If immersion is your thing (and it sounds like it is) nothing beats the original Thief
A great game, no doubt, but it’s really stretching to call it an RPG.
Bumping this to a) thank everyone again for the recs and info (which will keep me in good stead once I get my new system) and b) post an interesting article on the “What’s an RPG?” topic.
What makes an RPG an RPG: a universal definition is by Craig Stern, an indie game developer. I thought it was enlightening, not just in explaining what a cRPG is, but in explaining what it isn’t by showing what sets some games apart from others.
I’d be curious to see what y’all think about his final definition, which I’m putting in a spoiler for those who’d like to read the whole article:
A game is a computer RPG if it features player-driven development of a persistent character or characters via the making of consequential choices.
Thoughts?
Choie, you should read these two histories of “Western RPG’s” and “Asian RPG’s” to get a good background of their history and development:
Very interesting and fun reads.