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Which CRPG offers the best sense of adventure?

Bruma Hobo

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Joined
Dec 29, 2011
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Avernum: Crystal Souls
How is it any better than the original Exile II though? Seriously, I haven't played any of the Avernum games since they all look much uglier than the originals, have an inferior dialogue system, and less party members and spells, but perhaps they managed to somehow compensate for that?
 

Contagium

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Avernum: Crystal Souls
How is it any better than the original Exile II though? Seriously, I haven't played any of the Avernum games since they all look much uglier than the originals, have an inferior dialogue system, and less party members and spells, but perhaps they managed to somehow compensate for that?

I never played the original Exile version. I thought Crystal Souls looked great and played smoothly, but your mileage may vary. I've been happy with all of Vogel's remakes.
 

curds

Magister
Joined
Nov 24, 2019
Messages
1,098
Fuck it, I'm going to play Drakensang. Saw some screenshots and it looks like what I'm looking for. I'm aware of its reputation as an average game, but I'll make up my own mind.

Wizardry and M&M can wait since I don't have any graph paper, and can't be bothered heading to the shops.
 

Fowyr

Arcane
Vatnik
Joined
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Messages
7,671
I never played the original Exile version.
You should. Avernums are a pure decline compared to Exiles.
Fowyr said:
This was spoken again and again. Exile has better combat due to 6 character party, lot of spells, big combat field, fucking FOOD - many of Exile's encounters lost any sense (starving wyrm in E3 for example) - and so on. Fuck Avernum. Fuck it very hard. And all you gain is only some more lore and dialogue trees? Sheesh!
Add to it arows, item identification and some other small things. Loss of many very neat and awesome spells was especially retarded. Keyword dialogue system allowed some easter eggs, by the way.
 

mediocrepoet

Philosoraptor in Residence
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Combatfag: Gold box / Pathfinder
Codex 2012 Codex+ Now Streaming! MCA Project: Eternity Divinity: Original Sin 2
Another vote for Drakensang and Drakensang: The River of Time.
Also, Pathfinder Kingmaker starts out in a fairly grounded way and ramps up into epicness and weird environments over the course of its lengthy story arc.
Quest for Glory 1-5 start you off as a wet behind the ears adventurer who grows into a bonafide world saving hero with silly jokes and memorable characters along the way.
 

Zed Duke of Banville

Dungeon Master
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Grimoire: Heralds of the Winged Exemplar

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Angriph

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Jan 22, 2012
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Madrid
Drakensang 2 is very enjoyable, solid choice. I never got to finish the 1st, I couldn't bear killing amoebas in a church crypt.

Jade Empire is alright: it kind of fits into the hero's journey structure that Bioware developed point by point for KOTOR, but I remember realizing they had rehashed some plot ideas.

Have you given a thought to Wrath of the Righteous? It has much less forestry than Kingmaker but it is epic, varied and adventurous.

Edit: You played IWD2, right?
 

Kliwer

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Oct 19, 2018
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Drakensang: The Dark Eye and (especially) Drakensang: River of Time are excellent, often underrated games. As a classic fantasy adventure, they are second to none. I love the atmosphere of these games: something bordering on Tolkien and old D&D. In many ways, these games are very similar to BG1 (party-based, low-to-medium power level, relatively faithful adaptation of the PnP system).

IMO - these games are full of a "sense of adventure".


Personally, it annoys me that many modern cRPGs do not even try to reflect the "atmosphere of the Middle Ages". Many games are set in some strange "never", where the characters talk like modern people, the architecture is not like anything historical, the feudal system does not exist, etc. Of course, I do not mean "realism" (which is always a delusion in fantasy games), but a certain "adequacy". There are actually very few games that are set in pseudo-medieval ages - with minimal respect for realities. Perhaps the main reason is that modern game developers are so desperately little read. A good fantasy will not be made by someone interested in fantasy. A good fantasy will be made by someone interested in history, mythology, etc. The few games that reflect the atmosphere of a fairy tale-medieval are, for me:


BG1 - the title city is a beautiful medieval city; BG2 loses - in my eyes - this value. In SoA everything looks like a random cluster of motifs from different times and places. It’s like Disneyland.

