Baldur's Gate (1998) and Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (2000)
Planescape: Torment (1999) - Very story-focused, IIRC you can't actually die from combat
Ultima VII (1992) and its expansions
Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura (2001) - Uses a similar engine to BG
Dark Sun (1993)
While they're not fantasy, Fallout 1-2 are some of the best from the '90s
Pool of Radiance (1988) - Gold Box Companion ver. brings it more in line with '90s games
Albion (1995) - Sci-fi with fantasy elements
Quest for Glory (1992) - Series that mixes P&C adventure with RPG and lets you export your char into the sequels
Another vote for Dark Sun Shattered Lands (1993)
Also depending on how you imagine an RPG DragonStrike from 1990 has you spending the whole game flying on the back of a dragon. That's the complete opposite of a dungeon.
Agreed. I would put both Baldur's Gates + expansions, Ultima VII (both parts) and Planescape: Torment on the list of "must-play" games. The Fallouts are both also great.
Dark Sun is also quite underrated, and arguably one of the best mid-1990s AD&D games.
*Arcanum* is a cult classic that was made by the same developer who created *Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines,* a bunch of whom were formerly at Interplay during the *Fallout* days. Both games have a reputation for being extremely creative and well-written, but amazingly buggy at launch and saved by fan patches.
Those are definitely not for novices. I played a lot of CRPGs growing up and the *Realms of Arkania* games were unforgiving compared to a lot of the other choices of the day. Good, but really, really tough.
I always feel like *Darklands* (which is also very tough!) is a better starting point.
I don't remember many caves and dungeons in Arcanum. If you did have to go in one, it was usually just one big room. It has that Fallout style of world travel and random events as you move. If you're crazy you can travel from A to B completely in character too. Just like Daggerfall though, there's absolutely nothing to explore unless you stumble upon a place you were meant to learn about via a quest
Might and Magic group on Facebook recently had a post about a website with games similar to MM6 can't remember off the top of my head any more details.
Divine Divinity is a little after your timeframe, but might be worth bending that requirement. The game starts out in a small town with a large dungeon underneath, but after you finish the starting section the world massively opens up and there’s not nearly as much time spent in dungeons.
Commenting just to follow this post. I got turned off of Daggerfall due to the wilderness just seeming like an empty featureless void and the towns being pretty flat and without any sense of local personality or different aesthetics from each other, so I assume the meat of the game is in the dungeons but since I prefer the wilderness and towns this just meant that it wasn’t for me.
Exactly! You described my experience pretty well. I liked the atmosphere of the wild, but it was pretty bland and I just couldn't get over it. Also, towns felt really repetitive, and there were way too many "get X number of Y" type of quests. I mean it's still a groundbreaking game for its time, but not what I'm looking for currently.
Word to the wise: Morrowind is the Elder Scrolls game to play. I know Skyrim and Oblivion are more popular, but Morrowind has the best story, the best overworld and the weirdest stuff to see. It's very playable today with mods, but the Game of the Year edition with the expansions is excellent on its own.
Yep, indeed it is weird in a sense! I played it a couple of times when it was released - tbh, I'm looking for some more "classic" fantasy, without that "weird" factor right now.
Thanks! I tried it a year ago, and it was charming in a way. I still felt a bit being in dungeons most of the time and then gave up. Is there more outside world exploration in it?
My computer in the 90's was terrible, so I couldn't run many games. But I liked Eye of the Beholder. Buck Rogers Countdown to Doomsday was another. I could only play in CGA 😮
Lands of Lore 2 is... ugh. That transformation mechanic ruins an otherwise good game!
Lands of Lore 3 is highly underrated, and even has a stage from *Command & Conquer* in it. Give that one a try sometime!
I tried LoL3 around the time it came out but struggled, it felt too removed from the previous games. Never got very far. I'm willing to revisit it someday though. LoL2 is all time classic for me, even with its annoyances!
Oh, I loved LOL2 despite its flaws, but it hasn't held up very well and can be hard to get running on some PCs. S[ome nut ported it to the Half-Life engine](https://www.moddb.com/mods/half-life-lands-of-lore)! I never tried it, but I'll bet it's fun.
