16th October 2010, 7:17 PM
Oh yeah, and BG1 is way, way better than an 8.0 game. The only RPGs I have ever played that are better than BG1 are BG2:SoA and Torment, and even then they don't win in every category; overall it's in third, but BG1 has the best exploration component of the three games.
Play, say, Phantasy Star I (first person dungeons) and then Phantasy Star II (topdown dungeons) and come back and say that again... no, perspective matters a lot. The dungeon designs aren't too different between the games, but the perspective makes a big difference.
Most of those '80s first-person RPGs didn't have modern conveniences like maps; you had to map the game yourself on graph paper, generally. While some mapping can be required in topdown/isometric games, generally the amount required is much less. You simply have a much better knowledge of where you are. There are a few exceptions to this, such as a dungeon like the Modron Cube in Torment where you have a randomized maze of nearly identical screens to map your way through, but those exceptions are few.
Once first-person RPGs started having good ingame maps this issue became a bit less, but even so it really does make a significant impact on gameplay. Also, many of those games were polygonal games, though I would definitely say that first-person 2d dungeon crawling RPGs are much more similar to first-person 3d dungeon crawling RPGs than they are to, say, other 2d or 3d RPGs.
Of course hybrid titles like the Pools of Radiance (/Curse of the Azure Bonds/etc.) mess things up, but still, I do think the difference matters.
Quote:It may have the appearance of 3D, but it's a very 2D game. You could replace the first-person perspective with a 2D map and the game would play out exactly the same. Of course, Betrayal of Krondor would too, but it actually has 3D, polygonal graphics so it's harder to justify putting it on this list. My point is, if you really wanted to, you can make an arguement for putting it on the 2D or the 3D list, but it doesn't REALLY fit either. I'll put it here, for my own facetious reasons.
Play, say, Phantasy Star I (first person dungeons) and then Phantasy Star II (topdown dungeons) and come back and say that again... no, perspective matters a lot. The dungeon designs aren't too different between the games, but the perspective makes a big difference.
Most of those '80s first-person RPGs didn't have modern conveniences like maps; you had to map the game yourself on graph paper, generally. While some mapping can be required in topdown/isometric games, generally the amount required is much less. You simply have a much better knowledge of where you are. There are a few exceptions to this, such as a dungeon like the Modron Cube in Torment where you have a randomized maze of nearly identical screens to map your way through, but those exceptions are few.
Once first-person RPGs started having good ingame maps this issue became a bit less, but even so it really does make a significant impact on gameplay. Also, many of those games were polygonal games, though I would definitely say that first-person 2d dungeon crawling RPGs are much more similar to first-person 3d dungeon crawling RPGs than they are to, say, other 2d or 3d RPGs.
Of course hybrid titles like the Pools of Radiance (/Curse of the Azure Bonds/etc.) mess things up, but still, I do think the difference matters.
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