Game suggestion

[Joviwan]

I'm in a bit of a slump at the moment with games, and long story short, I'll break it down to the following:

I want an action/RPG game of good quality, on the cheap, and ideally with some level of character creation/customization. It could be an RPG, it could be an action game, ideally I think I want both. The ability to play a woman should be a requirement, but if the game is good enough, I'll let that requirement slide. I'm open to a wide range of suggestions, but perhaps most importantly, these suggestions must be cheap.

I've got a PS2, an xbox, a 360, and a PC. What can I do with this accumulated technology?

[Ryan Thunder]

Fallout 3?

[Joviwan]

Fallout 3?

Maybe you missed the part where I said...

on the cheap

Or, perhaps...

most importantly, these suggestions must be cheap

So, thank you, but I'll have to ask you to try again.

[Companion Cube]

Mount and Blade? I've only played the demo, but it's pretty good. A bit rough around the edges, but that's understandable given the small number of people developing it.

[Stark]

dude

Sacred1 or 2! Sacred 2 is probably in the bargain bin already, but sacred is a) action rpg b) with women c) char customisation

sacred2 is better on these points, but may be too expensive

mount n baldz is the shit if you're prepared to mod it a bit; but it's much more 'giant battles with you chopping dudes' than an action-rpg like diablo

[Companion Cube]

mount n baldz is the shit if you're prepared to mod it a bit; but it's much more 'giant battles with you chopping dudes' than an action-rpg like diablo

the only character development I need is enemy--->corpse

Mount and Blade satisfies, and now that it is finished I'm going to see if it's actually available in retail anywhere.

[Stark]

if you get graphical enchantment 2.5 OR WHATEVER IT'S CALLED it makes the game look much more competitive

i'm not sure if any of the big mods (like lotr, 100 years war etc) ever got ported to v1

[Joviwan]

I've been playing Mountain Blade (Which is apparently how I say it, according to my friends. Maybe I need a diction coach) since .752, and while it's good fun, there's not enough "I'm accomplishing something!" for me to bury myself in it for any extended period of time.

Thanks, Stark, I'll take a look at Sacred. That's available on Steam these days, isn't it? And as for Lotr, wasn't the banhammer dropped on it because New Line got in a hissy fit? As for mods, my favorite to date has been "Expanded Gameplay" combined with the battle-resizer. Take your force of 300 mounted spearmen and charge the 700 strong saracen horde!

[Stark]

I dunno, I find the newer versions have at least a bit of achievement (unlike 731 which was basically a pointless sandbox). That guy that made GE2.5 also made some serious conversion to put more framework around economy and politics, and other mods like that have been hell good. I remember when craftmod came out, that was the shit back in 802 or whenever.

[Taco Pope]

Steam has Titan Quest + the expansion for $10 this weekend.

[Stark]

TQ sucks even worse than Sacred; sooo boooooorrrrring. The dual-class thing was fucking cool, however, and I guess anyone playing an action-rpg isn't bothered by Act2 being Act1 with BROWN crows and SCORPIONS instead of BULLS.

[Joviwan]

I'm starting to think that my definition of "action-RPG" is skewed or somehow misinformed. When I think "Action", I think of something like Devil May Cry, or Mount&Blade, or Rune, or even Dynasty Warriors. When I think of RPG, I think of Baldur's Gate, or Suikoden, or Neverwinter Nights. And when I think of Action-RPG, I get games like Sudeki, or Fable.

But so far, Sacred and Titan-Quest look like... Diablosiege. Click-fests. Clicking is not action! Action should have at least some emphasis on the player's "skill", involving more than queing up a number and tappitytappiting on Orange Behemoth (fire resist 25%).

Is that what an Action-RPG is? What genre am I looking for then, which, in my perfect world, combines Mount&Blade with Baldur's Gate?

[Stark]

Oh yeah, nerds etc stole the term 'action RPG' to be basically 'Exactly like Diablo'. If you're just looking for an action-y game with RPG elements, that's different.

And combining MnB with Baldurs Failboringsnoozefest would be... unfortunate. Have you tried Witcher? Realtime choppy combat, complex plot, no stupid DnD crapfest nonsense self-indulgent boring shitass ugly pap like Baldurs Gate, character development options. No woman but Geralt has luxurious long flowing hair so it's easy to pretend. Not sure how much it costs though.

[Darth Onasi]

Have you tried Jade Empire or Vampire: Bloodlines? Both are fairly cheap on Steam.

[Ohma]

Have you tried Jade Empire or Vampire: Bloodlines? Both are fairly cheap on Steam.

Bloodlines is pretty cool, as long as you have the unofficial patch installed, I'm not sure if it's compatible with the Steam version. Plus even with the patch the action parts of the game still tend to be underwhelming, generally you replace clicking on dudes with clicking at dudes.

[Joviwan]

I'm one of those mad, delusional crazies that thinks baldur's gate was great storytelling, and I also enjoyed Mass Effect's silly storyline far more than I should have. I want an RPG experience with a good story (or at least better than Fallout 3... I wish I hadn't beaten it), and rail-roads don't bother me as long as they aren't retarded.

My big complaint with mount and blade is that I don't have a direction, or a goal, other than "become awesome!". Oblivion did that. I hated Oblivion because nothing I did was ever important (Hey, vampires! In the city! Oh wait, you killed them all), or even anything remotely resembling an accomplishment ("You're the arena champion!" "...He stood stock still and asked me to kill him" "You're the archmage!" "I haven't cast a single spell the entire game..."), the story was silly and superfluous and almost entirely nonexistent ("Patrick Stewart died, so, uh... Here's this medallion. Come back like, I dunno, in 2 months? Whenever, really, there's this kingdom, it kinda needs saving. Whatever, though.") , and the gameplay itself was just fantastically underwhelming from any mechanical standpoint, in my opinion.

