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|
John Cletheroe's
Role-Playing Games Reviews |
I have no connection whatsoever with any of the programs listed, other than as a normal user of them.
Suggestions for additions to this page are very welcome, as are reports of broken links. You can email me using the link at the bottom of the page.
Some of the programs listed here can be played online, for which an unmetered Internet connection with no automatic timeout is effectively essential. Some of the online programs involve large file downloads, for which a broadband connection will be very highly beneficial.
Some of the programs listed are payware.
Some games offer you quests, possibly as standalone events or as part of the overall plot.
The fighting element may range from purely symbolic in two dimensions through to fairly realistic in three dimensions. Therefore some RPG's might be considered somewhat violent, although none of the programs listed on this page involve any gruesome depiction of violence.
Common themes for RPG's are fantasy, historical, or science fiction.
AI - Artificial intelligence. Characters, factions and other behaviours which are controlled by the program in a way that simulates one or more other human players.
Experience Points - (often abbreviated as EXP or XP) - Points which are accumulated as the player's character wins battles, achieves goals, etc. In most games the player's character is advanced to higher levels upon reaching certain numbers of experience points, see "Level Up".
HP - Health Points or Hit Points, a measure of a character's health. Characters with more strength, greater experience, etc, have a higher maximum number of hit points. As characters are wounded in battle (etc) they lose hit points. In most cases a character will be killed if their hit points diminish to zero. In some cases characters may become less powerful or lose some capabilities as their hits points decline. In almost all games hit points can be recovered by resting, taking medicine, or in fantasy games by the application of a healing spell.
Level Up - The advancement of a character to a higher level, usually when they have accumulated sufficient experience points (XP). In most cases reaching a higher level awards some attribute points which the player can distribute as they desire to parameters such as strength, skill, intelligence, etc.
Mana - A term often used in RPG's with a fantasy theme for a character's spell-casting strength. Mana is usually depleted when a spell is cast, and may be restored automatically with time or by various other means.
Melee - A combat between two or more people at close range, using weapons such as swords.
MMORPG - Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. A variant of the RPG concept in which numerous players control characters in the same virtual world, connected via the Internet to one or more servers and competing against each other, forming alliances, etc. Apart from technical issues such as server performance and bandwidth, the MMORPG genre also tends to suffer from the fundamental problem of experienced players immediately defeating inexperienced newcomers.
Mod - Modification - a variation of the basic game, using the same fundamental engine but with different characters, settings and plots. Mods are often created by players. Some are offered as freeware, others are payware. Many RPG's allow mods but not all. Also, in a different context, "mod" can mean "moderator", a person who monitors and controls postings to a forum.
MP - Mana Points or Magic Points. A measure of a character's spell-casting strength.
NPC - Non-player character. Any character controlled by the program.
Ranged Weapon - A weapons which is thrown toward the enemy, or which fires a projectile at the enemy, and which is therefore used when the enemy is some distance away. Examples include bows and arrows, javelins and guns.
RPG - Role-Playing Game. Also in a military game context, rocket propelled grenade. Also in a data processing context, report program generator.
SP - This abbreviation can have any one of a variety of meanings in different games, including special points, speed, spell points, strength points and style points.
XP - See Experience Points.
| HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |
http://www.wesnoth.org (external link verified Nov-07)
Category: 2D, fantasy. Download and install (64,566KB). Freeware.
Violence depiction: Symbolic and extremely mild.
Overall plot: Yes, several to choose from.
Quests: Yes, as part of each overall plot.
Mods: Yes, in the form of the various overall plots which are available.
Online: http://www.mochiads.com/games/caravaneer (external link verified Jan-08)
Category: 2D, science fiction, non-fantasy. Download and install (9596KB) or play online. Freeware in both cases.
Violence depiction: Symbolic and very mild.
Overall plot: Yes.
Quests: No.
Mods: No.
