Kaleb writes, "We’ve all had those rare and special games that have come along at just the right moments in our lives that have touched and impacted us in some incredible and profound way. A game that redefines your favorite genre, publisher, and who you are as a gamer."
Replaying Skyrim after 13 years is a reminder of the progress made in western RPGs over the last decade, but also what's been lost.
RPGs are often huge, sprawling endeavours. With limited playtime, we have to choose wisely, so here's the best western RPGs available today.
"I started playing games yesterday" the List... Meh!
How about a few RPGs that deserve some love instead?
1 - Alpha Protocol - Now on GOG
2 - else Heart.Break()
3 - Shadowrun Trilogy
4 - Wasteland 2
5 - UnderRail
6 - Tyranny
7 - Torment: Tides of Numenera
And for a bonus game that flew under the radar:
8 - Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden
Not only glorious jank, but the idea that the story can completely change depending on what you do, or say, or side with, makes it one of the most forward thinking games ever. The amount of story permutation is the equivalent of a Hitman level but in Story Form. And it wasn't just that the story changed, no, it was that you met completely new characters, or missed them, depending on your choices. Made Mass Effect feel static in comparison.
Alpha Protocol was absolutely glorious, indeed. And it was, and still is, more Next Gen than most anything out there these days. In this regard at least.
Pity.
A new Partner Spotlight Sale is now live on the Switch eShop, including Skyrim, lowest price ever for Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, and more.
I agree with about 90%. Morrowind on the Xbox changed what I expected from an RPG going forward. Before that My favorite series was Y's 1 and 2. But, where I differ most with the author, is that Morrowind is still my favorite game of all time even though I played and enjoyed Skyrim.
Skyrim borrowed some aspects of Morrowind, but is no where near as complex. Everything is simplified and that kills me a little inside. Because Skyrim was very close. Get rid of the auto leveling, and more factions I could join and make money more important (a true economy, then Skyrim would have a chance of being considered in the same league.
I am actually the on the other end of that spectrum. I really hate Bethesda and their extremely shotty programming. I did however enjoy Morrowind it was a decent game. Fallout would have been so much better if it was riddled with bugs/glitches. It is like these people don't QA the games at all.
Morrowind was my first proper roleplaying experience, going back to me playing it on the original Xbox. Hell of a first go at the genre, it really cemented my love for RPGs. No game has really topped it for me and I constantly go back to play it.
The game has never stopped feeling fresh to me, despite having easily topped one thousand hours on the game. Hell, I haven't even modded the game yet. Soon to try that insane graphics overhaul though, now that I have a proper gaming rig.
That said, my love for Bethesda began and died there. Neither of the following ES releases holds a candle (and this is all opinion) to what Morrowind offered me. They replaced my dark, interesting and just alien-enough world for less interesting ones housed far more in reality and, well, were a lot more boring to me.
They also simplified the series to the point where it just doesn't satisfy me anymore. Especially when you consider that that places the combat much more in the spotlight, and that is not a good thing. Bethesda were always weak in the combat department, but at least Morrowind's crutch was that it was essentially an old-school rpg being played in real time. As far as that goes, it worked. For the newer titles, games like Zeno Clash, Dark Messiah of Might and Magic and Condemned all serve to show just how weak ES's first-person melee combat actually is.
The only game I can say I truly enjoyed from Bethesda since was Fallout 3. Though even that one is at fault for many of the same issues that seem to plague ES games nowadays - static worlds, level/loot-scaling and a lack of strong writing and player choice. The game still plays second fiddle to New Vegas, which I thought handled everything a bit better, especially in the writing and choice department. Bethesda games, as far as I am concerned, have devolved to little more than giant sandboxes for people to play in. As far as the games themselves, I know they are adored by the large majority but I just don't see it. I don't think they are interesting or even all that entertaining.
I adore Bethesda a lot,am trying to platinum fallout 3 goty edition now
Bethesdat makes amazing games. Thank god for this developer! I have had little issues with bugs, they have NEVER ruined my gaming experience with Skyrim or the Fallout series. I hoe tet ontinue to put out more single player titles...way to go Bethesda!