Open ended RPGs?
 

I love the open ended style of gaming. I'm fairly knowledgeable for PC games of this category but I just recently got a PS2 (for karaoke) and am wondering if anyone knows any games of this type for PS2? (PC too if you think I might not know it)

Essentially I'm looking for a single player MMORPG that never ends, never has a final quest. The elder scroll series is pretty close to it, but I want something even more open ended if possible (they all have a main storyline quest). Graphics don't really matter...so long as it's 3D. I also prefer the hovering 3rd person perspective (as opposed to the overhead RTS style).

MMORPGs are essentially perfect for the style I'm looking for with their huge worlds and open endedness, except for the fact that theyre online, not single player, and leveling is usually too slow.

So far Champions of Norrath (for ps2) looks promising. I plan on trying that as I used to play EQ and the nostalgia factor will be nice.

Yea, from what i hear Champions of Norrath still has a pretty strong community so you should pick it up. Maybe get it used at gamestop or someplace similar so you can return it if you don't like it.

The model 7 is the world's most popular open-ended RPG.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/Astro1143/rpg7.jpg

Ziiiiiiiinnnnngggggggg!!!

Sadly, I can't think of any truly open ending RPGs on the PS2. I can think of some that have variety and branching paths, but nothing truly non-linear.

However, if you're looking for action-adventure RPGs/Dungeon Crawler games like Champions of Norrath then there are several other titles in the genre you might like:

• Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance
• Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II
• Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter
• The Bard's Tale
• Champions: Return to Arms

All but the Breathe of Fire game play similar to Champions, BoV is a more strategy based battle system.

There's always Final Fantasy XI. It's a MMORPG. An expansion pack came out recently and another one before it. I believe it still has a sizable community. As of May 16, 2007 the user base was over 500,000.

Just as an aside, am I the only one desiring a truly open single player RPG? I dont get why they dont make more. If anything they seem simpler to make, since you dont have to worry about quality story line so much or balancing missions/quests.

Since the OP requested a strong single player experience I'd say stay away from FFXI. After level 10 it's pretty much impossible to anything without a party.


I don't think you're alone in your search. I think it's just that the format you want these games on doesn't lend itself well to the genre or at least that's what the devs and publishers believe. For open ended content PC gaming has always been home. I don't see that changing anytime soon.

Morrowind is an excellent open-ended single-player RPG. I dumped hours of my life into that game while in the army.

If you can't find anything you like you can always make your own RPG with those RPG makers :p

You will not find what you are looking for on a console unless you look into MMORPGs, where you will have to join parties. Hell, what you are looking for might not even exist on a PC. Games like that don't sell as well as FPS, action and sports games so there is less demand for them, which results in less games of that genre being available. If you want a single player game that's enormous in its scope and don't mind very (very, very) dated graphics, I suggest you get The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall for PC.

http://www.bethsoft.com/images/games...rfall_03-B.jpg http://www.rampantgames.com/blog/upl...all-733422.jpg http://www.miriscusltd.com/daggerfall/daggerfall4.png

Morrowind (ES:III) is better than Daggerfall (ES:II) in the graphics/sound and gameplay department, and while not nearly as large, it is extremely customizable. I have yet to find everything in that damn game.

I never got into Morrowind and found it boring. Oblivion, however, I ate up and invested around 80 hours into it, completing only around 65% of the whole game not counting the two expansions.

EDIT: just remembered about the Fallout series. Give it a try. They do have a main story and they do end, but the gameplay is quite open ended giving you many choices on what to do and how to do it.

I've played Morrowind and Oblivion. Good games. Though I never liked their magic system.

Never played Daggerfall though. Do you know how their combat system is? Unless it's outstanding I don't think the size will make up for the graphics. I hardly need top end graphics but Daggerfall's is just bad.

Ya I keep meaning to play Fallout, just never seem to get around to it.

