Former RPG hater wants suggestions (b/c of KOTOR)!
 

Alright. I have always hated RPGs and they always seemed way to complicated. I also hated the combat aspect. Now I am knee-deep in KOTOR and I can't express how much I love this game.

I am RPG ignornat so will some seasoned players please answer a few questions for me.

Is this considered a true RPG or is it simpler?
Are there other RPGs with similar combat like KOTOR?
Any suggestions for other good RPGs that a novice like myself may want to pick up or that are upcoming? I know that there are not many RPGs on the Xbox but it is the only console I own and I don't play games on my computer.

I tried Morrowind last year but I felt like an idiot. I just couldn't get everything down (though I feel like I might do a little better now). I have read alot about Baldur's Gate. The magazine ratings were just so-so. I tried the demo of Gladius but it did not seem like my cup of tea.

Coming soon: 'Fable' for Xbox. This game is set to become superior to KOTOR due to the sheer size and scale of it. There have been many articles on this game and i cant start to tell you what people are expecting. It will supposedly be 'endless' with things you can do and never 'finish' the game. Your character will age and change appearance depending on how good or evil you are. Things like that.

Pirates of the Caribbean is a let down. I believe its a true RPG but WAY too buggy. It would of been a good game if they didnt rush its release for the movie.

Other than that Im pretty much in the same boat as you. I never got into any RPGs since the early 90s.

The console version of Baldur's gate is pretty much just a hack & slash type game. The only games that are really similar to KotOR combat-wise are on PC.

So what is the action style in Fable? Is it RPG combat, or do you control the fighting?

From what little I've played of it I would say KotOR is a "true RPG" (the concept of leveling and skill advancement alone would make it so). I agree there's not much out there for the Xbox, most seem to be "adventure" games (Pirates, Azurik, etc) but there's a couple out there and a few more coming out soon (D&D Heros for example). As far as Baldur's Gate is concerned I haven't played it on the Xbox but on the PS2 it's a fairly simple/straight forward game. There are no overly complex puzzles or tracking back and forth all over the place trying to find the one item you need to advance to the next level. The controls are fairly simple and intuitive and overall the game is pretty fun IMHO.

I have a concern about Fable. I don't like the combat type in KOTOR - I like tradition turn-based. It seems Fable is going to be more Baldur's Gate than even KOTOR was ... so why are people calling it an RPG? Well, it does seem like an RPG in anything but combat... so is the combat even more free than KOTOR?

you can make the combat in KOTOR 'turn based' if you want. you can pause it and plan each move. There might even be a menu option to force it to pause after each round instead of you doing it manually. For weak opponents i fight them in real time but the important battles i pause after every round and plan my attacks.

Tapping the 'trigger button' pauses the fighting so its not really a pain to pause it manually. You might be missing something -- when a battle is paused you can SWITCH to each of your team members (black button) and plan each of thier attaks. I do this every round in big battles. Cant get much more turn based than that.

The game closest to Kotor is Neverwinter Nights on the PC. Same engine, same gaming system (d20), and developed by the same people (Bioware). Big differences: it's played overhead, it takes place in the "Forgotten Realms" universes, includes an AMAZING editor, and includes multiplayer for up to 64 people at a time. There's also more variety in what classes/races you can play.

Older games by Bioware that are somewhat similar are Baldur's Gate 1 & 2.

imo, for the XBOX, morrowind is the closest to KoTOR w/ 3 qualifications:

1. morrowind game of the year edition comes out later this year that includes the 2 expansion packs.

2. morrowind's engine is overall superior, but...

3. KoTOR is a better story and more interesting, imho

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i hope fable is good, but my hopes are low b/c there's so much hype about it.

I don't like the morrowind engine myself, but to each their own.

I will probably be picking up the GOTY edition later this year anyway, despite me losing interest in the game really early on in the PC version.

http://www.gamerankings.com/itemrank...&itemid=557893

That's more opinions on Baldur's Gate, tho it's essentially a fancy (more fun) version of Gauntlet. It's best if you have a friend around.

LOTR:FOTR is a terrible game, stay away.

KotOR is the first killer-app I've played in quite sometime.

Outside of those, there aren't really many Xbox RPGs. Nightcaster I is bad.. II is unbelievably bad. Azurik is pretty bad as well. So I guess there really aren't many RPGs for the Xbox :)

Yes there is an option to turn on auto-pause after each round. I never turned it on, but it seemed like I was doing it manually at least for the more difficult battles.

KOTOR is definately turn-based, but if you don't pause at all it will go so fast that it will seem real-time.

I think Morrowind is the only other decent RPG on the Xbox because I don't consider Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance an RPG although it is excellent as well.

The option I use to turn on the turn based system is when I use the directional pad, then the game pauses and I can then plan out what I need to do, otherwise, I just hit the a button, with some X button in there. This is such a great game, I count down the hours until I can go home to play more.

I do the same thing. I had school last night so no playing time for me, but my girlfriend works tonight so I will probably be playing all night long. I just became a padawan and am loving this game.

brianluvdvd,

Based on your comments, I think you will really enjoy Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance.

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance is a D&D 3rd person overhead hack n' slash that has the level ups, dialog, and flavor (i.e.: pickup, buy & sell items, etc..) of an RPG. Not a true RPG in the sense but an excellent game.

PC:

I say Arcanum is one of the best out there, along with Fallout 1 & 2 (Amongst the others mentioned)...

I agree. I'm not into RPG's at all, but I liked Baldur's Gate: DA

I'm thinking of picking up KOTOR because of all the good recommendations here, but I'm still a little worried about the turn based combat.

In any case Baldur's Gate is pretty good. I played it through on my GC before picking up my X-Box and it should be even better on the X-Box. Baldur's Gate DA II comes out in October.

Again: KOTOR is not turn-based. It CAN be. It can also be real time, or anything in-between. It's up to the personal preferences of the player.

Cool, I'll probably give it a go.

By the same token though you don't have much direct control over combat (your character will attack whether you press a button or not, you can influence the attack by hitting buttons but it's not a 1-1 relationship). That took me a little while to get used to having just finished Baldur's Gate, Extinction, playing Kung-Fu Chaos, etc etc... In fact it's the first time I ran into a system like that but I haven't played many console games yet....

I hate turn based RPGs. I always have and I thought I always would. With KOTOR I usually just select the character I want to use for the battle and I keep the moves queued up for that one person. When I get in a big battle or when I am running low on medpacs I start pausing and setting up exactly how I want the battle to go. To be honest, KOTOR is turning my opinion on turn based battle.

Good point. Similar to NWN and Dungeon Siege.

Even the pseudo-real time mode is still turn based, it's just that if you don't queue up commands fast enough the characters will resort to default actions when their turn comes around. It's virtually the same system as Baldur's Gate (PC), the "turns" may be cleverly disguised but they're still there.