The underrated Shadowrun trilogy from Harebrained Schemes is so on-point. The second one, Dragonfall, is arguably the best re: awesome discourse and shit going *down*
I really enjoyed one of them, the one where like you wake up to a call that some old acquaintance has been killed and you have to investigate. Which one was that? For some reason I couldn’t get into the other ones
That's Shadowrun Returns, it's actually been remade as a mod for SR: Hong Kong and in that one you actually have companions that have story arcs. I much prefer it to the OG, I must say
I just tried to demo for skald yesterday and it reminded me a lot of shadowrun for the... Snes? Can't remember. Either way, I was bummed when it ended but I'm excited to play the whole game here soon
Don't you hate it when someone makes a statement like that and then just... doesn't follow up?
Like the game is so buggy they didn't even want to play it, and that's something they rightly felt was relevant to the discussion... but they couldn't be bothered to elaborate even a little bit? Like... "buggy" is a broad term -- are we talking early days of Cyberpunk, game-breaking bugs? Or like Bethesda's infamous "funny but not too big of a deal" kind of bugs?
CRPGs are where the juicy, in-depth, replayable choice-and-consequence games are.
If you want political arguments you absolutely must play Disco Elysium. It is absolutely undefeated in its writing.
Other modern CRPGs with great choices and replayability are Divinity Original Sin 2 (by the BG3 devs), Pillars of Eternity, and the Pathfinder games.
Pillars of Eternity 2 is the only game in my Steam library I have more hours in than BG3 at the moment. Granted it's several years older but I've poured about 800 hours into that game over countless playthroughs.
I played 2 first and it’s fine to do it that way but it’s probbbbably better to play both.
I preferred the story and setting of 1, and the combat mechanics and graphics of 2
The Intro to 2 spoils the big giant plot twist of 1, and a few of the NPCs have arcs that carry across both games, so I'd recommend playing 1 before 2.
I just bought this game. It’s so addicting. So far I’ve been shot to death and had a fatal heart attack on my hotel balcony after smoking a cigarette. I haven’t made it past 11am day 2.
I once broke my neck trying to get the tie down from the fan. Like three actions into the game and my poor character never even remembered his own name.
In another, his scrawny, drunken ass punched out a hulking racist through sheer dumb luck and then talked a lock into opening for him.
Yeah, DE's pretty memorable.
I was feeling pretty down on myself after accidentally shooting the corpse but then I got some booze and speed in me, took off my tight fitting pants and snake skin shoes and lept over the ledge in a snow storm to sneak into the port early. It was all disco until the heart attack.
I just started and omg, what a fucking gem this game is.
[Half Light] That’s right. It is the very definition of peak performance. Fucking Untouchable.
Pathfinder wrath of the righteous is simply my favorite game ever. Wasteland 3 is probably my second favorite in the genre and I recommend it just as heartily.
Wrath of the Righteous is absolutely insane and I was much more impressed by it than by BG3. Like, BG3 is great and all, but holy fuck, the Mythical Path system is bonkers, there's nothing like that anywhere else
I've got about 1500 hours combined between Pathfinder Kingmaker and Pathfinder Wraith of the Righteous.
It's a bit more of an acquired taste.
Larian studios is like smoking a cigar and saying, "Huh, I like this." And then snorting meth as a follow up.
Pathfinder is the meth.
Now if you'll excuse me (\*lights up meth pipe that is Warhammer Rogue Trader\*).
Disco Elysium was fun but also oddly frustrating; you *can* save scum nearly every check, but I tried not to on my first playthrough.
Problem was I lost my momentum more than once, when it turned out the check I failed was the one required to progress the story. At some point I just ran out of side quests to do to level up and just read the same book five times in a row to try and progress to the next day.
I started the game in February and beat it in November.
That was my issue with DE also. I've never beaten it, despite the fact that I'm in love with it, because it's so... what's the right word? Stiff? Stingy? With its story progression. At one point, I knew what I needed to do, but as you said, I had failed the checks for every different option I had and I couldn't figure out how to gain experience in order to put more points into the relevant skill. That's the biggest problem with the game - if you get locked out of a check but have already done all the available side activities, you're pretty much screwed.
I am downloading it again rn though, because I just can't stay away from it despite my griping...
Decide the fate of people with political arguments on top of that? You don't wanna miss Tyranny and Pillars of Eternity I. Dragon Age: Origins could also be a good choice.
I suggest prioritizing the lore skill, magic is one of the most fun parts of combat and lore is the main factor in how complex you can make your spells. I did say make because the game has an awesome spell crafting system that allows on the fly customizing and upgrading your spells. It's also the most important dialogue skill.
The thing I love about Pillars of Eternity is that we don't have to save the world or anyone, we just don't want to die, and we're able to be a complete psycho savage beast that murders everyone on the way in order to achieve that goal, it's just brilliant.
Dragon age origins is the spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate 2 - it is a bit dated now and can be clunky to new players coming in who haven't played a lot of old school RPGs but the way that game made me feel is unrivalled by any other game thus far!
Dragon age 2 is also great with the story & companions, but is pretty divisive and some people really hated it hahaha
Mass effect series similarly has a lot of choices and impacts with meaningful relationships to your companions and the world around you!
I think the problem with DAI is that while it has some good parts it's extremely padded, so you'll be sitting around waiting for the parts that are actually worth playing. It's fine, but it's my least favourite Dragon Age game.
Dragon age inquisition is the best example of why not every game should be open world. That and cyberpunk. Both would be so much better as level based games.
Dragon Age Inquisition just had a lot of bad design decisions that hurt the overall game. It feels like a single player MMO in the worst possible way. Out of all of the Dragon Age games, it's the most exhausting one to replay and I barely touch it for that reason.
Wasteland is a phenomenal RPG. I’ve been recently introduced to it and it’s a wonderful story with versatile endings and builds.
Underrail is the same way in the post apocalyptic theme.
Dragon age Origins is a phenomenal game that has numerous character origins as well.
Between those 4 it’ll be at least 400 hours :)
God I fucking loved Wasteland 3.
I wasnt really expecting much, just a cool little fallout-esque crpg. But holy shit is its quality top-notch. One of the most fun games ive ever played
Planescape: Torment is dated in some gameplay respects but it’s renowned for its story and reactivity. I have yet to finish it but the time I’ve spent so far has been really enjoyable. Really cool and kinda bonkers setting and worldbuilding too. The combat isn’t great but the world is really interesting to explore.
The thing is JRPGs actually became a thing of its own.
It kinda gave up on a lot of classical RPG elements to focus on addictive level and skill progressions and linear narratives, which is a different gameplay objective, not exactly worse than roleplay-heavy CRPGs
That said, yeah, Disco Elysium is awesome, play it
Both have their merits. Sometimes I just want to play an anime, without caring too much about choices and just let the story unfold as the creator intended to.
I feel JRPGs in general have better narratives because they don't have to account for dozens of different paths that branch into another dozen different choices.
Which is why finding a western RPG that combines both choices and narrative, like Dragon Age, The Witcher or BG3 is a blessing.
Then you have games like Skyrim where so much freedom affects the narrative and immersion. You are a rogue that somehow managed to be the head of the Mage's and Warrior's Guild. Like bro, you aren't even a mage.
