Alternatives to a game called "Diablo II"?

Discussion in 'other software & services' started by gracie123, Apr 3, 2006.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. gracie123

    gracie123 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 4, 2005
    Posts:
    397
    Hello Everyone,

    I've been wanting to find a offline game that I can buy or download for my PC that is a role-playing game (RPG) that has items, quests, NPCs (non playable characters) and things like that.

    I came across Diablo II but I am looking for other games if any out there that are like what I mentioned in the first part of my message.

    Can any of you offer some alternatives?

    Thanks so much :),

    Gracie
     
  2. MaB69

    MaB69 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Dec 9, 2005
    Posts:
    540
    Location:
    Paris
    Hi,

    For me Diablo is a Hack'n'Slash not really a RPG.
    I will strongly consider Oblivion as a must to have as a RPG

    Regards
     
  3. Detox

    Detox Retired Moderator

    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2002
    Posts:
    8,507
    Location:
    Texas, USA
    "Dungeon Seige 2" wasn't bad.

    An older but more complicated one that was a LOT of fun for me was "Arcanum; of Steamworks & Magik Obscura."

    There is also an expansion for Diablo 2 called "Lord of Destruction" that adds quite a bit to the game including some new character classes (I think 2).

    In regards to first-person style RPGs, I would definitely recommend "Gothic" and it's sequel. I haven't tried "Gothic 3" yet.

    I would definitely stay AWAY from "Dungeon Lords" though - it seems like it was only 60% finished and the patch didn't do much.

    I would bet Oblivion is excellent - haven't played it but I have Morrowind with both expansions and it's great.
     
  4. gracie123

    gracie123 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 4, 2005
    Posts:
    397
    Greetings MaB69 and Detox,

    Thank you both so much for your replies! :D

    Detox and MaB69: Can the games be played offline?

    I will check out all the games mentioned and if anyone else has any suggestions for a RPG game, please let me know :)

    Thanks,

    Gracie
     
  5. Detox

    Detox Retired Moderator

    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2002
    Posts:
    8,507
    Location:
    Texas, USA
    Yes - Dungeon Seige 2 has both single and multiplayer capabilities; while at least the first two Gothics are single player only. Arcanum is also single player only if I recall correctly.
     
  6. WYBaugh

    WYBaugh Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jan 23, 2003
    Posts:
    122
    Location:
    Florida
    You can also check out the Baldur's Gate I and II, Icewind Dale I and II, Neverwinter Nights and Morrowind.

    Some great old school RPG's can be found at http://www.spiderwebsoftware.com

    Bill
     
  7. gracie123

    gracie123 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 4, 2005
    Posts:
    397
    OK, can I fight monsters on Dungeon Seige 2? Does it have NPCs at like shops, and things like that?
     
  8. gracie123

    gracie123 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 4, 2005
    Posts:
    397
    Thanks very much :D
     
  9. Detox

    Detox Retired Moderator

    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2002
    Posts:
    8,507
    Location:
    Texas, USA
    That's affirmative.
     
  10. gracie123

    gracie123 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 4, 2005
    Posts:
    397
    Detox, that sounds great! I've been wanting to find a RPG like that for sooo long now... lol

    Could you tell me the best choice for a Offline RPG that includes items, NPCs, fighting monsters and such?

    Thanks :)
     
  11. Close_Hauled

    Close_Hauled Registered Member

    Joined:
    Apr 24, 2004
    Posts:
    1,015
    Location:
    California
    I would recommend these too. I am a big fan of the Dungeon & Dragons rules that these games adhere to. It makes learning how to these games a lot easier.

    Of these, I like the Neverwinter Nights series the best. The character movement is really great. During combat, you can actually see your character make realistic moves that match the type of combat. I really love having a character with two swords because of this. Watching him actually block hits with one sword and strike with the other is fun.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neverwinter_Nights

    I also like Knights of The Old Republic and its sequel Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. These games followed the same D&D rules, but you could choose whether to follow the light or dark side, or be neutral. This decision would affect how NPCs (Non-Player Characters) interacted with your character.

    The game play is different too. You can pause in the middle of a fight and choose the next moves that you want your characters to use. You usually control 1 to 3 characters during combat.

