What RPG has blown you away recently? (Looking for RPG recommendations)

[Shaewaroz]

I have a 3 week holiday coming and I might dedicate some time for playing a CRPG or two. I haven't been able to immerse myself fully in a CRPG in a long while due to busy work schedule and stuff.

Here are some ideas for what I'm looking for:

- I generally prefer party-based RPGs, but first person is not out of the question entirely.
- I really like games with pickpocketting and lockpicking that allow me to find unique loot. BG2, Fallout etc.
- I cannot stand enemy level scaling.
- I DON'T like having to do excessive minmaxing in order to be able to beat the game. AoD, Pathfinder: Kingmaker etc.
- I don't like Diablo-esque grinding.
- Roguelikes are OK as long as the main gameplay loop is rewarding and I don't have to stare at ASCII characters.
- C&C is king.
- I don't like randomly generated content in RPGs. Random loot, randomly generated NPCs. Daggerfall etc.
- I generally prefer to recruit well-written and interesting NPCs instead of creating entire custom adventuring party.

I've already played most of the Bioware, Bethesda, Troika and Interplay CRPGs, so don't recommend those. I've also played the most well-known Gold Box RPGs, Ultima Underworld and Arx Fatalis, System Shock 1 & 2, VtMB, Gothic, KoDP etc. Most of the well-known ones. I might do a replay if you recommend an interesting challenge or an interesting mod to spice things up.

 

[Stormcrowfleet]

I had some suggestions but then I saw your list. That being said I'm pretty sure from the rest of the game you've played you must have played it, but Darklands ?

Also, it doesn't fit with some of your criteria, but Dishonored 1 can be pretty good. Didn't really like the 2.

 

[barghwata]

Well i wouldn't say this RPG "blew me away" but by reading your preferences i concluded that you might enjoy Expeditions: Viking, a pretty solid paty-based RPG with turn based combat and alot of C&C and pretty decent writing. It fits all of your criteria except for pickpocketing and lockpicking.

 

[GentlemanCthulhu]

PoE 2's combat. Other than that ELEX and Underrail have been pretty phenomenal imo. ELEX, specially manages to impress me the more i play it. Oh and i recently replayed Fallout NV (after an 8 year gap) and my appreciation for that game only increases each playthrough.

 

[mondblut]

Kenshi blew me away recently.

 

[Shaewaroz]

but Darklands ?

I actually have it installed right now, but have just tried the beginning. I dunno if I'll be able to immerse myself into it though - it's perhaps a bit too open-ended. I wish I'd played it 20 years ago.

 

[JarlFrank]

I had some suggestions but then I saw your list. That being said I'm pretty sure from the rest of the game you've played you must have played it, but Darklands ?

Also, it doesn't fit with some of your criteria, but Dishonored 1 can be pretty good. Didn't really like the 2.

Dishonored 2 is a huge improvement on the first game in my eyes. Pretty much like the first game except with larger and more creative levels, two characters with different powers to choose from, more useable items, etc. The level design in Dishonored 2 is some of the best I've ever seen in a commercially released game.

Underrail is pretty good, but it's single character, so no party. Huge amount of different possible builds, huge selection of different weapons and feats to choose from, traps and grenades to add tactical possibilities for crowd control and ambushes, etc. Even has some quests with C&C (Rathound King's quest comes to mind) and some sidequests that can lead to hard-to-find optional content. Good shit.

 

[Dr Skeleton]

Kingmaker was A LOT better than I expected. The biggest issues are the kingdom sim side-game getting tedious after a while and the final stretch of the main quest being kinda frustrating, but even with those it's a very good game.

- I DON'T like having to do excessive minmaxing in order to be able to beat the game. AoD, Pathfinder: Kingmaker etc.

Kingmaker doesn't require minmaxing at all, you'll be fine with a basic knowledge of DnD. I beat it on challenging without multiclassing and with zero pathfinder knowledge other than "it's that system based on DnD 3.5". If you've played the Infinity engine games, Kingmaker won't be a super challenging or complex game for you.

 

[Shaewaroz]

Underrail is pretty good, but it's single character, so no party. Huge amount of different possible builds, huge selection of different weapons and feats to choose from, traps and grenades to add tactical possibilities for crowd control and ambushes, etc. Even has some quests with C&C (Rathound King's quest comes to mind) and some sidequests that can lead to hard-to-find optional content. Good shit.

I enjoyed Underrail for 5-10 hours. It's a true spiritual successor to Fallout. However it requires a bit too much minmaxing for my taste.

 

[InD_ImaginE]

Unless you are playing on Hard on Unfair I don't think you need to mix max in PFK.

Like, I finished the game using base companion without respec-ing them. My MC is sub-optimal Inquisitor who was good only for passing Persuasion checks and pre-buffing the team before fight. No, I didn't do 500 crits or something people in Kingmaker thread posted.

Some encounters are meant for challenge, but you can always comeback one or two level later. Other than that Web, Slow, Haste, tripping ground cheese works incredibly well.

Really, do try revisiting the game. I has 0 clue about Pathfinder system and I did fine one Challenging.

 

[Shaewaroz]

Kingmaker doesn't require minmaxing at all, you'll be fine with a basic knowledge of DnD. I beat it on challenging without multiclassing and with zero pathfinder knowledge other than "it's that system based on DnD 3.5". If you've played the Infinity engine games, Kingmaker won't be a super challenging or complex game for you.

I played Kingmaker when it came out, until the end of chapter 2. It wasn't difficult, but I still got the impression that I have to pre plan my character carefully and stick to a few effective builds in order to not have to reload constantly later on. I simply don't like when I can't create a complete shit character and still be able to progress in the game. I feel limited if I'm forced to focus on the most efficient skills in order to have a fighting chance.