Caravaneer is set in a post-apocalyptic desert southwest of the USA and/or Mexico. You have to transport goods between towns in order to make a living, while building up your wealth and party numbers and doing battle with the bandits.
The game has a few minor bugs and spelling errors. While is it somewhat repetitive and defeating bandits is often extremely difficult, the game is made much more interesting by virtue of its overall plot.
Hints: Use the saved games slots in a rotating sequence, enabling you to recover should the bandits defeat you. Build up your party numbers whenever possible but make sure everyone has sufficient weaponry.
Category: 2D, fantasy. Play online free of charge.
Violence depiction: Symbolic and very mild.
Overall plot: Unknown.
Quests: Unknown.
Mods: Unknown.
This appears to be a fairly straightforward game but it may have hidden depths that I haven't yet discovered.
Category: 2D, fantasy. Download and install (7920KB). Freeware. Currently (Jan-08) in public beta testing.
Violence depiction: Unknown.
Overall plot: Unknown.
Quests: Unknown.
Mods: Unknown.
This game involves extremely detailed and complicated operation. It is therefore only likely to appeal to hardware RPG fans. A brief manual and a full tutorial are included.
| HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |
http://www.taleworlds.com (external link verified Jan-08)
Category: 3D, medieval, non-fantasy. Download and install (V0.903: 126,125KB). Payware with free demo. Currently (Jan-08) in public beta testing.
Violence depiction: Relatively realistic but certainly not gruesome.
Overall plot: Not at the moment. The final version might have an overall plot added.
Quests: Yes.
Mods: Yes, numerous.
Creator: TaleWorlds.
While Mount And Blade is being beta tested, the full payware version can be purchased at a reduced price. This entitles you to download all further versions. Beta versions are published in two forms, a stable version which has been tested and which is always available, plus tentative newer versions which may be available from time to time and which are not guaranteed to be bug-free.
In Mount And Blade you travel between towns, all of which are fully realised in three dimensions and around which you can walk. In the towns you can trade goods and visit the nobility and other characters in order to be given quests. Outside towns you can talk to allies and do battle with enemies. The battles are performed in three dimensions and you will need to learn the skills of using various medieval weapons and controlling your horse.
The sight of your party riding into battle on horseback is most impressive.
Hints: Take time to fully explore this huge game. Try playing with various different goals.
Suggestion: If you only try one RPG, choose this one.
Category: 3D fantasy MMORGP. Download and install program, then run it to play online. The client program and access to normal gameplay are free. There are optional additional in-game equipment, etc for which a real-world charge is made.
Violence depiction: Unknown.
Overall plot: Unknown.
Quests: Probably.
Mods: Unknown.
Creator: NGD Studios.
This is an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game), i.e. an RPG in which numerous real human players cooperate and compete, communication being via the Internet. According to some descriptions there is also an option to play purely against the computer but I have not yet found this.
The download file for the program is 350MB and a considerable amount of additional data is downloaded after it is installed. Operation is generally extremely vague. The web site does not provide much information regarding operation. Although there is an option within the game to display instructions, for me it is inoperative. The program has some rendering and other bugs, for example the player's character can easily accidentally fall off the edge of the world. This leads me to suspect that the program might be at a relatively early stage of development. The current version number is V0.9, implying that it is indeed at the pre-release stage.
When a new player is created, there are the usual choices of faction, race, gender, facial style, hair style, hair colour, etc. There are choices of faction, race and character type (warrior, mage, archer, etc).
To proceed, left-click on a character in order to communicate with them. The majority of characters at the start are computer-controlled and will tell you what to do. Starting as a Syrtis Alturian archer, I had to shoot a number of wolf cubs, report to a village, then proceed through a forest to another village, exchange some items between two computer-controlled characters, then teleport to a city. Beyond that, instructions ceased and I was left to wander around, discovering some more towns and a long structure resembling the Great Wall of China but with no idea of what to do next. The starting sequences for the other choices of player character are probably similar.
This page has been visited times since 23-Jan-08.
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Most recently modified 8-Jun-08