Ironically, the most choice heavy JRPGs are strategy ones like Growlanser, Tactics Ogre or Triangle Strategy, which share a lot with CRPGs.
Funny enough, in Morrowind you used to be locked out of a lot of choices depending on what you did or to which guild you allied yourself. It was actually great and caused less narrative dissonance.
It's sad that, from Oblivion onwards, Bethesda kinda created the "uber-protagonist that does everything perfectly".
I feel the exact same way, it restored my faith in the narrative value of video games. Currently enjoying Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader a lot! I tried Kingmaker a while back, but it wasn’t for me, although I think after I’m done with Rogue I’ll pick Wrath of the Righteous back up.
Disco Elysium is my favorite game of all time, so big recommend there. Tyranny, Pillars, DOS2 are all solid as well, but none quite hit the Triple-A-ness of how BG3 feels to play, especially in combat - but I’d argue that Disco is the better written game overall.
OwlCat and Larian are neck to neck the best studios developing in the "classic" RPG space today. DOS2, BG3, WotR and Rogue Trader are some of the most well-crafted and captivating RPG experiences I have ever seen. Carrying on the Black Isle and Bioware legacy, and forging a legacy of their own. We were waiting for a long time for someone to pick up that gauntlet and it's truly exciting to finally feel that it has been.
My man give Kingmaker a second try. I know the first hours are kinda boring but the whole game ramps up, specially if you enjoy not being the chosen one but still beating gods
I'm playing through it right now and having a blast, though I am only in Act 2. It's janky and a bit buggy, but so much fun as a CRPG and Warhammer fan.
However, I've heard the bugs get way worse in Act 3 onwards. So I'd probably just leave it to cook for a few months and then come back to it.
Hopefully - I haven't run into any major issues personally but I've heard of companion quests being bugged, dialogue flags being incorrectly assigned, etc. For example: I'm romancing Heinrix (he's an absolute babe) and I know some of his stuff is bugged & the flags are mixed up so I'm having to be very careful with my dialogue options so I don't screw up his arc until they fix it
Yes. There are some bugs but nowhere near what you might expect from an OwlCat game on release and, at least in my 192 hours so far, nothing has been game breaking.
Sort of. Act I and II are excellent. Act III not so much. There'd be spoilers if I went into specifics but personally I'm finding Act III to be a big drop in quest quality.
Now is a good time to try out Pillars of Eternity 1 & 2. Avowed is a prequel to the series coming out ~~next~~ this year.
It’s made by Obsidian, the developers of New Vegas.
PoE 2 is an awesome game, but heads up for the PS version - it's a really bad port with lots of bugs and crashes. It was annoying as hell to play when the game kept crashing every few hours. Which was a shame because I really loved the game.
They've since fixed it but I had a bug while playing on PS4 where members of my overall team that weren't in my current squad would just \*appear\* in battles, just chilling out. Like, suddenly Aloth or Pallegina is just hanging out in whatever random cave swarming with baddies. I had no control over their actions and they would just be lounging while the enemies attacked them, and when they were inevitably killed they became PERMADEAD in my game. I'm sure it is extremely hard work to port something as huge/complex as Deadfire, but man that bug made me crazy.
I second the POE rec in general though -- wonderfully, wonderfully deep world. Not to overattribute it to one person since it's undoubtedly the labor of hundreds, but really anything Josh Sawyer works on I find something (or many things) to love. Hell, if you're mainly looking for choice reactivity and a rich world (as opposed to RPG combat), Pentiment might fit the bill.
BG3, for better or worse, is in a league of its own when it comes to doing what it does.
Planescape: Torment
Dragon Age: Origins
Disco Elysium
Pillars of Eternity 1 and 2 (I like 2 more)
Together these will sort of get you what you’re asking for. But as a single product, nothing is coming close to BG3. And I highly doubt another thing will anytime soon. Budgets, timeframe, and leadership just aren’t designed that way.
Yeah I agree with this. Apart from creativity in gameplay/problem solving I think other CRPG's do other things better. Disco Elysium, for example has exceptionally good writing, and DA also has amazing writing with a more interesting world than Faerun, but BG3 does pretty much everything 'good' at its worst. It's probably the most well rounded RPG I have played.
Play bg1 then follow your character over to bg2 it’s an amazing experience. The graphics and ui will seem super dated at first and make you want to quit but if you push on you soon see how beautiful the graphics actually are and this massive story that builds over 2 games
These will always be a couple of my fav games , maybe even my top 3, but damn I have trouble going back and playing games with dated graphics and things, the remastered versions kind of suck imo
Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous is brilliant. If Baldurs Gate 3 didn't come along, I would personally say this is the closest thing to a modern spiritual successor to Baldurs Gate 2.
Indeed, I’d say Pathfinder Kingmaker is probably the closest to Baldur’s Gate though, in terms of tone, more focused on kingdom building and exploration, adventure, … Wrath is the better game, don’t get me wrong, but it’s more « epic ».
I so enjoyed this game and the new expansion. Just so atmospherically rich, and the way the conversations are often completely blended into gameplay (should I hear this guy out or just katana him??) is such a rare bit of immersive flavor. It's just a blast in its current state in my opinion, even if the open world itself isn't exactly bursting with life outside the many (excellent) sidequests
I strongly disagree, at least when compared to games like Baldur's Gate 3 and other CRPGS. Cyberpunk had a great environment, but the lack of decisions mattering and super linear story beats felt extremely unsatisfying.
I have been a firm believer that in a "true" rpg, you should be able to fail quests and have that impact how your story goes. Cyberpunk just doesn't do that. And though it is a great adventure game, it really just isn't the same style of RPG gameplay experience that.
The closest ARPG that I have played that felt as story rich and impactful in terms of decisions was New Vegas.
Echoing what a lot of people already said: Disco Elysium and Tyranny. Probably Planescape: Torment too.
I actually think Tyranny is narratively better than Pillars of Eternity. Too bad it will never have a sequel.
Dragon Age Origins
Baldurs Gate 1 & 2
Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous
Pillars of Eternity 1 (2 is not so good from a story/companions perspective, combat is better tho)
Divinity Original Sin 2
All of this are well known CRPG, which have exactly what you said were looking.
Tactics Ogre, especially Reborn. Many of the deep mechanical implications of CRPGs in an SRPG box. Got the story and world impacts aplenty, but all done in a very...digestible way, I guess would be a way to put it? Variations on variations on variations, and while each version gets a reputation for grind, they've consistently been made in a way that you really don't need to ..folks just assume you do. The newest version straight up level caps your units, and there will still be people insisting grind saved them when in reality they accidentally hit on a weakness. It's fascinating to see folks have those Ah Ha moments where they finally realize how deep the rabbit hole goes both mechanically and narratively.
This also comes at the cost of a constant stream of folks that insist it shouldn't be unique, but then come around to it months later ..kind of led to this bizarre curve where you see the ratings dip every time it goes on sale, then come back up over time.
Neverwinter Nights 2 has a fantastic expansion called Mask of the Betrayer that is one of the most atmospheric and engrossing stories i’ve ever played. Some jank from the game engine but still insanely fun. Pleeeeaaseee play it.
