Ranking the best and worst CRPGs | Cannot be Tamed

Today I'm ranking games from one of my favourite genres - Computer Role Playing Games. I rank 39 of them and realize... I'm a tough grader.
#CRPG #BestRPGs #RetroGames
00:00 Intro
00:07 What is a CRPG?
02:15 What the ranks mean
02:58 Rank all the games
45:24 Final tier list
Here's the template if anyone's interested: tiermaker.com/create/crpg-ran...
Video footage mostly from trailers.
Fallout 1 footage is borrowed from • Let's Play Fallout 1 P...
Wizardry V footage is borrowed from • Review of Wizardry 5, ...
Planescape Torment, Fallout 2, Arcanum and VtMB footage is my own.
Music in this video is from Shadowrun Hong Kong.
Want to see me on other social media?
Twitter - / jasyla_
Instagram - / cannot_be_tamed
Patreon - / pamd
My makeup channel (Cosmetic DLC) - / @cosmeticdlc
Intro artwork, logo and banner by: @theMagdalenRose
"Cantina Blues" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
creativecommons.org/licenses/b...

[@hikikomori6956]

Nice tier list and mini-reviews. Some timestamps just in case: 2:58 Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magicks Obscura 4:41 Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 6:18 Diablo 3 7:53 Disco Elysium 9:08 Divine Divinity 10:16 Divinity: Original Sin 1 11:48 Divinity: Original Sin 2 13:19 Dragon Age: Origins 14:40 Fallout 1 and 2 16:16 Fallout 3 17:17 Fallout New Vegas and Fallout 4 17:52 Icewind Dale 18:45 Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2 20:26 Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos 21:32 Legend of Grimrock 1 and 2 22:51 Masquerada: Songs and Shadows 24:07 Neverwinter Nights 24:58 Operencia: The Stolen Sun 26:05 Pillars of Eternity 27:50 Pillars of Eternity: Deadfire 28:16 Planescape: Torment 29:40 Sacred 30:25 Shadowrun Returns 31:46 Shadownrun DragonFall 32:13 Shadownrun Hongkong 32:51 Sunless Sea / Skies 33:04 The Witcher 1 36:32 Torment: Tides of Numenara 37:57 Comment: B and C tier aren't bad 38:16 Tyranny 39:36 Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 41:23 Wasteland 2 and 3 43:14 Wizardry 5

[@WolfHreda]

Oh, damn. Started out with some heavy hitters right out the gate. I fucking adore Arcanum.

[@Tango_Elite]

I would add Betrayal at Krondor and Oblivion.

[@dominiccenteno1233]

We need an updated version of this with Pathfinder games and Baldur's Gate 3

[@matthuck378]

0:37 Pam says "...Computer role playing game..." Dog: "I'm out."

[@YDwelve]

Cat Role Playing Game

[@Requiem4Dreams]

honestly I consider Diablo to be more of an action hack/slash looter than a crpg, it just doesn't feel the same as Baldur's, or Torment.

[@Jesse__H]

Yeah, same. Although I don't remember Diablo that well, I was very young when I played it. But I'd definitely hesitate to call Diablo 2 a crpg. That's just me tho.

[@matthuck378]

I love Diablo and many of the Diablo-likes...But I agree. They aren't true RPG's. They have action combat and are more about loot and mass murder than making a character from scratch and progressing a story. Also, turn based combat is what all 'true' RPGs have, IMO.

[@IsaacKuo]

"action hack/slash looter" - in other words, an action roguelike. I mean ... the term "roguelike" has become almost meaningless nowadays, but Diablo truly was close to a classic graphical roguelike. But the thing is, roguelikes were always related to pen/paper RPGs as much as "true" CRPGs, so they're arguably CRPGs. The big difference is that "true" CRPGs tended to be commercial games intended for customers to play, while roguelikes tended to be hobbyist games designed to be playable by the programmer as well. So that's why Rogue and Moria and Hack featured randomized potion colors and such. That way, even the programmer wouldn't already know what everything was. And that's why the "true" CRPGs could have more emphasis on plot and story - it didn't matter that the programmer was pre-spoiled to the plot and story.

[@redmoonbloodmoon3161]

never played diablo 3, but a lot of people don't like it personally, diablo 2 is way over-rated... ya, the first time you play, its got a good story/plot, and the game play is fun when (if able to have a team) playing friendly cooperative MP... but it just gets so boring beyond that, as it is all about loot/drops... sighs diablo 1, actually is truly a near perfect game, aside from a few of its issues (friendly fire of projectiles: bows-arrows and spells in MP, even when not hostiled/PK'ing, and also its stupid idea of having permanent negative stat effects, lol), as its dungeon crawling game play, feel, and atmosphere is just amazing, you really feel like you progressing deeper and deeper down into hell... diablo 2, completely loses this aspect, it's actually really boring game play, due to the way the world is done... sighs

[@oliviawilliams6204]

Personally I use the term hack and slash to describe those games, at some point when I was really bitter about them I called them mouse killer since you just spent your time clicking frenetically

[@jaredcarrier9015]

Wait, CRPGs aren't Canadian RPGs?

