Original Sin - Return of the Classic RPG?

I always have a few issues with how you dislike things in modern RPGs compared to 90s games. I've played a bit of Fallout, Deus Ex and am attempting Planescape Torment soon, but my experience has always been iffy with the games you've discussed. I get why Fallout was great, but I prefer 3 onwards. I also deifnitely get why Deus Ex was originally brilliant, it felt good when your choices started to present themselves. My issue is probably that i'm trying to go back to these games now that makes them seem shoddy, badly written and design wise just messy. I guess if I had owned a PC instead of an original Playstation when I was younger things might be different for me and the era would seem as golden as you describe. The first RPG that I felt was grand was Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. IT was my Baldur's Gate or Fallout or Deus Ex, whatever. And it had a morality system which worked in the game's universe. I do think that KotOR's morality was just stolen by other RPGs in an attempt to get the same, affect, and as a result felt a bit forced. Still, I think a number of RPGs have explored various non-morality based systems. Dragon Age Origins has a system of how much characters like you. What you do affects how they feel about you, and their all unique in their likes and dislikes. I f you played as a completely good guy, some characters will not like that, same as other characters not liking if you slaughter everyone. It all hinges on a system of manipulation, which I loved because that's all a leader really is, a manipulator who tries to get the best out of their people in anyway they can. Dragon Age II and Alpha Protocol had an evolution of this, where you can get people to like you, but you can also get the to hate you, both of which can have their own benefits and costs which affect gameplay and story. I remember in AP I was playing this sarcastic spy as I met this enemy spy who was the opposite, professional and cold. I acted like a prick to him, takign the mick out of his ideas and what he was saying and as we kept meeting up as the game progressed/ he would slowly begin to hate me. My sarky comments eventually came to a head when I fought him. His anger at me meant he lost his cold and calculated manner and was a raging machine in the fight. His anger meant he made mistakes, such as coming out of cover to attack, and as a result, he was much easier to defeat. That sort of choice made such a shoddy game fantastic. Alright, I know this post was mostly irrelevant but I just always see gamers on youtube talk about how good everything use to be and how things are different now, when I honestly think things have improved in almost every way. I guess I wanted to defend the games I love, whilst not trying to discredit your views. Because I know the old games were definitely good, still are in a number of ways, but for someone like me whose decade of RPG love was later than yours, I feel the same way about KotOR as you do about Fallout 2. All I mean to say is *breaks out into song* we're not so different, you and I!~ Right, that was a load of babbly bollocks, now time to leave. Cheers!

Hah, I dunno - towards the end it really does get quite good. It's like the voice actors suddenly realise that the script isn't total shite.

Good to hear you're feeling better. Another top notch presentation. You're being a bit generous with the GOT game. I think if you look closer you'll find those jewel fragments to be just slightly shiny roughage.

Mike Huddleston