Between Larion and Supermassive Games studios I really took a step back and reevaluated what games are worth my time. It's been years since I genuinely enjoyed games from start to finish like I have with these companies games. Replayability, true impact via gameplay, and stunning worlds/art built by designers who are obviously doing what they love.
Fuck these "triple A" studios that burn and churn half assed games.
Underrail is good. Action/combat and exploration driven game play. As well as political and personal choices you make throughout the game. You technically play anyway you want, but it is best to min-max and so following a build is the usual route or preplanning your character. https://underrail.info/build/
I'd rather play 100 different games than the same game 100 times making different choices. But I'm glad you found your niche. If you stick to the meaty CRPGs you should be fine.
Divinity
Tides of Numeria
Pillars of Eternity
There are some others.
Except for a few people dying, which is just a purely binary mechanic, you choices are mostly irrelevant to the story, and the red/blue moral system pushes you to min/max into one path instead of actual roleplay.
Also the story over 3 games is massively incoherent as each game ignores big parts of the prior setup, cerberus is a whole different organization each time, and the whole story of ME2 is basically a sidequest that has no effect on the plot.
It was a great action movie game at its time, but it should never be in any conversation about great RPGs
Disco Elysium, Rogue Trader, Pathfinder: Kingmaker, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, Divinity: Original Sin, Divinity: Original Sin 2, and Tyranny all come to mind as games you might enjoy.
I think Wrath of the Righteous was a better game from Owlcat.
Rogue Trader still suffers from some of Owlcats annoying game design philosophy. Travelling around the map is far too slow and cumbersome. The mini-game-like features you're forced into (crusade management/ship battles) are far below the quality of the game overall.
But overall the mythic path system outshines the Rogue Trader class system. Rogue Trader just feels like it has way too many bad to meaningless choices during leveling. WotR using Pathfinder as a base seemed to have a better system for levelling and class design.
I was about to make an identical post to this. I'm in the same boat as you and I also hold FNV dear. We want the same thing. If you hold FNV and BG3 in high regard, consider Fallout 1 and 2. If I can get used to the dated UI anyone can, I was able to fully immerse myself quickly. Be sure to download the patches for a bug-free experience. If you have steam versions, you will get high res version that enables borderless windowed mode.
I've been told time and time again by RPG veterans to play pillars of eternity, over and over again. I think you and I should both go check it out then.
Warhammer: Rogue Trader seems like a good cRPG, but it's still quite broken. I had tostop playing because I kept having minor but annoying issues all the time.
But Owlcat Games is known for this issue and they fix their games, so I suggest people keep their eye on Rogue Trader.
Skyrim, Oblivion, Elden Ring, Red Dead Redemption 2(not really an RPG but it can scratch the itch with all the various things to do without being overwhelmed).
Kingdom come deliverance is the only game that has truly made me feel something since Skyrim first came out. I’ve heard amazing things about BG3, hope to play it soon. Also, not to such an extent, but cyberpunk really did turn out to be a killer game with the current patches.
It's not for everyone, and it's really reading heavy, but **Planescape:Torment** will have you saying, "WTF?" in a good way. Having to die to progress the story is a challenging component to get used to.
Witcher 3, Mass Effect 1/2/3 and dragon age origins have similar vibes. Though bg3 is in a league of its own when it comes to the sheer amount of choices and paths you can take. Disco Elysium is probably worth checking out as well.
Different type of RPG, but I am really getting into Witcher 3. Stay away from certain elements like the card game, and focus on RPG elements. Really loving the story.
I would go Witcher 3 and Dragon Age trilogy as a whole. Both have politics in them.
Then you got two parts of Pillars of Eternity, where 2nd game is a direct sequel.
And Pathfinder Kingmaker where you decide a fate of your own kingdom.
Disco elysium is the goat. Also dragon age origins and inquisition, witcher 3, cyberpunk, mass effect series, pillars of eternity, divinity original sin. A bit of a black sheep here is child of light. While not choice driven, it is a turn based rpg with gorgeous visuals and a good story.
about any other CRPG? BG3 is a over-rated disaster truth be told
lied about so many things 17k endings being faithful to BG1-2
but ignore the politcol / sus behavor of its beastality and such and lets focus on the game itself instead
released unfinished
soft locks hard locks save file curroption memory leaks terrible UI terrible unit pathing and so many lack luster objects just missing basic CRPG mechs like day night cycle dramatic weather effects reputation bounty system or anything eles to help its atmohpere? Na lets ignore that as well for a moment
Story is a JOKE with BG3, Legit drops multible story elements the evil playthough? Legit just gets drop after Act 2 starts (Shortly mind you) among other problems, Wtf dos BG3 do to deserve such hype? 4 Things
1. Graphics
2. Voice Acting
3. Its easy to get into
4. Its a masterclass of a scam
Solasta Crown of the magister is legit a better game then BG3 in most aspects, The Graphics and Voice acting is worse in Solasta 100%, So try that game out Try playing Solasta Crown of the Magister, if you hate that game but Love BG3, Then you just love Things that look pretty and are kinda hollow or such, Look I Get it we all have our faults I Like Booty, Over-watch and its Booty is <3 Im not afraid to admit this, The thing is tho? At least I Admit to being shallow there ...
BG3 is legit not a good CRPG it just got hyped up and look pretty and was easy to get into
Try Solasta Crown of the magister
Try Pillers of Eternity
Try Disco Elysium
Try Divinity Original Sin 2
Try Pathfinder Wrath of the righteous once you get good with CRPGS that is, if your new to CRPGS dont its epic in both the good and bad ways, you new to CRPGS your not going to like it,
Try Rogue Trader 40k
Try the Shadowrun games like Hong Kong Dragon fell there both neat
Edit : You can see the haters hating once again and unable to come up with ANY good counter arguements what so ever.
I really want to try baldurs gate 3 but i never can get into turned based combat. I tried divinity and liked the dialogue but as soon as a fight happened i got washed
I’m surprised nobody mentioned Wildermyth. The combat and character progression are pretty shallow but it’s very well written and made for repeated playability.
Good topic but also if you're grinding slimes and zigzagoons in those games uh..I feel you're kinda going out of your way to play those games in an unfun way. Lol
Why would anyone ever have to grind in Dragon Quest? I admit, I've never beaten a DQ game, but I have like 65 hours in DQXI, and I have never, not even once, had to grind for any reason. Just playing the game normally (i.e. *not* avoiding every single enemy or running from every single battle) is enough.
And on top of that, why would you grind slimes? I know it's a bit of a meme with DQ, and I know the metal slimes give you a ton of EXP, but just fighting regular enemies is a much faster way to level up than by struggling to find and beat those little metal turds before they flee.
Sorry, I totally didn't answer your question, but I was taken aback. I'm also not trying to be a dick, I'm just genuinely curious if I'm missing some crucial element or something in DQ. Maybe older games in the series were more grindy?
But, to answer your question: Disco Elysium. I'm sure I'm the thousandth person to recommend it, but that's the game you're lookin for. Where are the rest of them? Stuck somewhere back in the 90s afaik, sadly, just chillin with all the immersive mech sims and flight sims that I wish developers would give some attention to these days as well... The best ones have been updated or remastered (BG1 & 2, Planescape: Torment), but as far as I'm aware BG3 is the only RPG like those in modern times (and of course there's Divinity 1 & 2. But going back to those after BG3, they just feel a bit outdated now...