[@ydna]

my thought exactly lol

[@kainemaxwell]

Well played

[@qqq1701]

Moose & Maple

[@Kadaspala]

I was thinking Chinese myself.

[@gamerguy425]

Having grown up with Road Trip on PS2 (LOOK IT UP, PLAY IT IMMEADIATELY) I thought it meant "Car role playing game" or CaRPG as one game in the series calls it. that is kind of burgeoning genre now with open world racers like burnout paradise and Forza Horizons....

[@SNESdrunk]

I remember my roommate at the time falling over himself over Neverwinter Nights. He could not stop raving about it. That probably influenced why I'm so blah about that game but I never got the hype, it was boring as hell, so you're not alone there. But WHOA GOSH how is Balders Gate 2 not an S I am OUTRAGED raaaaabble rabble rabble

[@enmunate]

Thank you for commenting, and I hope you have a great rest of your day.

[@monsoon1234567890]

I watch your vids. Always cool to see content creators watching videos of other content creators.

[@Cannotbetamed1]

We'll just have to fight about it.

[@RHelenius]

The base game is boring. But the expansions and community created content is really good. To me the game is the Mod-community wet dream back in early 2000s. I remember login on every night and joining custom games... One of my favorite games of all times because of that.

[@KarlWinterling]

I think lots of people played a lot of Neverwinter Nights and Baldur's Gate 1&2 in the early 2000s because they had nothing better to do. Your other options were stuff like JRPG's on PC, Diablo, Fallout 1/2, and maybe Deus Ex or Thief. There wasn't really anything else that tried to be like a D&D campaign and had good mod support and multiplayer. The story in Baldur's Gate 2 is the best in any D&D computer game.

[@riaankruger9373]

I did not expect you to rate certain games the way you did, I am happy that you based it on your enjoyment of each title, it made the list feel genuine.

[@CmdrPinkiePie]

"Wasteland 3 came out a few years ago" -- I think this pandemic has really warped our sense of time, because I too feel like it came out years ago by now even though the official release was less than a year ago. ;)

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Ha, time really has all blended together.

[@perlipopo6644]

Great video! Nice to see all those game discussed and compared in the same video. Thanks!

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@walluvalkama3927]

Just found this channel. Great presentation and content. Also glad that all 4 games on your S-tier are on my Steam library already just waiting to be played for the first time. :)

[@skijumpnose]

Thanks for the great long video and i noticed this genre was in your Top 100 games quite a lot. Nice to discover more about CRPGs, I will need to get that book too!

[@Cannotbetamed1]

It's a really cool book. There's a JRPG one coming out later this month as well.

[@KarmaJolt]

Wow, someone else who actually played Shadowrun! I had a good time with Shadowrun Returns.

[@brightglory5734]

I had never played it until a friend found his old Super Nintendo and insisted it was the most awesome of games.

[@blastedmcgraw152]

The games got better and better. I never finished Hong Kong because I got stuck on a battle I wasn’t prepared for, but those were a nice trilogy of games. Hope we get more one day. Now that I’m thinking about it, I feel like Shadowrun could be an awesome tv show in the hands of the right creative team…🤔

[@oliviawilliams6204]

@@brightglory5734 the SNES game is not really the same thing. And every one else, I’m glad you enjoyed it I was a backer on both campaigns on Kickstarter, being a huge ShadowRun fan myself

[@michaelgeorge6559]

I like the new list format videos being mixed in!

[@ismaelesterada7003]

Amazing list it reminded me to go back and replay some of these games

[@Borh7777]

Thank you very much. Just a small detail : Planescape is an official D&D campaign setting before being a video game. One of the best in my opinion.

[@MrMarbles77]

I love your taste in games :) Thanks for the video, I really enjoyed watching/listening!

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@bciderman]

My first game that i enjoyed playing Wizardry 1 still brings me back. Great list and watch!

[@DaveVoyles]

I had never even heard of Arcanum until this video. Nice find, I'm going to look into this!

[@oliviawilliams6204]

It’s Troika first game out of the only 3 games they ever made (Temple of Elemental Evil and Vampire the Masquerade Bloodline being the other two) I heard a lot of good about it, but damn it’s a pretty opaque game and I never managed to grasp it, so I recommend if you want to go in, take your time research it and find how to make a good build.

[@stephancloutier8483]

Great work, great look, love watching you 👍🔥❤️

[@vincentlee8787]

This is awesome, Pam! One of the things I've most come to appreciate about your channel is its historical scope and your thoughtful critiques. I watched your Top 100 list and thought you did an excellent job of not showing either recency bias or excessive nostalgia in your rankings. Although I'm on the other side of 40 (UGGHHH), there is so much I missed in my own time growing up, and it's great to see fair evaluations of classics as well as featuring some hidden gems. Looking forward to your future videos!

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Thanks so much!

[@expsharevideogames]

Woo! This is EXACTLY my kind of video. Looking forward to this one

[@daniellepearsall4978]

Thanx for the list, gives me some ideas of what to get !

