A RPG overload.

Somehow I've ended up with 4 different single player RPGS sitting in my lap. I blame those damn Steam sales and the fact that I check slickdeals at least 3 times a day. Regardless I now have most likely over 80 hours of RPG goodness I have to get to and Left 4 Dead 2 unlocks in about a week. The best part is that the 4 rpgs couldn't be more different from each other and I find it interesting which one I'm gravitating towards. Obviously outside of my pick right now I haven't gotten too far into the other 3 but I did get passed their respective intro sections.

Fable2: Starting off I actually liked Fable 1 and played through all the way to the end, yet I'm finding that I have to force myself to play Fable 2. The first section and dungeon were great but it was after I arrived at the first town that things started to go downhill for me. I bring up my map and I see merchants, houses to buy, side jobs all crammed into a little tiny map because of the 360's love of HDTVs. The game just feels unfocused to me, so much available to do and nothing that really is all that important outside of the main quest. I like the combat system and would be my favorite RPG system in awhile if it wasn't for my #1 pick.

Mario and Luigi Inside Bowser story : Another game series that I enjoyed that I'm finding myself struggling to play through. My problem is that the fights in ML cross that line between fights being meaningful and fights being too long. I like the idea of effectively having two different parties at your disposal but the fights tend to drag on a lot. Bowser having to fight more than 2 guys is just plain dull as you can only get in one attack at a time. Also I'm not finding the game all that funny, I thought that my inner child has died but then I played Psychonauts and started laughing again so I know I'm good.

Mass Effect: I'm going to say something that I know I'm going to get flamed for, I do not like Bioware RPGS. I've never found their stories to be engaging and I just can't get into their combat systems. This basically gives a few strikes against ME to begin with but for $10 on Steam this past week I decided to bite. First off real time combat in a Bioware game is a godsend for me and it felt good playing a RPG where I can lean around corners to attack. One problem is my party, I feel that the game is asking me to do too much in terms of controlling myself, my skills , my party and my party's skills. Someday I'm going to design an epic Single Player RPG that has an intelligent party system and I can say "take that Bioware!”. So far I just find the entire setting and characters very uninviting to me. I'm finding myself less enthusiastic about games where you basically create the protagonist from scratch.

The Witcher: Having just finished The Witcher I'm preparing a full entry dedicated to it, but so far I have to say that it is one my favorite single player RPGS I've played in awhile . I enjoyed the combat system and how you can fine tune Geralt using the talent points given at each level up. I remember one of my first articles I read from Corvus was about The Witcher and its views on women and I'm not even going to try to refute it. You have to put the fact that every woman in the game is either a sex object or useless in the grand scheme of things in the back of your mind to enjoy the game. I really enjoyed all the little touches of the journal and the fact that most of the choices were not black and white.


I do feel that my time spent with each one has given me ideas about RPGs in general. I see that Bioware's new epic game is doing well and chances are I'll wait for another $10 sale to pick it up, it's not like I have nothing else to play in the meantime.

Josh

P.S I still need to get Brutal Legend at some point