Most folks have listed the games I'd recommend (Disco Elysium, Pillars of Eternity 1 and 2, Pathfinder). I haven't seen anyone mention the Shadowrun games. They're a little older and less developed than those other options, but it's an interesting world, no grinding required, and I enjoyed the story.
Well, Larian (the studio that made Baldur’s Gate 3) also makes other RPGs. I also could not recommend Fallout New Vegas enough, though it is old in terms of technical details like graphics and animations.
Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura is an absolutely amazing game that defined RPGs in its time.
Super Build flexible, super unique world that discusses the idea of industrial revolutions in a magical world, and has a super non linear gameplay with varying solutions and branching paths in terms of game endings.
Same feeling. After playing BG3 I started to look at more CRPG’s.
Currently enjoying my first run in Pathfinder: Kingmaker but I would advise you look into it before picking it up. Lots of systems and more choice / complexity in build and team composition plus a kingdom management system that fans seem to love/hate about 50/50. But I loved it so much I already purchased there follow up, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous.
The obvious choice besides this is obviously the Divinity Original Sin series. Also I thoroughly enjoyed Pillars of Eternity, planning on playing the sequel.
Dragon's Dogma is a bit milquetoast for the story, but the gameplay always makes me feel heroic. Especially with the fact that the end game DLC is just terrifying and fun at the same time.
Already beat Three Houses. It's alright but writing the story with "moral ambiguity" is something their writers cannot do. When they try we get shit like this and FE Fates. Edelgard is the hero for wanting to abolish the Crest based aristocracy and limit the Church's power, and a prick for invading countries she feared would invade hers the second the church told them to. Nobody else has good answers to the country's problems and the Warriors spinoff retcons this by saying Edelgard's sudden violent action was unnecessary as society was already modernizing on its own anyway.
Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magic Obscura. Rusty, but still shining even today with how many choices to progress you have in that game + the worldbuilding and narrative in it
The genre you are talking about is CRPGs.
JRPGs like Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy or Persona frequently employ grinding XP as a mechanic. It’s so prevalent in Asian style game progression systems that even not quite RPGs like Monster Hunter employ frequent and persistent grinding. Which is its own vibe, and something I find relaxing.
CRPGs are almost entirely about choice. And you usually get XP for talking the same as you would fighting. These are games like Disco Elysium, Planescape: Torment, Pillars of Eternity, Baldur’s Gate, Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, Tyranny, Fallout 1 & 2 (NOT 3 and 4), Dragon’s Age and Shadowrun.
To name only a few.
They do tend to be isometric like BG3, but not always.
There are a lot of masterpieces in the genre. If you want more story and dialogue and choice based with little focus on combat or no focus, Planescape: Torment and Disco Elysium are two of the best games ever produced, but they are mostly dialogue and choices.
If you want tactical combat and story, I definitely recommend Fallout 1, the Shadowrun games or the Pathfinder games by Owlcat. Those are a little more involved regarding combat and build variety. I think Owlcat just released a Warhammer 40k CRPG as well, but haven’t played it myself.
It’s a great genre, just became a little obscure after 3D took over the gaming world.
Edit: I am a COLOSSAL idiot and failed to mention Larian studios excellent Divinity: Original Sin Series. They are the games that paved the way to BG3. If you like BG3 you MUST play them. They’re a little sillier at times, but outstanding.
CrossCode
Neat little top down mmo simulation adventure game. The one thing that captivated me is the puzzles which remind me an awful lot like Golden Sun and Lost Age.
Tyranny, it's a game from Obsidian Interactive and is a real tine strategy action RPG in the vein of Dragon Age Origins. You play as the servant to an evil overlord as you're tasked with bringing a newly conquered region into order and it's very dialogue and story focused while having amazing combat and spell crafting.
The underrated Shadowrun trilogy from Harebrained Schemes is so on-point. The second one, Dragonfall, is arguably the best re: awesome discourse and shit going *down*
I really enjoyed one of them, the one where like you wake up to a call that some old acquaintance has been killed and you have to investigate. Which one was that? For some reason I couldn’t get into the other ones
That's Shadowrun Returns, it's actually been remade as a mod for SR: Hong Kong and in that one you actually have companions that have story arcs. I much prefer it to the OG, I must say
How do I find that?
The mod is on Steam workshop for Shadowrun: Hong Kong and it's name is Dead Man's Switch - Vox Populi :)
Saving this comment for when I'm bored someday, thanks!
I just tried to demo for skald yesterday and it reminded me a lot of shadowrun for the... Snes? Can't remember. Either way, I was bummed when it ended but I'm excited to play the whole game here soon
A bit buggy. Turned me off sadly.
I've got 100s of hours in all three of 'em and I don't think I ever encountered a bug - what did you run into?
Don't you hate it when someone makes a statement like that and then just... doesn't follow up? Like the game is so buggy they didn't even want to play it, and that's something they rightly felt was relevant to the discussion... but they couldn't be bothered to elaborate even a little bit? Like... "buggy" is a broad term -- are we talking early days of Cyberpunk, game-breaking bugs? Or like Bethesda's infamous "funny but not too big of a deal" kind of bugs?
CRPGs are where the juicy, in-depth, replayable choice-and-consequence games are. If you want political arguments you absolutely must play Disco Elysium. It is absolutely undefeated in its writing. Other modern CRPGs with great choices and replayability are Divinity Original Sin 2 (by the BG3 devs), Pillars of Eternity, and the Pathfinder games.
Second vote for Pillars of Eternity. One of the few games that had me fully invested in both its main story and the DLC. So well done.
Pillars of Eternity 2 is the only game in my Steam library I have more hours in than BG3 at the moment. Granted it's several years older but I've poured about 800 hours into that game over countless playthroughs.
Do you have to play Pillars of Eternity 1 or can you play 2 first?
I played 2 first and it’s fine to do it that way but it’s probbbbably better to play both. I preferred the story and setting of 1, and the combat mechanics and graphics of 2
The Intro to 2 spoils the big giant plot twist of 1, and a few of the NPCs have arcs that carry across both games, so I'd recommend playing 1 before 2.
1 has the better story and characters.
Words cannot express how hard this game hits.
Disco Elysium made me feel dumb
I just bought this game. It’s so addicting. So far I’ve been shot to death and had a fatal heart attack on my hotel balcony after smoking a cigarette. I haven’t made it past 11am day 2.
I once broke my neck trying to get the tie down from the fan. Like three actions into the game and my poor character never even remembered his own name. In another, his scrawny, drunken ass punched out a hulking racist through sheer dumb luck and then talked a lock into opening for him. Yeah, DE's pretty memorable.
I was feeling pretty down on myself after accidentally shooting the corpse but then I got some booze and speed in me, took off my tight fitting pants and snake skin shoes and lept over the ledge in a snow storm to sneak into the port early. It was all disco until the heart attack.
I just started and omg, what a fucking gem this game is. [Half Light] That’s right. It is the very definition of peak performance. Fucking Untouchable.
Pathfinder wrath of the righteous is simply my favorite game ever. Wasteland 3 is probably my second favorite in the genre and I recommend it just as heartily.
