Which game has the best magickal fireball explosions?

[Berzee]

Last night I was thinking hard about this most significant of questions. I wanted to play a game where I could be, or have on my team, a magician of immense power who could blow things up. But I couldn't really think of many, at least not near at hand. I hope you will suggest to me the games that allow you to perform the most awe-inspiring feats of magical destruction (if you really want to mention other non-magical games that's alright I suppose, but I'm definitely in the wizardy mood and definitely not in a bazooka-y mood presently =) Some of the ones I considered and discarded are below, with thoughts as to why they cannot possibly compete for the grand prize...

Oblivion takes multiple fireballs per enemy (obviously too wimpy) and the fireballs you throw never look GIGANTIC.

I considered Jedi Outcast/Academy with Force Lightning, which would be pretty good, but even then I know I would spend a lot of time not blowing things up. (The fact that I considered it suggests that it doesn't necessarily need to be fireballs, just massively unfair magical destruction).

Neverwinter Nights 2 would of course let me make a wizard, but D&D is balanced for all classes to be good, which means the fireballs can never be that much better than a sword.

Aesthetically, Dark Age of Camelot's fire wizard spells had some nice noise and flash to them, but of course that has to be balanced as well, so you're a fragile man in a linen robe.

It's not all about flash and noise, though. Some turn-based RPG of yore or modern-day yore would also be fine, but only if it was balanced so that I could destroy veritable armies with a flick of my wrist. (If I sacrifice all other skills in favor of blowin' stuffs up, I hope I will become terrifying).

Magicka gets a bit repetitive since I haven't got anyone to play with, and anyhow that's more in the comedy-bungling-explosions genre than the it's-stupid-that-you-can-summon-THAT-much-fire genre.

...
that's all. =T

Partly I ask this game because I want to play it, but partly also simply because I was surprised that I couldn't think of a promising candidate. =)

[Doesn'tmeananything]

What about this little thing from Neverwinter Nights?

[Heliocentric]

Magicka, the best fireball is the one that lets you turn it into a steam ball.

[Wizardry]

Neverwinter Nights 2 would of course let me make a wizard, but D&D is balanced for all classes to be good, which means the fireballs can never be that much better than a sword.

What the hell am I reading? Have you actually played D&D? I was going to suggest a bunch of D&D games but now I'm not allowed because apparently casting a fireball that can kill a small army is just as good as using a sword.

[Jacques]

Diablo and Sacred would be the obvious games here.

[SephKing]

Does Level 3 IGNI in Witcher 2 count? If so, that gets my vote (from the games i've played)

[agentorange]

[Unaco]

I seem to recall a mod for Oblivion that did scale Magical effects, size, volume etc, of a spell with the magnitude of that spell. Couldn't tell you the name, don't think I actually played much with it, but it could be quite impressive.

[sabrage]

I LOVED Phantom Dust. Speaking of HD remakes...

[Malawi Frontier Guard]

Might & Magic 6 has a lot of crazy AoE-spells. That game allows you to fly around throwing fireballs, and even nuke the entire map with Armageddon.

Also Morrowind allows you to increase spell size by a huge amount if you have the stats for it, filling entire rooms. Unfortunately they don't look very powerful even if maxed out.

[Fumarole]

I know you mentioned you didn't want a bazooka-y example but I still must mention that Aliens vs. Predator (1999) had the best explosions in any game I've played. That they were deformable alone makes them pretty sweet; that they could kill hordes of aliens at once is icing on the cake.

Anyone know of a fantasy game with the same explosion physics?

[Berzee]

What the hell am I reading? Have you actually played D&D? I was going to suggest a bunch of D&D games but now I'm not allowed because apparently casting a fireball that can kill a small army is just as good as using a sword.

Hmm, maybe it plays out differently in different computer games based on D&D. I've played things like Icewind Dale and PS:T and NWN2 and while the fireballs there are fairly good (especially when I had a full party of sorcerers, hahaha)...I don't think I'd class them near the tippy top of simply feeling immensely powerful. It may have something to do with the spells-per-day limit or perhaps the characters I chose...back when I played them I was in a less pyromaniacal mood.

By all means suggest though! Nothing has been disallowed =)

[Berzee]

agentorange, that's one of the strangest videos of a man standing in a corner I ever saw! I've never heard of that game before, hm...curious.

[Wizardry]

Hmm, maybe it plays out differently in different computer games based on D&D. I've played things like Icewind Dale and PS:T and NWN2 and while the fireballs there are fairly good (especially when I had a full party of sorcerers, hahaha)...I don't think I'd class them near the tippy top of simply feeling immensely powerful. It may have something to do with the spells-per-day limit or perhaps the characters I chose...back when I played them I was in a less pyromaniacal mood.

By all means suggest though! Nothing has been disallowed =)

=)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDPqSb_W6zw#t=1m58s

Devastating.

[agentorange]

agentorange, that's one of the strangest videos of a man standing in a corner I ever saw! I've never heard of that game before, hm...curious.

Yeah that's not the greatest video to demonstrate the destructive beauty of that game (the other maps have a lot more structures to devastate), though standing in a corner like that can be a viable strategy. It is surprisingly, considering it wasn't that popular, one of the original xbox games that can be played on the 360. So if you have a 360 I highly recommend, there is no other game quite like it.

[R-F]

Neverwinter Nights 2 would of course let me make a wizard, but D&D is balanced for all classes to be good, which means the fireballs can never be that much better than a sword.

D&D... Balanced...

HAHAH.

Make an evocator and watch as you devastate armies with your spells.

[Peter Radiator Full Pig]

Dark Messiah. Action RPG. One of the trees ends in a fireball that will launch things backwards, with Havoc Physics. Its great gun. Flning orcs off narrow paths is a great hoot.
Morrowind had epic fireballs when they explode. You enchant an item so it explodes with a 50ft radius. Great fun. Or it could be an ice ball, or lightning. Fly through the air raining them down on city guards was the normal way to spend a day in Morrowind. Also, its a much better game than Oblov.

[Unaco]

I haven't played all the way through, and didn't use any magic really when I was playing... But Two Worlds 2 definitely has some quite impressive magic effects. All of the spells you use, you construct, by adding different 'cards' to them. You can end up with balls of pure fire, or fiery rocks that explode... Also, the physics system comes in to play with magic (and all combat).

[pakoito]

Neverwinter Nights 2 would of course let me make a wizard, but D&D is balanced for all classes to be good, which means the fireballs can never be that much better than a sword.

Sword, If it hits, maximum damage 1d6+15~ish + 5d6 in elemental damage, being a superduper unique sword you found and you specced everything on thugging. 3d6+45 + 5d6 on critical. No level needed.

Mage: 20d6 per turn before spell enhacements, 3x120 direct damage best case scenario with 3 maximized delayed fireballs casted while time was stopped lvl ~18.


Number of mages per party has to be capped in most D&D 3.X games because from level 5 they just steamroll with fireball and chain lighting, while lvl1-3 they can Charm Person and Magic Missile for reliable damage. The more mages the more times you can cast it.

[Skalpadda]

Well, not exactly magic, but..