Which CRPG offers the best sense of adventure?

[octavius]

No mention of Spirit of Adventure?

 

[laclongquan]

Might and Magic 8 Days of Destroyer is pretty adventurous. You keep wander off your planned route to check out prettyrock/nicetree/curioustargets

 

[Kliwer]

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?

In my opinion, Drakensang is a much better game than NWN 1 and 2. Even with all the fan modules (I didn't really like any of them, and I've played a lot).

I remember my disappointment with NWN 1. It was supposed to be a new BG - only in 3d. Instead, we got some ugly shit with a pathetic campaign.

Years later, when I launched the Drakesnag, I remembered that disappointment. "This is what NWN was supposed to be" - I thought.

The game is not perfect. The combat system is fundamentally flawed (no model collisions), the game is linear. In Drakensang 1 the game does not recognize our hero's class/race (terribly sad when the king of the dwarves addresses our dwarven hero as a human); luckily in Drakensang 2 this has been fixed. Dialog options are limited; they force us to play a super-good hero. All writing is also a bit childish (although it's not a disadvantage for me; the game just has a fairy-tale atmosphere).


The strengths of the game are:

- Really gorgeous art-style. Great equipment design. Girls are beautiful and busty. Dwarves are bearded and scruffy. Forests look very mysterious, and so are the various ruins and crypts. The graphics look great even today.

- Interesting, complex mechanics. It already looks good in Drakensang 1; in Drakensang 2 the use of non-combat abilities has been improved (e.g. crafting is very cool; there are many possibilities to use dialogue skills). Cool wound mechanic.

- PnP atmosphere. Drakensang is simply played like a good adventure under the watchful eye of an experienced (but not too imaginative) GM.

- In case of Drakensang 2 – very nice beginning with class/guild quests.

- Some very cool boss fights (D1: hunted tree in the swamp, dragon; in D2: kraken, demon in elven ruins etc.).

- I like our potential companions. I don't mind that they're walking clichés. Their dialogues/comments add flavor to the gameplay (and they are not as tediously talkative as the NPCs from Bioware).

- In D2 (sometimes also in D1.): choices in our approach to quests (fairly formulaic, but common).

The game is definitely not perfect. Its disadvantages could be enumerated endlessly. Still, it's one of my favorite cRPG.

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.

It's just a good fantasy setting. Nothing more, nothing less. Much less epic and over the top than any D&D. I like that the game world is kind of "medieval with orcs", nothing else. Without all the absurdities like: interplanar travels! battles of gods! flying cities! a race of underground intelligent toothed sacks trapped beneath a magical desert by ancient snots from outer space!

The mechanics favor moderate power level. Our warriors choose skills such as fint or parade. Not: The Epic Death Punch of Destruction!

If someone is bored of classic fantasy, this game is not for him. Still, it's a good setting for light PnP-style adventures.

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.

In terms of content - Athkatla is better. But Baldur's Gate looks like a real medieval city, not some theme park. We have an old town and a new town. We have guild halls, a prince's palace and a market square. We have walls, towers and a moat. Temples sandwiched between residential houses and warehouses (not: attention! Great Temple District! Here we do "religious" quests!).

Athkatla works as a quest-hub. But as a simulation of a real city - I prefer Baldur's Gate.

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

I prefer IWD1 over 2. But IWD2 is still a very good game. Quests and tactical challenges are much more interesting (e.g. winning a battle before ogres destroy the bridge). It is also practically the only Infinity game (apart from PST) that has some non-combat aspects, such as dungeon puzzles, sneaking quests or the influence of skills on dialogues.
The only drawback of this game is that the late stage is clearly unfinished (Black Raven Monastery is the last polished location).

 

[ELEXmakesMeHard]

Risen 2 has a great sense of adventure. You're a captain with a roguish personality, sailing around what feels like the Caribbean. There's cleverly written funny dialogue, sugar plantations with negro slaves, voodoo dolls, treasure hunting, and no woke bullshit. Just upbeat campy adventures. It's a charming game as long as you don't expect it to be like Gothic.

 

[ItsChon]

I will second the Underrail suggestion. A unique setting that is brought alive by great art and locations. The game is full of world building elements, and exploration is a major part of the game and is super rewarding. Helps that it's also one of the greatest RPGs of all time.

 

[Reinhardt]

Grimoire: Heralds of the Winged Exemplar

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

 

[Gerrard]

>sense of adventure
>babysitting the equipment of 4+ characters

 

[NerevarineKing]

You can ride on a turtle in Shin Megami Tensei 1 as well.

 

[Haplo]

I will recommend Kingmaker and Deadfire.
If you didn't like the Kingdom management, perhaps Deadfire sailing will be up your alley (much simpler and less engaging)?
The main story is weak, but if you mostly ignore it, its a fun and beautiful exploration, questing and combat game, with awesome multiclass system and best-in-class itemization with sick item/ability/class synergies.

 

[Reinhardt]

Deadfire

fun and beautiful exploration

No, seriously, two dozens of islands with 1 fight on each?
Kangmaker is pretty much same but at least there are few dungeons and not all locations are just single monster, only most of them.

 

[Haplo]

Kingmaker really is the same in this aspect. There are lots of those tiny 1-fight locations, true, but also several somewhat decent sized. And of course several that are even bigger (often quest locations, but still).