[@xxcrysad3000xx]

omg, brilliant idea for a video, brilliantly executed. your taste in games is what i wish mine could be, it's just so good.

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Thanks so much

[@jafrytvasia9609]

Go ahead and put 10 attribute points into your Respect stat for putting Torment in the S tier.

[@VGCollectaholic]

Great vid as always Pam! Awesome to see that we share some favorites - obviously Vampire the Masquerade, but also Planescape: Torment and Divinity. I would have slotted Dragon Age: Origins and one of the Baldur's Gate II / Icewind Dale games up into my S range. I really loved Dragon Age: Origins - played through it with every class type to get all the angles (and I adore Claudia Black's voice work). I would probably put Icewind Dale above the Baldur's Gates, but that's because the Icewind Dale setting has a special place for me as a setting for some of my favorite R.A. Salvatore books and my own D&D tabletop campaigns from back in the day. I'm going to have to check out Disco Elysium - that wasn't on my radar at all! (Also... the stats nerd in me really give you props for a solid standard normal distribution curve on your grading lol.)

[@Cannotbetamed1]

lol, thank you! It seems most of my rankings have a fairly standard curve.

[@robinbrowne5419]

I really enjoyed this video. Your rankings are so thoughtful :-)

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Thank you so much!

[@patrickrogers6956]

So nice to see you again!

[@rKhael53]

Very good tierlist. This introduced me to some games that look very interesting. And reinforced my desire to try others.

[@viewtifuljoe99]

That crpg book is one of my favorites! The past 3 or 4 years i've been going through all the classics since I hadn't played many crpgs and it has been a great resource on the history and influence of different games. Currently 60hrs into my first playthrough of Baldurs Gate 2.

[@sirhighbury3144]

This was a very useful video for me. Of the games you talked about that I've played, I would have ranked them quite similarly in relation to each other, but probably shifted them up a grade. And you talk about some games I've been curious about and your summaries helped me either consider playing them eventually, or convinced me they're not my thing.

[@Cannotbetamed1]

I’m glad it was useful.

[@TheMarcHicks]

Disco Elysium got even *better* with the release of the Definitive Edition this year. All the extra voiced dialogue was brilliant.

[@ashureg1354]

Really? I thought that new voices were a massive downgrade compared to OG... Aside from Cuno because I couldnt stand this guy. Idk they just sounded more fitting and like actual people. Kinda like in SH2 way. Glad they kept Kim's VA and internal voices were nice addition.

[@lesserspottedmugwump.363]

@@ashureg1354 It’s on my list. I’m a bit terrible for min/maxing and save scumming. Just have to Bute the bullet and take the consequences. The anti games faqs’ game.

[@Pants69]

I loved it!

[@RichelRickes]

@@ashureg1354 Wanna fuck with the Cuno, Pig?

[@altomar6008]

Great list, i can't believe you remember such an old game as Lands of Lore 1 (dos game). Was one of my favorite CRPG back in the days . I have played the majority of the RPG's you mentioned but in my heart the king of the kings remain the Baldur's Gate 2. You were a bit harsh with a few of them like Icewind Dales and Neverwinter Nights. Really tough grader.

[@winterburden]

Thank you so much for ranking them Pam, this is epic! 😊

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Any time!

[@marcelopinheirocordeiro7982]

Great video Pam !

[@isaacs.5862]

I love how you were honest about your struggles at ranking these and more often than not go with a more instinctive lower rank than a safer higher rank. I am reminded of a college professor who said, "B means good." If everything were great, I'd never pick out Operencia from the A list. And Tyranny brought a smile to my face. Several years after I started the game, I am still on Act III of my first playthrough, and this despite "Satan" in my GOG user name, working in law, and being a big fan of Obsidian. I am going to finish it, more than once, but watching you put it on D gave me some comfort.

[@AkAkAkNeil]

awesome, I loved this video, so many games to add to "must play"! Very honest reviews, so cool thanks!

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@jibblerino]

I'm not sure how I got here again but your content resonates with me. Okay, I'll subscribe!

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Welcome to the channel

[@aintnomeaning]

Great video. It's my favorite genre but because of my work schedule I basically missed a whole decade of game releases. I went back to DA2 and had fun with it, though it pales to the OG. I'm putting some on your list into my queue, your taste and mine are very aligned! I will watch more of your videos.

[@txa1265]

Really enjoyed this video - I always love learning context and rationale behind what people like or don't like, there is no 'right or wrong'. Funny when I first saw 'best and worst' my initial thought was "I wonder where Dungeon Lords will land?" - not recommending you play, mind you! One comment - I would also put Arcanum, Bloodlines, BG2, etc. at the top of my heap ... but would also have Divine Divinity there. It is easy to look at the exhausting opening dungeons of Aleroth and write the game off, but getting to Riverton really brings the focus onto the characters and storytelling ... so many little things going on that I loved beyond the click-click combat. For me it is an 'A' - not arguing with you, just hope someday you can give it another chance. Of course, I struggle to get it to work properly on newer computers and it won't install on my 2003 laptop anymore so who knows! Another series - Gothic 1/2/3 and Risen 1/2/3. German RPGs, Gothic 1 is excellent, but like Baldur's Gate I found that #2 completely eclipsed the original. The Risen games are good (#1 is my fave) and more modern. Finally, very much agree on Diablo ... but interestingly I enjoyed playing Diablo III on the Nintendo Switch (handheld mode) more than even on the PC! Still just a mindless action RPG, and think I like Torchlight II better, but still.

