Which computer RPG best captured the 'spirit' of tabletop D&D?

[ERYFKRAD]

Realms of Arkania HD

Jokes aside, from what I heard RoA emulated a TT TDE play extremely well.

It does, yeah

 

[Grampy_Bone]

Definitely Pathfinder*

-The DM is sort of incompetent.
-Every PC is an edgelord with a butthurt past looking for an excuse to backstab everyone
-Losing the kingdom game is like the DM saying "Fuck you I do this shit every goddamn week for you assholes and all you do is bitch and argue with me fuck off I am fucking done with this shit you all can go play magic for all I fucking care I am so fucking done."

So yeah, exactly like PnP really.

*(the single defining feature that makes it feel like tabletop to me is the camping. "Setting watches" and such is just so rarely a thing outside of PnP.)

 

[BING XI LAO]

Planescape is reminiscent of real D&D for me in two ways - GM with some wacky shitshow setting who also doesn't let players die

 

[Dyspaire]

I honestly don't know any other d&d game which captured spirit of you 13 yo retard and your retard friends eating pizza and killing xvarts and kobols with daggers +1 better than BG1.

IWD captured reading your first Salvatore book.

Agreed and well said. There are lots of honorable mentions going all the way back... some of the later Gold Box games were definitely on the right track, for example.

But if the question is which single game captured the scenario you so eloquently described, best... that cozy, lost in your own world, high-adventure feeling you would get in the best pnp sessions... it would have to be an IE game, and of those I would have to choose either BG1 or IWD as well.

Would I have preferred those games had the combat engine from ToEE? Of course. But those two games got so much more right than they got wrong.

Easily my pick(s) for the question asked.

Also, I know this opinion is heresy around these parts, but I'll say it again anyway, 5.0 Deadfire with turn-based combat enabled and path of the damned difficulty enabled, is the most fun I've had with an isometric crpg in 20 years. Since BG2 came out.

The Deadfire I played, for what it's worth, definitely got me back to that pnp feel. Crazy, I know.

2c

 

[RNGsus]

It would have to be a multiplayer game, the whole point is problem solving (or not) with a pack of weirdos.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Admittedly, tabletop RPGs intentionally limit each player to the role of a single character, who forms a party with other player-characters, and therefore the CRPG that best captures the 'spirit' of tabletop D&D is arguably Neverwinter Nights:

 

[DavidBVal]

The first Gold Box game, Pool of Radiance, was developed in conjunction with TSR designers and even had an accompanying adventure module FRC1 Ruins of Adventure. The non-linearity offered better represents free-form tabletop RPGs than do linear, narrative-driven, cinematic CRPGs, while the game engine and its tactical combat were well suited to low-level D&D.

Why wasn't thread locked after this reply?

ToEE certainly has the feel. Sucessive expeditions to the dungeon, going deeper, it certainly did feel like a module. NWN Toolsets were a noteworthy attempt to make cRPGs creative for the players as they should be, and I hope more developers follow that path one day. But Pool of Radiance (and Gold Box in general) *is* "almost Tabletop". It has the "deeper expeditions into the dungeon" thing that ToEE offers, and there is an available FR:UA just like NWN toolsets did years later, and in addition is far more satisfactory in terms of exploration and non-linearity just like many of the old modules did. The fact it's only the first chapter in a very good saga only makes it better.

 

[Lilura]

Indeed, the best RPGs were made by wargamers, not "role-players".

There's actually truth to this

Also, Swordflight was made by a wargamer.

 

[ProphetSword]

Definitely Pool of Radiance.

It might not seem like it today, but back in 1988, that game brought something new to the table. Playing it felt like sitting down at the table and having a computer DM for you; because while the game is lauded for its combat engine (as it should be), an often overlooked factor is the way it presented its story and made the world feel alive. There’s a reason that the slums area, the old rope guild, Mendor’s Library and the poison hedge maze feel like real places we explored after all these years. On top of that, add in a storyline that, while simple, develops and grows as you play until it reveals a horrible evil, and you have a recipe for a an AD&D experience that felt like a real campaign away from the table.

Games have come a long way since then, so those who weren’t there won’t get it.

 

[DavidBVal]

Definitely Pool of Radiance.

It might not seem like it today, but back in 1988, that game brought something new to the table. Playing it felt like sitting down at the table and having a computer DM for you; because while the game is lauded for its combat engine (as it should be), an often overlooked factor is the way it presented its story and made the world feel alive. There’s a reason that the slums area, the old rope guild, Mendor’s Library and the poison hedge maze feel like real places we explored after all these years. On top of that, add in a storyline that, while simple, develops and grows as you play until it reveals a horrible evil, and you have a recipe for a an AD&D experience that felt like a real campaign away from the table.

Games have come a long way since then, so those who weren’t there won’t get it.

 

[V_K]

I wonder where has all the "Disco is the closest thing to PnP since sliced bread" crowd gone?

 

[Dramart]

The Renaissance era captured the spirit of tabletop D&D better than the Golden Age.

You can't argue with ToEE, Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale. These are the 4th, 8th and 9th greatest RPGs of all-time.

Then, there are mods like Swordflight. Even though it was made with the Aurora toolset (of the Renaissance era), it's the best RPG seen in years.

If we include the spirit of tabletop gaming in general (not just D&D), we can add Jagged Alliance 2, Fallout, Fallout 2 and Arcanum. These are the 1st, 2nd, 5th and 7th greatest RPGs of all-time.

Fallout 1 and 2, Deus Ex, Baldur's Gate 1, IWD. Is it being boring one of the features a game must have to be a good D&D adaptation? Also I don't see BG2 there, it's better than BG1 for sure.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

none of them

consolation prize to nwn through shards, actual DMs, and custom modules

I want to update my answer to DDO in terms of capturing the spirit of tabletop D&D.