Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
This has been sitting in my library for some time, and I decided to finally play it. It's an action RPG that plays most like Fable, but better in nearly every way. Combat is quite nice, and the game just feels great to play. I figured this was going to be just a decent hack and slash game; however, I was shocked upon reaching the first town to discover that the game has decent stealth and thieving mechanics. You can sneak around stealing stuff from people, and can even assassinate NPCs.
Even though the game is just a world of paths, the exploration is quite excellent. You're constantly finding little caves and mines off the beaten path, and the excellent action combat system means that you can actually take down enemies much tougher than you with enough skill (and can use potions to give yourself an edge).
Even the writing is quite good. Named NPCs often have surprisingly interesting backstories, bringing the memorable townspeople of Ultima VII to mind. I came away extremely impressed with this one.
Might and Magic VI
I've given this a few tries over the years, going back to when the game was first released, but always had trouble getting into it. Now, five hours in, I absolutely love it. It's clunky in a way that none of the previous games in the series was, but once you get used to it, the game is absolutely amazing. The exploration is fantastic. Combat is kind of dumb, but likeable once you get into the groove of it.
The first dungeon you're likely to explore is a thing of beauty. It's full of stuff, and the more you explore it, the more complex it becomes. I found myself going back to it, over and over, and finding some room or corridor I somehow missed the previous time.
I love you you develop your characters in this game. It's simply addictive. You have your typical EXP-based levels, of course, but you also have guilds to join, skill to buy (and improve), and stats to permanently increase by finding fountains. Every character regardless of class can learn any skill at level 1 simply by paying a trainer. To do that, you first need to join the respective guild, which is often located in some other town. It's a great way to keep building up your characters in between experience levels. You feel like you're constantly accomplishing something, even if it's just as simple as tracking down some guild or trainer you've been looking for.
I really like the engine this game uses. The maps are all true polygonal 3D, with hills and valleys and levels over levels, and the textures are surprisingly sharp for such an old game. Enemies and NPCs are 2D bitmaps, but are also surprisingly sharp even close up.
An amazing game, so far.
