Quick thing, I had my 21st birthday today, and me and my roommates got plastered off weed and rum. I've also had a steady intake of water and coffee.

Pardon if I type weird shit during this post. Everything is meant to generate discussion. I have a huge interest in RPGs.

So, as I was searching the forums of GD by using the nifty search feature MKO has, I noticed there aren't many threads about RPGs, especially one of my favorite series', Dragon Age!

So, unless someone can direct me to a thread of that sort that has momentum, I'll resort to this.

Hi everyone! What kind of RPGs do you like? Any genre, any style, any country... And guess what? You can define RPG however the hell you want. I'll let the free market known as MKO's collective opinion determine your judgement. I only care to hear your input.

RPG series' I've played that I enjoy:

Fallout

I own Fallout 1, 2, 3, NV, and tactics. 1, 2, and Tactics came from a Steam bundle, 3 and NV I actually bought multiple times and returned multiple times, as well as purchased each DLC individually. I now own a GOTY edition for both games. I've played all of them, and only haven't beaten Tactics.

I beat F1 and 2 on my dad's friend's computer, playing whenever we went to visit. Nice guy, gamer and techno enthusiast. I'm sometimes surprised he's friends with my dad with the shit he likes and does.

This is one of my favorite game series' of all time. Primarily a satirical look at retro-futurism from the 50s, the game is a FPSRPG where you can use guns, laser weapons, melee weapons, your fists... There's PLENTY of weapons in the game, including an alien blaster which is OP, and a flaming sword that is made using a motorcycle tank or something. Basically, a melee flamethrower AND IT'S AWESOME.

There's PLENTY of gore and violence. You can blow people up, you can attack ANYONE you want (not everyone can be killed though), and you can dismember someone's body during the kill or after the kill. You are just as easy to kill as everyone else (minus stats and perks etc) and get to even see a cool slow-mo death of yourself when you die.

Without going too far in description, I'll end this one here. Definitely a well-made series. Best comparison? TES: Oblivion, but with guns.

Dragon Age

Easily my favorite series. I bought it a year or so after the first console edition was made, wondering if it was any good. It was during a time that I had no real games I liked, since most of what I had was a racing game, a boxing game, and pokemon. Shit gets old.

Bought it for 39 bucks, complete edition, using a gift card for a birthday. I loved the shit out of it. I played it a good deal of the time, going through each origin and finishing each character, going for every ending I could.

Imported to the DLC campaigns, and just loved it...

The gameplay was very "strategy" based, but close to real time fighting. Think SW: Knights of the old Republic 1 & 2, but in medieval times, and the "stacking system" isn't queued up to 3, instead only 1. There's a tactics setting for the computer to use a companion without your control as well.

DA2 was disappointing gameplay-wise (very easy, and felt like a hack n' slash), but the story was supreme. The way I saw it, DA:O was setting up the "background" world with a huge event and "anonymous hero" (I'll explain that later) while 2 was the story that held the "trigger" event with a more... "loved" hero.

DAi, the third major installment as well as the most recent, is the "aftermath" world, with an "appointed" hero. This game is more hack n' slash than 2, but is done well enough that it's not a bad system. I miss the DA:O system more tho.

They use an import system, originally from DAO+DLC to 2, but due to DAi being multi-platform (old+current gen + PC) and that a lot of new players would probably not want to push their way through 2 whole games (+the number of world chains they can import), they made the "Keep" so you can reconstruct a story from the first 2 games and the DLC, and then import to a tied account on your consoles. I recommend playing DA:O and the DLCs, but DA2 I think would be better off read about or watched on youtube in a "Let's play".

Pokemon

One of my first RPGs I've ever played, and I love it to this day. Sadly, I no longer play the story games, instead using Smogon's battle simulator known as "Pokemon Showdown", which is basically made for those who enjoy competitive battling as opposed to collecting legendaries or nuzlockes, or whatever. It's free, so it's awesome.

I mean, I'm pretty sure you all know what pokemon is, but for those who don't know, here's a basic summary:

Young children and teens in different areas of an alternate Earth are sent out as minors with an animal able to primarily attack with water, fire, or plants. They go on to have a grand journey, with the goal initially to be the best animal fighter in the land, fighting many other "trainers" and taking their money after they win. Trainers vary in age.

There's also many subplots, such as:

1. Stopping criminal organizations, terrorists, or PETA., plus others!

2. Catching "legendary" pokemon, such as flying dragons that live in the atmosphere who keep 2 other pokemon who create land and water in check, pokemon's representation of Satan, God, with pokemon able to bend space and time to join you on your venture. Or maybe you prefer the mutant experiment that went insane and destroyed a lab and the scientists who made them? Or perhaps, you prefer cuter animals, such as the spirits of 3 pokemon who were burnt alive in a tower that still has their ashen remains, or a time traveling plant fairy that apparently sucks at its job because you keep meeting it in times of peril?

What makes them legendary? They're one of a kind per game, if you're not hacking. 1 chance to catch them (though, I think the newer installments force you to catch them or give you extra chances to) and they're gone.

3. You can have a rival, or multiple rivals! Each one a different caricature of a trainer, they're also, besides you, some of the most unique characters in the game. They can be vengeful, they can be arrogant, they can be bold, careless, anything! They also tend to be some of the hardest fights in the game, in order for you to really immerse yourself in the rivalry.

