Best 2D RPGs

[hexagonalbolts]

Hey all,

The recent post on Neo-Scavenger got me hungering for some more super-detailed 2D RPG. What can you recommend? Are there any other more recent 2D RPGs? Has anyone tried 'The Unreal World' that Adam links to in the article?

Fallout 2 has to be one of my favourite games of all time. Not necessarily RPGs, but the absurd detail of Dwarf Fortress and the turn-based-tactical fun of Battle for Wesnoth are both great examples of the qualities I'm interested in. Anything to do with survival would be great as well.

[Icarus]

Possibly committing heresy here, but Final Fantasy 6 and Chrono Trigger rank up there as some of the best 2D RPGs I've ever played. Plus, of course Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, with BG2 having a strong showing for being my favourite game of all time.

[spcd]

Baldur's Gate + the sequel + exp pack Throne of Baal - The best RPG's ever made imo. But I guess you know these already? Before playing you should check out what mods to use. It's possible to play BG1 using the engine of BG2. And you will need the widescreen mod if you want a better resolution.

These games are not turn based; but internally they do work turn based (do I make sense?). You have to pause the game and give your party members commands etc...

You mentioned Dwarf Fortress, so I guess you don't mind ASCII graphics. There are many roguelikes with very deep gameplay. Nethack, ADOM, ... Just google for roguelikes.

You can do so much stuff in these games, it's unbelievable. In Nethack you can train your pet to steal items from a shop. If you are starving you can kill and eat your pet if you want. I'm no expert in these games, but I liked to mess around with them a long time ago.

[Wizardry]

By 2D do you mean top down? Because some of the best 2D RPGs are first person.

[hexagonalbolts]

Possibly committing heresy here, but Final Fantasy 6 and Chrono Trigger rank up there as some of the best 2D RPGs I've ever played. Plus, of course Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, with BG2 having a strong showing for being my favourite game of all time.

Baldur's Gate + the sequel + exp pack Throne of Baal - The best RPG's ever made imo. But I guess you know these already? Before playing you should check out what mods to use. It's possible to play BG1 using the engine of BG2. And you will need the widescreen mod if you want a better resolution.

These games are not turn based; but internally they do work turn based (do I make sense?). You have to pause the game and give your party members commands etc...

You mentioned Dwarf Fortress, so I guess you don't mind ASCII graphics. There are many roguelikes with very deep gameplay. Nethack, ADOM, ... Just google for roguelikes.

You can do so much stuff in these games, it's unbelievable. In Nethack you can train your pet to steal items from a shop. If you are starving you can kill and eat your pet if you want. I'm no expert in these games, but I liked to mess around with them a long time ago.

I tried Baldur's Gate 2, and probably only played it for around an hour, but it felt so clunky and old by comparison to, say, Fallout 2 or Planescape Torment which still feel so incredibly fresh despite their age. I would rather like to give Final Fantasy 6 a go though.

[MrN]

The Geneforge series is good, as is Avadon. All are throwbacks to CRPGs of the early 90s. Good times.

[Kelron]

I tried Baldur's Gate 2, and probably only played it for around an hour, but it felt so clunky and old by comparison to, say, Fallout 2 or Planescape Torment which still feel so incredibly fresh despite their age. I would rather like to give Final Fantasy 6 a go though.

That's a strange thing to say. Baldur's Gate 2 is newer than both of those games, is slightly friendlier to newer systems (though they all run fine and at decent resolutions with some tweaking) and has a better interface. I suppose you could be referring the settings, with BG2's perhaps seeming like generic fantasy in comparison, but it's still a well written game and the setting has a huge amount of lore and history to draw on.

[Voon]

I second Chrono Trigger. If you have a DS (or emulator), go with it. That and the DS Dragon Quests. Dragon Quest V would be the best DQ on it. Unless you're willing to spend far more than just 20 hours, DQ7; which takes about 100 hours minimum to finish. It's just as good as V. Maybe better.

That aside, the first Fallout was excellent. Wasteland too, maybe. The dungeon crawlers such as Wizardry VI, Nethack abd Diablo are definately worth a look. If anything else, Bastion (though, it's more hack&slash than RPG imo)

[TailSwallower]

The Geneforge series is good, as is Avadon. All are throwbacks to CRPGs of the early 90s. Good times.

This. There aren't many 2D RPGs that have come out since the halcyon days of the late 90s, so chances are you've heard of them all in the decade+ since, but you might not have heard of Spiderweb Software's output.

[pmeus]

The Unreal World is excellent. It takes a while to get used to the keyboard shortcuts etc. but then it's really good. I usually get tired after a few days of playing, but I start again every couple of months. Plus - there are new features every now and then. Really worth checking out.

But if you're not afraid of old games, abandonware etc. try Ultima VII: The Black Gate. It's THE game of my childhood and I simply love it. The story is excellent, there are tons of side-quests but it's also very open-ended. Actually, I thin I have never finished it. I usually just traveled around the world gathering stuff and exploring. You can find your old companions or new friends and they can join you in your journey. The graphics are very detailed and so is the whole world. You can pick every thing you can find (but beware, someone might notice and call you a thief) food, weapons, drinks, and tons of other stuff that is or isn't useful. You can bake bread, boil potions, hunt for food, order drinks, rent a room (and you actually get a key :), get a carriage, buy a ship, find a magic carpet, get in trouble and land in jail (from which you can escape) and many, many more. I truly think the possibilities are endless.
This is probably the most detailed, in-depth RPG world I have ever played.

Check it out on Abandonia: http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/10...lack+Gate.html
I think the easiest way to run it these days is using Exult: http://exult.sourceforge.net/

EDIT: Sorry for the necro-post. But it's for the greater good of humanity.