RPG recommendations

So, recently a friend of mine had this urge to start playing multiplayer RPGs with me. We recently finished a Seiken Densetsu 3 game we started about 2 years ago, yet he was still raring to go for more. I suggested Secret of Mana, but he didn't like it all since he didn't like the controls and the rhythm of the battle system. Secret of Evermore shares also this scheme, and he wasn't attracted that much to the story anyways. I felt there wasn't any multiplayer RPGs left on the SNES he'd want to play (there are some good ones, japanese only, but he doesn't like anything that's not in spanish), so I moved on to different consoles... only to find there weren't really any good variety.

I then moved on to the only logical place left to go: PC games. However, I've always been a console gamer. Sure, I've played a few PC only games before, but I haven't used my PC that much to play anything on it other than 1990's shareware games I found on some old CDs, and console emulators. And my lappy's not that complient with today's computer standards.

So what I mean to ask is for recommendations on some good multiplayer RPGs. NOT MMORPGS. I'm not looking into spending endless hours mindlessly grinding to gain one measly level. Also, if it were a dynamic game and not the typical "clic clic clic clic" kinda game, the better.

If there's a multiplayer game I might've missed for a console emulator that you think we might enjoy, please do mention it. It's hard to find a decent game nowadays.

Ok, so here are my lappy's specs:

Intel Celeron M processor 1.60 GHz
248 MB RAM
Mobile Intel(R) 915GM/PM/GMS/910GML Express Proccessor to DRAM Controller - 2590 (this would be my video card)

I don't really know how to properly capture my specs, heh, but I think that's all the relevant data. Anyways, feel free to drop a line.

hummm ..

The Elder Scrolls series ... Daggerfall was dos but I did see some sites on how to patch it for windows. (Daggerfall == awesome game). Oblivion is the latest in the series but only a few years old you might get it running on your specs.

A classic oldie is Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. very nice game.

Fable (1) is available for PC and may play on your specs. Again I would recommend it.

The best of the best for PC (so far) has to be Dragon Age but I doubt your specs are good enough.

Oblivion would not run on those specs. Morrowwind (the third game in the Elder Scrolls series, and a pretty sweet game) should run fairly smoothly though.

BTW, sorry for kinda off-topic question, but are you sure its 248MB RAM, and not 2048MB? 248 is not only fairly poor, but also I believe impossible. It goes 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048.... (doubles every time)

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SifJar
BTW, sorry for kinda off-topic question, but are you sure its 248MB RAM, and not 2048MB? 248 is not only fairly poor, but also I believe impossible. It goes 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048.... (doubles every time)

Older computers (mostly laptops) which didn't have a dedicated graphics card, took a certain amount of RAM memory to dedicate it as VRAM. This said quantity was substracted from the total RAM memory reported by the system.

Usually the amounts taken for VRAM were 4, 8, 16 and 32 MB, which is also a very low quantity compared to today VRAM standards (256-1024 MB).

For a 256 MB RAM PC, 8 MB of VRAM sounds pretty possible, leaving only 256-8=248 MB of actual RAM available.

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Axel
For a 256 MB RAM PC, 8 MB of VRAM sounds pretty possible, leaving only 256-8=248 MB of actual RAM available.

Still, 256MB of memory is tiny, and is too small to run any semi modern computer. Also, I looked up his video card, and it takes a minimum of 512MB to run.

Well, going back to SNES, I completed Illusion of Gaia on the SNES in two day(approx 12 hrs.) it's a really cool SNES classic with great controls! It's a lot of fun and the story line is easy to follow. I'm moving to Star Ocean or Breath of Fire next, or maybe something else...

Mario and the Seven Stars was good too. Lots of fun, took a long time to beat for me when I was younger...

Come one guys, he said multiplayer.

The Elder Scrolls games, while brilliant, are some of the most anti-multiplayer RPGs ever invented. The console RPGs mentioned are also entirely single-player.

I think some of the Baldur's Gate games for the PC support multiplayer, but I'm not especially familiar with them.

As regards console RPGs, I'm afraid that's pretty much your lot, bar more recent Tales games which permit additional players to control the other characters in battle. This really means the Symphonia games in your case. Also, Final Fantasy VI for PSX (possibly the original SNES version as well, but I'm not sure) allows a second player to control two characters in battle.

