GamerNode's Mike Murphy writes..."There are several different elements that go into a game when it is made. Several factors that developers need to consider when creating their next product for the gaming masses. Factors that determine how the game looks, sounds, feels, and plays. These aspects are dissected and analyzed by reviewers in magazines, newspapers, and websites to determine whether games are bad, good, or great.
Many people wonder just which elements are the most important. Do good graphics trump poor level design? Can a great soundtrack make up for gameplay lapses? Can an unforgettable story be remembered if the main characters faces look like blocks? I have my own belief and theory on just what aspects of a game are the most important and which among them is most important of all."
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.
The Opening Levels that hooked gamers from the outset.
These groundbreaking video games changed gaming forever and drew in scores of fans in the process.
I have to say that I really disagree with this column. It's a pet-peeve of mine when someone tries to separate all these elements to deduce a score out of it. SomethingAwful had a great review of Deadly Premonition where they admit that when looked at in isolation, each individual component wasn't that good. But taken as a whole, it blended together very well. Sure, I like good graphics, but if a game has poor ones but is good in every other capacity, you stop looking at them early on. Design and gameplay is more important, but what would you say of a game like Killer 7 that has poor straight-forward repetitive design and gameplay, a confusing story, yet is consistently intriguing? You have to look at how these elements come together as that's what counts.
A good story