iconomy, I find that games such as you like are best suited to the console, really. I played FFVIII on the PC and it was ... awful. For anything requiring lots of moving, hacking/slashing/jumping/etc I have never found a keyboard/mouse combination to be as effective as a console-type game controller. Most of the PC games I play tend to be thoughtful type games (like the Myst series), turn based strategy games (like the Civilization series), city-building games (Sim City or Caesar/Pharaoh types). I really haven't found a lot of games for the PC out there of the type I know you like for the console. I don't know if you've got a PS2 or not, but I *know* if you do you'd dig Dragon Quest VIII if you haven't already played that game (PLUS it's got a playable demo disc of FFXII included!!!)

Now there *are* RPG's for the PC, but I haven't played many of them. I loved Neverwinter Nights, however, and would recommend that game without reservation. And even though it's an MMORPG, Guild Wars is fantastic. You only pay for the game itself--no further recurring online fees are charged, though you would pay for any expansion packs that come out--the graphics are incredibly gorgeous, and the music is some of the best game music I've ever heard. Period. Guild Wars is what broke my addiction to World of Warcraft--I don't feel I *need* to play the game for X hours per month to justify the monthly fee. :-)

When *is* Twilight Princess coming out??

One good Zelda-like game for the PC is Beyond Good and Evil... Ancel, who designed Rayman 2 (also good) did an excellent job making a control scheme for this sort of game that works on the PC. And it's just a cool game.

Another you might check out is Psychonauts, by the fabulous ex-Lucasartite Tim Schaefer.

BG&E is available on Gametap if you don't feel like buying it.

(Actually, you can get it for the Cube too, so there you go.)

Wolfdaddy, did you see the NWN writing contest? You should do that... then when you're a rich and famous bioware writer you can comp us all sorts of games. Seems like the bunny thing to do, to me.

Holy crap, wolfdaddy, I was going to tell you that Twilight Princess was coming out in the beginning of April (that's what I've been hearing and have been told at GameStop) but I just looked on the GameStop website and now it says June....Jaysus. We've been waiting....what, a year now? This better be damn good is all I can say. It's the only reason I still own a Game Cube... ;)

Thanks for the recommendations! I don't know if I want to play a game that involves being part of an online thing though. I'm more of a solo player. selfnoise, I'm looking at Psychonauts and Beyond Good and Evil right now - they both look promising! I think I might buy BG&E.

My PS2 broke about 6 months ago, and no, I've never played DQ VIII, but you just convinced me to go buy a used PS2...hee. I have to have that game now, and of course play the demo of FFXII, which I thought I had convinced myself that I didn't care about. But I do!

How "good" of a computer do you have iconomy?

Vampire - The Masquerade: Bloodlines is a 1st/3rd person RPG. Good looking game, is a bit older so it shouldn't need the latest & greatest vid card. Decent multi-branched story. The combat isn't too twitch-action and many situations can be resolved without combat. I highly recommend this game, even if you aren't into the whole "Vampires & Goth & Eyeshadow" thing.

If you have an older computer, the Baldur's Gate series is nice, but the D&D aspect might throw you off.

Planescape: Torment is another older game. Fantastic story line, and the D&D aspect doesn't get in the way of the game. Highly highly recommend. This is one of those "classic" games.

I've been playing Psychonauts and it's a pretty cute RPGish adventure game. I've heard good things about Indigo Prophecy too. I've been told that the Jedi Knight series is pretty good, but I didn't like Jedi Academy. Far Cry is a little Tomb Raider-ish, but it's pretty shooting heavy.

I'm not sure how good it is, but I just bought it last week, so it's probably good enough. Wow I can't wait to check all of these out...so excited! Thank you! I'm really liking the looks of Planescape: Torment, and I just saw it about 2 hours ago at Target....hmmm...that might be the one. I picked it up and put it back about 10 times ;)

Torment is totally awesome, with the only caveat being that it's a D&D RPG and so is saddled with somewhat awkward combat. That said, you don't need to actually fight that much.

Oooh - definitely pick up a copy of Torment. You might have some problems installing it and getting it to run under Windows XP, though. You can email me if you run into probs. It's definitely worth playing. The guy who does Pinky's (from Pinky & the Brain) does the voice of (one of) your companions. It's a delicious game... hmm, might have to re-install my copy. There's an unofficial mod/hack/add-on where you can improve the graphics (ups resolution - it is a game that's long-in-the-tooth), I think.

These days, the CPU is usually "good enough" for modern games, it's a matter of your video card. If you don't know what it is, you can <right click> on your desktop, click the tab on the farthest right (settings) and about halfway down the window it'll say: Display: (Your Monitor) on (Your Videocard).

Planescape Torment is great - but really dark (theme-wise)and involves lots of reading. So keep that in mind.

Divine Divinity is an awesome game and I recently saw it at Target bundled with another game for under ten bucks.

Here's the 1.11 Patch for Planescape, some unofficial add-ons, and the Planet Baldur's Gate Planescape: Torment resource.

Seems like there (was) an effort to port Planescape to the Neverwinter engine but it doesn't look like it went anywhere. =(

If your computer can handle it, how would Knights of the Old Republic strike you? One of my all-time favorite roleplaying games. It gets a little tedious in spots, but don't they all? Great storyline.

NWN is fun, but the campaign that comes with the basic game wasn't very fun, imo. And this is the thread that has finally convinced me to play Planescape.

Real tattoos of the Symbol(s) of Torment

Holy crap, wolfdaddy, I was going to tell you that Twilight Princess was coming out in the beginning of April (that's what I've been hearing and have been told at GameStop) but I just looked on the GameStop website and now it says June....Jaysus.

They pushed it back to JUNE!? Dammit, and I still thought they were releasing it in March. It better be Ocarina of Time good, is all I'm saying.

I was at Gamestop today, and there were mutterings that perhaps Twilight Princess would be released ... on the Revolution system. DAMN YOU NINTENDO if this is true. I've already vowed not to buy a 360 or a PS3 for a long time and you're FORCING me to get a revolution for your Nintendo-only games. Just port Mario and Samus and Zelda to other systems already and rake in that phat ca$h.

I must add my support for Psychonauts. Apparently only three people bought the damn game: me, kevspace, and Gamespot. It is, flat out, the funniest damned game I have EVER played. And I played Lucasart games back in the day when THEY were Robert-Frost-pigeon funny! I am also absurdly proud of my Tim Schafer-signed Psychonauts poster that says "helicopters move sideways, too, but not as fast as airplanes".

Sam and Max Hit the Road and Grim Fandango come to mind, now, too.

Only played a little of Psychonauts, maybe I'll play a little deeper into it.

I was at Gamestop today, and there were mutterings that perhaps Twilight Princess would be released ... on the Revolution system.

Shut up!

taz I just read about the NWN writing contest and ... I dunno. I don't think I could limit myself to 3500 words when telling an epic story of a man, another man, and the magical swords that unite and then divide them.