Help pick my next game from my backlog shelf

[John Many Jars]

I just finished Thief Gold and Advance Wars 2, so I need guidance. I like good games in all genres, but Outcast is my all-time favorite. Please vote and comment according to any criteria you like, including sheer chaotic whimsy or blind prejudice.

[Kalle]

I voted Baldurs Gate 2, but don't expect to finish it and the expansion in anything under 80 hours.

If you're looking for sheer pick up and play fun I'd say Rollercoaster Tycoon. You can easily loose yourself in the game for a couple of hours every once in a while.

[Brian Rubin]

You haven't played Anachronox (which I voted for)?! PLAY IT NOW. Damned great game.

[Sidd_Budd]

I voted for Freedom Force -- great game, and it's short, which means you'll see your stack of backlogs shrink faster. This is crucial to psychological health, as well as promoting additional game purchasing to restock the backlog.

[Alan Au]

I put in another vote for BG2, but if you end up choosing that one, I recommend you stick to the main storyline until Chapter Six. The game is long enough as is, and you don't want to get bogged down in Chapter Two.

- Alan

[HRose]

I'm STILL waiting to play the whole BG2+ToB+an infinite list of fixes since the last bug fix pack is being worked for YEARS. And Kevin Dorner was MIA.

I just checked to find that he's back. With fixes for Morrowind and, possibly, this DAMN fix pack for BG2.

http://www.baldurdash.org/

I so want to play it all with all the fixes:

http://weidu.org/main.html

[Sunny the Unemployed]

It took me two years of on and off playing to finally get through the Baldur's Gate series. And despite all of its flaws, it's still one of the finest series of games I've ever played.

If you do decide to play it, be sure to check out HRose's links for some real nifty stuff.

[noun]

Freedom Force. You'll finish that faster than anything else on that list, AND you'll be in the right frame of mind when the sequel comes out.

Be sure to download the Baldurdash patches before tackling BG2.

[Kool Moe Dee]

Freedom Force. I remember playing through it in 3 days, and I couldn't wait to get home from work each day to play some more.

Then for a change of pace, you can slog through the (extremely enjoyable) BG2 and ToB. :)

[Old Man Gravy]

Wow, I'm with you. You an' me, we're the same, see?
Thief and Outcast, two of my all-time faves. You've got taste to go along with your lots of jars.

I couldn't vote (all I saw was the results), but if I coulda I woulda picked Anachronox. It's a half-game that's much better than most complete games I've played. Funny, fun, with a combination of genres - PLUS it has features like a variant of Dance Dance Karnov, the voice of Levelord, and some other guy who says, "Now I will kill you.... WITH DEATH!"

I haven't tried BG2, but thought the story elements of of BG1 were some of the best ever in a CRPG.

I got Freedom Force because it was $5.88 in the budget bin with some old ratty boom-sticks at S*Mart, but never made it through the damn thing. I tried twice, but it didn't hold my interest for some reason, probably because I got tired of El Diablo flying right up to within two inches of bad guys and then missing them with his shoot-fire thing EVERY TIME. Well, and Minute-Dork saying "Right makes Might!". It does have a terrific hero-creation feature though, and there are some nice places on the net where people have competently done the heavy lifting of converting Marvel, DC, and Indie heroes' stats to the FF stats, as well as making nice meshes and skins for them.

Oh, did you mention something about posting with extreme chaotic whimsy? :D

[Lake]

For Freedom!

[Anaxagoras]

Wow. I didn't know there were gamers left who *still* hadn't played Baldur's Gate 2. Wow. One of my favorite games of all times. I disagree with Alan on the side quests... I think if you wait to do them until later, they'll be so easy (because of your high level) that they won't be any fun.

However, I do agree with the couple people who said it will suck up a *lot* of time... the game is friggin huge. They might be right when they say you should play a shorter game first. But still... the 80+ hours that I lost to that game were a *lot* of fun.

Must... resist... urge... to... reinstall.... again.

[Shadari]

While I think that overall Morrowind is the best game in that list due to its open-endedness and extreme replayability, I had to vote for Baldur's Gate II because its main campaign is much more compelling. It lives up to the hype and then some.

