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Need a blobber that appeals to my discerning and superior taste.

youhomofo

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So I've been playing the remastered Bard's Tale and I realize the game is popamole on steroids. Dungeons are Skinner rat mazes for me to hack apart all manner of life until I get my pellet of food/level up.

Are there any top tier blobbers that have more focus on exploration and meaningful combat? I'm not a huge storyfag, but some story isn't a bad thing. I've played Grimcock and Wizardry.

Bard's Tale is like the Might & Magic series to me. It's just kill, kill, kill. It's like they're made to appeal to lobotomized dope fiends. I lack the requisite autism to properly appreciate those games.
 
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octavius

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Are there any top tier blobbers that have more focus on exploration and meaningful combat? I'm not a huge storyfag, but some story isn't a bad thing. I've played Grimcock and Wizardry.

Not really.
But try the pseudo blobber Dark Heart of Uukrul. Very good level design and exploration, and decent combat (top down instead of blobber style).
 

Gregz

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Stranger of Sword City is a fantastic game, with more story elements for 'discerning' storyqueers like yourself.

It's still an RNG meatgrinder though (which I happen to prefer).
 
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Strange Fellow

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Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Have you played Wizardry 8? Fits the "meaningful combat" criterion better than any other blobber I've played.
If by "meaningful combat" you mean "unending slog with respawning enemies," sure. And I liked W8.
It's a lot less frequent, more complex and more deadly than most blobbers. If you don't like combat then blobbers aren't for you, plain and simple. If you just hate AAASSS encounters, however, wiz8 might satisfy you.
 

Nyast

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If only there was some 600 hour intricately hand-crafted dungeon crawler, uncompromising toward its principles in classical design, with a focus on the exploration of a vast game world, puzzle-solving, skill based character development, and a deep combat system.

And now, imagine if it had an honnest developer and a manual !
 

evdk

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Codex 2012 Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
So combat in Grimoire is better than in the classic blobbers?
It will be, once 3-7 nanoissues are fixed!

Have you played Wizardry 8? Fits the "meaningful combat" criterion better than any other blobber I've played.
If by "meaningful combat" you mean "unending slog with respawning enemies," sure. And I liked W8.
It's a lot less frequent, more complex and more deadly than most blobbers. If you don't like combat then blobbers aren't for you, plain and simple. If you just hate AAASSS encounters, however, wiz8 might satisfy you.
More complex? Yes. Did I like it? Very much yes. Less frequent? Fuck no. Did I like that? LOL no.

Seriously, W8 combat with the positioning and everything is a joy, but it's slooooooooow. Plus the level scaling makes getting from point A to point B (where B is the nearest unlocked teleporter) take forever even in the late game.
 

Dorateen

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So combat in Grimoire is better than in the classic blobbers?

It's patterned after Wizardry 7. With phase-based turns and multiple options available to all characters, an emphasis on monster ranks and initiative order, and itemization that is fun to use.

I know you have some fair criticisms of Crusaders, but I think Grimoire addresses these. The encounter rate is configurable, so you can go from wandering a map with much fewer battles, to fighting near every step. I find the unique loot drops are better, including a variety of weapons with interesting properties and unexpected status effect abilities.
 

Strange Fellow

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Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
More complex? Yes. Did I like it? Very much yes. Less frequent? Fuck no. Did I like that? LOL no.
The encounter frequency is quite low by blobber standards, but each encounter takes a lot more time to resolve. With mods installed the speed of combat doesn't bother me anymore.
 

evdk

comrade troglodyte :M
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More complex? Yes. Did I like it? Very much yes. Less frequent? Fuck no. Did I like that? LOL no.
The encounter frequency is quite low by blobber standards, but each encounter takes a lot more time to resolve. With mods installed the speed of combat doesn't bother me anymore.
Dunno, the combination of encounter frequency and encounter length felt longer than average to me. And I am not alone, since "sloooooow" is a common complaint when it comes to Wizardry VIII 8. But fair enough, I played it unmodded.
 

Strange Fellow

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Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
More complex? Yes. Did I like it? Very much yes. Less frequent? Fuck no. Did I like that? LOL no.
The encounter frequency is quite low by blobber standards, but each encounter takes a lot more time to resolve. With mods installed the speed of combat doesn't bother me anymore.
Dunno, the combination of encounter frequency and encounter length felt longer than average to me. And I am not alone, since "sloooooow" is a common complaint when it comes to Wizardry VIII 8. But fair enough, I played it unmodded.
I'm with you on that -- I did just say "mods will fix it!" after all. But yeah, mods did fix it.
 

SophosTheWise

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Have you played Wizardry 8? Fits the "meaningful combat" criterion better than any other blobber I've played.
If by "meaningful combat" you mean "unending slog with respawning enemies," sure. And I liked W8.

Yeah, I recently started playing it. Loved character creation and all, but after the first "dungeon" (monastery) I was already burnt out it was so boring.
 