[@jayhouston7054]

cool list, not totally on board on some(to each our own) but I thank you for this. I missed some of these actually...damn you life you have gotten in my way once again!

[@CmdrPinkiePie]

That was a long but really good video. I was happy to see the inclusion of Lands of Lore 1 in the list - it was my favourite RPG from Westwood (at least I liked it better than Eye of the Beholder 1 & 2). I'm curious where games from the Ultima, Might & Magic (main series, not "Heroes of"), Elder Scrolls, Bard's Tale, or "Gold Box" series would be on that tier list. Or all the lesser known games that came out in the 90s, before the CRPG Renaissance heralded by Fallout and Baldur's Gate - stuff like the Realms of Arkania series, Stonekeep, Challenge of the Five Realms, Betrayal at Krondor, Darklands, Legends of Valour, or The Summoning. Pam, we're gonna need a follow-up to this video. :P

[@Cannotbetamed1]

I haven't played most of the games you mentioned here.

[@CmdrPinkiePie]

@@Cannotbetamed1 I assumed that. So I was thinking this could serve as a good list of things to try. :D

[@CmdrPinkiePie]

@@Cannotbetamed1 Also, I guess, if you ever do play through the Ultima series, I'd maybe suggest Ultima III and IV on the NES rather than the computer versions? They're just more playable and less ugly. Ultima V on the NES is sadly much less of an improvement over the computer version, and more of a disaster, so perhaps the computer version is still better. Starting with VI, PC is the way to go for Ultima. Definitely never play Black Gate on anything else than PC. For the full experience though, you'd need to play Underworld I before Ultima VII: The Black Gate (and its expansion, Forge of Virtue), and Underworld II before Ultima VII: Part II - The Serpent Isle + The Silver Seed (Underworld II specifically takes place right after the events from The Black Gate, and leads into the story of The Serpent Isle, and includes a lot of lore for the antagonist of the Ultima games from VII to IX). Also, the complete Ultima VII (with both parts + the expacs) has a really good modern client called EXULT that lets you play the game on modern Windows OS with tons of quality of life improvements and options for graphics and sounds (a similar piece of software exists for Ultima VIII: Pagan, I think it's been added to SCUMMVM now, it's called Pentagram). The only issue with Ultima games is that, if you don't play them all the way from the first one, there are many aspects of the plot and lore in later games that will just not "click", because every game in the series built on the history and events of what came prior, so jumping straight into the seventh game without playing prior ones, for instance, is doable, but a lot of the characters, events, and even the game's geography, refer to things from previous games. If you ever do jump into the series at some point though, I'd really love to hear your opinion on them. Might & Magic games are cool if you enjoyed Wizardry and Lands of Lore, especially M&M 4+5, which together formed a whole new experience with the Darkside and Clouds of Xeen combining into a single world, with additional quests and areas. The plot was never all that incredible although it did get better as the series progressed, with VI being widely considered the best in the series, and VII connecting with an earlier game in ways that were quite a surprise at the time. I don't think any of the games I listed, save for Ultima and Ultima Underworld, would compete with anything you listed in your tiers S to B, simply because most of the games you've listed in your video improved on the formulas set by many of the ones I mentioned - although I guess the Elder Scrolls III is still good to this day. Janky, but good.

[@joeyhacker7518]

Great video and good selection of games ‼️

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Thanks!

[@erezcrestfallen1383]

I really need to play PT and DE... Thank you for this video, dear Pam. Love you!

[@bencanty980]

Thanks for this amazing trip down memory lane!! I thought you were tough but fair. The only exception I have to make, (of course my bias) is Baldur's Gate 2 deserves an S. The story was riveting and redefined what an RPG is to me, it's the Standard by which every game should be measured. And while it's maybe more refinement and not so much innovation, I believe it's a game that's greater than the sum of its parts. It's Keldorn calling Cernd a long haired hippie, yet getting along with Korgan, (an evil dwarf!) Due to the Lawful nature in their alignments. It's knowing you should enlist Sarevok, yet HAVING to choose Minsc, because how can you NOT have a miniature giant space hamster in your group, Boo! It's the fight with Kangaxx the Demi-Lich, being the most brutal fight I think ever having, as he casts Time-Stop after Time-Stop, and being in awe as your monitor goes black & White, as the Time-Stop freezes the movement of color wavelengths. It's the craziness of Jan Jansen and his inventions. And maybe, just maybe, it's the incredible character of Jon Irenicus, voiced so unforgettably by the amazing British actor David Warner. The game is more than the sum of its parts, and I plan to revist it soon! But, I've played many of your other choices, and they are excellent. Thank you for such an excellent video!

