WoW, I Just Time Traveled!

Today I almost literally traveled backwards through time.

I've been itching - and I mean itching - to play a good, solid role-playing game. Now there are certainly those who would immediately point me in the direction of any Final Fantasy game, but those people are on a whole lower level than my RPG gaming tastes. No, I want a solid, meaty, adventurous game that meets the following conditions:

• Original character creation. I want to build a character from scratch, choosing among a variety of races and classes. I might want to use magic, or I might want to be a fierce warrior.

• Expansive, wild world. I don't want to be limited to a linear path. I want to explore an open world that is both inviting and yet dangerous for the low-level character. That way, becoming a high-level character down the road makes retreading old areas all the more exciting.

• Solid battle. Since most RPG fare centers around battling, combat has to be engaging. I prefer real-time based battles over turn-based, while still admiring a deep level of strategy.

• Make my own decisions. I want to be lead by an overarching narrative, for sure, but I also want to be able to do what I want, when I want, and I also want exploration to be a narrative all its own. I want to be able to go where I want, when I want, within the reasonable limits of my current character's strengths.

• Crafting. For some reason, games like Rune Factory have really turned me on to the idea of crafting... that is, the ability to create my own tools, weapons, or accessories from materials within the game world. This is an element of many RPGs that is not usually done well, so my choices are highly narrowed by this bullet-point.

• Engaging. Maybe this goes without saying, but if I'm going to seek out an RPG with all of the above, I hope that the game is at least fun to play and worth sticking with.
  

With those criteria at the forefront of my gaming interests right now, what have been my options?

• Baldur's Gate II: My first 'hardcore' PC RPG experience. I've had this game for quite some time, and admire its attention to detail, openness, character, and strategy of battle. Unfortunately, traveling in the game is a bit limited, and the overall scope of the game world is largely limited to areas that one way or another play into the game's length main plot.

• Neverwinter Nights: A long-time favorite of mine, NWN satisfies much of my craving for an RPG, particularly in character creation and general gameplay. Although battles and equipment are based in a D&D world, I still find the game a solid play-through, even if I have to stick to the first module's main quest before I can explore my own world. This game was installed recently, and I've been playing through it a bit at a time. Still not satisfying my itch, though.

• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: By far the best open-world PC RPG I've ever played, Oblivion satisfies pretty much all of my criteria, especially in character creation, overworld exploration, combat, and involvement in the world. It's simply a joy to roam around the game world and see what there is to see, battles what there is to battle, and ultimately get lost. Problem is, the game world is a bit lonely (sparsely populated), and after a while it becomes apparent that a sense of specific direction is lacking. This is always on my hard drive, so I took it for a spin, but it just didn't sit well with me after a while.

• Console RPGs: I'm lumping many games (Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI, Super Mario RPG, Illusion of Gaia) into one category for one reason: they all fail at meeting my criteria. Each individual game generally meets one or two of my criteria at any given time, but all definitely follow a strict narrative path and have limited game worlds and character creation options. I'm not putting any of these game down - by far, they are all unmistakable classics. None of them, however, satisfy my RPG itch.

• World of Warcraft: I have spent the last year considering this game dead to me, after watching two months of my life go by without even blinking once. But for as involved in WoW as I was last summer, there was a good reason behind it: it's a damn good game, and just so happens to be one of the best PC RPGs ever developed. It also happens to meet all of my above criteria and guess what? It sure as hell does a great job of scratching my itch. I'm not highly motivated by having to pay $14.99 a month to play, nor am I interested in the game's social contexts, but I do find myself lost in an engaging world that offers me the best chance to stretch my creative RPG talents.
  

So late last night I reinstalled World of Warcraft, patched the game overnight, and this morning purchased one month of gameplay. I don't intend to be in Azeroth for a long time, but I will say this: it felt good to play a game that was instantly familiar to me. I jumped right back into a world that felt like a second home, that was comfortable, and that finally, finally gives me a solid escape into a role-playing game that does everything right.

What was more interesting, however, was how quickly I adapted to a game that I haven't played in ten months. I was expecting to spend an hour or so reexamining everything at my disposal int he game, but thanks to an already-fully-equiped character, I snapped into the game world as if I never left. I only played for an hour this morning, but it was an hour that pulled me in and didn't want to let go.

With that, I'm off to do a few other important things as well: call a job recruiter, get ready for the 3 Doors Down concert tonight, and spend the rest of the day with my beautiful girlfriend.

B3 out.