    You can also build and modify your own weapons and armor, which is way cool. Again, I like two swords on my character. But you can choose just one, or use one or two blasters.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_of_the_old_republic

    Thief: Deadly Shadows is another favorite of mine. This game is way different in that stealth and planning are emphasized more than slash and dash. The music really sets the mood while you are sneaking around trying to steal stuff to complete your missions. I highly recommend playing it in the dark with headphones on.

    Your primary weapon is a bow. You use speacial arrows with the bow. On arrow is used to snuff out candles accross a room so that you can make it darker. Another arrow has a choking powder that knocks out your enemy. Regular arrows kill, but you better make the first shot count, or the enemy will just be wounded and call out. They also leave behind a blood stain that another enemy might find and alert other guards. So select the right arrows for a mission, and make sure you have enough of each type for the job. Because you can only carry so many in your quiver.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thief:_Deadly_Shadows
     
  12. Firecat

    Firecat Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2005
    Posts:
    8,251
    Location:
    The land of no identity :D
    I recommend Star Wars KOTOR 1 and 2, Dungeon Siege 2, Baldur's Gate series, and of course, the Temple of Elemental Evil (click for a link to a review)
     
  13. lordpake

    lordpake Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 7, 2004
    Posts:
    563
    Location:
    Helsinki ~ European Union
    I second this one. Arcanum is great game too, as is the Icewind Dale series.
     
  14. MaB69

    MaB69 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Dec 9, 2005
    Posts:
    540
    Location:
    Paris
    Oblivion is only offline

    Regards
     
  15. Alec

    Alec Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jun 8, 2004
    Posts:
    480
    Location:
    Dallas, TX
    Gracie,

    When you are looking for RPGs, you may want to keep two questions in mind: 1) How "open-ended" vs "story-driven" is this RPG? and 2) What is the setting and context? RPGs are very akin to books in many ways, so you sort of have to have an interest in the context and setting more so than in other games. The games can also widely vary in how "linear" they are in their storyline and in how much freedom they allow you to pursue your own ambitions. It's a tightrope to walk for the game designers, I'm sure, because a good, well-developed, coherent storyline requires some direction and coercion on their part... yet they should always strive to let you create the character you want to create. Here are some RPG classics... led by the current, latest-and-greatest offering:
    • The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Awesome. Extremely open-ended gameplay. Huge world. Just does things right. Fantasy setting.

    • The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. Good game. Same as above, but not nearly as good as Oblivion (IMHO). Elder Scrolls series defines and sets the bar for "open-ended" gameplay.

    • Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Great game. Good story. Middle-of-the-road in open-endedness. Sci-Fi setting (obviously).

    • Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. Ditto above (but not quite as good, IMHO).

    • Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn. Classic. Fantasy setting.

    • Planescape: Torment. Detailed story. Uniquely strange setting of the "Planescape" universe.

    • Fallout. Another absolute classic. Stylish and witty. Post-nuclear war setting.

    • Fallout 2. Ditto above.

    • Vampire - The Masquerade: Bloodlines. Great game if you ever wanted to be a vampire, even if only a little bit. Highly engaging.

    • Neverwinter Nights. (Haven't played, but often discussed.)

    • Icewind Dale. (Haven't played, but often discussed.)
     
    Last edited: Apr 4, 2006
  16. sosaiso

    sosaiso Registered Member

    Joined:
    Nov 12, 2005
    Posts:
    601
    One that I have been trying lately, even though it's quite an old game, is Ragnorok online. There are free servers if you look. :T
     
  17. Huwge

    Huwge Registered Member

    Joined:
    Oct 21, 2004
    Posts:
    424
    Location:
    UK
    If you want a similar game to Diablo check out Sacred. An expansion came out last year also, should find them cheap
     
  18. Firecat

    Firecat Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2005
    Posts:
    8,251
    Location:
    The land of no identity :D
    Y'know I found that one at the bargain bin, and the price was dirt cheap so I thought it was a bad game.....and now its no longer in the store :(
     
  19. WYBaugh

    WYBaugh Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jan 23, 2003
    Posts:
    122
    Location:
    Florida
    One game I forgot to mention is Divine Divinity http://www.larian.com/divine.php

    This game rocks and is very much like Diablo but with more RPG elements. Not sure where you can find it but you may try Ebay, etc. I know at one time it was packaged with its horrible predecessor Beyond Divinity.

