See, that's where I disagree.

I don't believe exclusives are inherently of better quality than multi-platform games.

I think, for example, "Batman Arkham City" and "Tomb Raider" are as good quality as any exclusive, and are as well optimized.

What I do believe, on the other hand, is that exclusives get better scores, which I think is because they capitalize on brand loyalty, or the "identity of a fanbase", which is a dishonest tactic that fools critics and gamers alike.

It's why, right here in GameSpot, a Dreamcast exclusive Sonic Adventure 2 gets a high 8.6 score, while, less than a year later it abandons its exclusive status and is ported to the GameCube, seeing its score dropped dramatically to 6.8 ... SAME GAME.

I believe games like Metal Gear Solid 4 and The Last of Us would NEVER get the perfect 10 scores they got if they weren't PS3 exclusives.

But what bothers me is that the Xbox and the PS3 have almost the same power and functionally equal controllers (almost no one uses Kinect or Move), so what keeps games like Uncharted and Fable exclusive?
Just money. Paid agreements between Sony or MS and the devs, so you can't get a game unless you join the exclusive Xbox/Playstation club.

I think that is an artificial limitation that is full of s***. We would all be better off without exclusives of any platform.




...this went horribly off topic...

On topic: I'd like to see more good co-op games like Trine 2 and Lara Croft & the Guardian of Light. 

The problem is "RPG" is an incredibly broad genre that covers a huge range of gameplay and art styles.

It would help if you narrowed down what kinds of RPGs you've played to death and wish for more of... So that we may perhaps suggests obscure games we know in the hopes we might know one you don't yet.

Otherwise it sounds like you mean everything (J-RPGs, Action-RPGs, Strategy-RPGs, those shooter-RPGs like Mass Effect and Borderlands, etc)

...in which case... really? ALL of them?

Well since you mention Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance, there's another PS2 game called Champions of Norrath (I think there are two of those) that's even better because it supports 4 players.

If your Xbox 360 has a hard drive, that means you can play original Xbox games. In which case i heartily recommend Dungeons and Dragons: Heroes. That's another one you can play with 4 people.

The only 4-player RPG I can think of on Gamecube is Phantasy Star Online, but the local co-op mode is pretty limited and doesn't allow you to pick and complete quests, so... think of this as a last resort.

I think it's common knowledge but you can play both Borderlands 1 and 2 in split screen (2 players max). Those look like shooters but are really RPG games with shooter gameplay (you pick class, build your skills, etc). Those are available on Xbox 360.

But if you're going Xbox360 then i really recommend Fable 3. You can play 2-player on the same console (same shared screen). You can both create characters, complete quests, follow the story and even marry each other, for extra creepyness.

Fable 2 supports 2 players too, but more limited than F3: only one is the "main" character and the other one is sort of a companion, that can't level up or change equipment...

Others worthy of note:

- [X360] [2-Players] Lord of the Rings: War in the North (Not really RPG, more like action adventure with only the MOST BASIC rpg elements)

- [Gamecube] [4-Players] Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (again, not really RPG but fun dungeon exploration. Oh, also you need 4 gameboy Advances to connect to your gamecube, so pick this one up if you have too much disposable income)

- [X360] [2-Players] Dungeon Siege 3 (like Fable2: one main character and one characterless (?) companion).


...that's all i have off the top of my head. I may know others i can't remember right now.

PS: This doesn't really count because it's a PC game but there's one called "Torchlight 2" that can be played LAN up to 6-players and will run on the sh*ttiest PC you have. So consider that if you have anymore than one PC at home.