Daggerfall

 

[Dr Skeleton]

Dark Sun: Shattered Lands - 3 points
Albion - 3 points
Dark Sun: Wake of the Ravager - 2 points
Lands of Lore - 2 points

There’s a couple more I’ve played, but I don’t remember much about them.

 

[APGunner]

5 points each:
The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall
Wizardry 7: Crusaders of the Dark Savant

 

[MicoSelva]

(edited to add more commentary and spoiler tag)

explanation

I can appreciate those older RPGs for their accomplishments at the time, but the truth is I have not played that many of them. One of the reasons is that we were poor and I only got my first PC in 1998.
While over the years I tried many of the classics, I did bounce off quite a few of them, including some of the most revered ones (Wasteland, Gold Box games, early Ultimas and Might and Magics, Darklands, Daggerfall). Others, which look up my alley, I still have not had the time and will to try (Arkania, Dark Sun, Lands of Lore, Ultima 7, Xeen, Wizardry 6 & 7).

So here are those which I actually did like enough to play many hours of them:

Albion: 4 points
Betrayal at Krondor: 4 points
Yendorian Tales Book 1 Chapter 2: 2 points

 

[Lord_Potato]

We then started arguing over what was a commercial enough release, what had a large following at the time, and what was and wasn't a CRPG and decided to just go forward with what he had. Feel free to vote for a game not on the list as some have. Although the list isn't perfect, the Ring of Prestigious Gentlemen felt that the posted list was the best we could agree upon without having to go into another week or two of debates about whether or not the game was a CRPG or had enough popularity to have a chance of making it as more than just an outlier.

Ok, thanks for the clarification!

So now I can vote! Hopefully my selection will help to keep blobbers away from top 3 spots

3 points - Dark Sun: Shattered Lands
2 points - System Shock
2 points - Elder Scrolls: Daggerfall
2 points - Realms of Arkania 2: Star Trail
1 point - Conan: the Cimmerian

 

[Fowyr]

I always found the Ravenloft games to be fucking hard. I don't know if it was the real time combat attached to a non-grid movement scheme but man it was just pure chaos.

There is a magical returning dagger. It's best weapon in the game.

 

[Darth Roxor]

i know 'rpg' stands for 'game i really like' but calling system shock 1 an rpg is not even a matter of opinioun at this point it's just patently wrong

 

[Mortmal]

i know 'rpg' stands for 'game i really like' but calling system shock 1 an rpg is not even a matter of opinioun at this point it's just patently wrong

Not a rpg , but what you write on the dex are not reviews either , still doesnt prevent us to enjoy them.