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@leganzar7831]

Playing undead in Divinity OG Sin 2 as undead was my first playthrough too. I loved the added nuance to the game play.

[@draketalbot801]

Playing thru tyranny right now. Took me about an hour to realize " holy shit my character is like judge dredd!" Been loving it since 😂

[@Taois]

Great video, definitely checking out the Sunless Seas/Skies games and getting no more than 10% of the way through them.

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Have fun! They have great storytelling but are very deliberately paced.

[@atomicpork]

Good video! The fact that some of the B's are on your Top 100 games list definitely means you're a tough grader. I don't think my rankings would be the same, but I can't fault your logic and you made some really good points that I hadn't considered.

[@atomicpork]

Also, found a couple games I never tried that I'm going to have to pick up. Good recommendations.

[@childofthe80s1981]

I own more CRPGs than I have actually played lol

[@lazyPawdy]

we about that life #backlog

[@Cannotbetamed1]

You should play them

[@redmoonbloodmoon3161]

@@Cannotbetamed1 sadly, I don't think I'll ever fully play through morrowind... sighs...

[@lesserspottedmugwump.363]

@@redmoonbloodmoon3161 The steam sale is tattooed on your eyelids. You must resist. Resissst.

[@lesserspottedmugwump.363]

@@redmoonbloodmoon3161 Aaaaagh. It got me.

[@AndrewFullerton]

Tyranny is solidly A-tier for me. Not only does it have hands-down the best magic system I've seen, I found the decisions to be fsr more nuanced than "pet the puppy or kill the puppy". Part of thst might be because you don't have to be evil, you're just trying to act within an evil framework. You can justify your acts of cruelty by saying that it will end the war sooner and fewer people will have to die as a result. You have to weigh the potential loss of allies and influence against the choice to follow your conscience over the law. I wound up positioning myself as an independent ruler so that I could act as I see fit without worrying about theblaw or the opinions of other factions. By the end I realised I'd effectively become another Kyros -- another tyrranical god-king ruling the land with an iron fist and crushing all rivals. The thing is, I got there solely through good intentions and a belief in my own righteousness. That recontextualized what "evil" even is in a really interesting way for me

[@charliehoffman5746]

This vid got me to play Disco Elysium. Thanks for the rec on that one! One of my new favorite games

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Awesome, so glad you liked it.

[@PosthuMouse]

As someone who waited outside EB Games at 7 AM on release day waiting for NWN to come out, I feel like I'd get kicked out of the fanboy club for not defending it here. The single player campaign of that game wasn't really the main attraction. It came with a robust modding suite that let you use custom animation and event scripts and character models/textures. The modding community was huge and crazy active. That's where that game really shined (and was intended to). The single player campaign was more like an afterthought. My final project for the charter school I attended part time while I was in my senior year of high school was actually a huge NWN campaign full of my own scripts/models/original music. Cannot recommend revisiting and tracking down some of the more popular Bioware community content highly enough. There's some brilliant stuff out there.

[@wrathfultick]

That's funny, I've only ever played the Mass Effect games on console, and the Dragon Age games on a PC. That just seems right to me too. Fun video!

[@benchandler4298]

Great list! Enjoyed hearing your thoughts, and mostly feel the same way. A lot of the time for me my own personal experience affects how much I like a game, but not how highly I rank it. For example, Baldur's Gate 1 is more important to me than 2, but I recognize that 2 is a better game. I think most people will be the same. Thanks for the video!

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Thank you!

[@introvertplays6162]

Damn...only seeing Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate II on A and B hurts me :O

[@kairaiuakc]

fun list! didn't know there was an isometric view for the witcher which was holding me back from finishing it! tyty for the tip on that so i can finally move on in that series. cute dress btw

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Thanks!

[@thesii213]

Excellent taste. Great work on the video!

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Thank you kindly!

[@Terron29]

Nice list! I had to laugh when you were talking about pillars of eternity though, we have opposite opinions on it. I really enjoyed pillars one but thought pillars two was a step back in a number of ways and was less interesting especially in regards to characters. Respect your opinion of course. Great upload. A few listed here I have not yet checked out either so thank you for that ;)

[@spencerdixon98]

Dead fire sucked compared to the first one

[@aaronreid8375]

Planescape is a campaign setting within the D&D universe, like Forgotten Realms (Baldur's Gate). I loved the setting, which evolved form the earlier Advanced D&D book Manual of The Planes. My favorite out of the various Baldur's Gate-style games of the era.

[@Paddyjack]

I was a bit surprised to see Wizardry in there, but not other classic especially Ultima 4-7 :)

[@lokuzt]

great list Pam! if anyone likes Baldir's Gate/Pillars of Eternity, and is up to a different style of combat gameplay I'd recommend "The Temple of Elemental Evil" (also a D&D license, this time made by Troika games, which means it's a bit buggy... but there are quite a lot of patches and mods for it nowadays)

[@brandonerwin7031]

Yes, I was shocked she didn't have The Temple of Elemental Evil.

