Demise, did you see the screenshots they’re using for Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance for the PS2? Game looks beautiful and, well, it’s a BG game!
Oh hell yeah, I was drooling. 
I’m thinking of picking up Silent Hill 2 (I know, not a RPG) or Okage to tide me over also. Not to mention the PS2 version of Deus Ex should be out Nov. 1st.
Grandia II should be out a month after that. Lots of good stuff coming down the pipe now, which is good after the slow start RPGs for the PS2 have had so far.
Just got done playing Arcanum for about 3 hours before coming to work…this is a great game. I just paid 25 coins to have sex with a sheep.
It’s funny how games imitate life sometimes, isn’t it? 
Dang. Only 25? What did you get, the bulk discount rate?
Heres my opinion on the various RPGs listed here.
AD&D System games (Baldurs Gate 1 and 2, icewind dale, blah blah)- I think AD&D just doesnt work on a computer. I have played Baldurs gate 1 and I stopped playing after a couple hours and never continued, it just wasnt fun to me.
Morrowind- Its not out but I have played the demo of Daggerfall (prequal to Morrowind, which is now avalible as freeware). The demo was very fun. I would have to say Daggerfall is one of the best CRPGs ever, so I will . And Im sure Morrowind will be awesome aswell.
Fallout Series (not Fallout:Tactics)- YES! These games are awesome. They surpass all the games in the OP. Best RPG storyline ever, best dialauge (how do you spell that word?), best combat system, best experiance system. Fallout 1 r0x0rs, Fallout 2 is almost as good (but it didnt equal fallout 1).
Arcanum- This game was made by one of the lead creators of Fallout 1 and I have to say its awesome. Its a blend of fantasy and industrial age technology which is very cool. You can be a Rife wielding mage. Its go tons of great features and its really fun.
So I would recomened basicly anything thats been listed here except the AD&D system games. Im probely gonna get flamed but their boring. AD&D is meant to be with other people and a GM, it doesnt work with a computer.
I had the same reaction to Baldur’s Gate. As I see it it had 3 crippling game flaws:
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No run command. Inexcusable. It takes waaay too long to get anywhere.
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Only 6 character levels + > 80 hours of gameplay. Zzzz.
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Very limited equipment set. Combine with above…
Considering the last 2 points, and the fact you only got to create one character (the rest joined up later) and there was literally no reason to play certain character classes (for example, a very good thief joins right away, ergo no reason to play a thief…). Blah.
Daggerfall rocks. If you want to check out the full version, you could probably find it somewhere for dirt cheap. Or get it at http://www.theunderdogs.org as a download–although the legality of that is somewhat questionable.
So was GURPS, but that didn’t seem to hurt Fallout any. AD&D was basically used a brand name, anyway. Successfully, apparently.
Daggerfall seemed very cool, until I tried to talk to someone. A menu with EVERY SINGLE possible conversation option in the entire game, and all but one or two resulting in “I don’t know anything about that.” I couldn’t even get through the first village. And besides, I hate RPGs with that DungeonHack 1st person real time thing . . . but that’s just me.
And for the record, Planescape:Torment’s dialog and writing was so far beyond Fallouts it’s not even in the same time zone.
I literally can’t say enough good things about Fallout 1/2 and Torment. FO1 was pretty much the model that all subsequent crpgs have used, and had some of the best atmosphere I’ve found in any game. FO2 had pretty much the best blend of free action and workable plot I’ve yet found, (as a result, it has a truly disgusting amount of replay value) and Torment somehow managed to combine the best aspects of crpgs and console rpgs, and come up with something not only workable, but actually better than either genre. All had problems (FO1 was way too easy, FO2’s NPC system was obviously tacked on and unsatisfactory, the Fallouts have the worst inventory system ever devised (until BG’s 16 item limit came around, that is) and too many skills with little use, and both Torment and FO2 had obvious “incomplete” parts) but they’re easy to ignore. They really are that good.
And Torment even added a run command.
Besides, how many crpgs are there where can you prostitute yourself, sell your buddies into slavery, Sleep with your bosse’s wife/daughter, and have an illegitimate kid if you forget to use a condom?
Sadly, I think they’re likely to keep the “best rpgs ever” crown for quite a while. POR2 was, by all accounts, terrible, every review (commercial or just the opinion of someone who’s played it) I’ve heard of Arcanum puts it in the “good ideas, but poor execution” category, (I’m going to get it anyway, of course) and every other RPG on the horizion seems to be multiplayer-centered. And finding out Black Isle’s long awaited “Secret Project” was a high-fantasy multiplayer game was just crushing, frankly . . .
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One of the three people who actually got the Tokyo Decadence reference in FO2 . . .
Fallout 2 is a good game, but I gave up on it fairly early. Early for me, anyway – I only bought it 6 months ago.
If you can get Icewind Dale bundled with its expansion Heart of Winter, I recommend it. I didn’t play the expansion, but I’ve heard good things about it and it looked nice.
I had computer problems with BG2,* so I never got far. My party members kept spontaneously leaving, as though I’d just asked them to leave. This was not because of anything I did – It was way too early in the game and all my NPCs were happy with me. They’d leave in the middle of combat. Sometimes the main character would leave the party, which shouldn’t be possible. Still, it’s supposed to be an excellent game, and I’m hoping to get to play it someday.
Right now, I’m waiting for Neverwinter Nights, which should be out early next year, or even before the end of the year. The single-player campaign is supposed to be good, and it can also be used as a client/server online RPG. It’s not a MMORPG, but will try to translate the tabletop experience to online, with an option for small persistent worlds – 64 players max.
Question: Was it Por2 or Neverwinter Nights that was supposed to have a really cool DM/campaign scripting side to it? I’ve never DMed in real life, but I was looking forward to possibly crafting some stuff… 
KKBatousai, that would be Neverwinter Nights. The game’s main selling point beyond its single-player campaign is the trememndous amount of support there will be for user-created adventures. This includes a robust game master interface, real-time communication, tile sets and scripting tools, Web hosting and matching, the works. Check out http://www.neverwinternights.com for complete information.
KKBatousai, that would be Neverwinter Nights. The game’s main selling point beyond its single-player campaign is the trememndous amount of support there will be for user-created adventures. This includes a robust game master interface, real-time communication, tile sets and scripting tools, Web hosting and matching, the works. Check out http://www.neverwinternights.com for complete information.