I am looking for a game to play over the holidays. My requirements are as follows:
Content
It should be an RPG or very similar, i.e., the focus should on developing your character (or ensemble of characters) and experiencing a story, and the main challenge should be on choosing the skills to use and not dexterity with the input devices (like in a shooter). Some skill may be required though, e.g., real-time is okay.
It should have a complex, interactive story, i.e., it should be more than just slashing monsters and there should be some relevant decisions to be made.
It should be atmospheric and feature well-designed environments.
Playtime should be approximately between twenty and forty hours.
There should not be any multiplayer option (that is actually used) that could tempt me. When the game is over, it should be over.
It should not be too old. Everything from this millennium should be fine
Tech Specifications
The game should run on a five-year old machine that was good for gaming then. It should run on Linux (Wine is fine). So, many newer games probably won’t work.
What already worked (fully or partially)
Knights of the Old Republic fulfilled all criteria, but I want something different (so not the second part).
I liked the atmosphere and environments of Dungeon Siege. It utterly fails my criteria in the story department though.
I liked Deus Ex very much. It is borderline on the RPG criterion though.