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Games like QfG, but not necessarily adventure games...

Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 3:59 am
by freduardo
Heya all.

So now that we're in the final stretch of waiting for the game, I thought I'd put up one of those 'recommend me a good game like QfG' threads, since you would probably be best in the know.

But here's the catch: I'm not necessarily looking for more adventure games, or just more RPGs.
What I'm looking for is humorous RPGs.

For me, my finest memories of the QfG series were the proud day when I first saved that jerk the baronet from the kobold, when I saw my hero finish his waltz with the fairies with the canonical finger to the heavens, when I figured out how to thwart Larry, Curly and Moe only to be faced with the tricky warlock and his room of fun, and when I realized that the giant scary rolling monster I was running away from was not in fact a horrific monster invulnerable to my flame dart but rather some breakfast my liontaur friends sent because I stupidly forgot to buy food.


So, I'll start you off:
SLoH (Superhero League of Hoboken): Not really my fav, but I find it sorta fun and definitely topical. Mutated 'super'heroes in New Jersey fighting off pointless villains and upgrading their stats/fighting battles/getting stupid super powers and items.

Tyrian 2000: It may be pushing the 'RPG' aspect, but you're a definitive character, you get lots of briefings and side notes from secret holocubes in the levels, there's all sorts of upgrades you can buy and secret modes you get access to by doing silly things in-game, and there is actually a (gasp) silly modern story to go with it: you're an accidental hero of the usual sort, getting increasingly annoyed at having to save the universe, and at one point of leaving the mic on your boss actually laughs at how much of a slave you are to the universe.

Overlord: Classic RPG with a twist, but definitely spends time tweaking and poking fun at usual RPGs since in this one you actually play the evil overlord, spending your time killing elves, dwarves, humans and halflings. Surprisingly fun, and even at times bitingly satirical as it looks at the machinery of your usual LoTR-inspired RPG.

Oh, and I'm going to be mean: the LSL, Sam & Max (any iteration), SQ and KQ series all don't count. You know why? Not RPGs.

Looking forward to any good recommendations, especially old and easy to run ones!

Re: Games like QfG, but not necessarily adventure games...

Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 4:24 am
by Brainiac
Strictly speaking, it's not humorous, but there is a fair bit of humor to be found in it - Planescape: Torment. You owe it to yourself to complete the trifecta of talking skulls (Murray from Monkey Island, Bonehead from QfG, and this game has Morte Rictusgrin).

Re: Games like QfG, but not necessarily adventure games...

Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 4:57 am
by freduardo
I'd forgotten about Planescape. It's sort of a borderline case, but it probably counts. If for no other reason than that Nordom is hilarious.

I have actually played through that one, though ultimately I'm a little iffy about it. As others have said before, the infinity engine was just not equipped for the novel-like style of some of the dialogues. The game also seemed in a certain sense too Christian for me, in that the brothel was a brothel of less-fun-than-carnal delights and that if you're damned you should just go to hell instead of being immortal because it's the right thing to do.

Certainly a respectable game for those into these things though, and definitely a well-crafted one despite its notable lack of certain RPG elements: according to one person there are exactly 4, count them, 4 battles you actually have to fight to finish the game, and the general lack of equipment for all characters.

Keep 'em coming!

Re: Games like QfG, but not necessarily adventure games...

Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 11:42 am
by Igor
How about Divine Divinity? It`s an oldie RPG with quite a bit of Pratchett like humor.
(www. divinedivinity.com)
Or The Bard`s Tale (A quest for coin & clevage).
(www.thebardstale.com)

Re: Games like QfG, but not necessarily adventure games...

Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 3:00 pm
by Schloss Ritter
Planescape Torment was not "too Christian" in those aspects. The "brothel" was not supposed to be a nunnery, but moreso there's an amusing irony of a succubus going against her natural tendencies and running a place for intellectual exploration. And by that time in D&D development, the allegedly Christian influenced mythos had also drawn from many other sources.