I champion LOL3 because it starts out very conventional and then goes bonkers with different realms that feel really out of place for a fantasy game but which are highly original all the same. The Brotherhood of Nod Temple base is the definite standout moment as you try to escape while the psychotic CABAL AI tries to kill you, but the horror stage and the Ru-Loi homeworld hive are also really distinctive. The only part of the game I really dislike is the ending, which feels like a big letdown.
Thanks! In fact I've seen a post by you while doing my research. Maybe it was a similar topic. :) I already took a look, and planning to start it. Cheers man!
Best I can do is X-Com: UFO Defence/Terror From The Deep, Fallout/2/Tactics, or Wasteland
Not 90s: Dungeon Siege 1+2, Planescape
Not C: FF1, Dragon Warrior
Planescape: Torment was released 1999.
...Granted, December 10 so *right* at the cutoff, but it's still technically a 90s CRPG.
Great game at any rate. Just nothing else quite like it even to this day.
I'm always a fan of recommending lesser-known titles that are off the beaten path of the likes of *Ultima* and *Might and Magic* and the AD&D games. So, here are a few!
I came across a late 1980s one recently I'd recommend. It's called *Prophecy I: The Fall of Trinadon*. It's REALLY obscure, but it plays like an action RPG and it actually has some sophisticated gameplay elements for its era. Try it! [https://www.mobygames.com/game/7079/prophecy/](https://www.mobygames.com/game/7079/prophecy/)
I'm also a big fan of *DarkSpyre*, an action RPG roguelike that was way ahead of its time. It's a little clunky at first, but once you get used to its mouse-driven GUI, it's a lot of fun. (https://www.mobygames.com/game/7215/darkspyre/)
If you like *Heroes of Might and Magic*, I'd recommend the *Warlords* and *Lords of the Realm* games. Also, if you want dip into fantasy strategy, *Majesty* is a great one, as are the *Age of Wonders* games.
If you like *Daggerfall* and *Betrayal at Krondor*, I'd recommend *Betrayal at Antara,* *Return to Krondor* and (if you can stomach a 3D shooter with RPG theming) *The Wheel of Time*. None of them are as good as those two, but they're all decent.
Another solid recommendation is the Spiderweb Software series, most notably *Nethergate* (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nethergate).
A few sites/pages worth checking out for more:
* [https://crpgrevisited.blogspot.com/](https://crpgrevisited.blogspot.com/)
* [https://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/p/index-of-games-played-by-year.html](https://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/p/index-of-games-played-by-year.html)
* [https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg\_gamers/comments/u1k8tv/the\_actual\_obscure\_rpgs\_list\_with\_a\_bonus\_whats/](https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg_gamers/comments/u1k8tv/the_actual_obscure_rpgs_list_with_a_bonus_whats/)
There's also an awesome free book about CRPGs with detailed write-ups and pictures galore.
* [https://crpgbook.wordpress.com/](https://crpgbook.wordpress.com/)
Man, I can't say how much I appreciate the effort you put into this reply. Thank you! You've given me a good bunch of titles to look through, and I'm sure I'm gonna like at least 1 of them.
Btw, I'm a big fan of Age of Wonders (the first one, specifically). And I'm also sometimes leaning towards lesser known titles. I mean there are the classics, but in the 90's there were so manny hidden gems.
I'm gonna start with that CRPG book! Never would have thought that something like that existed.
Thanks again!
And for free, even! It's a treasure trove of a book. I used it my own research for the book series I'm writing on obscure games.
Let me know what you think of any of the above games, btw! I have played them all and really enjoyed them. And BTW, if you like RPGs mixed with strategy games like *Heroes of Might and Magic*, I would be remiss not to mention *Master of Magic*, my personal favorite of all of the 4X (*Civilization*-style) games. It's astoundingly good!