There is a multiplayer online RPG which my nephew plays all day long. I think he has even paid for elite account and I dont know what else. I believe it will run under any machine, since I have seen him playing it, and graphics look a bit dated. The game is top view with characters moving around.

It's called Tibia. I believe it is good, because that is everything my nephew does all day long... sigh.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/04/2010 06:51PM by Axel.

Thanks for your suggestions. Unfortunately, I've had some RL problems lately, heh. Haven't been able to really sit down in front of my computer for 2 weeks now.

I think I'll have to consider getting a better computer before taking upon any of these games. I've managed to play some REALLY old 3D games (1999-ish -> 200X ish) before, and since I hadn't explored any of these possibilities since I've never had a good computer to begin with...

Anyways, I'll look into those perhaps when the Christmas vacation period starts. Thanks for your replies.

Well, upon doing some research on your recommendations, it seems that most of the games recommended here aren't multiplayer at all. As a matter of fact, Google spit me out some nasty links regarding the Elder Scrolls series and how some of their fans were pissed off at other people who kept asking for a multiplayer patch and whatnot.

What I asked in my first post was MULTIPLAYER RPGs. You know, games for more than ONE player. Games that can be played online with other friends, but that ARE NOT MMORPGs. PC games and console emulated games... like Diablo for the PC, or Secret of Mana for the SNES.

So far, Baldur's Gate seems to be a good place to start. Haven't played it, but I'll prolly try it out since it seems to be good enough for my horribly low specs. I can get my dad to lend me a more powerful PC, so regardless of my specs, I'd still like to hear out some more recommendations.

Magil, did you at least give any attention to my recommendation?

Well, quoting the website's About page itself [www.tibia.com]:

"Tibia is one of the oldest and most successful massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) created in Europe."

There are many reasons I don't like MMO's. First, there's the incredible ammount of grinding one usually has to go through just to gain a level. While most people would agree that that's what an MMO is all about, I don't like having to spend hours without end wearing down my mouse furiously clicking just to gain a measly level after 16 or more hours of consecutive gaming. There's also the fact that 90% of all MMOs cannot be fully enjoyed (even while being for the most part free) without shelling a few bucks in order to gain some significant advantages over those who do not pay.
Then there's the language barrier factor. I'm looking into playing a game that's 100% in spanish, because I wish to play with two or three of my friends who happen to, unfortunately, only know spanish. As far as my research led me to believe, the game is currently being fan-translated to spanish. God knows when will they release a stable version in spanish.
I just wanna fight side by side for a common goal with a couple of friends, not to prove to a million faceless strangers I'm the strongest virtual personification of myself in the game. We just wanna have fun.

I thank your suggestion, but MMOs are not our kind of thing.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/11/2010 12:35AM by Magil.

Limiting yourself to only translated to Spanish games is very limiting. Why not start of with some English games? Or English versions of games you already know. Then you can learn a bit of English, which is never bad for you.

Limiting yourself to one language makes you just as bad as the French, and you don't want to be like the French right?

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Daid
Limiting yourself to only translated to Spanish games is very limiting. Why not start of with some English games? Or English versions of games you already know. Then you can learn a bit of English, which is never bad for you.

Limiting yourself to one language makes you just as bad as the French, and you don't want to be like the French right?

I'm actually quite proficient in the English language. I don't think I would've mustered the amount of posts I have now if I didn't have such a grasp. The reason I was looking for options preferably in spanish was, as I stated several times in this thread, because of my friends. They know very little english, and one cannot simply go around playing an RPG without understanding what's going on storywise. Even the way they enjoy the game itself might be affected if they don't understand what equipment they're using or the effects of items and such.

I couldn't care less if the game were in spanish, english, or even japanese. That is, if I were playing solo. But when playing something like an RPG with someone else, it is important for everyone to understand what's going on. At one point, several years ago, I tried playing SD3 with them, and tried translating everything as we went along. But I got tired after a while, and so did they. Fortunately, a few years later they released the patch to play it in spanish, and we finally managed to play it.

Regardless, I found a decent game everyone agreed on playing, and we'll be starting our adventure one week from now. So thanks for your suggestions everyone.