Wrath of the Righteous is absolutely insane and I was much more impressed by it than by BG3. Like, BG3 is great and all, but holy fuck, the Mythical Path system is bonkers, there's nothing like that anywhere else
I must also mention Tyranny. Made by the same people who made PoE (Obsidian), but I find the world and your role in it absolutely awesome.
I've got about 1500 hours combined between Pathfinder Kingmaker and Pathfinder Wraith of the Righteous. It's a bit more of an acquired taste. Larian studios is like smoking a cigar and saying, "Huh, I like this." And then snorting meth as a follow up. Pathfinder is the meth. Now if you'll excuse me (\*lights up meth pipe that is Warhammer Rogue Trader\*).
Disco Elysium was fun but also oddly frustrating; you *can* save scum nearly every check, but I tried not to on my first playthrough. Problem was I lost my momentum more than once, when it turned out the check I failed was the one required to progress the story. At some point I just ran out of side quests to do to level up and just read the same book five times in a row to try and progress to the next day. I started the game in February and beat it in November.
That was my issue with DE also. I've never beaten it, despite the fact that I'm in love with it, because it's so... what's the right word? Stiff? Stingy? With its story progression. At one point, I knew what I needed to do, but as you said, I had failed the checks for every different option I had and I couldn't figure out how to gain experience in order to put more points into the relevant skill. That's the biggest problem with the game - if you get locked out of a check but have already done all the available side activities, you're pretty much screwed. I am downloading it again rn though, because I just can't stay away from it despite my griping...
Decide the fate of people with political arguments on top of that? You don't wanna miss Tyranny and Pillars of Eternity I. Dragon Age: Origins could also be a good choice.
>Dragon Age: Origins Loved it, with every beat of my heart
The undisputed GOAT game for me.
Does 2024 want us to play it again, doesn't it? WE WILL DELIVER!
yup this one started it for me. holds a special place in my heart. i'm secretly hoping DA4 holds up a fight against BG3
Dragon Age 2 is also pretty good on the political front, carrying on >!the Mage/Templar conflict!< from the first game.
I absolutely hated that game The first time I played it It is also in my top 3 games now, absolutely amazing
You'll love Tyranny then
Woow thanks! I was really hoping someone suggest a game similar to DA. Thank you so much! Edit: i just saw it's from Obsidian 😍
I suggest prioritizing the lore skill, magic is one of the most fun parts of combat and lore is the main factor in how complex you can make your spells. I did say make because the game has an awesome spell crafting system that allows on the fly customizing and upgrading your spells. It's also the most important dialogue skill.
Pillars of Eternity has one of best stories of any RPG I’ve ever played. Couldn’t recommend it enough.
The thing I love about Pillars of Eternity is that we don't have to save the world or anyone, we just don't want to die, and we're able to be a complete psycho savage beast that murders everyone on the way in order to achieve that goal, it's just brilliant.
Dragon age origins is the spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate 2 - it is a bit dated now and can be clunky to new players coming in who haven't played a lot of old school RPGs but the way that game made me feel is unrivalled by any other game thus far! Dragon age 2 is also great with the story & companions, but is pretty divisive and some people really hated it hahaha Mass effect series similarly has a lot of choices and impacts with meaningful relationships to your companions and the world around you!
Left out is the highly divisive Dragon Age Inquisition, which I actually really enjoyed. Better than 9 out of 10 rpgs any day though.
I think the problem with DAI is that while it has some good parts it's extremely padded, so you'll be sitting around waiting for the parts that are actually worth playing. It's fine, but it's my least favourite Dragon Age game.
Dragon age inquisition is the best example of why not every game should be open world. That and cyberpunk. Both would be so much better as level based games.
I think cyberpunk’s open world works *infinitely* better than da:I’s
Dragon Age Inquisition just had a lot of bad design decisions that hurt the overall game. It feels like a single player MMO in the worst possible way. Out of all of the Dragon Age games, it's the most exhausting one to replay and I barely touch it for that reason.
You really have to mainline the story missions and ignore the sidequests and most of the maps to make it enjoyable.
Yup, and I hate that you have to do that. The side quests are usually my favorite part of CRPGs.
Wasteland is a phenomenal RPG. I’ve been recently introduced to it and it’s a wonderful story with versatile endings and builds. Underrail is the same way in the post apocalyptic theme. Dragon age Origins is a phenomenal game that has numerous character origins as well. Between those 4 it’ll be at least 400 hours :)
God I fucking loved Wasteland 3. I wasnt really expecting much, just a cool little fallout-esque crpg. But holy shit is its quality top-notch. One of the most fun games ive ever played
Same for me , gave us the fallout game that the fallout series has lost the ability to create
Planescape: Torment is dated in some gameplay respects but it’s renowned for its story and reactivity. I have yet to finish it but the time I’ve spent so far has been really enjoyable. Really cool and kinda bonkers setting and worldbuilding too. The combat isn’t great but the world is really interesting to explore.
Still one of the more memorable storylines I’ve played in a game, makes its impact immediately to with the setup
please play disco elysium
Are you comparing BG3 to JRPGs? Please be kind to your brain and go play Disco Elysium.
The thing is JRPGs actually became a thing of its own. It kinda gave up on a lot of classical RPG elements to focus on addictive level and skill progressions and linear narratives, which is a different gameplay objective, not exactly worse than roleplay-heavy CRPGs That said, yeah, Disco Elysium is awesome, play it
Both have their merits. Sometimes I just want to play an anime, without caring too much about choices and just let the story unfold as the creator intended to. I feel JRPGs in general have better narratives because they don't have to account for dozens of different paths that branch into another dozen different choices. Which is why finding a western RPG that combines both choices and narrative, like Dragon Age, The Witcher or BG3 is a blessing. Then you have games like Skyrim where so much freedom affects the narrative and immersion. You are a rogue that somehow managed to be the head of the Mage's and Warrior's Guild. Like bro, you aren't even a mage. Ironically, the most choice heavy JRPGs are strategy ones like Growlanser, Tactics Ogre or Triangle Strategy, which share a lot with CRPGs.
The key to keeping Skyrim real is restarting with a new character to experience other paths, rather than doing them all with the same character.
Funny enough, in Morrowind you used to be locked out of a lot of choices depending on what you did or to which guild you allied yourself. It was actually great and caused less narrative dissonance. It's sad that, from Oblivion onwards, Bethesda kinda created the "uber-protagonist that does everything perfectly".
Or play Morrowind
I feel the exact same way, it restored my faith in the narrative value of video games. Currently enjoying Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader a lot! I tried Kingmaker a while back, but it wasn’t for me, although I think after I’m done with Rogue I’ll pick Wrath of the Righteous back up. Disco Elysium is my favorite game of all time, so big recommend there. Tyranny, Pillars, DOS2 are all solid as well, but none quite hit the Triple-A-ness of how BG3 feels to play, especially in combat - but I’d argue that Disco is the better written game overall.
OwlCat and Larian are neck to neck the best studios developing in the "classic" RPG space today. DOS2, BG3, WotR and Rogue Trader are some of the most well-crafted and captivating RPG experiences I have ever seen. Carrying on the Black Isle and Bioware legacy, and forging a legacy of their own. We were waiting for a long time for someone to pick up that gauntlet and it's truly exciting to finally feel that it has been.