But that's a psychotic tangent. Jade Empire might be a good example of what I'm talking about... Bah. I'm just going to investigate suggestions and tell people if I found them interesting.

I've looked into the Witcher, but I haven't given it a chance yet. I'll look around to see if I can find a cheap copy; it shouldn't matter which version of the game I get, right? Cause there's a patch? Or something?

Pre-post Edit: I LOVE this new "other people have posted" feature.

Yes, I've played Bloodlines, and why it didn't immediately spring to mind is something I cannot understand. I love the crap out of that game, and it's not a bad example of the kind of thing I'm looking for, though I'm hoping to find more rewarding combat in other suggestions. And, as noted above, I liked Jade Empire.

[Darth Onasi]

Perhaps Saints Row 2? It's not an RPG as much as a GTA clone, but there's a lot of customisation, the combat is pretty good, you can play as a woman and the story's decent as long as you don't mind playing a sociopath.

[Joviwan]

That's not a bad suggestion, as it very much fits the action and character requirements, but it's just not very cheap. Still, I'll hold it for consideration.

[Covenant]

Have you checked out Fileplanet's "Free Games" section? They've got a bunch of legitimate products and some indie games there for free, generally because they're old and now ad supported. Not sure what they have available ATM, but they've got tons of free MMO games which are basically just Action RPGs with extra annoyances. But free.

Neverwinter Nights is also cheap, about 15 bucks will get you a copy and you can download and endless flood of extra modules and bullshit. It's combat is not super-duper complex but if you play it without minmaxing I bet you could find it somewhat challenging and rewarding. It's a spiritual successor to the Baldur's Gate era and there's lots of stuff to download. Oblivion and Morrowind are also action RPGs of the first-person type which have a nearly limitless supply of retarded bullshit you can download, and in the case of Oblivion for the PC, so many goddamn mods that improve so many elements of the game that you'd think it was an entirely different product. Like, the changes defy comprehension and make it so amazingly good, if you're into that kind of thing.

Maybe not as cheap as you want, but I can't imagine an old copy of Morrowind breaking the bank.

[Joviwan]

Well, my tangent above relays that I have, in fact, played Oblivion. I put about 50 hours into it, actually, modded out the yin-yang, but I can honestly say that I can look back at the experience and reliably say that none of it was really enjoying the game. I was trying to enjoy it, but the game has got absolutely no soul and no character.

I've played NWN to death, actually, so I'm pretty good on that front. Me and dad bought 2 copies each of NWN/Undrentide/Hordes of the Underdark, and additionally, I've bought the diamond pack twice, once to replace my disks, once for a friend. Hordes of the Underdark was one of my favorite experiences with any game.

Thanks for the tip on Fileplanet, by the way; this was a resource I was not aware of. In the meantime, I've found my entirely unused copies of NWN2 and it's expansion, so I'll see if that satisfies my need for a CRPG element while looking around for something more in line with my delirious ranting.

Also, I debate that NWN is BG's spiritual successor. Not to be a frothing fanboy, but I think Dragon Age: Origins is going to fit that bill. =D

[DesertFly]

Not precisely an RPG, but Deus Ex (the original, not the pretty but boring sequel) may be along the lines of what you're looking for.

It's more linear than Vampires, but you're still doing the same sorts of stuff: traipsing through levels, talking to dudes, completing different missions (with fun, hidden, optional ones too), and upgrading various stats (and weapons, if you find the right parts).

It's got inventory management, and different ways to get through most obstacles (you can fight, or hack, or talk, or sneak around to find the password to the computer to turn the gun turret on the bad guys, and those are usually all options).

Should be pretty cheap since it's almost ten years old at this point.

Oh, and skills do make a lot of difference. It's played like a first person shooter, but being able to line up a shot is worth way more than in, say, Fallout 3.

[The Romulan Republic]

How old is your computer? Does it play really old games? If so, I can suggest the Exile series. Here's the Wikipedia summary: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blades_of_Exile

Note that I recomend this only for the story. The first game is almost 14 years old, and has very simplistic graphics. Its an RPG (not really action since its turn based), and it won't run on my computer because its too new, apparently. I doubt it's what your looking for, but I recomended it because its cheap, it allows character customization, it has a cool story, and I have nothing else (I have a Mac, so a lot of games I can't play ).

[Edi]

I will echo a suggestion of the Witcher. Now that he Enhanced Edition is out, the older, basic version should be bargain bin stuff. And the good part is that you can download the EE patch which turns the old version to EE, which is a lot better (except for some of the redone voice acting, but there you go).

The game has three different main outcomes and the ways you get there depend a whole lot on which direction you develop Geralt. The plot is deep and immersive and you definitely have a goal there all the time, whether short term or long term.

[Darth Onasi]

I really should check out Witcher, but I have a violent opposition to supposedly "free" RPGs that have set characters, especially when they're so darn ugly.

Anyway if you're on a budget.. perhaps Spellforce 2? It is an RTS, but with heavy RPG elements revolving around a small party of 6, with a lot of sidequests and backtracking.

[Joviwan]

Spellforce 2, which is sitting on my shelf, actually, is dungeon siege with an RTS stapled around it. I guess the concept is neat, and I liked playing what I've played so far, but it's essentially a click fest still.

I played the Deus Ex demo when it came out (It was an outrageous 300 megabytes!), and it seemed interesting ish. I'll check it out later.

As for Exile, I've never even heard of it, so I'll take a look. Thanks for all the suggestions!