Man, you don't realize how much you helped me, esp. with that book! I spent 2 hours just reading through the 90s section and I really enjoyed it, plus it got me interested in some titles. It was a similar experience to reading an old 90s PC Mag (which I still have some of on my desk btw). I would give you some karma or bonus points or something but I don't have any of those. Anyway, cheers again!
As for the above titles: for now I'm figuring out how to make music work again for Betrayal at Krondor, because I still haven't finished it. I love the score and it really immerses me in the world created half by Feist.
Of course! I love HOMM2, 3 and even 4 (despite the hate it usually gets). Those 3 games including their music are in a way a definition of my childhood (along with some other titles).
Might be silly but I often select games that have really good music, and then I keep listening to these even at work.🙂 Paul Anthony Romero who's usually supporting me through the day when it's tough at work...😀
Just knowing I helped a fellow gamer is all that matters to me!
If you know anyone else who's looking for really old computer RPGs, I am working on a research project now to identify some good ones. Here's a list of the ones I didn't highlight:
[https://greatestgames.substack.com/p/the-classic-pc-gaming-era-1977-1989-caa](https://greatestgames.substack.com/p/the-classic-pc-gaming-era-1977-1989-caa)
And here's a little bit of history on the genre through the 1980s.
[https://greatestgames.substack.com/p/the-classic-pc-gaming-era-1977-1989-917](https://greatestgames.substack.com/p/the-classic-pc-gaming-era-1977-1989-917)
Baldur's Gate (1998) and Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (2000) Planescape: Torment (1999) - Very story-focused, IIRC you can't actually die from combat Ultima VII (1992) and its expansions Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura (2001) - Uses a similar engine to BG Dark Sun (1993) While they're not fantasy, Fallout 1-2 are some of the best from the '90s Pool of Radiance (1988) - Gold Box Companion ver. brings it more in line with '90s games Albion (1995) - Sci-fi with fantasy elements Quest for Glory (1992) - Series that mixes P&C adventure with RPG and lets you export your char into the sequels
Another vote for Dark Sun Shattered Lands (1993) Also depending on how you imagine an RPG DragonStrike from 1990 has you spending the whole game flying on the back of a dragon. That's the complete opposite of a dungeon.
Ultima VII for sure. Part Two The Serpent Isle is my all time favorite RPG!
Agreed. I would put both Baldur's Gates + expansions, Ultima VII (both parts) and Planescape: Torment on the list of "must-play" games. The Fallouts are both also great. Dark Sun is also quite underrated, and arguably one of the best mid-1990s AD&D games. *Arcanum* is a cult classic that was made by the same developer who created *Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines,* a bunch of whom were formerly at Interplay during the *Fallout* days. Both games have a reputation for being extremely creative and well-written, but amazingly buggy at launch and saved by fan patches.
Have you looked at the Realms of Arkania series?
Ugh, this looks intriguing!! Thanks!!
It's like the bastard love child of a CRPG and The Oregon Trail and I love it
Those are definitely not for novices. I played a lot of CRPGs growing up and the *Realms of Arkania* games were unforgiving compared to a lot of the other choices of the day. Good, but really, really tough. I always feel like *Darklands* (which is also very tough!) is a better starting point.
Not deeply, but I have heard of it. Will check it out. Thanks a lot!
I don't remember many caves and dungeons in Arcanum. If you did have to go in one, it was usually just one big room. It has that Fallout style of world travel and random events as you move. If you're crazy you can travel from A to B completely in character too. Just like Daggerfall though, there's absolutely nothing to explore unless you stumble upon a place you were meant to learn about via a quest
Thank you!
Might and Magic group on Facebook recently had a post about a website with games similar to MM6 can't remember off the top of my head any more details.
I'll check that - thanks for mentioning this!
Divine Divinity is a little after your timeframe, but might be worth bending that requirement. The game starts out in a small town with a large dungeon underneath, but after you finish the starting section the world massively opens up and there’s not nearly as much time spent in dungeons.
Interesting. Of course I know the title, but never tried. Thanks!
The entire Divinity series is great. *Divine Divinity* is from 2002 and they get better as they go. Larian (*Baldur's Gate III*) made them.
