The CRPG Addict: Recent Comments

Recent Comments

1 comment:

Dan2September 2, 2019 at 3:44 AM
Hello Chet, I´m looking forward to your thoughts on Spellcraft and Magic Candle 3. I hope that professorship isn´t keeping you up too late each night.
Happy playing.
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I welcome all comments about the material in this blog, and I generally do not censor them. However, please follow these rules:

1. Do not link to any commercial entities, including Kickstarter campaigns, unless they're directly relevant to the material in the associated blog posting. (For instance, that GOG is selling the particular game I'm playing is relevant; that Steam is having a sale this week on other games is not.) This also includes user names that link to advertising.

2. Please avoid profanity and vulgar language. I don't want my blog flagged by too many filters.

3. Please don't comment anonymously. It makes it impossible to tell who's who in a thread. Choose the "Name/URL" option, pick a name for yourself, and just leave the URL blank.

4. I appreciate if you use ROT13 for explicit spoilers for the current game and upcoming games. Please at least mention "ROT13" in the comment so we don't get a lot of replies saying "what is that gibberish?"

Also, Blogger has a way of "eating" comments, so I highly recommend that you copy your words to the clipboard before submitting, just in case.

I read all comments, no matter how old the entry. So do many of my subscribers. Reader comments on "old" games continue to supplement our understanding of them. As such, all comment threads on this blog are live and active unless I specifically turn them off. There is no such thing as "necro-posting" on this blog, and thus no need to use that term.

As of January 2019, I will be deleting any comments that simply point out typos. If you want to use the commenting system to alert me to them, great, I appreciate it, but there's no reason to leave such comments preserved for posterity.

I'm sorry for any difficulty commenting. I turn moderation on and off and "word verification" on and off frequently depending on the volume of spam I'm receiving. I only use either when spam gets out of control, so I appreciate your patience with both moderation tools.

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Recent, Current, & Upcoming

Shape Shifter (1992)
Fantasyland 2041 (1981)
Forgotten Island (1981)
Bandor II (1992)
Deadly Towers (1986)
Mirai (1987)
---> Camelot (1982)
---> Challenge of the Five Realms (1992)
Realms of Arkania: Blade of Destiny (1992)
Dungeons of Avalon II (1992)
Morton's Fork (1981)
Ragnarok (1992)
B.A.T. II (1992)
Planet's Edge (1991)

See a Google spreadsheet with my master game list. See this posting to discuss the list, and see this posting to discuss games that are missing or mysterious.

See a Google spreadsheet with all game rankings so far.

Current figures:

347 games played
266 won (77% / 86% of winnable)
45 not won (13% / 14% of winnable)
33 not winnable (10%)
3 in progress (1%)

My Most Important Sources and Associates

MobyGames: The most comprehensive game database on the Internet.

The Museum of Computer Adventure Game History: Descriptions, screenshots, manuals, box covers, and more.

Wikipedia's list of role-playing video games

The Adventure Gamer: Like me, but for games that didn't quite make it to RPG status.

Digital Antiquarian: Like me, but with a broader scope and better writing.

CRPG Adventures: Slower than me, but more thorough.

CRPG Revisiting old classics: Stuck it out with some of the games I bailed on.

The RPG Consoler: You know how you always wish I would play console RPGs too? Go here instead of complaining.

The Data-Driven Gamer: Many of the same titles from a more quantitative perspective.

The Map is Completed: A blog for strategy RPGs.

Super Famicom RPGs: English commentary on mostly-Japanese games.

The Rules

Read the original posting explaining this blog and this posting to understand the current playing order.

1. I am following a list of CRPGs in chronological order derived from several sources, including Wikipedia, MobyGames, GameFAQs, and contributions from readers. I am going in chronological order on two sections of the list: a) all RPGs in the 1990s, and b) non-PC RPGs that I missed during my first four years of blogging when I played only games released for DOS.

2. To appear on my play list, a game must be a a) single-player RPG released for a personal computer, and b) in a language that uses a Latin alphabet. Console games do not appear on my playlist unless they also had PC releases during their original release schedule (generally within 2 years of the console release). Exceptions made and ambiguity resolved at my discretion.

3. My definition of "RPG" requires the game to have three core criteria: 1) character leveling and development, 2) combats based at least partly on attribute-derived statistics, 3) inventories consisting of something other than just puzzle items. If I reach a game on my playlist and it lacks one of these items, I may mark it as "rejected" and skip it.

4. I can reject independent and shareware RPGs if they are clearly amateur efforts with no innovations or accolades attached to them.

5. I cannot use cheats. I cannot look at FAQs or walkthroughs until I have finished playing, or unless I'm so stuck I literally can't progress otherwise, in which point I can look up a hint for my current situation only.

6. I don't have to win every game, but I must play for at least six hours.

Game Superlatives

Highest Rated So Far:

Ultima V
Ultima VI
Pool of Radiance
Ultima Underworld
The Dark Heart of Uukrul
Curse of the Azure Bonds

Might & Magic I

Wizardry VII

Might & Magic II
Disciples of Steel
Champions of Krynn
Death Knights of Krynn
Hero's Quest: So You Want to Be a Hero
Starflight II
Starflight
Omega
Wasteland
Ultima IV
Wizardry VI

Longest Played:

Fate: Gates of Dawn
NetHack 3.0 series

Wizardry VII

Knights of Legend

Disciples of Steel
Rogue
Wizardry V
Moria [4.873]
The Magic Candle
Pools of Darkness
Might & Magic II
Might and Magic III

Highest Rankings by Category:
(When multiple games tie, I've chosen the one with the highest overall rating)

Game World: Starflight
Characters: Wizardry VII
NPCs: Ultima V
Encounters: Pool of Radiance
Magic/Combat: Pool of Radiance
Equipment: NetHack 3.0 series
Economy: Ultima V
Quests: Might & Magic I
G/S/I: Ultima VI
Gameplay: Ultima VI

Games of the Year:

1979: Dunjonquest: The Temple of Apshai
1980: Rogue
1981: Wizardry
1982: Dungeons of Daggorath
1983: Exodus: Ultima III
1984: Adventure Construction Set
1985: Ultima IV
1986: Starflight
1987: Dungeon Master
1988: Pool of Radiance
1989: Hero's Quest: So You Want to Be a Hero
1990: Ultima VI
1991: Might and Magic III

Chet's "Must Play" List
Play these games if you want to get a full sense of the history of computer RPGs (current through my current year).

Dunjonquest: The Temple of Apshai (1979)
Akalabeth: World of Doom (1980)
Rogue: The Adventure Game (1980)
Ultima (1981)
Wizardry (1981)
Moria (1983)
Ultima III (1983)
Questron (1984)
The Bard's Tale (1985)
Phantasie (1985)
Ultima IV (1985)
Wizard's Crown (1985)
Might and Magic (1986)
Starflight (1986)
Dungeon Master (1987)
Pool of Radiance (1988)
Ultima V (1988)
Wasteland (1988)
NetHack 3.0 Series (1989)
Hero's Quest (1989)
Ultima VI (1990)
Eye of the Beholder (1991)
Fate: Gates of Dawn (1991; first act only)
Might and Magic III (1991)
Ultima Underworld (1992)
Darklands (1992)