4. You get a device called the pokedex and every time you catch one of these animals, this device records information about them, such as their height, weight, or hunting/breeding habits. Dusknoir is pretty spooky with his black hole stomach!

5. Eugenically creating the perfect pokemon! Touching upon the sensitive subject as incest, in the game, you can breed together pokemon to create stronger (or weaker) mons in the name of competition! Breeding allows for moves not naturally learned by X mon, but by Y mon, to be learned at birth by baby XY! Also, there are pre-birthed stats that can determine how useful your mon is in competitive battling scenes!

Editors note: I just realized I mixed up the main plot with subplot #4. Switch those around; the main goal is to catch every animal, the second -found goal- is to be the best animal fighter in the land.

That said, you're basically forced to do all of this. For an RPG, the game tends to be linear, but who cares? You can literally be God's master or killer. Note that some legendaries are "event only" and can no longer be legitimately obtained in the current gens.

Oh, and it's a turn-taking battle system, much like Final Fantasy, with double, triple, and even rotation battles!

Final note: The modding and ROM community for pokemon is vast and popular. Seriously, get on that shit.

The Elder Scrolls

Note that none of these are in order of preference.

I've only played a little bit of Morrowind, a bit of Oblivion, and finished some of the bigger questlines in Skyrim.

TES has always been a a great game, with Arena using FPV in old school graphics (Never played it, but you apparently need DOSbox to play it) and sending you off on an adventure.

You can choose between multiple races, each with their own unique and helpful perks. For example, the Redguard are proficient with melee combat, whereas the Argonians are the best scouts (thievery, magic, hard to drown).

They have made multiple installments, all with the same basic combat system. Up to Oblivion, I believe the level up system was a point system where you could put points wherever. In Skyrim, it's based on usage, ie fighting one handed ups said skill or using magic ups said magic class.

It's a pretty good game and series. I'd definitely recommend it to people who like medieval fantasy style games.

Final Fantasy

This borders on indifferent towards, for me. I enjoyed the first 2 games (the versions released on the GBA), but never got into the series much after that. The fanbase is HUGE and FIERCELY loyal, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. Considered a classic in gaming.

Star Wars: Knights of the old Republic

Say what you want about 2 being unfinished, rushed, and glitchy. I loved both that game and 1. Both RPGs were well made, had a great, dark, and intriguing story, with multiple plots twists and turns and allows you to become a Sith!

There are now mods for PC versions of Kotor 2 that allow you to play the unfinished content of 2. That said, 2 is already far easier by default than 1.

It's a turn taking/real time game where you stack commands in a queue.

Basically, you and your companions are all facing off against someone at once, doing their own thing here and there. You can pause combat or free fight it to issue/stack commands. Each person fighting takes a turn to attack, but they aren't done as a team, ie if you swing your saber at enemy 1, companion 1 might be getting attacked by enemy 3, and enemy 4 and 5 could be lobbing grenades, or any other wonderful fight situation you can imagine in SW.

Also, the SW MMO called The Old Republic was based off of this game, from what I remember. It's currently F2P, but I don't care for it.

Dark (or Demon) Souls

This series is known for its brutal difficulty. I can attest to that, by merely saying this:

I chose a powerful knight and basically fixed his level 1 stoof and all the other cool things you can do in the character creation screen and tried to pull off what I call a "fuck it all" on my first attempt at Dark Souls 2.

I attacked some lady who was a servant to these witches, and she beat the living shit out of me with a wooden ladle. No joke, I got my ass handed to me.

In Dark Souls 1, I got further on my first try, but that was because I was trying. The first boss is a giant demon, notably named Asylum Demon, and it's a gigantic monster with a gigantic hammer that smashes your shit in if you don't know how to dodge.

After that, the first knight you -can- fight (he's not an enemy at first, but you can hit him a few times to get him angry), as well as most enemies you fight early on, tend to kick your shit in if you pick a fight, which makes you think twice about heading into an area. Very RPG like, and it's well made.

Never played Demon Souls, heard it was harder than 1, but 2 is harder than both.

My only gripe? The story confused me (I got high a lot when I played it; I usually am able to grasp stories pretty well regardless while high), didn't really hook me in, and the controls were a bit awkward. They made sense tho- if you go into your inventory and such, the enemies can still attack you, meaning you couldn't pause the fighting to get a cool sword out.

Shin Megami Tensei

I've only played a few versions of it, and only ever "beaten" 1 (my friend let me fight the final boss on his copy with him guiding me on what to do), and I can say that this game is goddamn amazing. Much like Pokemon, you go on a grand adventure, only this time, your goals are more expansive, the game isn't linear, and the goal itself is to either defeat God, Satan, or both. There are also TONS of other deities and mythical creatures you can fight, all based on past religions and spiritual belief systems, as well as current and even obscure ones.

I recommend it.

I'm sure there's more that I've forgotten, but these are the ones at the top of my head as I'm writing (also had some help from Google for memory).

I'm not gonna go into detail about the RPGs I don't like, but I will list some of them.

RPGs I don't like

1. Any FF game I've played after 2.
2. World of Warcraft
3. Mass Effect series
4. Southpark: Stick of Truth
5. Diablo

My preferred style of RPG is usually as simple as a well-written story combined with a somewhat enjoyable/tolerable combat system and large map/areas to explore. I look to story first, however, especially games where you have the ability to make decisions with consequences.

So, your opinions, MKO?