I am one of those people who plunks shameful amounts of time into computer games. I've been out of the game-buying circuit for 2-3 years due to the age of my computer, but I find that I tend to prefer older games. There's simply more content and frequently, they just seem better constructed. Also, the RPGs tend more towards turn-based, which is a heavy preference of mine. I do not care for real time. False turn-based where you can pause and queue up actions does not count, in my mind.
Despite that, Morrowind is still one of the best new games I've ever played. I ripped through the new Bard's Tale game, Knights of the Old Republic and even Neverwinter Nights in a disappointing amount of time. Contrast with Wizardry 8, which took me months - but that game, though more recent, is a past-blast to the previous seven Wizardries. What have I spent much of my recent time on? Might and Magic ... VI and VII. What do I still consider the best RPG I've ever played? An obscure little game called Betrayal in Antara. Though set in a different locale, its engine is sandwiched between Betrayal in Krondor (which was fun enough, but Antara's storyline takes cake and platter) and Return To Krondor - which was another game that sacrificed graphics for content.
Running close second is the more recent Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura. I love games with side-quests that you can totally miss and discover the next time 'round. Also, again, I loved the plot.
Strategy games I've had more luck with because they tend to be more exclusively TB and content lends itself more to each game being different: Civ 4, Galactic Civilizations, etc. (The Movies is a dud.) However, I still have original Colonization (yes, the version that was released a year or two after Civilization NO NUMBERS!), I enjoy playing Zeus, and I recently had a hankering after Castles and ... probably the best older strategy game I can remember playing... Master of Magic. Honestly, pound for pound, MoM blew original-Civilization out of the water for me.
All this came up because someone I know online has been trying to convince me to pick up Fallout and Fallout 2. I have seen a few new games that I would be interested in (my computer can't handle them, so it's moot), but the truth is, I could happily keep myself busy on games released before 2000. Indefinitely.
About Me
- Lindsey Duncan
- I'm a professional harp performer, chef / pastry chef, and speculative fiction writer from Cincinnati, Ohio. My contemporary fantasy novel Flow is available from Double Dragon Publishing, and my science fiction novel Scylla and Charybdis is now out from Grimbold Books. I've also sold a number of short stories and a few pieces of speculative poetry. I write predominantly fantasy, usually epic and/or humorous, with some soft science fiction. I play the traditional lever harp with a specialty in Celtic music - but I also perform modern and Renaissance tunes. And yes, you read that right - I have a diploma in Baking and Pastry and an Associates in Culinary Arts and am currently working in the catering field at Kate's Catering and Personal Chef Services (Dayton, KY). I am a CPC (Certified Pastry Culinarian) and CSW (Certified Specialist of Wine).
1 comment:
I too consider Betrayal in Antara as the BEST RPG I have every played. Not from an RPG purist's perspective but from a personal point of view. Something about this game that I find missing in ALL other RPGs. The newer they are the worser it gets.
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