Might and Magic VI - I can't even say what it's all about. But playing this game feels like wandering somewhere in the land from "The Hobbit". Ruins of castles on the hills. Medieval dungeon paintings. Dark swamps and ancient tombs... The feeling of discovering ancient secrets.

Darklands - for obvious reasons.


Drakensang 1 and 2 also taste like a classic medieval fantasy. I like the cities (Ferdok, Nadoret): accurate architecture, reminiscent of real German old towns (e.g. half-timbered buildings, interiors of temples). I would venture to say that Nadoret (and the surrounding area) is one of the best cRPG cities of all times.

I like bazaars, streets and alleys. I also like the look of weapons and armor (no nonsense like giant anime-like swords). I like that we meet representatives of professions that rarely appear in games: jesters, tollkeepers, millers, messengers, private foresters, Gypsy fortune tellers. As a result, the world of Drakensang looks colorful and believable.


Add to that - Drakensang 1 and 2 are one of the few cRPGs that have interesting forest levels. There are a lot of games that have nice cities or dungeons. But there are very few games that offer interesting gameplay in the forest. Locations like Blood Mountains are real masterpieces.


I highly recommend these games. There are better "spiritual successor" to the BG series than, for example, Pillars of Eternity. They have many weaknesses and are quite linear - but it doesn't matter. It is a real product of passion. Product of people who know a thing or two about history as well as have real experiences in PnP RPGs.
 

Falksi

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Feb 14, 2017
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10,538
Location
Nottingham
Escape from The Pit gave me the best adventure which I'd been on in years. I can't believe that trash like The Witcher 3 even gets mentioned in the same breath of it.

Bard's Tale 4 is the best modern game to do so. It's very confined and small in scope, but it still felt like I was unearthing ancient mysteries.

I really need to get around to playing Grimoire.
 
Joined
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The Present
Edit: You played IWD2, right?

Ooof. Don't do this to the poor man. IWD2 is like NWN2 OC. Both are the mediocre foods that keep getting pushed to the back of the fridge, eaten as the last recourse for those starving for more D&D. Far from the worst games ever made, but lacking something vital that mutes the experience. Games with good adventure cultivate a sense of wonder, a reason to explore and find. IWD2 does not. It is combatfaggotry only.
 

Gaznak

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The Fortress Unvanquishable
Fans can stone me to death but I never understood Drakensang(s). For me it's like second-hand derivative DnD-like copycat. Why should I play, say, Drakensang RoT when I can play NWN2? Moreover IIRC the original Schwarze Auge role system has been dumbed down for Drakensang(s) even further than it was for Realms of Arkania.
Not that I'm such a huge fan of DnD system (especially its later iterations) but stuff like Drakensang looks so secondary and uninspiring, just yet another humdrum boring medieval-fantasy setting.

Thus, 'the sense of adventure' (linear as hell, btw) in such a dull setting can't cope with this dullness, for me personally. No offense, just an opinion. So I'd prefer even Bioware cinematic stuff like Jade Empire (which has its own flaws, of course, shortness being the first of them). But bizarre Chinese demons beat drunken Drakensang dwarfs like Bruce Lee beats Dolph Lundgren.
 

gurugeorge

Arcane
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Strap Yourselves In
Of modern games, POE/2 and the Pathfinder games can give you that classic BG feeling of adventure; the question is whether you'll have problems with the systems and/or hate the woke quotient too much. PF:K in particular is a pretty full-on adventure in the classic style.