"if you're damned you should just go to hell instead of being immortal because it's the right thing to do" - the afterlife system in Planescape is much more Karmic in nature. The plane that Nameless was condemned to was because of all the negative deeds done in his previous incarnations still outweighed anything he could have done to counter them in his last. Plus, as a conjectured back-story, his original incarnation had foolishly signed a contract to serve in the Blood War (in exchange for something never revealed in the story), so the Lawful nature of that part of the multi-verse gave that Plane claim to his soul in fulfillment of the contract. Him trying to avoid that fate was why he originally sought separation from his Mortality.

Just remember, the Planescape mythos is based off of many real world belief systems. Also, people don't go to hell for doing bad things or go to heaven for being good. I don't want to sidetrack your thread here into a philosophical debate, so I'll just say people might want to look up what Christians actually believe (not necessarily what is portrayed in popular culture) before passing judgment on things.

Anyway, back on topic, I was going to mention this Planescape game also, for the subtle and blatant humor here and there throughout it. Also, though I haven't really played it much at all, I've heard the original Infinity engine game, Baldur's Gate has some amusing parts as well, like the Ranger Minsc and Boo, his hamster animal companion.

Re: Games like QfG, but not necessarily adventure games...

Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 4:45 pm
by Kloreep
Yes, I thought the Planescape: Torment world seemed a lot more samsaric than Christian. Definitely a great game and I'd recommend it, though its humor is probably not its strong point.

As for QFG-alikes... this game also stretches the definition of "RPG" but The Ur-Quan Masters is a space exploration/diplomacy/resource-gathering/combat game that has plenty of humor and generally doesn't take itself too seriously. It's free, too (see the link).

Re: Games like QfG, but not necessarily adventure games...

Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 11:41 pm
by freduardo
I'll have to check out Divine Divinity and Bard's Tale, though I'm a little iffy given that I couldn't quite tell how gameplay really went from their websites. They look marginally BG and Diablo-style, but that just might be an aspect of the time they were produced. They still seem definitely in the genre.

As far as Planescape: Torment, I'll just say that I could see the appeal for some people, and I appreciate the obvious work and effort put into making an original and even involving story, but that it was ultimately not for me.

The Ur-Quan masters is a fun one, another that I'd forgotten about. It has a little less zaniness in the gameplay than I had hoped, but that's what you get from the starflight lineage. Anyway, if I offer Tyrian up you can definitely pull from any space-based RPG. Bonus points for it being free.

It does remind me of another one though: Lightspeed and its sequel Hyperspeed. It could be argued that they are not particularly humorous, but I still laugh about the cigar-smoking aliens who try to buddy up to you and seduce you every time you meet them, but afterwards no longer respect you and want little to do with you.

It had an oddly sophisticated diplomacy model whose seriousness led to hilarity in its own right. Like when the spore aliens gave you special parts to your ship that were actually spores to make new pirate worlds instead of cool new ship add-ons, which were neither useful nor removable except by getting them blown up in a battle. Or the aliens who reproduced by creating time travel duplicates of themselves. Classic.

Re: Games like QfG, but not necessarily adventure games...

Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 3:12 am
by oughtobe
Has anyone played Dragonsphere? Its an early 90's adventure game by microprose... I just recently played it... Its pretty similiar to QFG, i mean look at the character even...

Image

Re: Games like QfG, but not necessarily adventure games...

Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 3:23 am
by SirFuzzi
Ooh. That Dragonsphere one looks good.

I just find that QFG really holds an odd place as being one game that, to me at least, is truly 'irreplaceable' in that its carrying out is so unique and it really stands out in its ability to mix puzzle with action. QFG holds a special place blah blah blah.

I'll recommend it here, there's always A Tale of Two Kingdoms, though I hear everyone's played that one. I never got into it since it seemed to be mostly puzzles- which, while good, wasn't going to sate my lust for 'point-and-click adventure' as I'd have liked.