Gameplay:

I've never played it, personally, but I have heard people say that it is better than Morrowind and much better than Oblivion in the gameplay department. However, both those people are into old school games and into pen and paper RPGs so make of that what you will.

Here's a gameplay video through one of the quests for the Dark Brotherhood:

Fallout I and II are highly recommended.

They're not open-ended by any means, but they're huge and REALLY fun.

For PS2, you should check out Final Fantasy XII. It's basically a Final Fantasy game based off of the Final Fantasy XI "engine" (which was an MMO).

You're going to be hard pressed to find a console game that isn't somewhat linear, but FFXII allows a lot of sidequests and monster hunts that are a good alternative to following the main story.

Loved DaggerFall back in the day. That is the first Elder Scrolls I ever remember playing. I liked morrowind also. But I hear you completely. Why not make more open-ended games? Lmao I was just thinking that today after playing Oblivion. What really pisses me off about most games is the lack of control the owner of the game has. One new game I like is Sins of a solar empire. Most strategy games require you to do missions or basically lead you along a storyline where they designate places for you to go. What I like about Sins is you point and click, the tempo of the game could be faster at times and it would be cool to actually visit the surface of the planet but the point is I have control and several options on how I want to proceed. I send my units to whereever, I can take part in the battle if I want or just do other things while the battle takes place. Love that game, played it for like 3 weeks straight after I bought it.

Grand. Theft. Auto.

Not. Quite.

You could try the Gothic rpgs for the PC. They are about as open ended as the Elder Scrolls games meaning they have a main storyline but you are free to pretty much ignore it if you wish and still find plenty of things to keep you occupied for quite a long time. They are also a bit more 'adult' than the Elder Scrolls series.

Another one to check out would be S.T.A.L.K.E.R. . Though more of an FPS than straight up RPG it offers a rich story and you are free to go almost anywhere anytime you want though there are some areas of the Zone that will eat you alive if you are not properly prepped to be there.

I've played Daggerfall, Morrowind and Oblivion; I only didn't play the first elder scrolls game. And I like pen-and-paper RPG's too. :)

Daggerfall is indeed huge. I've spend months playing the game with one character, and even after all that time, there were still places I hadn't seen. The biggest drawback of the game was that a lot of towns and dungeons were pretty much identical. The graphics were pretty good for the time.

Morrowind is smaller, but looks much better. The game play is quite similar to Daggerfall, but there are not as many side quests (obviously). The identical dungeons problem of Daggerfall was pretty much gone here.

Oblivion is simply beautiful, especially with some of the graphic mods out there. The game is bigger than Morrowind, and has more side quests. The main quest is more obvious here; it "pops up" all over the place. However, you have plenty of time to wander around and do your thing.

One problem that all these games have, is the fact that after a while, they're simply not challenging enough. Eventually you can sneak your way through the most dangerous dungeons, slaying everything with a single blow. Or you can simply run around doing the same; the monsters can’t get through your armor anyway. Or you can cast a few spells that obliterate everything in range (especially in the earlier games), and then pick up the loot.

What are you talking about? GTA is as open ended as it gets in terms of single player. It might not be that RPG elemented, but if you get San Andreas, you have stats to level up. It comes pretty close, but in general if you're looking for open ended outside of an MMO, you can't beat GTA.

Once you complete the missions in GTA, there's not much to do aside from beating personal records (jump distance, rolls, wheelies, etc), and drive around.

Most RPGs mentioned here let you do just that.

Mount and Blade. It is published by paradox. Kotaku has a some info on it and it is in final beta right now. Huge world set in midevil europe. check it out Paradox Interactive - HOME

It is a very quest based game but it doesn't throw you right in the middle of the end of the world

Mount & Blade is good stuff, if you can get around the low production values (it's developed by a husband and wife team). It kind of reminds me of Sid Meier's Pirates!, except taking place on land and having massive army-based combat rather than naval combat. The combat is extremely fun, it's completely action based and unlike anything I've played before.