The Man":meisr8u3 said:
It may be because I'm a litltle older, but personally I don't like the new style 3d games. I'd play a classic top down rpg anyday over some of the new crap that has come out. Even the new great games, (the ones I like) do not compare to the older games. Again, this may just be nostalgia or whatever, but a great 2d game in my eyes is better then a good 3d one.
I agree. I used to be something of a game addict and have some familiarity with and fond memories of classic "old school" games. And I feel that while most of today's "hot" 3D gaming titles have breathtaking flashy graphics and sound, they often severely lack substance. And it seems almost like they are lacking a special something - a 'magic' if you will. It's gotten to a point where I can't seem to find the desire to play these modern games. I think very fact that some rogue-like text-based games continue to be played and developed to this day shows that some gamers are of a similar opinion.
One MORPG that I never really get tired of is "Well of Souls." It is entirely 2D, but still quite enjoyable. It's quite popular for a freeware game and there are numerous online servers which provide the free connection service. There are even numerous fan-created worlds which can be quite different from the original. (One of them is sort of Gundam/spaceship based.) The original still seems to be the most popular and there are numerous places to visit and quests to fulfill. But just making new friends and leveling up is a popular choice. And it can be fun to catch whatever monster strikes your fancy and raise it as a powerful ally.
One of my favorite RPGs was "Ragarok." I'm talking about the classic DOS version, which is nothing like "Ragnarok Online." It has rather simple
2D sprites and maps. But it was very creative in the things your character could do. You could permanently give your character all kinds of powers, from heat vision and fire breath to terrain warping and psionic mind blasts. You could swap your body with that of a monster. You could aquire various powers from either eating a certain monster or mixing potions or reading a scroll. You could write your own scrolls. And with a Wand of Wishing your character could become a veritable god! One of my favorite parts was using the ocarina to transport to the dimension of magic pools, where you can collect as many magic potions as you have empty flasks. And then there's how you can cleverly utilize the zaps of the enemy Magician to randomly transform ordinary junk in the most useful and powerful things. However, since it has no save function it's difficult to keep your character alive in the beginning... unless you save by cheating.
Another RPG I found interesting was "ADoM" (Ancient Domains of Mystery), which is a classic
text-based rogue-like. It is also extremely creative and has
tremendous depth. However, like Raganrok, you can't really reload your game unless you cheat and it's even more difficult to keep your character alive without doing so.
Years ago I did try out some MUDs and MUSHs. And even though the graphics were crap, I found it pretty enjoyable. It was my first taste of online gaming and I liked it. It was nice to have some experienced players and guides help out newbies. However, on one MUD I had a bad experience with a power-crazed moderator and I haven't played since. It's unfortunate, too, because MUDs and MUSHs are probably about the only online play (aside from "Well of Souls") my poor dial-up could support.
Then again, 3D RPGs can be fun too. I still have fond memories playing "Moraff's World" for MS-DOS. It's about as primitive as 3D gets, but it was fun. The dungeons are nearly limitless in depth and the monsters varied and creative. I remember how fun it was to literally run
into bright, friendly "Puff Ball" monsters and gaining a few attribute points - and how horrifying it was to accidently bump into dark, angry Puff Ball monsters and loose a few points. This game had no story, plot, or purpose. The only real goal was surviving your way to the bottom floor. So very simple. You had the usual choice of classes and races, and the usual items. Although, some items, like the "Mighty Floor Slosher," were unique. (It digs through the floor to the next level.) I suppose the drive to see how deep you can go, how many unique items you can aquire, how many spells you can learn, how much map you can explore, and how powerful you can become, was all it took to keep players going. I think I only made it all the way to the 128'th level once, and mostly by accident.
Two other 3D RPG I want to mention briefly are the Dungeon Master series and The Elder Scrolls series.
The Dungeon Master series is for DOS (except for the fan-made Dungeon Master Java). You had to give your characters food and water now and then to stay alive. Spells are cast by combining a series of rune symbols. Characters can even create their own potions by casting certain spells on an empty, reusable vial. And it was truely wonderful to play an RPG where character development depends entirely on the skills used. So to become good at magic you cast a lot of spells and to become a good fighter you swing your sword a lot, etc. These have a lot of good puzzles, too.
I've played both Arena and Daggerfall (both for DOS) and I thought they were both excellent. In fact, I still play some Daggerfall to this day. It was one of the last DOS games commercially produced. The sheer size of the land and the tremendous freedom that players are given is probably what's most appealing. A character could run for real-world
days across the map before reaching the other side. Dungeons are either incredibly brief or agonizingly huge. And characters can be whatever and pretty much do whatever the player wants. There are so many different guilds and temples you can join and each offers unique benefits. I
really liked the in-depth spell creation and item creation systems. I wish more games had features like this. And like the Dungeon Master series, character development depends entirely on the skills used -
NOT killing things. That's always a big plus for me.
Even though the sequels Morrowind and Oblivion are big hits themselves, some players still have fond memories of Daggerfall. I think it says something that some fans have gotten together to write new, modern game engines for Daggerfall. There's a lot of fan-created content for Dungeon Master and Morrowind, too. I think it says something about these games that some fans put so much into additional content.
One observation: While I am a fan of the fantasy genre, I'm getting tired of how practically all RPGs are based on a typical fantasy setting. Although, I don't often care much for robot/mecha RPGs, either. What I think would be refreshing is to see some classic-styled RPGs based around
superheroes. Something like "City of Heroes" or "Freedom Force" is what I'm looking for, only implemented as a 2D RPG. Even a psionics-based 2D RPG would be a nice change.
PS: If you are thinking of making a mecha/giant robot RPG, would you consider giving players the option of
heavily modifying the machines? Customizations like in Battletech or Mechwarrior are really nice.