Re: Games like QfG, but not necessarily adventure games...

Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 3:19 pm
by freduardo
The last two games suggested do have things in common with QfG, but I should point out that the point of this thread was to find humorous RPGs, since QfG also happens to be an RPG with humor at the forefront of the game. It's not that your suggestions are not appreciated, but we've had lots of threads listing other adventure games or other serious RPGs that look like QfG or take notes from its innovation.

It's possible I simply failed to recognize that those games are inherently humorous RPGs since I have not played them, but from the sites I've seen it appears unlikely.

Still, I appreciate the suggestions. Keep 'em comin'!

Re: Games like QfG, but not necessarily adventure games...

Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 5:04 pm
by MusicallyInspired
Dragonsphere is quite good but there are no RPG elements to it and he's a king not a hero. Now that you mention it, though, he does look quite like the Hero in QFG1VGA. I own the CD-Rom version. Haven't beaten it yet, though. Has a great MT-32 soundtrack. Return of the Phantom and Rex Nebular made by the same company are also quite good. Check them out as well. Of course, they're not as similar to QFG but there you are.

Re: Games like QfG, but not necessarily adventure games...

Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 7:07 pm
by Jonesjulia
1. Lands of Lore 2: Guardians of Destiny

Some really funny stuff there. My husband and I still reference lines it in conversation. I won't say the humor is as infused in all parts of the game like QFG. But then what games really have that magic? Lands is one of those games I put up as my top 5 funniest.

I played 2 before I played 1. Neither 1 or 3 is anything to write home about.


2. Fallout. Humorous the whole way through.

3. Torment: RPG in the purest sense of the genre. I especially loved when this one guy was keeping the gate closed and one of my options was to grab his hand through the gate and MAKE him open the damn gate. Or I could have asplodied him with my fireball...my choice.


These are not in ranking order.

I've heard Wasteland was pretty good but never played it. Same for disgaea

Re: Games like QfG, but not necessarily adventure games...

Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 7:28 pm
by oughtobe
MusicallyInspired wrote:Dragonsphere is quite good but there are no RPG elements to it and he's a king not a hero. Now that you mention it, though, he does look quite like the Hero in QFG1VGA. I own the CD-Rom version. Haven't beaten it yet, though. Has a great MT-32 soundtrack. Return of the Phantom and Rex Nebular made by the same company are also quite good. Check them out as well. Of course, they're not as similar to QFG but there you are.
a king can't be a hero? So Sir Graham isn't a hero? I beg to differ... If your hero in QFG became a king, he would still be a hero and could still pursue the hero life as a king... a Hero-King... King HERO!!! not to be confused with a good sandwhich shop in lower manhattan... no but really.. The RPG element is that you get to control a King/Hero, in a fantasy realm, I know it doesn't have hit points and exp and all that fancy stuff, but it is still a role-playing game... I mean shit, even GOLD RUSH! was promoted as a RPG... but I know what you mean, I just don't like how you nitpick all my posts...

Re: Games like QfG, but not necessarily adventure games...

Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 10:03 pm
by Schloss Ritter
Jonesjulia wrote:Lands of Lore 2: Guardians of Destiny
I've got an amusing (to me) anecdote on the third game. On a CD from a magazine, I randomly ran across the demo for Lands of Lore 3 while trying out all the demos. As soon as I heard the narrator, I was like, "OMG! Is that Patrick Stewart?!" This being one of my first exposures to "big celebrity" voice work in a video game, I almost tried to find and buy the game just for that. :lol

Re: Games like QfG, but not necessarily adventure games...

Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 6:52 am
by freduardo
Ooh, lands of lore does sound and look like quite a bit of fun. It should be vaguely gettable too, but I wanted to ask before I picked it up:
it looks like it's got some 3-D-ish fight scenes, but does it run more like SLoH/Companions of Xanth or more like UUW 2? That is to say, do you have a bunch of scenes you run around in by large steps or is it more of a doom-esque dungeon romp with all kindsa spells and jumpings/etc?

