What 'Choose Your Own Adventure'-style RPG would you recommend to a video game novice? (wii or mac)

November 29, 2007 7:27 PM

What 'Choose Your Own Adventure'-style RPG would you recommend to a video game novice? (wii or mac)

So, I haven't been much of a videogamer since moving beyond my Genesis in 1997, but I've been loving my new Wii, specifically the Success Mode in MLB Power Pros, where you take a character in his first year of college, and choose how he will spend his time (practicing, womanizing, working, studying), and watch him progress as a direct result of your choices. There's minimal playing of baseball, and alot of character development and choose your own adventure-type gameplay.

So, I'm looking for any other RPGs of a similar vein. Most of the RPGs I found in my research were fantasy games where you spend most of your time fighting and the choice making was a minimal part. However, my preference would be a game with a subject based more in reality ( I would listen to fantasy-type wizards and warriors suggestions for really spectacular games, but that's not my preference). I'd also prefer the game to be mostly choice-making, but like MLB Power Pros, having the game supplemented with actual in-game play would be cool too (ie: a bit of baseball mixed in with alot of choice-making). So, hive mind, any thoughts?

posted by evadery to computers & internet (11 answers total)

Knights of the Old Republic! Not for wii, and Star Wars-verse so not really realistic, but it's a total classic. Possibly the only game I've ever really enjoyed as anything other than a timekilling tool. I know I've seen it at the Apple store. Pretty much any Sims-type game also sounds like it would be up your alley.
posted by crinklebat at 7:57 PM on November 29, 2007

The game that comes to mind immediately is Cute Knight. You control a young woman, who seeks to become a princess, hero, or other member of society. Most of the game consists of choosing what activities you want her to do (fencing lessons, waiting tables to earn extra money, volunteering at the church to improve her morals). You only explore and fight if you really want to, and then only after you've spent some time training. Not spectacular, but more similar to the RPG aspects of certain sports games than anything else I can think of.
This game is similar to the Princess Maker series, but those have never been released in English.
posted by CrunchyFrog at 8:19 PM on November 29, 2007

(Alas, this is Windows only.)
posted by CrunchyFrog at 8:19 PM on November 29, 2007

Also, the Harvest Moon games are kind of RPG-ish, and have no fighting, and little or no fantasy elements.

There's also The Sims.
posted by CrunchyFrog at 8:24 PM on November 29, 2007

What you want is Mass Effect, Knights of the Old Republic, or the older games Baldur's Gate, Planescape: Torment, or Fallout. Some of these have been ported to Mac, I don't think any are ported to Wii. I just wrote a blog post about this, if you'll forgive the self-link.
posted by Nelson at 8:40 PM on November 29, 2007

First of all, I agree that Knights of the Old Republic and other BioWare games feature the most "choice making" out of the RPG games I know.

One problem with your request is that the two elements you want to avoid (combat as the main game mechanic and a fantasy setting) are pretty much the defining aspects of an RPG. Without those two traits, the main aspect of RPGs that sets them apart from other games is that you can usually "level up" your character to become more powerful over the course of the game.

Since you mentioned that you haven't played too many games since the Sega Genesis, here are some suggestions for other genres that feature a lot of "choice making":

Life Simulations, Dating Simulations and Virtual Pets:
These games are much more popular in Japan than the US. The baseball game that you like on the Wii, as well as the Cute Knight, Princess Maker, and Harvest Moon suggestions all fall into this same basic category. Similar to an RPG, you normally make decisions about training or what gifts to give someone, which causes the game world to change. Some examples that were released in the US include Dead or Alive Extreme Beach Volleyball (which was a strange mix of a sports game and a dating sim) and the Monster Rancher series (which is a virtual pet game where the pets are monsters that fight each other).

Adventure Games:
The golden years of adventure games are over, but they are about as close to a choose-your-own adventure video game as you can get. They normally involve exploring a world, interacting with other characters, and solving puzzles. They usually don't have much fighting or fantasy elements, but there is also usually not any way to level up or improve the player character. Not many good adventure games are being made any more, but you can play a ton of classic ones on the ScummVM emulator on your Mac. If you want to go really old school, you can get into Interactive Fiction, which are text-based adventure games. There are tons of free text adventures that you can download and play for free on your Mac at the IF Archive, including the winners of the annual Interactive Fiction Competition.
posted by burnmp3s at 10:25 PM on November 29, 2007 [4 favorites]

Regarding Princess Maker in English... You can find 2 fairly easily, as teh wikipedia points out: "The translation was leaked onto the internet and is considered abandonware".

I had a brief, intense addiction to it many years ago; that's why I can never run for President. If you think you can have something called "Princess Maker 2" in your personal history, you should give it a try.
posted by pokermonk at 11:08 PM on November 29, 2007

Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure, on Wii. By my reading of your question, it's pretty much spot on for what you're after.
posted by Effigy2000 at 12:15 AM on November 30, 2007

Snatcher.

Its SegaCD, and I don't know if there is a SegaCD emulator for the Mac, but it would be exactly what you want.

All choices, no fighting.
posted by sleslie at 12:22 AM on November 30, 2007

As someone who hasn't watched the Star Wars films (sacreligious, I know), will I still get a kick out of KOTOR?

Thanks for the responses so far!
posted by evadery at 12:57 PM on December 1, 2007

As someone who hasn't watched the Star Wars films (sacreligious, I know), will I still get a kick out of KOTOR?

Yes, KOTOR would be a great game even if it had no connection to Star Wars.

Both KOTOR games take place thousands of years before the Star Wars movies, so there is almost no connection to the plot details of the movies. KOTOR has a very deep storyline that fully explains itself, so you will not be lost or missing anything by playing without having seen the films.
posted by burnmp3s at 4:02 PM on December 1, 2007