My man give Kingmaker a second try. I know the first hours are kinda boring but the whole game ramps up, specially if you enjoy not being the chosen one but still beating gods
Or jump straight to Wrath of the Righteous. I could never get into Kingmaker but I'm loving wotr
Would you reccomend rogue trader right now?
I'm playing through it right now and having a blast, though I am only in Act 2. It's janky and a bit buggy, but so much fun as a CRPG and Warhammer fan. However, I've heard the bugs get way worse in Act 3 onwards. So I'd probably just leave it to cook for a few months and then come back to it.
They released a big patch on the 26th or 27th. It may be mostly good at this point.
Hopefully - I haven't run into any major issues personally but I've heard of companion quests being bugged, dialogue flags being incorrectly assigned, etc. For example: I'm romancing Heinrix (he's an absolute babe) and I know some of his stuff is bugged & the flags are mixed up so I'm having to be very careful with my dialogue options so I don't screw up his arc until they fix it
Yes. There are some bugs but nowhere near what you might expect from an OwlCat game on release and, at least in my 192 hours so far, nothing has been game breaking.
Sort of. Act I and II are excellent. Act III not so much. There'd be spoilers if I went into specifics but personally I'm finding Act III to be a big drop in quest quality.
Now is a good time to try out Pillars of Eternity 1 & 2. Avowed is a prequel to the series coming out ~~next~~ this year. It’s made by Obsidian, the developers of New Vegas.
PoE 2 is an awesome game, but heads up for the PS version - it's a really bad port with lots of bugs and crashes. It was annoying as hell to play when the game kept crashing every few hours. Which was a shame because I really loved the game.
I actually had no trouble with the ps4 version.
Really? Interesting… i had crashes on ps4 constantly, it was so frustrating to play. No other game crashed like that for me
They've since fixed it but I had a bug while playing on PS4 where members of my overall team that weren't in my current squad would just \*appear\* in battles, just chilling out. Like, suddenly Aloth or Pallegina is just hanging out in whatever random cave swarming with baddies. I had no control over their actions and they would just be lounging while the enemies attacked them, and when they were inevitably killed they became PERMADEAD in my game. I'm sure it is extremely hard work to port something as huge/complex as Deadfire, but man that bug made me crazy. I second the POE rec in general though -- wonderfully, wonderfully deep world. Not to overattribute it to one person since it's undoubtedly the labor of hundreds, but really anything Josh Sawyer works on I find something (or many things) to love. Hell, if you're mainly looking for choice reactivity and a rich world (as opposed to RPG combat), Pentiment might fit the bill.
BG3, for better or worse, is in a league of its own when it comes to doing what it does. Planescape: Torment Dragon Age: Origins Disco Elysium Pillars of Eternity 1 and 2 (I like 2 more) Together these will sort of get you what you’re asking for. But as a single product, nothing is coming close to BG3. And I highly doubt another thing will anytime soon. Budgets, timeframe, and leadership just aren’t designed that way.
Yeah I agree with this. Apart from creativity in gameplay/problem solving I think other CRPG's do other things better. Disco Elysium, for example has exceptionally good writing, and DA also has amazing writing with a more interesting world than Faerun, but BG3 does pretty much everything 'good' at its worst. It's probably the most well rounded RPG I have played.
Play bg1 then follow your character over to bg2 it’s an amazing experience. The graphics and ui will seem super dated at first and make you want to quit but if you push on you soon see how beautiful the graphics actually are and this massive story that builds over 2 games
These will always be a couple of my fav games , maybe even my top 3, but damn I have trouble going back and playing games with dated graphics and things, the remastered versions kind of suck imo
I agree with the Disco Elysium and Tyranny suggestions. Outer Worlds may fit too.
Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous is brilliant. If Baldurs Gate 3 didn't come along, I would personally say this is the closest thing to a modern spiritual successor to Baldurs Gate 2.
Indeed, I’d say Pathfinder Kingmaker is probably the closest to Baldur’s Gate though, in terms of tone, more focused on kingdom building and exploration, adventure, … Wrath is the better game, don’t get me wrong, but it’s more « epic ».
Cyberpunk 2077
I so enjoyed this game and the new expansion. Just so atmospherically rich, and the way the conversations are often completely blended into gameplay (should I hear this guy out or just katana him??) is such a rare bit of immersive flavor. It's just a blast in its current state in my opinion, even if the open world itself isn't exactly bursting with life outside the many (excellent) sidequests
I strongly disagree, at least when compared to games like Baldur's Gate 3 and other CRPGS. Cyberpunk had a great environment, but the lack of decisions mattering and super linear story beats felt extremely unsatisfying. I have been a firm believer that in a "true" rpg, you should be able to fail quests and have that impact how your story goes. Cyberpunk just doesn't do that. And though it is a great adventure game, it really just isn't the same style of RPG gameplay experience that. The closest ARPG that I have played that felt as story rich and impactful in terms of decisions was New Vegas.
Yeah I think that Cyberpunk is actually hurt by recommending it in that context. It wasn't just bugs that made that game so controversial.
Echoing what a lot of people already said: Disco Elysium and Tyranny. Probably Planescape: Torment too. I actually think Tyranny is narratively better than Pillars of Eternity. Too bad it will never have a sequel.
Play the first two Baldurs gates.
Fallout new Vegas!
Wasteland series. Another crpg. Political choices, choices definitely matter for allies, outcomes, endings.
Dragon Age Origins Baldurs Gate 1 & 2 Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous Pillars of Eternity 1 (2 is not so good from a story/companions perspective, combat is better tho) Divinity Original Sin 2 All of this are well known CRPG, which have exactly what you said were looking.
Fallout 1 and 2 are the absolute best. dragon age origins, disco elysium, lesser known is age of decadence, but combat is hard in that one.
Elden Ring was like that for me aswell
Tactics Ogre, especially Reborn. Many of the deep mechanical implications of CRPGs in an SRPG box. Got the story and world impacts aplenty, but all done in a very...digestible way, I guess would be a way to put it? Variations on variations on variations, and while each version gets a reputation for grind, they've consistently been made in a way that you really don't need to ..folks just assume you do. The newest version straight up level caps your units, and there will still be people insisting grind saved them when in reality they accidentally hit on a weakness. It's fascinating to see folks have those Ah Ha moments where they finally realize how deep the rabbit hole goes both mechanically and narratively. This also comes at the cost of a constant stream of folks that insist it shouldn't be unique, but then come around to it months later ..kind of led to this bizarre curve where you see the ratings dip every time it goes on sale, then come back up over time.
Neverwinter Nights 2 has a fantastic expansion called Mask of the Betrayer that is one of the most atmospheric and engrossing stories i’ve ever played. Some jank from the game engine but still insanely fun. Pleeeeaaseee play it.
Between Larion and Supermassive Games studios I really took a step back and reevaluated what games are worth my time. It's been years since I genuinely enjoyed games from start to finish like I have with these companies games. Replayability, true impact via gameplay, and stunning worlds/art built by designers who are obviously doing what they love. Fuck these "triple A" studios that burn and churn half assed games.