It's cool either way, but different sorts of cool. Like, the ultima underworld series was fun for a completely different reason than companions of xanth, although both were addictive and classic. Regardless, sweet and a series I haven't played from my favorite period of video games. Excellent!

Re: Games like QfG, but not necessarily adventure games...

Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 1:04 pm
by MusicallyInspired
oughtobe wrote:a king can't be a hero? So Sir Graham isn't a hero? I beg to differ... If your hero in QFG became a king, he would still be a hero and could still pursue the hero life as a king... a Hero-King... King HERO!!! not to be confused with a good sandwhich shop in lower manhattan... no but really.. The RPG element is that you get to control a King/Hero, in a fantasy realm, I know it doesn't have hit points and exp and all that fancy stuff, but it is still a role-playing game... I mean shit, even GOLD RUSH! was promoted as a RPG...
I meant that a king can't be a hero that goes from land to land saving everyone solely for glory. More to the point, I mean that he's not a fighter, mage, or thief. I was using the QFG definition of "hero." Adventure games may be RPG in the truest sense of the word but when someone says RPG everyone immediately thinks stats/battle/fighting/magic/etc.

Re: Games like QfG, but not necessarily adventure games...

Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 4:16 pm
by CrazyStalker
Jonesjulia wrote:2. Fallout. Humorous the whole way through.
Definately recommended. Fallout and it's sequel are my favourite games.

Re: Games like QfG, but not necessarily adventure games...

Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 10:46 pm
by Schloss Ritter
Huh, I did a bit of checking, and it seems I played a demo of the original Lands of Lore, not part 3. Anyway, the first game has an interface like the old Eye of the Beholder series and other similar games. First person but not run and jump action, but point and click on the menu bar and/or viewing area to attack, etc. Lands 2 is "an action RPG which occurs in real-time 3D (much like Daggerfall)", whatever that means.

Lands of Lore: http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/lands ... e-of-chaos
2: http://www.mobygames.com/game/lands-of- ... of-destiny
3: http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/lands-of-lore-iii

Re: Games like QfG, but not necessarily adventure games...

Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2008 8:24 pm
by Jonesjulia
freduardo wrote:Ooh, lands of lore does sound and look like quite a bit of fun. It should be vaguely gettable too, but I wanted to ask before I picked it up:
it looks like it's got some 3-D-ish fight scenes, but does it run more like SLoH/Companions of Xanth or more like UUW 2? That is to say, do you have a bunch of scenes you run around in by large steps or is it more of a doom-esque dungeon romp with all kindsa spells and jumpings/etc?

Land 1: is a frame by frame dungeon crawler. Much like the old sega Shining in the darkness. Not bad if you like those types of games. Doesn't have the same humor as the second game...more traditional dungeon crawler/RPG.

Lands II: Is a first person/FPS sorta game. I compare it to games such as System Shock or any FPS in playstyle but it has RPG elements. You talk to people, improve your character, collect inventory, etc. Think Oblivion but funny and entertaining to play. I have never played SLoH, Xanth, or UUW2 so I can't compare those for you. The magic system in it is both entertaining and intuitive to use. I really don't think you'll be dissapointed in the game. The only thing I will say is that the graphics are dated. But humor is eternal.

Lands III: I can't, in good conscious, recommend this to anyone. My husband and I found it unplayable.

Re: Games like QfG, but not necessarily adventure games...

Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2008 10:28 pm
by Pablo Gonzalo
Has anyone played The Fifth Disciple? It's the closest game to the QfG series that I've encountered.

There's a few others that I've mentioned in the past: Neverend, Gooka: The Mystery of Janatris and Arcatera: The Dark Brotherhood. The first two are alright if you find them fairly cheap. I recommend avoiding Arcatera.