[@francischaske569]

First and 👍 and another great video Pam ❤ and stay awesome and keep on gaming 🎮!!

[@LusRetroSource]

Great video! I love me some CRPG's! I really need to play Dragon Age. I've owned it for so long and have yet to play it. So many games but so little time.

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Thanks!

[@jlnrdeep]

Really balanced list, i completely agree with all the rankings in games i've played, also it's refreshing to get micro-reviews of interesting games i have never played but piqued my curiosity, so some made it to my steam wishlist.

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Cool, glad I brought some games to your attention.

[@rabendranath]

Really enjoyed watching your in-depth tier making, Planescape Torment may be my favorite CRPG, I've yet to try Divinity II and anxiously waiting for Disco Elysium to appear on the Switch. Great video!

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Thank you!

[@lazyhominid]

Thanks for making this. Interesting.I would have loved to see where you'd place Mass Effect, because I love that and would like to see if we agree on that. It will help see if we like the same kinds of games, so I can use this list as a guide on what to play.

[@hemangchauhan2864]

YES! First person dungeon crawlers got some rep! * Land of Lore is a pure classic. Rare DOS game that is still playable today. * Grimrock games are one of the best genre revivals ever too. I wish Grimrock 2 would have stuck with you, but I can agree about it's length. * Haven't played Operancia, and seems I got to change that. * I have bounced hard from Wizardry games, but from afar I have massive respect for the series. --- Some small feedback. If it's possible, can you turn down the background music a bit? I felt it was overpowering your commentary/voice. Usually background music is good in reviews and similar videos, but in commentary focused videos, it is better to have that music as minimal as possible.

[@Cannotbetamed1]

I can barely hear the music when I listen on my computer. It's hard to account for different speakers/devices/headphones.

[@hemangchauhan2864]

@@Cannotbetamed1 Oh OK, I can understand it. It is perhaps on my end. I have headphones that are tuned to clarity, and perhaps I picked it up more.

[@NinjaRunningWild]

@@Cannotbetamed1 You probably need better computer speakers then. Across two TVs, one with built-in speakers & the other with Bose, _both_ had the music volume trampling over your voice.

[@shyl4344]

Really nice video. If you have not already, you might want to try Pathfinder:Kingmaker. It has flaws (fights can be really frustrating) but it's probably the game than reminds me the most of the BGs serie (though Pillars of Eternity is also in the same vein). The character development and the story are really good and the gameplay have improved recently with the possibility of switching between real time with pause or turn base combat.

[@Cannotbetamed1]

That one's been on my list of games to play (and buy) for a while, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

[@CelestialNerd336]

Finally got around to watching this. Liked the video, but the Canadian "Dee-YAHH-blo" at 6:24 hit me like a freight train.

[@zone66]

thanks for your video, never heard of disco elysium, now im playing and loving it.

[@joshsweet7512]

You know, this is one of the first times I've heard "Arcanum" explained in a coherent way. Love the list by the way

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Thanks!

[@spitzspitzer6117]

Great vid Pam - as always. Maybe You should start doing some longplays?

[@Cannotbetamed1]

No one watches my longplays and they kill my channel growth.

[@spitzspitzer6117]

@@Cannotbetamed1 Ohhh ok! Thanks for being honest! Anyway keep up with the good work!

[@CyrusB1]

@@Cannotbetamed1 except for Bloodlines, Pam! it's how I found you

[@DarinM1967]

Thanks for sharing your ranks. I would agree with about 50% given the more modern ones I haven't played like "Disco Elysium." I do completely disagree with how you ranked Wizardry 5 or NWN, but given your nostalgia I can understand. Nice job overall. Thanks again for taking the time and effort to create this video.

[@winterburden]

I think the first CRPG I ever played was Ultima 7, a little surprised to not see any Ultima, I think my favourite was Ultima Underworld. Awesome video regardless! 🙆‍♀️

[@Supernaught00]

Ultima is pretty old school though. Still, great games.

[@CaptainXJ]

A CRPG list w/out Ultima, isn't a CRPG List.

[@winterburden]

@@CaptainXJ Hey now, this is Pam's CRPG list, we're all different and Pam's list is perfectly valid! (although I couldn't stand Divinity Original Sin 2, how did it get such a high ranking 😅😅😅😅😅)

[@freakydisorders]

Ultima IV and VII are my favourite

[@shreknet]

I have never heard anyone say the first Witcher was their fav. More power to you, me too. That intro scene was better than the Netflix version by miles. The isometric angle just feels right. Really enjoyed this video. And yes you put Bloodlines in S tier. As it should stay forever.

[@SophiaNyx]

What is really cool about the way you look at games is even though I'm mostly into nintendo and sony consoles and games as well as square capcom and all that quintessential japanese gaming stuff, I still definitely have played plenty of western games on pc, while I see no need to ever own an xbox. That being said, despite our east/west divide, I really really really relate to so many things you say about gaming. I would add to loot grinding being boring in Diablo 3, that even though on paper the classes are deep and varied, on normal at least, you either are fighting mindless dumb dumb mobs or surprise! a tanky high dps mini boss oh no! You make Goddess tier content all day and I thank you for it! Now I'm just waiting for you to star in an old school adventure game with lots of voice acting if you haven't already, I half remember you getting voice acting gigs.