 

[Darth Canoli]

I will recommend Kingmaker and Deadfire.
If you didn't like the Kingdom management, perhaps Deadfire sailing will be up your alley (much simpler and less engaging)?
The main story is weak, but if you mostly ignore it, its a fun and beautiful exploration, questing and combat game, with awesome multiclass system and best-in-class itemization with sick item/ability/class synergies.

Give Curbs a break, his two examples are Wizardry 8 and Fallout 2 so he's a man of taste and he even says BG is alright but not his cup of tea so how could Pillows of Eternity and Kingmaker be?

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Kingmaker

how does kingmaker have a sense of adventure

 

[perfectslumbers]

how does kingmaker have a sense of adventure

"I'm in the mood for a classic-style, epic fantasy romp. I assume most people here have read The Hobbit, LotR or The Wheel of Time.

Looking for stuff like, but not limited to, varied, exotic locales, lots of (preferably non-linear) overworld exploration, meeting colourful characters along the way, party management, etc, etc."

You read the thread bro?

 

[rusty_shackleford]

how does kingmaker have a sense of adventure

"I'm in the mood for a classic-style, epic fantasy romp. I assume most people here have read The Hobbit, LotR or The Wheel of Time.

Looking for stuff like, but not limited to, varied, exotic locales, lots of (preferably non-linear) overworld exploration, meeting colourful characters along the way, party management, etc, etc."

You read the thread bro?

the game is very linear and there's not much exploration

 

[Reinhardt]

how does kingmaker have a sense of adventure

"I'm in the mood for a classic-style, epic fantasy romp. I assume most people here have read The Hobbit, LotR or The Wheel of Time.

Looking for stuff like, but not limited to, varied, exotic locales, lots of (preferably non-linear) overworld exploration, meeting colourful characters along the way, party management, etc, etc."

You read the thread bro?

the game is very linear and there's not much exploration

 

[rusty_shackleford]

how does kingmaker have a sense of adventure

"I'm in the mood for a classic-style, epic fantasy romp. I assume most people here have read The Hobbit, LotR or The Wheel of Time.

Looking for stuff like, but not limited to, varied, exotic locales, lots of (preferably non-linear) overworld exploration, meeting colourful characters along the way, party management, etc, etc."

You read the thread bro?

the game is very linear and there's not much exploration

pillows is definitely not a game I'd recommend either. I'd have a hard time recommend nearly any modern game for a sense of adventure as it's something that has almost been entirely stripped from the genre.

 

[perfectslumbers]

the game is very linear and there's not much exploration

Most RPGS are somewhat linear, even open world ones (without level scaling.) Kingmaker has a ton of optional areas to explore, although they are often act-gated. OP quotes Baldur's Gate which is, imo, another fantastic overworld exploration game that also has areas unlock as you progress the main story. Kingmaker was filled with optional areas and had a ton to discover off the beaten path. And it very clearly fits all of the OP's other criteria.

 

[curds]

Give Curbs a break, his two examples are Wizardry 8 and Fallout 2 so he's a man of taste and he even says BG is alright but not his cup of tea so how could Pillows of Eternity and Kingmaker be?

tbf I did think Kingmaker was pretty good, but got prematurely burned out from selecting a too-high difficult for a noob, and not liking the kingdom management thing.

I tried a few recommended games from this thread, and honestly I think I am just in one of those gaming slumps, when you can't get invested into any new games and are bored of all the ones you've already played. Shit feeling.

 

[perfectslumbers]

I tried a few recommended games from this thread, and honestly I think I am just in one of those gaming slumps, when you can't get invested into any new games and are bored of all the ones you've already played. Shit feeling.

When that happens to me I try to do something other than gaming for a while as a hobby. Always refreshing to come back to RPGS later.

 

[Ryzer]

I'm playing MM World of Xeen for the first time and it's been a while since I've been this excited to explore a world.

Until you discover that the world is full of FedEx Quests, then you get bored... MM World of Xeen biggest strengths are its dungeons, enigmas, main villain ( laughing at how pathetic you are) and art design.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

I tried a few recommended games from this thread, and honestly I think I am just in one of those gaming slumps, when you can't get invested into any new games and are bored of all the ones you've already played. Shit feeling.

Try Albion if you want a cRPG with adventure. You're stranded on a planet full of alien life.
Not as sci-fi as it sounds, very fantasy.

 

[curds]

I tried a few recommended games from this thread, and honestly I think I am just in one of those gaming slumps, when you can't get invested into any new games and are bored of all the ones you've already played. Shit feeling.

Try Albion if you want a cRPG with adventure. You're stranded on a planet full of alien life.
Not as sci-fi as it sounds, very fantasy.

Yeah that does look kinda comfy, cheers.

 

[Darth Canoli]

tbf I did think Kingmaker was pretty good, but got prematurely burned out from selecting a too-high difficult for a noob, and not liking the kingdom management thing.

I tried a few recommended games from this thread, and honestly I think I am just in one of those gaming slumps, when you can't get invested into any new games and are bored of all the ones you've already played. Shit feeling.

You got the easy way out, there's some alright, even good moments drowned in kingdom management garbage and going back and forth between micro locations and the capital city.

As for the feeling, just take a break from video games, do something else with your free time for a while.