Aerich and all fellow adventurers!
About to finish up the expansions of IWD and wondering what could be next- what would best be worth my time in the "old" CRPG's. I'm limited by a 500mhz processor and an 8mb AGP 3D video card. Should I move on to IWD II or back to Baldur's Gate, or something else? Looking forward to your experienced opinions!

If you liked IWD 1 you will like 2. It's pretty much the same. Lot's of fighting. Too much for my taste actually. Have you played Baldur's Gate 1 or 2? If you played the first one, then I strongly suggest that you move on to SoA and then ToB.

Well I think you should go with IWD2. It is actually quite a bit different than the first one, and has new challenges, a new ruleset, and more fun. Once finished with that then I would suggest BG1 and if you like it then BG2. There are many other options which you could go for which I could list here, but those 3 games will take you a few months to do. Don't be like me and have loads and loads of games sitting around waiting to be finished, it's too much of a distraction ;)

<font color = mediumspringgreen>Charles,

Though I haven't played it (yet) I have heard from so-o-oo many people that BG1 is excellent. (I have acquired BG1 and intend to play it... er... sometime next year: I am one of those wayward folks to whom RoSs_bg2_rox refers.)

IIRC, Planetscape Torment uses the same gaming engine as BG/IWD. I have not played it; but have never heard anyone who played it say anything other than it was excellent.

An old but excellent game that is a bit of a blend between roleplay and squad tactics is Myth and Myth II. These games are awesome physics-based squad combat, where terrain and even weather affects combat in a D&D setting. Good graphics, great gameplay and storyline, sprinkled with excellent cutscenes (back when cutscenes were cutting-edge). Squad members (Swordsmen, Archers, Journeymen, grenade-slinging Dwarves, and others) who are killed are lost forever; but the ones who survive gain experience, making your next assignment easier (but not easy). Check your operating system for compatibility: I think these are Win95 games that I think I got to play on Win2000 or NT (forget which). Don't know how you'd fare on '98 or XP.

</font> --------------------<font color = mediumspringgreen>
What's a party,
without a song?
Bards ROCK!
Party On!!
</font>

I would suggest Planescape:Torment for a change of pace. BG2:SoA AND the BG2:Throne of Bhaal expansion would be a close second, assuming that you have completed BG1 and the TotSC expansion. Otherwise, I would complete the BG1 series before starting the BG2 series.

<font face="Verdana" size="3" color="#00FF00">All are good sugestions!!!

As well if you are looking for something similar out of fantasy genre some
futuristic sci-fi recommendations you may enjoy are:

Fallout
Fallout 2
Fallout: Tactics (Basically the IWD of the Fallout series)

</font>

[ 10-05-2004, 11:47 AM: Message edited by: pritchke ]

Good additions pritchke. [img]smile.gif[/img] Fallout should be available for next to nothing and Fallout 2 is equally good. Fallout:Tactics is okay, but not great.

Charles,

Thanks for your elevated opinion of my gaming expertise; it is unfortunately misplaced. My CRPG experience is fairly limited, as I spent (and spend) quite a bit of time on turn-based games - Heroes of Might and Magic 1-3 and Disciples 2. Additionally, I usually concentrate on one or two games at a time, and therefore don't have a particularly extensive collection.

From what I know, however, the suggestions here are good. IWD 2 is worth a look, and the BG series deserves all the accolades it gets.

My gaming buddy recommends Fallout and Planescape, as well as Neverwinter Nights - however, NWN may be out of your system's league.

Master of Magic is anyway the best. ;)

Planescape Torment would be my suggestion - In this game you can actually role play your character, and solve quests that are different form "fetch me this" or "eradicate enemy". Also the story line is really good (unusual and weird but good).

Also, have you ever tried Adventures? Try to get some old Lucas Arts adventure like "Day of the Tentacle" or "Sam and Max" or any game from the Monkey Island saga (Number 2 being my favorite). Also "The Longest Yourney" is pretty amazing and they should all run on your PC (my Laptop is simillar).