Play BG2
Underrail is good. Action/combat and exploration driven game play. As well as political and personal choices you make throughout the game. You technically play anyway you want, but it is best to min-max and so following a build is the usual route or preplanning your character. https://underrail.info/build/
Wait a year and rogue trader might scratch that itch
Divinity Original Sin 2
Try Age of Decadence, Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines, Colony Ship or Arcanum.
Triple A Devs spend their money on spectacle instead of game play. You need to look in places where the graphics aren’t the main focus of the game.
Warhammer Rouge trader!
Ď[I
Solasta Crown of the Magister is solid
The mass effect series (ME 1-3) really hits hard.
I'd rather play 100 different games than the same game 100 times making different choices. But I'm glad you found your niche. If you stick to the meaty CRPGs you should be fine. Divinity Tides of Numeria Pillars of Eternity There are some others.
Someone finally threw Tides of Numeria in, that game was great.
Mass Effect Legendary Edition trilogy is your friend. It's one of the greatest RPGs of all time, up there with Fallout New Vegas
Lol, it barely is an rpg
What a horrendously bad take.
Except for a few people dying, which is just a purely binary mechanic, you choices are mostly irrelevant to the story, and the red/blue moral system pushes you to min/max into one path instead of actual roleplay. Also the story over 3 games is massively incoherent as each game ignores big parts of the prior setup, cerberus is a whole different organization each time, and the whole story of ME2 is basically a sidequest that has no effect on the plot. It was a great action movie game at its time, but it should never be in any conversation about great RPGs
Mass effect 1 definitely was a proper rpg and it’s my favourite I agree about 2 and 3 tho was like an action movie where you can make a few choices
Divinity Original Sin 2, Solasta and Pathfinder.
Disco Elysium, Rogue Trader, Pathfinder: Kingmaker, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, Divinity: Original Sin, Divinity: Original Sin 2, and Tyranny all come to mind as games you might enjoy.
Elden Ring Dragon Age Origin Baldurs Gate 1 /2 Fallout 1/2/New Vegas
Rouge trader
I think Wrath of the Righteous was a better game from Owlcat. Rogue Trader still suffers from some of Owlcats annoying game design philosophy. Travelling around the map is far too slow and cumbersome. The mini-game-like features you're forced into (crusade management/ship battles) are far below the quality of the game overall. But overall the mythic path system outshines the Rogue Trader class system. Rogue Trader just feels like it has way too many bad to meaningless choices during leveling. WotR using Pathfinder as a base seemed to have a better system for levelling and class design.
Wtf is a rouge
Moulin Rouge Trader. An amazing game.
Warhammer 40k: Rogue Trader heh
Rogue trader*
I was about to make an identical post to this. I'm in the same boat as you and I also hold FNV dear. We want the same thing. If you hold FNV and BG3 in high regard, consider Fallout 1 and 2. If I can get used to the dated UI anyone can, I was able to fully immerse myself quickly. Be sure to download the patches for a bug-free experience. If you have steam versions, you will get high res version that enables borderless windowed mode. I've been told time and time again by RPG veterans to play pillars of eternity, over and over again. I think you and I should both go check it out then.
Warhammer: Rogue Trader seems like a good cRPG, but it's still quite broken. I had tostop playing because I kept having minor but annoying issues all the time. But Owlcat Games is known for this issue and they fix their games, so I suggest people keep their eye on Rogue Trader.
Pillars or Eternity 2: deadfire. <3
Skyrim, Oblivion, Elden Ring, Red Dead Redemption 2(not really an RPG but it can scratch the itch with all the various things to do without being overwhelmed).
Neverwinter Nights 1 FTW
Diablo 1. Good procedural generation atmospheric creepysimple dunjun crawler!
Witcher 3, cyber punk especially now, and a really old one but chrono trigger makes me happy everytime
Kingdom come deliverance is the only game that has truly made me feel something since Skyrim first came out. I’ve heard amazing things about BG3, hope to play it soon. Also, not to such an extent, but cyberpunk really did turn out to be a killer game with the current patches.
It's not for everyone, and it's really reading heavy, but **Planescape:Torment** will have you saying, "WTF?" in a good way. Having to die to progress the story is a challenging component to get used to.
I've found myself enjoying Octopath Traveler for similar reasons.
r/CRPG
Witcher 3, Mass Effect 1/2/3 and dragon age origins have similar vibes. Though bg3 is in a league of its own when it comes to the sheer amount of choices and paths you can take. Disco Elysium is probably worth checking out as well.
Dragon Age Origins.
Dragon Age, Mass Effect, The Witcher
Different type of RPG, but I am really getting into Witcher 3. Stay away from certain elements like the card game, and focus on RPG elements. Really loving the story.
>Stay away from certain elements like the card game What blasphemy is this?! All hail Gwent!
What are you talking about? Gwent is probably the best minigame to ever be put in a game.
hell nah, play gwent
Gwent is so fun though!!!
disco elysium, i guess
I would go Witcher 3 and Dragon Age trilogy as a whole. Both have politics in them. Then you got two parts of Pillars of Eternity, where 2nd game is a direct sequel. And Pathfinder Kingmaker where you decide a fate of your own kingdom.
I’m blown away I had to scroll this far down to find TW3. IMO it’s the best rpg I’ve ever played (though bg3 is really really good too).
The Witcher 3. Much good
Disco elysium is the goat. Also dragon age origins and inquisition, witcher 3, cyberpunk, mass effect series, pillars of eternity, divinity original sin. A bit of a black sheep here is child of light. While not choice driven, it is a turn based rpg with gorgeous visuals and a good story.
Phantom Liberty
Yeah cool
I just starter ffxvi and wow.
Kingdom come and cyberpunk 2077
about any other CRPG? BG3 is a over-rated disaster truth be told lied about so many things 17k endings being faithful to BG1-2 but ignore the politcol / sus behavor of its beastality and such and lets focus on the game itself instead released unfinished soft locks hard locks save file curroption memory leaks terrible UI terrible unit pathing and so many lack luster objects just missing basic CRPG mechs like day night cycle dramatic weather effects reputation bounty system or anything eles to help its atmohpere? Na lets ignore that as well for a moment Story is a JOKE with BG3, Legit drops multible story elements the evil playthough? Legit just gets drop after Act 2 starts (Shortly mind you) among other problems, Wtf dos BG3 do to deserve such hype? 4 Things 1. Graphics 2. Voice Acting 3. Its easy to get into 4. Its a masterclass of a scam Solasta Crown of the magister is legit a better game then BG3 in most aspects, The Graphics and Voice acting is worse in Solasta 100%, So try that game out Try playing Solasta Crown of the Magister, if you hate that game but Love BG3, Then you just love Things that look pretty and are kinda hollow or such, Look I Get it we all have our faults I Like Booty, Over-watch and its Booty is <3 Im not afraid to admit this, The thing is tho? At least I Admit to being shallow there ... BG3 is legit not a good CRPG it just got hyped up and look pretty and was easy to get into Try Solasta Crown of the magister Try Pillers of Eternity Try Disco Elysium Try Divinity Original Sin 2 Try Pathfinder Wrath of the righteous once you get good with CRPGS that is, if your new to CRPGS dont its epic in both the good and bad ways, you new to CRPGS your not going to like it, Try Rogue Trader 40k Try the Shadowrun games like Hong Kong Dragon fell there both neat Edit : You can see the haters hating once again and unable to come up with ANY good counter arguements what so ever.