SophosTheWise

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Yeah, I recently started playing it. Loved character creation and all, but after the first "dungeon" (monastery) I was already burnt out it was so boring.
But did you use the mods? Wizfast and that animation-speeding one there's a thread about here somewhere. Edit: Wizardry 8 Enhancements.

Yeah, I did. Installed everything according to the Codex. But it just didn't grab me the way I expected it to. But then again, I'm an immersionwhore and storyfag, so maybe it's not so surprising
 

Roqua

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So I've been playing the remastered Bard's Tale and I realize the game is popamole on steroids. Dungeons are Skinner rat mazes for me to hack apart all manner of life until I get my pellet of food/level up.

Are there any top tier blobbers that have more focus on exploration and meaningful combat? I'm not a huge storyfag, but some story isn't a bad thing. I've played Grimcock and Wizardry.

Bard's Tale is like the Might & Magic series to me. It's just kill, kill, kill. It's like they're made to appeal to lobotomized dope fiends. I lack the requisite autism to properly appreciate those games.

Top tier real crpg blobbers with content for people with discerning and impeccable taste and their lesser brethren worth mentioning (not for you since most are kill, kill, kill, but for others that read the thread looking for recommendations)-

Might & Magic 10 (MMX) is an absolutely excellent crpg blobber with content - far different than any before it, if you haven't played it you are missing out. Same with Wizardry 8 (Wiz7 is a bridge between the old style and new with better chargen and dev and a decent amount of content). RoA 1, 2, and 3, as well as both Buck Rogers. Wizards & Warriors has weird combat and hitting a bat is based on a timing, but belongs in the same category and is a great game with some issues.

Starcrawler is like a mission based blobber with arpg style itemization. It doesn't give me exactly what I look for in a crpg blobber, but is worth looking into. What it does - it does well.

I would say MM - World of Xeen is comparable to Wiz7 in goodness and content. MM6-8 have even odder combat than Wizards and Warriors, but if you like bad combat that can be gamed (like being able to kill a high level dragon with a level 1 party by circle straffing), and don't mind rpg-lite chardev, these are good games. MM9 I see as being no different than MM6-8, but the people that loved 6-8 hate 9. They'll have to tell you why. Sword & Sorcery - Underworld was good, but lite everything (chargen, dev, story, content).

For oriental blobbers most of them have the same type of gameplay as Bard's Tale 1, and the same extremely rpg-lite systems and chardev. Elminage Gothic is like BT1 squared. It offers nothing but convoluted dungeons and far less story than BT1. Elminage Original at least attempted to give you somewhat of a reason to be where you are and do what you do, but has the same derth of chardev and meaningful rpg systems. I've heard people say these games don't get good until you are in new game +. By this, they mean combat does not require thinking until you put 100 hours plus into it. To each their own I guess.

Strangers in Sword City gave me more hours than most oriental blobbers do. Its a decent game with rpg-lite chardev that has an interesting twist in allowing you to open up skill slots for skills of past classes with extreme grinding.

Most of Etrian Odyssey have good chardev, and lite questing/story, but at their core they really are "dungeon, and more dungeon, and then more dungeon games." Definitely worth at least checking out, but are not near top crpg blobbers like MMX/Wiz8.

Operation Babel games - decent blobbers. Rpg lite chargen and dev, as good as Strangers story/content-wise, but instead of "ambush" areas to get gear upgrades, it has a mats system where you upgrade items like in Elminage games.

I would say also comparable would be the Class of Heroes games. 2 being better than 1. Rpg lite, but blobbers with content. One throws some puzzle dungeons at you right away, where 2 had decent dungeons with lite puzzles for a good while.

(Alice in Wonderland game that came out recently was decentish for me, but like most oriental blobbers it gets very formulaic after a while. I got at least 15 hours out of it, which is really good for me. There are others like Ray Gigant that was too lite to hold my interest).


- Could be really great IF - There are these Shin Migazi Tensue (not spelled right at all) games for handholds and one of them is a blobber that I know of (for the DS, and I think I saw an "enhanced" version of it for 3ds). You enter some sort of demon bubble. This game would have been great for me besides instead of having a real party you recruit demons and merge them to upgrade them. If that type of little kid trite appeals to you, that game should be a blobber you definitely should check out. I didn't get far into it due to the pet recruitment nonsense, but everything else about was really great, and if I could make my whole party like in a real crpg blobber it would probably be listed in the top tier with MMX, Wiz8, RoA 1-3, both Buck Rogers, W&W.

EDIT - I left out Grimoire, which is like a better Wiz7. Too kill, kill, kill focused for the OP, but 100% required for blobber fans.
 
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King Crispy

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I lack the requisite autism to properly appreciate those games.

You say they require autism to appreciate. Maybe you're right. Could be I've had autism since I was 17 years old, sitting in my room and playing this game when it came out in 1985 on an Apple II+.

