Arcanum is a triumph in game making. If you like master of magic, try master of orion 2 (another amazing 4x game by microprose). MoO 3 is lame. Avoid it. Master of Magic has a few "spiritual successors" that are all complete rubbish. Really though, patched Master of Orion II (abandonia.com has it I think) will eat your week away.
The big ones have already been covered but I also enjoyed: Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor.
This game is notorious for being buggy and unplayable and it truly was until it got a patch or two and a speed booster mod to increase the combat speed. The combat is very unforgiving and the game itself is massive, finishing it is not a task to be taken lightly.
i usually don't play turn based, but i used it heavily in "Arcanum of steamworks and magick obscura".
great (broken and buggy) rpg.
I finally gave up on that masterpiece of a game when my party became trapped in a small mine, besieged by giant moles, out of traps, with only a bag of junk as defense. It was a tragedy. I did however really like the art design and background music. Unfortunately, the game design, fighting system, and even sparse plot, left much to be desired.
The big ones have already been covered but I also enjoyed: Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor.
This game is notorious for being buggy and unplayable and it truly was until it got a patch or two and a speed booster mod to increase the combat speed. The combat is very unforgiving and the game itself is massive, finishing it is not a task to be taken lightly.
I was practically raised on that game. I love it so much. Bugs made it near impossible to play though, and it's was a pain in the ass getting it to work on Vista for a more recent replay of it. Still, even with all the shit one has to go through to get it to work, I have to say it's definitely one of my favorite turn based RPG's.
If we're talking turn based sRPG's, then Disgaea is my favorite.
When it comes to jRPG's with a clearly turn-based battle system (like clearly defined TURNS, none of that gauge nonsense), I'd have to go with Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete and Golden Sun as my favorites.
I'm playing arcanum magicka obscura yada yada yada (honestly I always forget the full name and have to look it up often) just because its been awhile. I have played icewind dale, planescape torment, some of iwd2, I'm planning on playing the fallout games (1 and 2) after arcanum, as I played one of them a very long time ago.
I loved the SSI Gold Box games back in the day. Pool of Radiance- that fight at the end was effin' HARD, Curse of the Azure Bonds, Secret of the Silver Blades (one of my personal faves), Pools of Darkness, Dark Queen of Krynn. Roguelikes like MacBoss and Angband... And the newer Exile, Avernum, Avadon, Geneforge etc series by Spiderweb Software.
Wait, Curse of the Azure Bonds? Never heard of the game, but does it by any chance have anything to do with a Forgotten Realms book with a very similar name? If so, I might need to play it.
Yes, it was based on the book. It's actually the second in a series of games. You start out in Phlan in the first game as a young adventurer and at the end, you have to defeat a Dragon. In the second game, you are kidnapped by many of the same people who made Alias, and they tattoo you in an attempt to control them. Moander, the Fire Knives, and some new ones try ro control you. After you prevail and finally get the tattoos off of you, you get teleported to a town high in the Mountains by a glacier. Long ago, two brothers fought, one a paladin, the other a mage. To free their spirits and melt the glacier imprisoning the town, you have to find the brother's castle and free one brother's imprisoned spirit, which has gone mad. That's Secret of the Silver Blades.
Finally, in Pools of Darkness, you get back to Phlan after 10 years and it's become a thriving metropolis. You are to escort Sasha, the former Clerk of Phlan, on an important diplomatic mission. The moment you leave the city, the God Bane scoops up the city, along with others, and transports them to an alternate dimension. You have to find out who is behind it and get the cities back, as well as making sure the sun shines again.
I'm playing arcanum magicka obscura yada yada yada (honestly I always forget the full name and have to look it up often) just because its been awhile. I have played icewind dale, planescape torment, some of iwd2, I'm planning on playing the fallout games (1 and 2) after arcanum, as I played one of them a very long time ago.
Are you making any progress? My fav bits before I gave up was exploring the truly gigantic cities. I grew weary of the simplistic FedEx quests and dumpster diving for springs and whatnot. Character design in the game was top notch though...game balance, not so much!
Has anyone mentioned the old TSR "Gold Box" D&D series games (The Pool of Radiance, Champions of Krynn etc.) yet? They were awesome for time, I wasted/spent many enjoyable hours playing these as a young-un.
I guess its sort of in between an RPG and a strategy game, but I think Heroes of Might and Magic III is probably the best turn-based RPG I've played, if it counts.
I'm playing arcanum magicka obscura yada yada yada (honestly I always forget the full name and have to look it up often) just because its been awhile. I have played icewind dale, planescape torment, some of iwd2, I'm planning on playing the fallout games (1 and 2) after arcanum, as I played one of them a very long time ago.
Are you making any progress? My fav bits before I gave up was exploring the truly gigantic cities. I grew weary of the simplistic FedEx quests and dumpster diving for springs and whatnot. Character design in the game was top notch though...game balance, not so much!
Yea I'm making some progress, though I'm still early in the game. I fairly recently got to Tarant and the sheer number of things to do there is pretty intense.
Edit: I gave up on it in favour of playing Drakensang: The River of Time, which is more like semi-turn based.
Edit #2: I've now moved on to Kings Bounty: The Legend. I also own armoured princess/crossroads, so eventually once I'm done with legends I'll play that.
