Fable I? Had a pretty good story, gameplay and choices that make for great replay value. Jade Empire is definitely one of the coolest RPGs in that regard, love the different fighting-styles, characters and storylines. The setting is in Old China. Would really recommend this game to you. Like some of the guys said, KOTOR is likely in the TOP 5 of RPGs in the last few years. Plenty of hours, tons of choices, amazing story and atmosphere. Baldurs Gate II, buy it definitely. Can your laptop handle Mass Effect I on medium settings? The Witcher is one of the most underrated RPGs, must buy for fans. Hope that helps, will post some more later.
How did you play Dragon Age? I find that honestly, this is a more important question than whether or not you enjoy the genre. For me personally, having cut my teeth on Baldur's Gate and the ilk, I spend more time with the action paused, contemplating every move; I disable almost all the tactical slots, as I prefer to have total control over the party in order to set up split-second precise combos. If you enjoy tactical pausing and planning, you should definitely look at Freedom Force, and to a lesser extent, its sequel, Freedom Force vs the 3rd Reich. http://store.steampowered.com/sub/1662/?snr=1_4_4__13 This is one of my favorite games of all time, it's got an art style that holds up amazingly well after 5+ years, a charming story, great, hammy voice acting, loads of polish, a great sense of humor, and some of the most satisfying destructible environments I've ever seen. On the other hand, if you prefer to let the computer control the rest of your party and just focus on one character, the port of X-Men Legends 2 on PC might also fit your criteria; the cel-shaded art holds up quite nicely, and while it's more of a beat-em-up, there are definite RPG elements to be found. I really do hope you reconsider your thoughts on picking up BG2 and Planescape:Torment; I think you would be very hard pressed to find anyone who wouldn't take both games over their modern offspring. To this day, I still roll chracters named Bondari.
What I love about Planescape:Torment is that they took out nearly all of the combat that makes up 90% of every other D&D game, and it is still an incredibly rich experience. It may be my favorite PC game of all time.
I played dragon age on my laptop, even though it was laggy as hell. It was worth it even though i didnt get to finish it because the lag became too unbearable near the end. I truly appreciate all the posts in this thread. I think i will check out these games first: jade empire, planescape, xmen legends, and baldurs gate. Question about baldurs gate, why do people list the second one only? Dont i have to play the first to understand the second?
Titan Quest http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/titan-quest-immortal-throne One of the best D2 clones, I'm currently going through it with a friend on LAN/Skype to cure my D3 itch.
I had a copy of Planescape: Torment that I never played. I don't know what I did with it.... and I can't seem to buy it anywhere. Well, I couldn't a few years ago anyway. I bought Jade Empire during Steam's Christmas sale for pretty cheap. I haven't played it yet. It's supposed to be pretty good. For Baldur's Gate, there's : Baldur's Gate Baldur's Gate : Tales of the Sword Coast (expansion) Baldur's Gate II : Shadows of Amn Baldur's Gate II : Throne of Bhaal (expansion) The Icewind Dale series and Planescape: Torment use the same graphics engine as BG does, I think.
http://www.gog.com/ Has Planescape: Torment, as well as BG I+II (plus expansions), Icewind Dale, and a few other good ones. Usually around $10 for the AAA ones, although you can catch them on sale.
You don't really need to play the first one although if you're up for it though, I'd definitely play it as well. The second one is prettier, has more spells, more quests and is generally much much bigger in scope.
For me, Baldur's Gate I is a little difficult to get into easily, simply because you're starting out as a level 1 D&D character; it's definitely doable with a Fighter, but being a level 1 Mage with 4 Hp and 1 magic missile per day is pretty rough. Many of the party NPCs in BG1 show up in some capacity in BG2; you'll run the gamut of having some of them in your party, some of them as love interests, some of them as humorous brief encounters, and even some as the main antagonists in side quests. Ultimately, I found the "game" part of BG2 much more fun, and I'd only recommend BG1 if you love the second.
Forgot about this, have it and it's definitely the best Diablo II clone. Short list: Jade Empire Baldur's Gate II Titan Quest KOTOR Mass Effect I(medium settings should work if you played Dragon Age) Fable I The Witcher
I played this game when it came out and it was considered one of the most underrated games at the time because it arrived with no fanfare. Definitely old school RPG gaming from what I recall. I liked it ... until nearing the end I encountered a game-killing bug. Others finished the game, so maybe it was just me.
[rquoter]Suggestions for PSX or Dreamcast games or whatever are fine as long as I can run it. [/rquoter]
Dod know his RPG's. I would recommend the Witcher 1 and 2. DoD why haven't you played the witcher 2. It is really great, for me the story was a bit less than the witcher one, but the gameplay, and the influence your choices have are amazing. Of course Baldur's gate is great. The graphics might be outdated, but Baldurs gate 2 is an amazing game. Neverwinternight 2 is also nice, just as dragon age 2 (although dragon age 2 was a letdown for me). Guildwars can also be played like a single player game. I did that for some time, I dislike playing online and having stupid 12 year olds ruin the mission, and getting us killed (why does "wait one second" mean "attack the nearest enemy, and by doing that attract a group of 15 enemies we are not ready to handle" in children’s language