But I've played games like the ones you seem to prefer. Ones that have more "story", ones that focus more on "exploration" and are somehow thought of in your mind as more prestigious. And of all those games, of all the Grimrocks and all the try-hard re-makes like Roqua's favorite M&M X, none of them, and I repeat, none, have ever had me staying up way past any reasonable measure of when I should go to bed for God's sake, and none of them could possibly ever convince me to re-play them again over thirty years later in a loving re-make which is drawing universal high praise. The Bard's Tale always has been and always will be referred to as one of the most beloved computer roleplaying games series, and for deserved reason.

So you go and have fun with your wannabe, pretender, supposedly superior story-based blobber (lol). Us true grognards will be here, still popping into Garth's to identify that new armor we just found, as happy as ever.
 
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aweigh

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Guys, I like overhead view RPGs with tons of combat! Can someone recommend me some more of this genre, preferably with view that isn't overhead and no combat!? I really like overhead view RPGs with tons of combat, really!

Blah blah you guys get the idea. The current state of KickStarter RPGs must be really bad, it's the only reason I can think of for why people who don't like blobbers want to get recommended blobbers.
 

Gregz

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I lack the requisite autism to properly appreciate those games.

You say they require autism to appreciate. Maybe you're right. Could be I've had autism since I was 17 years old, sitting in my room and playing this game when it came out in 1985 on an Apple II+.

But I've played games like the ones you seem to prefer. Ones that have more "story", ones that focus more on "exploration" and are somehow thought of in your mind as more prestigious. And of all those games, of all the Grimrocks and all the try-hard re-makes like Roqua's favorite M&M X, none of them, and I repeat, none, have ever had me staying up way past any reasonable measure of when I should go to bed for God's sake, and none of them could possibly ever convince me to re-play them again over thirty years later in a loving re-make which is drawing universal high praise. The Bard's Tale always has been and always will be referred to as one of the most beloved computer roleplaying games series, and for deserved reason.

So you go and have fun with your wannabe, pretender, supposedly superior story-based blobber (lol). Us true grognards will be here, still popping into Garth's to identify that new armor we just found, as happy as ever.

Agreed.

I remember when I was 13, setting my alarm for 3am so I could play a few hours of The Bard's Tale every day, before having to catch the bus to school.
 
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aweigh

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Additionally, isn't BT 4 Fargo's answer to what OP is asking for?

"Meaningful combat" = scripted encounters
"Muh dumb fucking shit story" = hours and hours of braindead NPC jawing with bad accents
"Monocled elements" = absolutely haram puzzles that consist of matching lines with each other

EDIT: That came off a bit harsher than I intended as I actually am anticipating BT4, so substract some edge-points from the post please, but keep it slightly edgy. :)
 

Roqua

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Guys, I like overhead view RPGs with tons of combat! Can someone recommend me some more of this genre, preferably with view that isn't overhead and no combat!? I really like overhead view RPGs with tons of combat, really!

Blah blah you guys get the idea. The current state of KickStarter RPGs must be really bad, it's the only reason I can think of for why people who don't like blobbers want to get recommended blobbers.

You make it like all blobbers are the same. MMX plays a lot more like Wiz8, and neither give a similar experience as the RoA games. Elminage Gothic/Original play a lot more similar to Bard's Tale 1, which plays like Wizardry. You call these types of games, yourself, Wizardry clones.

Getting mad at people for having good taste and wanting deeper and more complex rpg systems is just silly. I dislike most games that are kill, kill, kill regardless of perspective. I have been very consistent in disliking this game focus - what I call "endless hordes of enemies." I can enjoy these games if the have the content, deep rpg systems, passably complex chardev, and combat that requires thinking more than 5% of the time.

I have nothing against BT 1-3, but all 3 are objectively rpg lite compared to what came later and what people can (and should in my subjective opinion) be expected of rpgs.

I think the RoA trilogy are some of the best games ever made. You think Elmingae Gothic is. Great. Plenty of games have came out that do combat, chardev, and other things way better than the RoA series. I can still objectively look at the games, love them, and see some flaws and things I would like more. WL2 DC is a modern game that is also one of my favorite crpgs. I love it, but can look at it objectively and think it would be way better it had a level cap of 20 or so, and other things I don't think it got right and would fit into my consistent views of what I like and want from rpgs.

Unless you are extremely retarded, which I know you are not, you cannot objectively say the combat in BT nor Elminage games required much/any thinking for most of the battles. You either don't mind or like an abundance of mindless combat. You either don't mind or like rpg lite systems with no input chardev. This is not subjective. There are rpgs where you have to think and try during every battle, and combat is not nearly as prevalent. There are rpgs with much deeper rpg systems with far more complex chardev that requires thinking, planning, and the ability to completely gimp a class.

I dislike arpgs for the most part. I would like them more if the did and valued things I like more. Me asking for advice for arpgs that value what I like from people that supposedly love arpgs isn't a ridiculous question. Lionheart does not give the same experience as Diablo 3. Shadows - Heretic Kingdoms doesn't play like Depths of Peril. There are significant differences between even Van Helsing and Grim Dawn that could cause someone to like one and not care much for the other.
 

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