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Hey all. Recently scooped up Just Cause 2 from Steam, hearing that it was pretty good. Even got a metascore of 84.

Man. Holy crap. What a freaking waste. Apart from joyriding and asploding the odd military base with minimal effort from the safety of a gunship (Provided you can dodge SAMs well enough), there is -nothing- to do. No clubs, no side interactions with the populace, no minigames, aside from 'races' (which are really just 'beat the clock' affairs), no anything. I didn't think a game could be worse than GTA IV but... day'um.

Anyway, I own Oblivion, I own FO3, and I've got M&B:W. Anyone else know of any other good "Sandbox" RPGs? If so, tell me a bit about your choice

You won't find many other sandbox RPGs, so consider looking into more action-oriented sandbox games. Prototype is fantastic. The story is a bit half-arsed but it's insanely fun once you get the ability to drive tanks and bisect entire crowds of mooks with a single attack.

It gets really hard later in the game when the military brings out crazy stuff like Supersoldiers and constantly patrolling helicopters.

It's not an RPG, but it's a ridiculously fun sandbox with a lot of very challenging 'events' around Manhattan, from killing with specific powers to Parkour circuits.

Surely there's something. Or at least a very open-ended RPG. I'm looking for a game where I can step off the storyline and just explore some if it gets dull. "Sandbox" might not be the best way to put it. "Free Roaming" would be a bit better. I'm not looking for a true sandbox, as they usually skimp out on things like enterable buildings and interaction with non-storyline characters. But I do want something with a sort of "Sandbox" feel to it.

metallifan wrote:Surely there's something. Or at least a very open-ended RPG. I'm looking for a game where I can step off the storyline and just explore some if it gets dull. "Sandbox" might not be the best way to put it. "Free Roaming" would be a bit better. I'm not looking for a true sandbox, as they usually skimp out on things like enterable buildings and interaction with non-storyline characters. But I do want something with a sort of "Sandbox" feel to it.

Red dead redemption isn't an RPG but it does have a lot of enterable buildings and more interaction with non-storyline character than GTA IV. Also what's with the GTA IV hate?

If you dont like Just Cause, you probably wont like Prototype, it has more minigames, though they mostly involve beat the clock type challenges as well.

Maybe check out the Gothic series? Gothic 3 seems like a good game, but the engine has major performance issues.

Otherwise you might have to cast your gaze back in time a bit, Morrowind was grat, in imo far better than oblivion, despite all the bugs, going back even further I heartily recommend Arcanum if you dont mind the graphics/gamestyle...really depends what your after in a game, I personally thought Oblivion/FO3 were a step backwards for their respective series in everything but graphics, and havent played Mount and Blade, so cant comment

If you jump into Neverwinter Nights, there are a plethora of Persistent Worlds, which are the creations of various server creators who made DnD worlds to their liking, and if you read up on some of them, you could find a very enriching and engaging storyline to follow.

Problem is is that I don't know what kind of support NVN has from the community anymore and/or if anyone still plays.

del'Vhar wrote:If you dont like Just Cause, you probably wont like Prototype, it has more minigames, though they mostly involve beat the clock type challenges as well.

Maybe check out the Gothic series? Gothic 3 seems like a good game, but the engine has major performance issues.

Otherwise you might have to cast your gaze back in time a bit, Morrowind was grat, in imo far better than oblivion, despite all the bugs, going back even further I heartily recommend Arcanum if you dont mind the graphics/gamestyle...really depends what your after in a game, I personally thought Oblivion/FO3 were a step backwards for their respective series in everything but graphics, and havent played Mount and Blade, so cant comment

Mount and Bade: Warband is glorious, but sometimes I want to follow a story rather than make one. It's a true Sandbox. No main quest. Just make your own path. I want a Free roaming RPG like Oblivion, where it's got a sandbox-sized map, but it's still story driven.

I played the first Gothic years ago. It was pretty good, and I was looking at Gothic III, but it only got a 66 on Metacritic. They're usually pretty accurate, and anything under 70 never seems a good idea.

I don't mind going back in time a bit. Hell I still play AoE II over most newer strategy games. But that's kind of a given, no?

Anyway, that's kinda what I'm looking for. I might check out NWN. I've looked at it before, but I thought it was an MMO so I never bought it.

As Del`vhar said, Arcanum is just epic and provieds a good take on steampunk RPG. And Neverwinter Nigths are also worth trying out.

del'Vhar wrote:
Maybe check out the Gothic series? Gothic 3 seems like a good game, but the engine has major performance issues.

Other way around, Gothic 3 was a piece of ass, 1-2 are awesome though. And we'r soon getting a spiritial succesor ( Arcania).