I'm playing arcanum magicka obscura yada yada yada (honestly I always forget the full name and have to look it up often) just because its been awhile. I have played icewind dale, planescape torment, some of iwd2, I'm planning on playing the fallout games (1 and 2) after arcanum, as I played one of them a very long time ago.
Are you making any progress? My fav bits before I gave up was exploring the truly gigantic cities. I grew weary of the simplistic FedEx quests and dumpster diving for springs and whatnot. Character design in the game was top notch though...game balance, not so much!
Thanks to this thread, I've just picked up and started playing Arcanum for the first time. I made a mistake with my first player though, I made her an "Idiot Savant" but everyone just thought she was a plain old idiot and things were not going well so I started over. I have to say I am enjoying the city exploring and even the "FedEx" quests. I do wish that character points were given out a little more freely cause I tend to get my butt kicked a lot. I guess I need to find some more monsters to fight to level up and break down and buy some better duds for my boys.
Arcanum is fun though it requires a fair bit of experimentation and not having an autosave is kind of a pain coming from more recent games. Still, its a great game.
I'm playing arcanum magicka obscura yada yada yada (honestly I always forget the full name and have to look it up often) just because its been awhile. I have played icewind dale, planescape torment, some of iwd2, I'm planning on playing the fallout games (1 and 2) after arcanum, as I played one of them a very long time ago.
Are you making any progress? My fav bits before I gave up was exploring the truly gigantic cities. I grew weary of the simplistic FedEx quests and dumpster diving for springs and whatnot. Character design in the game was top notch though...game balance, not so much!
Thanks to this thread, I've just picked up and started playing Arcanum for the first time. I made a mistake with my first player though, I made her an "Idiot Savant" but everyone just thought she was a plain old idiot and things were not going well so I started over. I have to say I am enjoying the city exploring and even the "FedEx" quests. I do wish that character points were given out a little more freely cause I tend to get my butt kicked a lot. I guess I need to find some more monsters to fight to level up and break down and buy some better duds for my boys.
Out of curiousity what type of character are you playing? In my (basically first) playthrough I'm playing a magic oriented elf. Not the most original character I suppose, but fun.
@elminster I'm playing a more technological guy with a good alignment. At first I was spending my character points more on things like persuasion and lock picking, but then I needed more charisma to get more followers, and now I'm working on increasing my firearms abilities but in order to do that I need to increase perception I think. After all that I just don't have any character points left for spells and stuff. I really have a hard time getting going with magic characters in games in general. I find it too difficult at the start and I never know what spells and stuff to acquire first. Any tips?
Comments
Suikoden 3
Valkyrie Profile
Persona 4
I also really liked Valkyria Chronicles. Not the story so much as the picture book feel of it.
SEPTERRA CORE
that would be Hero Quest and Legacy Of Sorasil (HQII)
Admitted Turn-based RPG is somewhat a loose definition, but I took the freedom to narrow it down.
games with real-time options - Nay
J-RPGS with atm gauges - Nay
Games with an "on earth driven story" - Nay
Pretty much rules out the games mentioned in this thread.
But so many crossover games were made, each with its own focus.
In my book HQ and the likes are what one could define as proper turn based RPG (but then again I'm not sure thats what you actually want?)
This game is notorious for being buggy and unplayable and it truly was until it got a patch or two and a speed booster mod to increase the combat speed. The combat is very unforgiving and the game itself is massive, finishing it is not a task to be taken lightly.
great (broken and buggy) rpg.
I finally gave up on that masterpiece of a game when my party became trapped in a small mine, besieged by giant moles, out of traps, with only a bag of junk as defense. It was a tragedy. I did however really like the art design and background music. Unfortunately, the game design, fighting system, and even sparse plot, left much to be desired.
Bugs made it near impossible to play though, and it's was a pain in the ass getting it to work on Vista for a more recent replay of it. Still, even with all the shit one has to go through to get it to work, I have to say it's definitely one of my favorite turn based RPG's.
If we're talking turn based sRPG's, then Disgaea is my favorite.
When it comes to jRPG's with a clearly turn-based battle system (like clearly defined TURNS, none of that gauge nonsense), I'd have to go with Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete and Golden Sun as my favorites.
Do JRPG's count? Off the top of my head.
Suikoden 3
Valkyrie Profile
Persona 4
I also really liked Valkyria Chronicles. Not the story so much as the picture book feel of it.
I thought that Valkyria Chronicles had awesome gameplay though. A nice mix of real-time with turn-based gameplay.
Wait, Curse of the Azure Bonds? Never heard of the game, but does it by any chance have anything to do with a Forgotten Realms book with a very similar name? If so, I might need to play it.
Finally, in Pools of Darkness, you get back to Phlan after 10 years and it's become a thriving metropolis. You are to escort Sasha, the former Clerk of Phlan, on an important diplomatic mission. The moment you leave the city, the God Bane scoops up the city, along with others, and transports them to an alternate dimension. You have to find out who is behind it and get the cities back, as well as making sure the sun shines again.
Edit: I gave up on it in favour of playing Drakensang: The River of Time, which is more like semi-turn based.
Edit #2: I've now moved on to Kings Bounty: The Legend. I also own armoured princess/crossroads, so eventually once I'm done with legends I'll play that.
nice pic
http://world-of-games.co.uk/PS2/album/Dragon Quest VII - Journey Of The Cursed King-a_jpg_orig.html