Computer role-playing games, better known as cRPGs, are a staple genre in the PC gaming world. With strong narratives, deep dialogues, and oftentimes strong philosophical themes, titles of this kind are fantastic story-driven experiences that modern RPGs can seldom replicate.
Though we’ve all heard of all the best cRPGs over the years, from Fallout 2 to Divinity: Original Sin, to even Baldur’s Gate 3 as the most modern (and best) of them all, I’d like to point out some games from the turn of the century that you might have missed (or have simply not touched in a very long time).
Table of contents
The best cRPGs to quench your thirst for amazing stories
I’ve tried to select games that aren’t all too popular or talked about in the current zeitgeist, moving my focus away from the biggest names in the industry.
While a couple will sound quite familiar to you ,given Larian’s 2023 masterpiece, I’m pretty sure you’ve never actually played them, or knew which studio developed them before moving on to becoming the industry’s most beloved studio (and most hated, eventually).
Planescape: Torment
Developed by Black Isle Studios and written by the genius Chris Avellone (former chief creative officer of Obsidian, senior designer of New Vegas), this 1999 title is often regarded as one of the best games of all time.
Set in Dungeons and Dragons‘ Planescape campaign, Planescape: Torment follows The Nameless One, a cursed individual who wakes up at Sigil, the central city of the campaign’s multiverse. Throughout the game, he can join various factions, explore several other planes of existence apart from Sigil itself, and uncover more about his past life and memories.
The gameplay is standard real-time DnD combat like in other cRPGs of the time, where each attack rolls a die behind the screens to determine whether or not you’ve landed a hit. But where this game truly shines is not in its action-packed set pieces. Rather, much like many of its ilk, Planescape: Torment contains an incredibly powerful story, packed with impeccable novel-level writing and philosophical discussions, with one of the game’s first and central questions being, “What can change the nature of man?”
Talking with other characters is such a joy in this title, and though much of it lacks proper voice acting (a common theme even today), you’re going to be well-immersed in the world of Planescape and its gritty, dark, and haunting story.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines
A game all too relevant these days, what with the sequel coming 20 years too late and with too many issues (such as Paradox planning to charge you 30 extra bucks to play all its vampire clans), Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines is nevertheless one of the most exciting and best-written cRPGs ever.
Built unconventionally on Valve’s Source engine and released in 2004, VTMB follows a new vampire initiate navigating the streets of the US West Coast and brushing shoulders with the universe’s Camarilla, a secretive vampire society upholding high standards. It was developed by the now-defunct Troika Games, co-founded by Tim Cain (now one of the chief developers at Obsidian).
The game is based on White Wolf’s Vampire: The Masquerade tabletop RPG, itself set in the World of Darkness tabletop. The player can be a member of one of several vampire clans, each with unique characteristics, which adds a ton of depth to the world, the game, and to replay value.
Due to being developed on Source, it runs on practically anything these days without a hitch, while unofficial community patches make the game feel shiny and fresh all these years later, allowing you to experience what is arguably the best writing in a game, ever. Each character comes straight out of a highbrow fiction novel, with dialogues and full voice acting that are unmatched even by today’s most expensive titles.
Though the game falters in its later sections as a result of rushed development and production woes, VTMB is truly a complete experience, with role-playing opportunities being almost infinite.
Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura
Troika Games also worked on and developed games in other settings, including this weird steampunk-fantasy hybrid called Arcanum. The world of Arcanum is going through the end of its industrial evolution, but as opposed to our own reality, magic and sorcery are colliding with technological advancement, producing a very intriguing and interesting setting.
This game, as opposed to VTMB, is not a first-person title, but rather maintains that isometric cRPG perspective that many similar games of the time used, including Fallout. The character creator is very in-depth, allows you to pursue either technological or magical interests, and explore the world in various ways, all of which are influenced by your role-playing.
Since it’s a Troika game, the writing is impeccable, but its use of older tech means running it today is a bit more of a chore, so be sure to check out community posts on Steam that’ll help get you set up. There is also a ton of community-made content, including maps and stories, which you can explore after you’ve cleared the main game, which itself has a ton to offer.
Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2
While BioWare was still an innovative studio and knew what it was doing, it worked on and produced Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2, a pair of incredible cRPG achievements that moved the genre forward in more ways than one. With a dark story, serious characters and tone, and a library of content that’d fill your entire year, both of these games are revolutionary for the genre, and ones you shouldn’t miss at any cost.
If you have played Larian’s iteration on the Baldur’s Gate formula, the story of the first two games will strike you as quite familiar, that is if you’ve chosen the Dark Urge character background. I won’t spoil it too much, but it has a lot to do with Lord Bhaal, his underground cult in the city of Baldur’s Gate, and your being his descendant who must resist the urge at all costs.
Both games are continuously tied to each other, meaning that beating the first one allows you to transfer a character to the second and simply continue the story. The gameplay is isometric, character-oriented, with the possibility of commanding massive parties of cohesive characters (since evil characters will hate good ones, and vice versa).
Steam luckily sells enhanced and remastered editions of these two cRPG gems, so you should make sure you get those so as to avoid playing jankier, messier, and all-around less fun versions.
Like our content? Set Destructoid as a Preferred Source on Google in just one step to ensure you see us more frequently in your Google searches!
The post If you’re looking to scratch that cRPG itch, these are the ones you should definitely try appeared first on Destructoid.