    Bill
     
  20. gracie123

    gracie123 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 4, 2005
    Posts:
    397
    I appreciate Everyone's replies so much!!! :) Thank you all. Now, do any of these games involve any sort of "satanic" material? I am trying to find a game that does not include this.

    Thanks,

    Gracie :)
     
  21. Alec

    Alec Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jun 8, 2004
    Posts:
    480
    Location:
    Dallas, TX
    Yeah, unfortunately many RPG's do include "satanic" material. As I recall, Diablo and Diablo II were pretty bad about that as well. It's not really that the game designers consciously want to promote satanic views or anything, but rather many of the "fantasy" oriented RPG's revolve around the titanic struggles between good and evil; and your character is supposed to be the deciding factor in many cases. So, yeah, it's pretty common that the fantasy RPG's will have a "god of evil" or "evil sorcerer" and his demon underlings that are running amok. In fact, that is pretty much the theme of Elder Scrolls: Oblivion from what I've played of it. I tend to just sort of view this type of game imagery as akin to Greek mythology or something, but I can see how many people would be offended.

    If you want to avoid such concepts and imagery, you're probably better off with one of the Sci-Fi themed RPG's. While they also deal with the struggles between good and evil, it's usually in a far less "religious" context. Jedi vs Sith. People vs aliens / mutants. You won't typically see imagery like pentagrams and demons with horns and that sort of thing (of course, there's always exceptions... Doom was Sci-Fi and was LOADED with satanic imagery, although it wasn't an RPG). Also, you probably will want to avoid the Vampire game, since it's pretty dark as well, of course.
     
  22. gracie123

    gracie123 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 4, 2005
    Posts:
    397
    Hi Alec,

    Oh ok, well that helps me understand more as to why most RPGs include satanic material. However, I have bought Oblivion for PC today. Is there alot of satanism in it like Diablo and Doom?

    Thanks, I'd appreciate a reply from anyone who knows :)

    - Gracie
     
  23. Paranoid2000

    Paranoid2000 Registered Member

    Joined:
    May 2, 2004
    Posts:
    2,839
    Location:
    North West, United Kingdom
    One point to make about Oblivion is that it can be very demanding with regards to system specification - to be able to see it at its best you will need a very high-end system (see Firingsquad: 3D Performance with Oblivion: High-end Cards) so if you have an older system you would be better off with its predecessor, Morrowind (plus its Tribunal and Bloodmoon expansion packs).

    It may also be less objectionable on "satanic" grounds (you have to deal with vampires, werewolves, kwarma, deadra and cliff racers rather than anything related to Christianity) but this is really going to be a personal judgement only you can make. There are for instance religions in the game whose very existence some fundamentalists may have issues with along with magic. It is very open ended in that you do not have to follow the main quest of the game at all, and there are hundreds (if not thousands) of player-made mods for it, which include total conversions like Morrowind4Kids which is unlikely to cause any objections!

    As Alec has said though, near-future/far-future based RPGs would almost surely avoid such issues. The only fantasy RPG I can think of which does not have some kind of "Big Evil Thing" that has to be defeated would be Ultima IV (where your goal is to become an Avatar, eptomising the 8 virtues of honour, honesty, valour, compassion, sacrifice, spirituality, justice and humility) which was released in 1985 and even this had the occasional daemon...
     
  24. gracie123

    gracie123 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 4, 2005
    Posts:
    397
    Hello Paranoid2000,

    Yes, I am noticing that it looks like I won't even be able to play the game. I meet the mininum requirments. I will purchase possibly in the future the game you mentioned called Morrowind along with the other 2.

    But I do thank you and everyone for your replies... also Paranoid2000, thanks for answering about the satanic material in the game. Appreciate it.

    Thanks again everyone,

    - Gracie :)
     
  25. Trooper

    Trooper Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jan 26, 2005
    Posts:
    5,507
    Hi Gracie,

    I am not a fan of RPG type games but more of FPS, (note my avatar). :D

    The best (new) RPG out at the moment it Oblivion. Trust me, you will not regret getting this game.

    Looks as if you have got a lot of good answers here tho. Good luck whatever you decide.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.