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[Kruniac]

Just a small note:

Star-Box RPG Adventures is a shitty game. Do not buy it. It lagged excessively, the combat is akin to an SNES action game, and it's just fucking horrible.

Way of Gold and Steel is a shitty game. Do not buy it. A really great concept (A mix of a roguelike and RTS), however the execution is absolutely shit. The game is dull, tedious, and just... bad.

Bought these two back to back and hating life as a result. You've be warned.

Sounds perfect for refund, no?

Well sure. This was just a warning for others.

[Sinistar]

GOG has a weekend sale up already and it's Hasbro D&Ds collection time again.

Now, call me spoiled, but I'm less than impressed with how it's becoming a habit over at GOG to have their sales with limited discount. 80% off if you buy the whole pack, but take just one game off the list and it instantly becomes a 60% deal? Not a big fan of that, must say.

Still, I've heard mixed reviews of just 3 of the games on sale so that still makes it 70% certified "good" if you buy the whole package. And those games go on sale reasonably often if you feel like skipping this one so it's up to each individual to decide on their own. Still,  was hoping I could get a good deal for NWN1/2 one of this days...

[BigD145]

A habit? It was a habit a couple years ago.

NWN 1 is good. I was not a fan of 2, but if you take it out then the whole bundle goes from $21 to $34. Planescape is good. Icewind Dale seemed solid last time I attempted to get into it. It's been awhile since I got into some deep RPG's.

[Sinistar]

It sucks because I already have both BGs. On CDs. And apart from NWN, Planescape has been on my list for years and ID1/2 is tempting too... but that already get's me 22€.

I know it's been for quite some time now but I feel like it's becoming more and more prevalent. Annoying, either way.

[silverskull39]

Looks like the Risen franchise is 80% off on steam. I'm considering getting it, but I don't really know much about the series. Any thoughts?

[TripJack]

did you play any of the Gothic games?

[silverskull39]

No, I didn't

[Mech#4]

I think the biggest dividing factor of Risen and Gothic 1 to 3 (as they're made by the same company. Not Gothic 4 or Arcania though) is the combat and whether you like it or not.

The combat is real time with a focus on blocking, dodging and hitting when the enemy is vulnerable. If you go in swinging your sword willy-nilly you will get killed quickly. Another big part of combat is training. As you put training points into, say, Sword skills you will become faster at swinging and be able to pull off combo moves (three hits instead of one type things). Magic is part of your available skills but in all the games I mentioned it is very much an investment that pays off later in the game.

From what I remember of Risen, it plays very much like Gothic 1-3. I cannot comment on 2 or 3 as I have not played them.

As for the story, I think Risen is about ancient things being awoken, I haven't finished it.
This may be a little confusing. Because Gothic 1-3 was made by Piranha Bytes as well as the Risen series, Risen pretty much continues the story of Gothic 1-3 despite it not being set in the same world or having the same characters. Due to Piranha Bytes not having the rights to the world of Gothic, Risen is a lawyer friendly expy of the Gothic 1-3 world. Due to this it may be worth your time playing through Gothic 1, 2 and 3 but it is by no means necessary. The plots don't have too much connection between games but it fills out the backgrounds of characters and the world.

[Mephisto]

Risen 3 manages to have mostly positive reviews but this doesn't look very fun to me.

I recall vaguely similar things from the original.

[Mech#4]

I hate to divert the topic away, so please don't respond too much, but I feel I should mention that GOG.com has just released a whole bunch of D&D roleplaying games. The SSI Gold Box series and others to be exact.

Eye of the Beholder, Curse of the Azure Bonds, Menzoberranzan and Dungeon Hack. If you like 1st person dungeon crawlers like "Legend of Grimrock" then these are all old but very nice games.

I've played some of "Pool of Radiance" and they hold up pretty well. Combat is turn based on a grid, random encounters with an overworld map to explore. Journal entries, conversations and so on are handled by looking up the number the game gives you in the manual that came with the game.

It doesn't seem to be all of the SSI games, as I can't see the ones based on "Dragonlance". I've watched a play through of, and the sequels to, "Champions of Krynn" and the enemy variety and different effects on death the Draconians have gave combat an extra layer of strategy.

[BigD145]

Dragonlance versus Forgotten Realms is a bit of "which backdrop do I prefer" sort of thing. Both sets of games are good for their age. Both have long dungeons. Also not on sale.

[Mech#4]

From my reading, Dragonlance is more "Noble Bright", to borrow a term. High adventure, quirky companions, big bads but with more of a sense of humour behind things than Forgotton Realms has. Compare halfings from Forgotton Realms and Kender from Dragonlance. Or that knightly orders are a large part of the setting of Dragonlance, upholding honour, courage and bravery in the face of evil.

On Risen: I do think it's where training you skills comes into it quite a bit. Areas in Gothic 1-3 are very... instanced in a way. Some areas will have creatures that are just too powerful for you early on and you have to put off going there until later. Training increases the damage you can do by a lot so an enemy that you previously did very little damage to you can dispatch in a few hits later on.

In Gothic 2, around the main city, there was an Orc Scout. If you went near it would chase you around and you couldn't hurt it at the beginning of the game. After you'd done a bunch of quests, got a good sword and trained you could dispatch it in about 8 swings. Or you could lure it towards the guards and have them deal with it. The games can be rather open in that regard.

[Sinistar]

Oh wait, so Dragonlance has Kender? THE Kender? Oh dear.

Some more sales: Gamersgate has Bandai Namco week ending in few days. Nothing too interesting for my taste, but if you are looking for a kinda-deal for Dark Souls 2: SotfS, it's 50% off.

Also Painkiller weekend. Didn't know there's so many different ways to spend your money on Painkiller franchise, heh.

And for MAC users: some games are on sale too.

[Darkmere]

Planescape has been on my list for years

Fair warning, Planescape is hard to play these days. I tried it and couldn't get very far in, because so much of what you have to do is poking at dozens of near-identical wandering NPC's hoping that one of them happens to have dialog relevant to this point in this quest you're doing right now. And you're on 5+ quests constantly. The underlying story was interesting but it's buried pretty deep unless you just ignore everything but the main plot... which isn't easy when you don't know what parts of which of the 10 areas you have access to are the main plot.

It felt like the text RPG equivalent of a grinding treadmill.

[TripJack]

o no you didn't 

hard to play these days? the only hard thing about playing Torment these days is when you see what characters and plots in RPGs could be like and then you compare that to what characters and plots in modern RPGs are like and you are filled with uttermost despair

poking at dozens of NPCs... yeah sadly there is no quest compass in Torment so you actually have to follow directions, explore, and ask around

5+ quests constantly... that there is lots to see and do on your journey through the Planes sounds like a pro to me

the game has some serious problems but that text treadmill is the best thing about it