mr dave

No. It really isn't Maybe someday, but I find some of the core philosophical differences in the design to be detrimental to the experience. Basically they took away the Player's ability to actively develop their character, all leveling up does is unlock the next predetermined step in a 60 step tutorial on a particular class' skill set. The Player is essentially expected to grind through the exact same content at least 3 times over just to 'start' the real game.

For me the best game of all time is Chess. It's never the same thing twice and it's a great way to learn about how another person thinks and behaves - who plans ahead and who can analyze a situation and react on the fly etc. I find it really interesting to play a match against someone who I thought was cool and level headed only to hear them get mouthy and sullen if they find themselves in a trap or lose a key piece.

As for a favourite series, Fallout would definitely be up there. I personally quite enjoyed Fallout Tactics though a lot of purists found it lacking. It's apparently possible to complete Fallout2 without firing a single shot or melee attack (doping the President to death with Super-Stims doesn't count as an attack hahaha). I did make it to the final boss but couldn't defeat him.

Though personally my top video game series / franchise is Neverwinter Nights



The original NWN wasn't the first title to bring the 3rd edition DnD rules to the PC but it was the first one to do it right. The story is epic and the ability to tailor and customize your character's skills and abilities was 2nd to none at the time. Each expansion in the series added a substantial campaign and none of the stories felt contrived or half baked.

The series caters itself well to players with different expectations and desires as well, if you want a classic solo hack and slash type game, run through the original campaign, if you want to manage a classic 4 person party then you'd probably enjoy the final expansion more, etc. Though personally the best of the series is the first expansion for the sequel - NWN2 - Mask of The Betrayer.

I'd go so far as to call Mask of the Betrayer the best RPG game I've ever played. You start as a mortally wounded individual waking up in a cave with a cursed soul (literally). As you progress through the world you'll come to make sense of your condition while you either try to suppress the urges from your curse or revel in consuming the souls of your fallen victims. The story gets pretty heady and existential when it starts considering the ramifications of a dying god and how it affects the nature of multiple realities but that's exactly the kind of story that tickles my mind in the right way the most.

__________________
i am the universe