Sydney Morning Herald: According to Steam, I have racked up 104 hours of playing time on The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Obviously, this is not a game I hate.
On the contrary, I have been having a ball romping up and down snow-capped mountains, battling creepy blind elves and mummified vikings in underground caverns, watching the skies for the sudden appearance of a huge dragon, and meddling in organised crime and politics (the two are often hard to tell apart).
Even so, after a period of time during which I could have played through the single-player campaigns of the entire Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series and still had time left over for 20 hours of multi-player, a game is going to start showing its flaws.
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.
who say is perfect?