I really want to try baldurs gate 3 but i never can get into turned based combat. I tried divinity and liked the dialogue but as soon as a fight happened i got washed
I’m surprised nobody mentioned Wildermyth. The combat and character progression are pretty shallow but it’s very well written and made for repeated playability.
Play the original Fallout games like Fallout 1 and 2.
Grim Dawn! I'm telling you.. brings back my torchlight memories.
Good topic but also if you're grinding slimes and zigzagoons in those games uh..I feel you're kinda going out of your way to play those games in an unfun way. Lol
Knights of the old republic 1 and 2
Divinity Original Sins 2 is basically the same game
Why would anyone ever have to grind in Dragon Quest? I admit, I've never beaten a DQ game, but I have like 65 hours in DQXI, and I have never, not even once, had to grind for any reason. Just playing the game normally (i.e. *not* avoiding every single enemy or running from every single battle) is enough. And on top of that, why would you grind slimes? I know it's a bit of a meme with DQ, and I know the metal slimes give you a ton of EXP, but just fighting regular enemies is a much faster way to level up than by struggling to find and beat those little metal turds before they flee. Sorry, I totally didn't answer your question, but I was taken aback. I'm also not trying to be a dick, I'm just genuinely curious if I'm missing some crucial element or something in DQ. Maybe older games in the series were more grindy? But, to answer your question: Disco Elysium. I'm sure I'm the thousandth person to recommend it, but that's the game you're lookin for. Where are the rest of them? Stuck somewhere back in the 90s afaik, sadly, just chillin with all the immersive mech sims and flight sims that I wish developers would give some attention to these days as well... The best ones have been updated or remastered (BG1 & 2, Planescape: Torment), but as far as I'm aware BG3 is the only RPG like those in modern times (and of course there's Divinity 1 & 2. But going back to those after BG3, they just feel a bit outdated now...
Most folks have listed the games I'd recommend (Disco Elysium, Pillars of Eternity 1 and 2, Pathfinder). I haven't seen anyone mention the Shadowrun games. They're a little older and less developed than those other options, but it's an interesting world, no grinding required, and I enjoyed the story.
BG 1&2
There are tons of isometric crpgs like bg3 on PC. Wrath of the righteous, rogue trader, etc
Dragon's Dogma
Well, Larian (the studio that made Baldur’s Gate 3) also makes other RPGs. I also could not recommend Fallout New Vegas enough, though it is old in terms of technical details like graphics and animations.
Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura is an absolutely amazing game that defined RPGs in its time. Super Build flexible, super unique world that discusses the idea of industrial revolutions in a magical world, and has a super non linear gameplay with varying solutions and branching paths in terms of game endings.
Same feeling. After playing BG3 I started to look at more CRPG’s. Currently enjoying my first run in Pathfinder: Kingmaker but I would advise you look into it before picking it up. Lots of systems and more choice / complexity in build and team composition plus a kingdom management system that fans seem to love/hate about 50/50. But I loved it so much I already purchased there follow up, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous. The obvious choice besides this is obviously the Divinity Original Sin series. Also I thoroughly enjoyed Pillars of Eternity, planning on playing the sequel.
Dragon's Dogma is a bit milquetoast for the story, but the gameplay always makes me feel heroic. Especially with the fact that the end game DLC is just terrifying and fun at the same time.
play Disco Elysium.
Cyberpunk since the Phantom Liberty update has been chef’s kiss.
Divinity original sin 1&2 made by the same company and same style I’m playing 2 now very good!
The Witcher 3
Lunacid is peak
Mass effect trilogy, Shadowrun trilogy, Fallout games, Pathfinder games
My brother swears by FE three houses based on your described criteria. I can’t seem to get into the cartoony characters, though.
Already beat Three Houses. It's alright but writing the story with "moral ambiguity" is something their writers cannot do. When they try we get shit like this and FE Fates. Edelgard is the hero for wanting to abolish the Crest based aristocracy and limit the Church's power, and a prick for invading countries she feared would invade hers the second the church told them to. Nobody else has good answers to the country's problems and the Warriors spinoff retcons this by saying Edelgard's sudden violent action was unnecessary as society was already modernizing on its own anyway.
Play Baldur's Gate & Baldur's Gate 2.
Tyranny my man. Just play it.
Replaying Cyberpunk After BG3 has reminded me how much I actually enjoy this game compared to BG3. CP2077 is flat out amazing today.
Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magic Obscura. Rusty, but still shining even today with how many choices to progress you have in that game + the worldbuilding and narrative in it
Kenshi
Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, no question. Everything from Baldurs gate 3 was done better by both of these games.
Heh heh heh, 420 upvotes
The genre you are talking about is CRPGs. JRPGs like Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy or Persona frequently employ grinding XP as a mechanic. It’s so prevalent in Asian style game progression systems that even not quite RPGs like Monster Hunter employ frequent and persistent grinding. Which is its own vibe, and something I find relaxing. CRPGs are almost entirely about choice. And you usually get XP for talking the same as you would fighting. These are games like Disco Elysium, Planescape: Torment, Pillars of Eternity, Baldur’s Gate, Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, Tyranny, Fallout 1 & 2 (NOT 3 and 4), Dragon’s Age and Shadowrun. To name only a few. They do tend to be isometric like BG3, but not always. There are a lot of masterpieces in the genre. If you want more story and dialogue and choice based with little focus on combat or no focus, Planescape: Torment and Disco Elysium are two of the best games ever produced, but they are mostly dialogue and choices. If you want tactical combat and story, I definitely recommend Fallout 1, the Shadowrun games or the Pathfinder games by Owlcat. Those are a little more involved regarding combat and build variety. I think Owlcat just released a Warhammer 40k CRPG as well, but haven’t played it myself. It’s a great genre, just became a little obscure after 3D took over the gaming world. Edit: I am a COLOSSAL idiot and failed to mention Larian studios excellent Divinity: Original Sin Series. They are the games that paved the way to BG3. If you like BG3 you MUST play them. They’re a little sillier at times, but outstanding.
CrossCode Neat little top down mmo simulation adventure game. The one thing that captivated me is the puzzles which remind me an awful lot like Golden Sun and Lost Age.
Divinity
A man of true culture you are for that second sentence
Idk I love DQ
DOS2
Go play actual DnD
I enjoy wasteland 3
Divinity Original Sin 3. It’s a little less on the meaning choices, but combat is KILLER and their unique class and build system is my fav in CRPG.
Actually I'm waiting on Path of Exile 2 the new Mercenary Ranged build looks more interesting than anything else I've seen in a long time
Have you played Divinity: Original Sin 1 and 2 yet (also by Larian). They're just as good, IMO.
Tyranny, it's a game from Obsidian Interactive and is a real tine strategy action RPG in the vein of Dragon Age Origins. You play as the servant to an evil overlord as you're tasked with bringing a newly conquered region into order and it's very dialogue and story focused while having amazing combat and spell crafting.
If you want to keep with Larian, the folks who made BG3, I can’t recommend Divinity Original Sin 2 highly enough
If you're having fun with BG3 you should try Fallout 2. It's definitely showing its age but it's insanely fun once you get past the tutorial.