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Best Story: Tie between Knights of the Old Republic and Fallout 2.

Best Combat System: That's tough. I haven't been wild about any of the RPG Combat Systems, but combat systems aren't really why I play an RPG. I'll say Knights of the Old Republic for its excellent turn-based system.

Coolest Character Designs: Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. This game takes a cue from the little Tarot-like game from Ultima IV, allowing you to pick a class directly or by answering questions. The mix of skills and class levels allowed for a lot of flexibility.

Highest Replay Value: Knights of the Old Republic 2. It's really too bad Lucasarts rushed Obsidian into releasing this game on-time/early, because they didn't get a chance to finish some of the extraordinary sideplots they had worked in. All the same, the different stuff you can do on any given replay of this game is pretty mind-boggling.

I have to give an honorable mention to Morrowind, which is so big in its scope you could play lots of different games with very different adventures throughout your journeys. This one only gets honorable mention, though, because despite its open-ended awesomeness, I was only motivated to play it through once. Also, the Tribunal expansion was disappointingly limited and extraordinarily buggy.

Greatest 'Awww...I can't believe it's over' factor: This one goes to my all-time favorite, Baldur's Gate 2. Even though the engine and graphics are pretty primitive by modern standards, and though the plot wasn't all that great, the depth of the NPC interaction - with bickering party members, quarreling would-be girlfriends, myriad side-plots, kidnappings, and three possible romances (for a male player: female players got stiffed with only one relatively lame one) - changed the way I play role-playing games forever. Not just electronic RPGs, but all RPGs. Even if another game comes along and unseats this one as my #1 favorite (which seems inevitable, given time), I'll never, ever forget it.

I have to throw in with Torment. I've never had as much fun playing a computer game as I did with Torment.

Amazon.com has it for $2.37 ...

It's possible to find it on the shelves at the odd store -- if you know a place that sells Diablo for 10 bucks, then thumb around and see if they're selling Torment for the same price...these days, it gets packaged with other Bioware products.

It's certainly worth $10...and was worth the $40 I shelled out when it was new.

The one drawback to the game is that the controls are odd...not as fluid as Baldur's Gate. And it loads slowly on the computers of 1999 (the year it came out, I think)...but I have a much newer PC now and the screen loads aren't an issue.

It's hard to talk too much about it without giving the story away. You play a revenant who is trying to figure out who killed him...and why. The clues are scattered across the planes...from Sigil, to Under-Sigil, to the Outlands (once quaintly known as the Plane of Concordant Opposition!...ah, 1st Edition...)...and others.

The game has a journal, like Baldur's Gate does...but takes it a step further and keeps track of all the critters you've come across...as well as the major NPC's -- I confess that I ripped this concept off and starting doing that for my games...and it's due to Torment (see my Sidebar articles)!!!

As was the nature of Planescape...the purpose is not in beating up a bunch of bad-guys. It's a mystery...a puzzle...and well done. The options for the dialogue with the NPC's is probably the most detailed I've ever seen. If your INT and WIS scores are high...you'll get even more dialogue options -- again, the focus is on the story, not the combat.

I think a failing of many D&D PC games is that there is a lot of random combat...and for no good purpose..."Oh, we slept in the woods, now we must fight the xvarts who lived nearby!" I confess, that Torment has it's moments where it's guilty of this kind of logic...but, for the most part, it's combat light. Heck, it's nearly impossible to find and use a sword in the game!

And, lastly, I love the game so much that I've incorporated a number of the NPC's from Torment into my own game -- my players make their way to Sigil now and then. I honestly think the characters in Torment are that good...much more life-like than what you'll find in most D&D games (remember the 2-dimensional days of Pool of Radiance?).

BEST STORY: FFVII, hands down. Nothing else I've ever played has had a plot that made my head spin so much. Not even Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is this convoluted and wild. Well, maybe Dirk, but little else.

EVERYTHING ELSE: Dunno, I just wanted to promote FFVII.

I recently dived into Baldur's Gate II -- I know, I know...I'm way behind on current events in the PC gaming world...sue me.

But, now that I'm into Chapter 5 of this saga...I have to say that it's pretty darn hoss.

One of my favorite things about II is a lot of the throwaway details that make old DND gamer's like me smile. There's a lot of subtle tie-in's to the rest of the DND universe that make me happy -- like the mentio of a spelljammer ship, the mention of Kurtulmak, the githyanki, etc.

There were also a few twists that I didn't see coming because I don't expect them from typical PC games.

Anyway, thought I'd throw in and give my vote of support.

Hmmm. Do I just promote my favorite game not many played, or do I give my honest opinion in each category. Honest opinion wins any day.

-Story

Tough category, as this is what I really play RPGs for. I'm going to have to say Skies of Arcadia, my all time favorite RPG and my favorite not many have played, fits the bill here. Sure, it had a lot of cliches. It knew it and it didn't care. It was a classic epic, and it pulled it off. The end sequence from Yafutoma on is probably still one of my favorite climaxes in any media ever.

-Combat System

The opposite of the above, I could usually care less about an RPG's combat system. Skies got the job done, but it wasn't my favorite - it was good because it was fast. Same with FFX. Chrono Trigger nearly won this category for the awesome tech system until I remembered Final Fantasy Tactics: it's not precisely a traditional RPG, but it had the right amount of micromanaging without being too complex for a good, intricate combat system.

-Character Design

Why are people saying Morrowind for this? I love that game, and consider it one of the best virtual worlds ever created... but its character models and animations make me cringe a bit. If character design was about the written character and personality... this would be a really hard category, and I would probably have to say FFX. I enjoyed Tidus' developement, yes, but my favorite was watching Wakka struggle with his motivation. If it were more world design and overall character models and design, I'd have to say Skies. All unique NPCs, lots of personality in the supporting cast... really, the best overal large cast. The main characters may be stereotypes, but they're more than that, and lovable. The supporting cast... well, play the game to the end. That's all I'll say.

Replay Value-

Tactics. The battle system was intricate and a large portion of the game, and each fight was unique. I love my other favorites dearly, but this was a great game for its battles... not despite them

Awwww...

I can't answer this. All I can say is...

Strong ending sequences that left me satisfied:

Chrono Trigger
Skies
FFX
FFVII
Vampire: Bloodlines

For what it's worth, FFVI also had a strong ending, from what I saw. I just always burn out before I can complete it. I haven't played VIII or XI to completion, and mean to fix that some day. Wild Arms also is a game with a lot of promise I've never completed. Suikoden III is on my to play list... long list.

*special note on why I don't play PC RPGs...

Baldur's Gate 1 gets the tease award for glitching out during the 'you are poisoned' plotline (those who've played it know which one)and never generating the antidote. Great game, but that killed it for me. Being unable to go anywhere 30 hours in kills it. I did play Vampire: Bloodlines, breaking my PC rule... but that's about it.

Well, for character customization in Morrowind, I can certainly understand where you're coming from... still don't like the animations and models, but I can see what you mean in terms of system, a use based points system is as close as I've seen to truly perfect... even if the best way to level is to jump from one town to the next for a while ;]

As far as BG1 goes, I played it on a Mac, and an old one at that. It may have been my file, but I've always found the Infinity engine to be, at least in this game, a bit unstable. Wonderful, fun, and awesome, but very unstable. I usually had a cascading series of saves to get myself out of inevitable bugs...