[@Cannotbetamed1]

I'd love to be a voice in an adventure game. I have never had a voice acting gig.

[@SophiaNyx]

@@Cannotbetamed1 You would be amazing! I think you have a really entertaining voice in your videos and sometimes I get the idea of how awesome it would be to play like an old lucasarts style adventure game starring you for example

[@otakarlojkasek488]

Pillars in C and B, baldurs gate in B... Well... It seems unreal for me.

[@Fyrten]

Divinity OS 2 in S It was the biggest absurdity I've seen. No credit at all

[@rosiello5100]

I'll add something about Divinity Original Sin 2: what's also incredible is that even if you create your character, you can choose their backstory with branching paths, so that their existence isn't just relevant to the game world (that's important as you're not "generic fantasy protagonist n°445"), but it adds to the replay value and the relationship of other characters are influenced as well.

[@OrphanCrippler1]

The custom characters are leagues behind origin characters in depth and interaction

[@TheMarcHicks]

No Pathfinder: Kingmaker? That's a massively fun game, btw!

[@devforfun5618]

yeah, i was expecting this one too

[@redvex2114]

Weird idea indeed of skipping that one. It had a difficult launch but it's worth it now. I have some special place for it, it still has its flaws but it's nice these days seeing that you're not taken by the hand folowing permanent quest arrows. The game considers you know about the P&P product and it's nice imo.

[@josephmoore9706]

My first crpg that got me interested in the genre.

[@badtupram]

She's trying to have fun. Stop.

[@plaidchuck]

New Vegas B? Blasphemy, should be up there with Bloodlines as it had the same technical problems but the writing was superb. Just the fact at what they created in 18 months from the dead carcass of the cryo engine while still making it feel like OG Fallout is a design miracle alone.

[@adamantyr]

Great video! I'm surprised that none of the Ultima series were covered. Did they come up in consideration?

[@IAMSAINTVEGAS]

Your channel illuminates an entire universe of gaming that I have yet to genuinely access. Growing up I knew mostly console gaming via Nintendo and Playstation. Although I enjoyed some great PC experiences (OG LucasArts, Quake 3 Arena, Half Life) I never really engaged CRPGs until Vampire Bloodlines (exquisite!). I really enjoy playing classics on my PC so I will take this list to heart. Impressed to see so many years of great content from you here!

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Thanks so much, hope you find some new games you love from this list.

[@fullmetalb5241]

The way you described tyranny was essentially as playing as evil middle management 🤣

[@Cannotbetamed1]

That's basically what it's like.

[@knighttrax4237]

I’ve been wanting to get into crpgs this is the perfect video. Thanks Pam!

[@Cannotbetamed1]

No problem!

[@oliviawilliams6204]

Welcome down that amazing rabbit hole

[@Bubbowie]

I prefer to play on console, rather than PC so I missed out on a lot of these games, but i really like wasteland 2 & 3 on xbox. I tried the remastered version of the first game, but It was just to cumbersome for me. It probably been said already but wouldn't include the diablo games on this list. Great video as always. looking forward to more in this format :)

[@calculatroncalculatron1556]

You know, I don't even remember what drew me to play Tyranny, I think I bought it on sale for super-cheap a couple years ago. I didn't pay too much attention to character creation, but the "conquest mode" put some of the hooks in me. I recognized right away that the decisions I made there opened up or closed off areas that you would be allowed to adventure in. Similarly, certain decisions you made through your adventures enabled choices further into the game. I really enjoyed that aspect, and it was one of the few games I play twice in a row, back-to-back. That said, I probably wouldn't have gotten into it as much if they didn't add some touches of convenience - during dialogue, if a reference was made about something that the player-character would know, but the player themselves would not, there were convenient little links to click to read up on it so you could give a natural response. It's something that cRPG games have been missing for a while now that I hope is a standard going forward, and it helps to move past the "amnesiac trope" which has become a staple. That said, Tyranny is not the deeply intimate tale that PS: T and Disco Elysium were, with a very personal narrative, but it is an interesting look at human interaction, especially in terms of power. (I rank it pretty high, but it's not for everyone and I don't expect others to like it, or rate it, the same way I do.)

[@DaveVoyles]

Looooooved Tyranny

[@baconeater5557]

I personally rate Tyranny extremely highly, they just did a lot of stuff right and the story was pretty unique. To me it was only held back by a fairly short runtime, felt like they didnt really finish and were waiting for a sequel that doesnt seem to be coming.