 

[Trashos]

Have you played New Vegas (technically, it is Obsidian, not Bethesda)? It fulfills a lot of your requirements. However, it is FPS (with companions) and it has level-scaling (within boundaries). It is one of the best ever.

Underrail also fulfills many of your requirements, but it is single-character and on higher difficulties it requires min-maxing. It still supports dozens of builds, and you could find a build online and run with it.

PS. I saw your answers, grrrrrrr, I have trouble discerning who is writing what!

 

[Dr Skeleton]

Kingmaker doesn't require minmaxing at all, you'll be fine with a basic knowledge of DnD. I beat it on challenging without multiclassing and with zero pathfinder knowledge other than "it's that system based on DnD 3.5". If you've played the Infinity engine games, Kingmaker won't be a super challenging or complex game for you.

I played Kingmaker when it came out, until the end of chapter 2. It wasn't difficult, but I still got the impression that I have to pre plan my character carefully and stick to a few effective builds in order to not have to reload constantly later on. I simply don't like when I can't create a complete shit character and still be able to progress in the game. I feel limited if I'm forced to focus on the most efficient skills in order to have a fighting chance.

If anything the first two chapters might be the most difficult (maybe except for the very end game, but even that has more of a problem with the same annoying enemies over and over than difficulty). The character I beat the game with was just a normal paladin, I picked whatever feats seemed good at the time and it worked very well, I only used the story companions too. I don't think it's possible to make a complete shit character, unless you create a 10 int wizard and pick only archery feats for him or something retarded like that.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[Orma]

DEADFIRE

 

[Void_Pickle]

It definitely doesn't meet all of your criteria, but I found Starcrawlers to be really surprisingly decent.

AOD doesn't require excessive minmaxing (unless, perhaps as a noncombat character.. in fairness). I was able to beat it on my first go with a very.. unoptimized character.

You didn't mention Gothic.. I think you'd enjoy it based on what you've outlined.

Prelude to darkness is another obvious recommendation if you can stand it crashing here and there. I didn't find it to be that bad personally, but I have some tolerance for such things typically.

 

[flushfire]

ATOM RPG didn't exactly blow me away but it did exceed my expectations. It didn't look like much when I first saw it, thought it would be the usual unpolished, horribly translated russian rpg with head-scratching mechanics but it ended up being a great homage to the first Fallouts.

As for your requirements; the thieving/loot is just ok - very few outstanding equipment in containers/pockets. There's level dependent spawns in randomly encountered enemies and items but no scaling afaik. Minmaxing is about the same in Fallouts. No need to grind. There's c&c and multiple ways to solve quests although some parts of the MQ are railroaded. No random generation in stats of items but the stores/caravans which will be your main source of equipment sell random items from a list, it's a personal source of frustration for me. The companion interaction is more fleshed out compared to Fallout 1's but less than 2's.

The devs are also updating the game even after having released a supposed 'final' update.

 

[Void_Pickle]

Actually.. Betrayal at Krondor probably makes more sense than any of those here.

 

[JarlFrank]

Also, play Dark Sun: Shattered Lands if you haven't already.

 

[Shaewaroz]

Actually.. Betrayal at Krondor probably makes more sense than any of those here.

Another great recommendation. I've played it maybe 5 hours and stopped for some reason - maybe I was just too busy or not in the right state of mind to play it. It has interesting characters and story.

 

[Drowed]

I've also played the most well-known Gold Box RPGs, Ultima Underworld and Arx Fatalis, System Shock 1 & 2, VtMB, Gothic, KoDP etc. Most of the well-known ones. I might do a replay if you recommend an interesting challenge or an interesting mod to spice things up.

Since you have played Gothic, maybe Risen? The first one? It won't blown you away, true, but it's competent enough I guess.

My tip is to be careful about ledges, on mountains and the scenery in general. If you try to jump on/over them, there is always a risk of your character jumping out of existence. (Or out of bounds.) Which is funny in the first moments... Until you realize that you can't open the menu with ESC during a jump, then the game is basically frozen and you will need to close it forcibly. So, save often.

 

[Shaewaroz]

Also, play Dark Sun: Shattered Lands if you haven't already.

I tried it, but didn't love it. Too combat-focused. Has some great ways to interact with the game world though.

 

[Darth Canoli]

What RPG has blown you away recently?

You mentioned Dark Sun was too combat focused, that's a shame, this one blew me away recently, KotC too but it's even more combat focused.

Nothing else was better than good.

Here's a short list of good cRPG i played fairly recently :
- ToME (Tales of Maj'Eyal) - Rogue-like on the cRPG side (and an adventure mode), it's huge, with multiple campaigns, no companions other than the alchemist's golem as far as i know (and some temporary NPC followers)
- ATOM (will write about it soon, tried it again and changed my mind, it's good)
- The Quest but it's a single character first person cRPG, his only sin.
- I stopped my 7 Mages play-through early on but it looked quite good, looks like there is some difficult puzzles.

Now decent ones :
- DOS, the first one is good, specially the first "half", i could never go very far once i hit the second part.
- DOS2 is decent if you're prepared to heavily mod it.
- Tyranny is good if you can tolerate RTwP and loading screens, it's also quite focused on combat and there is a lack of variety to it.

 

[undecaf]

What RPG has blown you away recently?

Recently? Not one.

Try Shadowrun: Dragonfall and Hong Kong. Don't remember there being pickpocketing though.

 

[Shaewaroz]

Try Shadowrun: Dragonfall and Hong Kong. Don't remember there being pickpocketing though.

Is there actually any free exploration in Dragonfall? Any factions to choose from? I backed Shadowrun Returns, but never tried Dragonfall.