But all in all, Sandbox RPG's are crap if you ask me, unless you count the old school games like Fallout 1-2, Arcanum, Planescape:torment etc. as sandbox too but I doubt that.

Like I said, I'm not looking for a true "Sandbox". Just more of a "Freeroaming" RPG (Maybe I should change the thread title, hm?) You know, Sandbox-type world, but with all the features and functions of a traditional RPG. Interation with the populace, a main story that you can progress through whenever you feel like it, sub-plots, all the good stuff. An "Oblivion-esque" game, to put it simply.

If you don't mind waiting a few months, Fallout: New Vegas is out in October, already got me a preorder!

P4NC4K3 wrote:If you don't mind waiting a few months, Fallout: New Vegas is out in October, already got me a preorder!

You mean Fallout: milking this with hardly anything new. When I saw the first gameplay of Vegas I was pissed at how it looked exactly the same.

But seriously, IMHO this generation sucks RPG wise.

I -was- excited about it.

Until it turned out to be nothing more than an expensive expansion pack. I might pick it up, simply because it'll be a breeze to convert existing mods over for use with NV. Still, after the complete Gak-pile that FO3 was on release, I'm not too optimistic. The fact that most of the bugs in FO3 were fixed by an unofficial fan patch, rather than Bethesda's own efforts, has me pretty disheartened about any future releases from them. New Vegas being one of them.

metallifan wrote:I -was- excited about it.

Until it turned out to be nothing more than an expensive expansion pack. I might pick it up, simply because it'll be a breeze to convert existing mods over for use with NV. Still, after the complete Gak-pile that FO3 was on release, I'm not too optimistic. The fact that most of the bugs in FO3 were fixed by an unofficial fan patch, rather than Bethesda's own efforts, has me pretty disheartened about any future releases from them. New Vegas being one of them.

I heartily agree, thumbs up for you

I dunno. It just bugs me that Bethesda also later took that fan patch and relabelled it as an "Official Bethesda Release", then basically said "STFU bout this or we sue yous all lolololol we hav moar munniez n bettr lawyrz than u!!!!1!!!one!!5!"

I wanna try and stay away from them. Sigh. Hopefully we'll see something good in the near future.

I've pretty much given up on single player RPG's.

I'm just enjoying Diablo and it's clones by playing with friends.

Agree with some of the others on here that you need to be looking back. NWN is pretty cool, working my way through the expansions atm, but morrowind is the dog's. Far prefer that to oblivion, been playing that on and off for a long time now, and hardly touched the main quest.

Yea. I'm thinking Baldur's gate series might be a good run. Bioware is godly. And Edmonchukian

The Elder Scrolls are...daunting to say the least. Some of the most expansive and imaginative worlds you may ever encounter.

fallout 3 is my fav open rpg

assultmarine wrote:fallout 3 is my fav open rpg

I feel sorry for you

But seriously, if you haven't yet, go get fallout 1 and 2.

Baldur's Gate should be fun.

I'd stay away from New Vegas... its being done by Obsidian.

I'm hoping Obsidian actauilly manages to make a great game instead of an "almost" great game for once with regards to New Vegas, plus Chris Avellone and Feargus Urquart (sp?) are involved, so I have high hopes for the story if nothing else.

At any rate I doubt it can disappoint me as much as FO3 did

I am actually playing what I would suggest right now...

Morrowind. Heresy you say?

Graphics and fighting and sound? Horribly outclassed by Oblivion.

Morrowind however, has alot more endlessness, the thing is so freakin' huge. There are countless quests. My level 52 ork wasn't even halfway through the game. >.>

You can levitate, and the magic is just all around better. The combat is a little dry, though you can get spears, halbers, and crossbows.

I love playing it, I even play Oblivion less than morrowind. Never tried any mods, though there seem to be quite a few more from what i've heard. Albeit, a few of them being a little petty.

monkeytroll wrote:Agree with some of the others on here that you need to be looking back. NWN is pretty cool, working my way through the expansions atm

I agree with the others who put this game out. I've never played it myself, but a bunch of friends have recommended it to me.

Unrelated: Where did you get that avatar?

I don't know any good free roaming rpg's myself, but if you want a good story driven RPG, KOTOR. Hell, even KOTOR 2 if you want.

Soladrin wrote:But seriously, if you haven't yet, go get fallout 1 and 2.

Will they run on Vista though?


I'm on a horse. I'm on a phone. SWAN DIVE!

Well, my fallout collection case says they will, but you know, that's just a case, can't tell for sure as I'm still on XP for a while yet
And just to be sure, I'll throw another vote for morrowind in

GES - that's one of my char's from Eve

I've played fallout 1-2 and tactics (fun game, not so big on RPG though, it's like squad based fallout 1-2 with pretty fixed missions) on Vista and 7, so should be fine