[@errmac11]

I would recommend Albion (1996, DOS). It is the spiritual sequel to Amberstar and Ambermoon CRPGs on the Commodore Amiga. It has charming hand-drawn graphics and interesting plot with a mix of sci-fi and fantasy. The dungeons and puzzles are imho outstanding for the era. As typical for these old games, the start can be difficult and punishing, but as the party progresses you can get so powerful that combat is barely a challenge. By the way (almost) all dungeons are in 2.5 D FPS view, while house interiors and overworld maps are presented in top-down view. Combat is turn-based (with a twist). Now for the cons: some dungeons are absurdly long and a few characters are just bland. There is a huge late game area which seems unfinished. But even so, I think it is well worth the experience. Note: there is static recompilation project for Albion, so you can play it on Windows 10 without needing DosBox.

[@falayyou]

Thanks for this I'm just only getting into this genre. Playing Baldurs Gate 1 and it's great.

[@Falcons8455]

Pillars of Eternity is probably my favorite series ever. I love both 1 and 2 equally

[@jonrenicus1832]

Nice video. My favs are Baldurs Gate 2, Diablo 2 and Grim Dawn.

[@TheIndieOcean]

Thanks for reminding me that I need to read that CRPG book! It's sitting in the corner of my living room and I keep not getting round to opening it. This video brought up some appealing sounding games that I was unaware of before, so I might have to check out a couple of those (e.g. Lands of Lore). It was fun to see that your opinion on KOTOR 2 was the same as mine - simultaneously both better and worse than KOTOR 1. I've read a lot of hate for KOTOR 2 over the years, which I've never really understood. I liked how dark it was compared to the usual Star Wars stuff.

[@Cannotbetamed1]

I'd kind of like to try KoToR 2 with the restored combat and mods, but I also really don't want to play it on PC.

[@Alianger]

Found some new ones to check out here like Operencia, seems we have similar priorities when it comes to WRPG/CRPGs! A bit of a shame you hadn't played Ultima 6-7 or Dark Sun just to see how they stack up.

[@reyemilio00]

Thoroughly enjoyed this countdown. cRPGs are my favorite type of games, and I love how honest you were about your rankings and why. Personally, I consider Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 to be S tier, and Icewind Dale, a severely underrated dungeon crawler, to be A tier. I don't think your reasoning for their placements are unfair, though. Great job... looking forward to more videos.👍

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Thanks!

[@dantealighieri1265]

I am surprised you didn't include the two Pathfinder games. I am playing Pathfinder Wrath of the righteous right now and it seems awesome. But still, a nice list and easy sub🤗

[@Cannotbetamed1]

I played the first Pathfinder for a few hours after I made this video, but I didn't like it at all.

[@dantealighieri1265]

@@Cannotbetamed1 okay, but you should give Pathfinder wrath if the righteous a try, I think it is much better. I also only started to play Kingmaker, but the kingdom managment part seemed like a chore I didn't like. The second one doesn't have that. And you have something called mythic paths, where you can bsaically become a demi god, you can become and angel, demon, lich, gold dragon (you can literally transform into a gold dragon!) and some more. It has like a heroes of might and magic crusade mode, but it can be also set to auto if you don't want to bother with it. Anyways, have a good day!🤗

[@Ravenlock]

As someone who deeply enjoys the action RPG genre (the Diablo-alikes), this was still a fantastic summary of a whole bunch of great (and not so great) games. Not everything is for everyone and that's a good thing. 😉 Really nice work! Helping me prioritize my backlog a little.

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@ismaelesterada7003]

Did you ever play click and point games like Mist or The longest Journey? It would be awesome to see a list. Sorry if you already made video about this

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Yes, I've played lots of point and click games.

[@JoshuaJacobs83]

As someone collecting new and old CRPg’s, this will help so much. Thanks Pam Also, got an affiliate link for the book or just a regular link? I didn’t know I needed it until now

[@Cannotbetamed1]

Here's the book www.bitmapbooks.co.uk/collections/all/products/the-crpg-book-a-guide-to-computer-role-playing-games

[@fritzhartman2738]

As a librarian, I would also plug asking your local public library to pick up a copy. It is a great book and if more and more libraries get it, then the publisher is more inclined to print more copies. Also, you get to share your love of CRPG's with other folks who may not be fortunate enough to afford the book.

[@richardzajic172]

Interesting video. I have really different ranking, but it's normal. My TOP5 cRPG are Ultima Underworld 2, Wizardry VII, Ultima Underworld 1, Dark Sun 2 and Pool of Radiance (1988). You mentioned Wizardry V. I haven't played this part yet. But I finished Wizardry I, II, III, IV, VIII and VIII. So if you think the fifth part is the best, so I really look forward to playing this!

[@Cannotbetamed1]

I gave Wizardry 5 a C... so I hope it's not the best one.

[@madspunky]

I'd love to see you give Dungeon Master (1987) a try, which was a huge hit for the Atari ST and popular in the UK. This was good fun to listen to : D You know this genre way better than I do, but as far as I can tell, my ranking would be almost the same.

[@oliviawilliams6204]

Played that a lot on snes back in the days

[@perihelion7445]

Never played RPG's other than on Computers. C64, Amiga & PC. Side Note: You seem a lot more at peace and relaxed in this video 👍