A little warning... BGII has the potential to really grab you and not let go, so be prepared to schedule some serious time towards this title. One other warning, if you're not up to speed on AD&D 2nd edition rules, be prepared to struggle a bit with the combat. It can be quite involved, but if you're willing to put forth some effort (IIRC, Desslock had a kick ass guide for combat tactics), it gets easier and can be very rewarding.

[Alan Au]

I disagree with Alan on the side quests... I think if you wait to do them until later, they'll be so easy (because of your high level) that they won't be any fun.
True enough, although I vaguely recall (?) that some enemies are actually scaled up/down to match your approximate level. (e.g. Adamantite golems might appear instead of Iron golems) Plus, there are metagame min-max party composition reasons why I like to go through the plot missions first. ;)

Oh, and definitely get the Baldurdash (http://www.baldurdash.org/ToB/Fixes/TOBfixes.html) fix-pack.

- Alan

[SolomonGrundy]

just creeping back into BG2 again...just 2 chapters to go...then the expansion.
J. Irenicus is one of my favorite villians of all time. Just the first 2 movies was enough to piss me off, and actually look forward to kicking his ass.His smarmy additude reminds me of my boss.


In my opinion it is one of the greatest RPG's ever made, if not the greatest, but I have some fond memories of Pool of Raidience...at least I think it is that one...the old gold box where you actually adventure inside of a dead god..
The Llolth fight in that game took me days to win.

[Supertanker]

For Freedom!

Damn, stole my joke. Cursed work hours!

[-Lord Ebonstone-]

Eh, I didn't vote 'cause if I could have my time back, I wouldn't have played any of those (and I've played all of them).

[Jobe]

I gave you a nickel, can I cross the bridge now?

[Jason McCullough]

Anachronox, you crazy motherfucker! It's only one of the best games ever made!

That is, if you just cheat to get past all the boring battles. It's best played as an adventure game.

[Theodore Rex DX]

Who the fuck voted for Shadowman? Fess up.

[Jobe]

hahaha, I did for that alone.

[Wholly Schmidt]

If you had an N64 and nothing else, Shadowman wasn't a bad use of your time.

[Ch. Hasslbauer]

Anachronox, by all means. Missing this game means missing the best cut scenes of all times. And the should-be famous Tom Hall humor.

But get some help in order to complete the collecting missions without getting an aneurysm.

[demagogue]

Anachronox, by all means. Missing this game means missing the best cut scenes of all times. And the should-be famous Tom Hall humor.

But get some help in order to complete the collecting missions without getting an aneurysm.

I voted for this game, but something to watch out for is that as it progresses the depth decreases and the reliance on mindless combat as a way to slow progress increases. I made the mistake of wading through the overly long mindless combat sequences, but if I were to play it again, I would find some way to cheat to bypass them.

[Drastic]

Right makes might!

[Supertanker]

If you think the combat blows, don't forget there's no reason to actually play Anachronox anymore. You can download the machinima (http://www.machinima.com/displayarticle2.php?article=322) Jake Hughes made from all the cutscenes, and just watch the movie of the game.

[demagogue]

If you think the combat blows, don't forget there's no reason to actually play Anachronox anymore. You can download the machinima (http://www.machinima.com/displayarticle2.php?article=322) Jake Hughes made from all the cutscenes, and just watch the movie of the game.

Theres a lot more to Anachronox than just combat and cut scenes, at least at the start of the game.

[John Many Jars]

OK, the people have spoken --- and, as a man of the people, I shall abide by their words. I'll start both FF and BG2 (tied as of this writing, and I didn't set an expiry on the poll) and will replace FF with Anachronox when I finish it.

Thanks to all who replied!

[Chris Nahr]

I never pretended to be a man of the people but I always tried to be a man for the people, and as such I recommend that also play Morrowind at some time, even though I voted for BG2. Morrowind may get boring fast, depending on your preferences of exploration vs powerplay, but just exploring the world for a while is definitely worth your time no matter your inclinations.