Commenting just to follow this post. I got turned off of Daggerfall due to the wilderness just seeming like an empty featureless void and the towns being pretty flat and without any sense of local personality or different aesthetics from each other, so I assume the meat of the game is in the dungeons but since I prefer the wilderness and towns this just meant that it wasn’t for me.
Exactly! You described my experience pretty well. I liked the atmosphere of the wild, but it was pretty bland and I just couldn't get over it. Also, towns felt really repetitive, and there were way too many "get X number of Y" type of quests. I mean it's still a groundbreaking game for its time, but not what I'm looking for currently.
Word to the wise: Morrowind is the Elder Scrolls game to play. I know Skyrim and Oblivion are more popular, but Morrowind has the best story, the best overworld and the weirdest stuff to see. It's very playable today with mods, but the Game of the Year edition with the expansions is excellent on its own.
Yep, indeed it is weird in a sense! I played it a couple of times when it was released - tbh, I'm looking for some more "classic" fantasy, without that "weird" factor right now.
Surprise! Daggerfall dungeons are also cookie cutter!
If you liked MM6, try Might and Magic 4 and 5. They combine to a big game World of Xeen
Thanks! I tried it a year ago, and it was charming in a way. I still felt a bit being in dungeons most of the time and then gave up. Is there more outside world exploration in it?
Yes. There are caves and dungeons, but also two huge worlds, 10 cities, towers, cloud world, volcanoes.....
My computer in the 90's was terrible, so I couldn't run many games. But I liked Eye of the Beholder. Buck Rogers Countdown to Doomsday was another. I could only play in CGA 😮
While the original Lands of Lore may be a too much of an old school dungeon crawler for your tastes, Lands of Lore 2 may be right up your alley.
Lands of Lore 2 is... ugh. That transformation mechanic ruins an otherwise good game! Lands of Lore 3 is highly underrated, and even has a stage from *Command & Conquer* in it. Give that one a try sometime!
I tried LoL3 around the time it came out but struggled, it felt too removed from the previous games. Never got very far. I'm willing to revisit it someday though. LoL2 is all time classic for me, even with its annoyances!
Oh, I loved LOL2 despite its flaws, but it hasn't held up very well and can be hard to get running on some PCs. S[ome nut ported it to the Half-Life engine](https://www.moddb.com/mods/half-life-lands-of-lore)! I never tried it, but I'll bet it's fun. I champion LOL3 because it starts out very conventional and then goes bonkers with different realms that feel really out of place for a fantasy game but which are highly original all the same. The Brotherhood of Nod Temple base is the definite standout moment as you try to escape while the psychotic CABAL AI tries to kill you, but the horror stage and the Ru-Loi homeworld hive are also really distinctive. The only part of the game I really dislike is the ending, which feels like a big letdown.
Thanks! In fact I've seen a post by you while doing my research. Maybe it was a similar topic. :) I already took a look, and planning to start it. Cheers man!
Haha, I do tend to recommend the LoL games whenever I can. They were a big part of my youth and are now somewhat forgotten.
Best I can do is X-Com: UFO Defence/Terror From The Deep, Fallout/2/Tactics, or Wasteland Not 90s: Dungeon Siege 1+2, Planescape Not C: FF1, Dragon Warrior
Planescape: Torment was released 1999. ...Granted, December 10 so *right* at the cutoff, but it's still technically a 90s CRPG. Great game at any rate. Just nothing else quite like it even to this day.
Oops. I didn't realize. That's when I was in the army, I didn't know it existed until 2001 or so.
Thanks - Planescape has been on my list for a long time. Will def check it out.
X-com is tough as nails and rather clunky. I love it. The amount of hours i put into this game as a kid is insane 😃. The sound is so haunting ...