I'd also second WL2 DC (Director's Cut). Having played that recently, it's definitely got a "classic" RPG adventure feeling. You certainly get the sense of a small band of brothers on an adventure (unlike with WL3). But it's in a post-apocalyptic scenario. Not exactly "A Shortcut through Mushrooms." :)
 

Erebus

Arcane
Joined
Jul 12, 2008
Messages
4,763
BG1 - the title city is a beautiful medieval city; BG2 loses - in my eyes - this value. In SoA everything looks like a random cluster of motifs from different times and places. It’s like Disneyland.

I've always found Athkatla to be cooler than the city of Baldur's Gate. The architecture looks much nicer, it feels like a real living place and, at the same time, adventure awaits behind every door.


IWD2 is like NWN2 OC. Both are the mediocre foods that keep getting pushed to the back of the fridge, eaten as the last recourse for those starving for more D&D. Far from the worst games ever made, but lacking something vital that mutes the experience. Games with good adventure cultivate a sense of wonder, a reason to explore and find. IWD2 does not. It is combatfaggotry only.

It's definitely better than IWD 1, but I agree that it's largely forgettable (except for a handful of cool fights).
 

curds

Magister
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Nov 24, 2019
Messages
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Edit: You played IWD2, right?
No, actually. Only infinity engine game I haven't played. I liked IWD1 more than BG, and the 3e rules appeal to me, so I will definately play it one day.
 

DemonKing

Arcane
Joined
Dec 5, 2003
Messages
5,958
The original IWD - that really captured what D&D tabletop gaming was like to me with a party of adventurers travelling to different exotic locales, gradually building up in power and then finally confronting the big bad at the end of the campaign.
 

Angriph

Novice
Joined
Jan 22, 2012
Messages
40
Location
Madrid
Edit: You played IWD2, right?

Ooof. Don't do this to the poor man. IWD2 is like NWN2 OC. Both are the mediocre foods that keep getting pushed to the back of the fridge, eaten as the last recourse for those starving for more D&D. Far from the worst games ever made, but lacking something vital that mutes the experience. Games with good adventure cultivate a sense of wonder, a reason to explore and find. IWD2 does not. It is combatfaggotry only.

I don't know, I can't be objective with NWN2 OC. It was one of the first CRPGs I played and as a "medieval KOTOR" it had a lot of charm, but probably it got old and ugly now.

IWD2 on the other hand I gave it a serious try last Christmas and I enjoyed a lot the combat and skill checks, of course as long as you don't expect any kind of branching story.
 

curds

Magister
Joined
Nov 24, 2019
Messages
1,098
Edit: You played IWD2, right?
No, actually. Only infinity engine game I haven't played. I liked IWD1 more than BG, and the 3e rules appeal to me, so I will definately play it one day.

Might work for you. If you decide to try it, do check the codex for all the recommended mods list.
I like to do at least 1-2 playthroughs before trying mods, but I'll check the list nonetheless, might be something acceptable for a first timer. Thanks for the tip.
 

Darth Canoli

Arcane
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Jun 8, 2018
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Perched on a tree
Darth Canoli Thanks for the suggestions, although, Blackguards (pretty much only combat) and AoD (grimdark, low-fantasy setting) would be examples of what I'm not looking for. Played Xulima years ago but never finished it, need to return.

I found Blackguards story quite enough to infuse some sense of adventure during a first playthrough.
There's little exploration, though, i give you that, probably the weakest game, sense of adventure wise from my list with voidspire.
Voidspire starts slowly, one cut-scene really got me into it, you'll know which one if you play it, right after, one particular character chases you, it's quite fun.
 

Angriph

Novice
Joined
Jan 22, 2012
Messages
40
Location
Madrid
Edit: You played IWD2, right?
No, actually. Only infinity engine game I haven't played. I liked IWD1 more than BG, and the 3e rules appeal to me, so I will definately play it one day.

Might work for you. If you decide to try it, do check the codex for all the recommended mods list.
I like to do at least 1-2 playthroughs before trying mods, but I'll check the list nonetheless, might be something acceptable for a first timer. Thanks for the tip.
Oh, I meant widescreen mod, UI for new resolution, fonts, flickering fog fix, these kind of things.
 

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