[John Many Jars]

I am definitely on the side of exploration, and won't let Morrowind lie fallow. :D

[nutsak]

I only voted morrowind because you didn't have a fallout 2 option.. but oh well...

[John Many Jars]

I already played Fallout 2! Jeez, give me *some* credit for having played games... :wink:

[Shadari]

I'm kinda surprised Freedom Force is this popular, especially compared to BGII. I mean, it looked kinda cool to me and all, but I had to fight the damn controls and camera so much that I just gave up on it. Maybe I missed out...

[Wholly Schmidt]

I don't remember controls or camera being a problem with Freedom Force. I'm not mixing up Freedom Force and Freedom Fighters again, am I?

[Shadari]

I don't remember controls or camera being a problem with Freedom Force. I'm not mixing up Freedom Force and Freedom Fighters again, am I?
My memory's a bit fuzzy, but I recall something about the highrise buildings always obscuring my view.

[Bill Dungsroman]

I voted BG2, because IMO it's the best game on the list, the best old-school D&D RPG ever made (Torment is too esoteric to qualify as a nuts and bolts pure D&D game, regardless of its superlative quality).

But then, I realized, as hinted at, it's not the best game to choose from if you've a backlog of games. You'll be trading one great gaming experience, roughly 100-200 hours, during which time you'll no doubt snag other games (because let's face it, we all buy more and more games whether we have the time for them or not), soo you'll wind up with a great gaming experience in BG2 but an increased game backlog. The question is, what's worth more to you?

[Shadari]

I voted BG2, because IMO it's the best game on the list, the best old-school D&D RPG ever made (Torment is too esoteric to qualify as a nuts and bolts pure D&D game, regardless of its superlative quality).

But then, I realized, as hinted at, it's not the best game to choose from if you've a backlog of games. You'll be trading one great gaming experience, roughly 100-200 hours, during which time you'll no doubt snag other games (because let's face it, we all buy more and more games whether we have the time for them or not), soo you'll wind up with a great gaming experience in BG2 but an increased game backlog. The question is, what's worth more to you?

Good point, but he should probably not miss out on BGII, it's a classic. I mean, sure, it'll be a damn good game even years from now, but I'd recommend getting around to it sooner than later... before virtual reality supersedes the shit we're playing now. :wink:

[synic]

Play these games in this order:

Freedom Force
Anachronox
Baldur's Gate 2 + Throne of Bhaal

Make sure to get the unofficial patch for Anachronox, as well as the Weidu "Ease of Use" mod (www.weidu.org) and of course the mod to remove the sound that annoys you with "you must gather your party before venturing forth" (otherwise you will go insane) when you try to move to new location...

[synic]

I'm kinda surprised Freedom Force is this popular, especially compared to BGII. I mean, it looked kinda cool to me and all, but I had to fight the damn controls and camera so much that I just gave up on it. Maybe I missed out...

Really? I didn't have much problems in that respect. Mostly I found some of the missions kinda hard, but in a cheesy way and not in a good way. Maybe I just gimped my characters by trying to collect too many of them? I really liked the Microwave character for some weird reason.

[Supertanker]

I really liked the Microwave character for some weird reason.

Microwave rocked after a couple of upgrades. He even brought some drama on one mission, if you happened to see that.

[Ephraim]

I just voted for Freedom Force and broke the tie. Play it first, THEN I shall allow you to enjoy the wonders of BG II.

Abide by my decision, for it is final. That is all.

/Eph

[Mike Hussey]

I was another vote for BG2 because it is such a damn good game, although Bill's point about length is valid, unless you're comparing it to Morrowind. I've only played 4 on your list, BG2, RCT, Morrowind and Anachronox. I really liked Morrowind, but it's a love it or hate it game, Anachronox is pretty good if you cheat past the silly arcade sub-games and I'm one of the few people who didn't really care too much for RCT, YMMV most likely.

[Mehrunes]

Since I just finished playing through Baldur's Gate II twice with a solo character I'm ethically bound to vote for it in the poll. Though Freedom Force, Morrowind and Anachronox are all excellent choices as well.