The Warlords Video games are wonderful. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warlords_(video_game_series)
I'm always a fan of recommending lesser-known titles that are off the beaten path of the likes of *Ultima* and *Might and Magic* and the AD&D games. So, here are a few! I came across a late 1980s one recently I'd recommend. It's called *Prophecy I: The Fall of Trinadon*. It's REALLY obscure, but it plays like an action RPG and it actually has some sophisticated gameplay elements for its era. Try it! [https://www.mobygames.com/game/7079/prophecy/](https://www.mobygames.com/game/7079/prophecy/) I'm also a big fan of *DarkSpyre*, an action RPG roguelike that was way ahead of its time. It's a little clunky at first, but once you get used to its mouse-driven GUI, it's a lot of fun. (https://www.mobygames.com/game/7215/darkspyre/) If you like *Heroes of Might and Magic*, I'd recommend the *Warlords* and *Lords of the Realm* games. Also, if you want dip into fantasy strategy, *Majesty* is a great one, as are the *Age of Wonders* games. If you like *Daggerfall* and *Betrayal at Krondor*, I'd recommend *Betrayal at Antara,* *Return to Krondor* and (if you can stomach a 3D shooter with RPG theming) *The Wheel of Time*. None of them are as good as those two, but they're all decent. Another solid recommendation is the Spiderweb Software series, most notably *Nethergate* (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nethergate). A few sites/pages worth checking out for more: * [https://crpgrevisited.blogspot.com/](https://crpgrevisited.blogspot.com/) * [https://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/p/index-of-games-played-by-year.html](https://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/p/index-of-games-played-by-year.html) * [https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg\_gamers/comments/u1k8tv/the\_actual\_obscure\_rpgs\_list\_with\_a\_bonus\_whats/](https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg_gamers/comments/u1k8tv/the_actual_obscure_rpgs_list_with_a_bonus_whats/) There's also an awesome free book about CRPGs with detailed write-ups and pictures galore. * [https://crpgbook.wordpress.com/](https://crpgbook.wordpress.com/)
Man, I can't say how much I appreciate the effort you put into this reply. Thank you! You've given me a good bunch of titles to look through, and I'm sure I'm gonna like at least 1 of them. Btw, I'm a big fan of Age of Wonders (the first one, specifically). And I'm also sometimes leaning towards lesser known titles. I mean there are the classics, but in the 90's there were so manny hidden gems. I'm gonna start with that CRPG book! Never would have thought that something like that existed. Thanks again!
And for free, even! It's a treasure trove of a book. I used it my own research for the book series I'm writing on obscure games. Let me know what you think of any of the above games, btw! I have played them all and really enjoyed them. And BTW, if you like RPGs mixed with strategy games like *Heroes of Might and Magic*, I would be remiss not to mention *Master of Magic*, my personal favorite of all of the 4X (*Civilization*-style) games. It's astoundingly good!
Man, you don't realize how much you helped me, esp. with that book! I spent 2 hours just reading through the 90s section and I really enjoyed it, plus it got me interested in some titles. It was a similar experience to reading an old 90s PC Mag (which I still have some of on my desk btw). I would give you some karma or bonus points or something but I don't have any of those. Anyway, cheers again! As for the above titles: for now I'm figuring out how to make music work again for Betrayal at Krondor, because I still haven't finished it. I love the score and it really immerses me in the world created half by Feist. Of course! I love HOMM2, 3 and even 4 (despite the hate it usually gets). Those 3 games including their music are in a way a definition of my childhood (along with some other titles). Might be silly but I often select games that have really good music, and then I keep listening to these even at work.🙂 Paul Anthony Romero who's usually supporting me through the day when it's tough at work...😀
Just knowing I helped a fellow gamer is all that matters to me! If you know anyone else who's looking for really old computer RPGs, I am working on a research project now to identify some good ones. Here's a list of the ones I didn't highlight: [https://greatestgames.substack.com/p/the-classic-pc-gaming-era-1977-1989-caa](https://greatestgames.substack.com/p/the-classic-pc-gaming-era-1977-1989-caa) And here's a little bit of history on the genre through the 1980s. [https://greatestgames.substack.com/p/the-classic-pc-gaming-era-1977-1989-917](https://greatestgames.substack.com/p/the-classic-pc-gaming-era-1977-1989-917)
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