What does an ideal cRPG look like to you? What game has come the closest to that idea?

[luj1]

The best of Arcanum + the best of Morrowind mixed with the encounter design of Knights of the Chalice.

close enough

the mechanical combat layer needs to be:
isometric + turn based + squad based + hex based

this is most faithful to TT and wargaming tradition

then add worldbuilding that has breadth (Morrowind)

if ure world is interesting and original, and has low exposition, then the world can tell its own story

 

[smaug]

This would probably change as I play more RPGS, but Fallout 2 with a more non-linear world (plot and structure) and different ways of traversing the world through interactivity and skills.

 

[Kruyurk]

I would like something that takes Kenshi as a basis with added parts from Exanima, RimWorld and Factorio.

From Exanima I would add the physics part: instead of having people roll virtual dices I want them to swing virtual weapons. I would also want physics-based magic, with it being rare, high-risk high-reward and mysterious.
From RimWorld the deep simulation stuff for everything that is not physics-based, especially the character personalities and relationship.
From Factorio the scalability and tight balance, where trying to break the game is the game itself (in Kenshi breaking the game is easy and ruins the fun, you have to restrain yourself from using some OP tactics), and doing so is interesting for and unlimited amount of hours.

The art direction would lean more sword and sorcery, while retaining the brutality, loneliness feeling and oddity from Kenshi.
The map would be randomly generated.
The game would be set on a main plane but there would be other planes with demons you could do pacts with or travel to, à la Elric of Melniboné.
There would be a large selection of clothes and armors to play dress-up with, with the appropriate amount of coverage required for the sword and sorcery part.
The devs themselves would have included nudity so I don't have to feel like a weirdo browsing the Nexus mods.

That's it. Please someone do it.

 

[Brancaleone]

The best of Arcanum + the best of Morrowind mixed with the encounter design of Knights of the Chalice.

 

[JarlFrank]

The map would be randomly generated.

This thread is about good games, not shit games.

 

[Kruyurk]

The map would be randomly generated.

This thread is about good games, not shit games.

And I forgot that it would be RTwP, as in Kenshi.

 

[Serus]

The best of Arcanum + the best of Morrowind mixed with the encounter design of Knights of the Chalice.

+ some good game mechanics - nice looking character charts from Arcanum are not it and one can do better than (simplified) D&D.
I can see the appeal of it.

Myself i'd probably like more:
Darklands historical(-ish) setting + expanded mechanics of travel/non-combat encounters/etc.
+ Battle Brothers combat system
+ [this last part is optional] a political plot of a crpg... that hasn't been made yet.

 

[Glop_dweller]

the mechanical combat layer needs to be:
isometric + turn based + squad based + hex based

These are not required for RPGs—though they can certainly improve the experience; usually.
*I would also say the same for user generated characters; they are not mandatory, all that is needed is a character to roleplay—who makes it is irrelevant, so long as there is enough there to know the character. Being able to make one's own custom PC is always a plus, however the predetermined PC is far far easier to integrate into the game, and present many past acquaintances for them to reconnect with.

 

[KafkaBot]

Something that combines the best mechanical parts from Arcanum, Morrowind and Kenshi with Planescape-esque plot and dialogue systems.

 

[luj1]

the mechanical combat layer needs to be:
isometric + turn based + squad based + hex based

These are not required for RPG

it doesnt have to be isometric (blobbers)

it certainly doesnt have to have hexes either

but that is the purest form

continue taking away these elements 1 by 1 and u lose genre boundaries

eventually someone will say "oh it doesnt have to be turn based", "oh it doesnt need to have combat"

thats how u get turds like Skyrim or Disco Elysium

deconstructing the norms is the hallmark of the 21th century, its not only games

 

[octavius]

Ultima Underworld. It was a dream game made true back then.
Nowadays I'm more into tactics than FFP exploration and immersion (wasted too much time trying to make Morrowing and Oblivion into prefect FFP games), so maybe Nahlakh as the ultimate combatfag game?

 

[Lim-Dûl]

Grimoire but with more unique enemy art, less anime, less spelling errors, a usable inventory, and the ability to unstack items.

 

[Poseidon00]

It looks like Tyranny, but in VR. Will not elaborate.

 

[Glop_dweller]

The problem with Bethesda's games are that they are devised on the assumption of player substitution; of the player being there—as opposed to the PC being there. This is the principle detriment of FPP in RPGs. FPP RPGs can be made, can be done well, but they all suffer the handicap intrinsic with FPP.

Bethesda goes one worse in every game they make... They make empowerment fantasy, plain and simple. Their simulation cedes always to the player expectation rather than the PC's limitation. RPGs evaluate when to say, 'No'; Bethesda's games only ever say 'yes', or 'not yet'.

In many cases it's not even possible to attempt an action unless success is assured.

 

[luj1]

The problem with Bethesda's games

is that its 1/2 of a game shipped with a toolset to fix it urself

 

[Fargus]

VTM Bloodlines, except 2-3 times longer and more technically complete, with better combat etc... or direct sequel to Arcanum 2 from Troika where i can finally rid Arcanum from gnome-kikes and whistleblow the half-ogre conspiracy. Really miss Arcanum...

Baldurs Gate 3 but with no modern femoid and fag shit etc. Like if it was made in early 2000s but with lots of improvements to BG2 formula. Same humor and amount of details.

Always wanted to play a Gothic-like game with character creation. Or Gothic game in Conan the Barbarian universe. With same combat system that drives normies mad and handcrafted world that is enjoyable to explore.

Something that seems to be impossible - a proper successor\sequel to Jagged Alliance 2 with the same charm and freedom to conquer the map. Same level of details too. Cool merc personalities and caricature villain slapping his\her henchman for delivering bad news.

More modern tactical rpg in Dark Sun setting with party creation and shit. Or even Bethesda like hiking sim, dont care. Just like the setting.

Proper Deus Ex sequel. Retcon IW, HR and MD. Keep the 2052 setting, keep the graphics and gameplay the same, but with new story of the same quality level.

Fucking Arx Fatalis 2. Dont really feel like Arx needs much improvement except maybe for being too short and lacking in quests.

 

[Moaning_Clock]

Great turn-based combat, a lot of choices with a lot of locked content. I certainly dig games with a style that's influenced by the Roman Empire in general (or the classical Antique).

I'm extremely happy with Age of Decadence in many ways. Just would like to have a few puzzles and the ending felt a bit forced on some paths through the story. A couple more locked side quests and it would be ideal. So the answer for me is Age of Decadence but 10% better.

But I like also smaller focused games you can finish in an evening. Theseus: Journey to Athens would be the contender for that type. It's clunky and has its fair share of problems but I would love to see a bigger more polished version of it with better combat.

I like the worldbuilding of Morrowind but the playing the game feels loose in many ways. More strict, more focused, denser main quest(s) and game world.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

for a first person one: daggerfall for the sense of wideness. morrowind overall. gothic's npcs schedules and no need to kill your enemy. i could settle for skyrim's controls.
for a party/blobber: whale's voyage 2, but decent.

 

[Humanophage]

Realistically, something like the second chapter of Baldur's Gate 2 or the beginning of Pathfinder: Kingmaker. I.e., free but dangerous exploration, no level regulations, party-based with party quests, items don't get too obsolete, interesting builds. I'd prefer to have more NPCs to choose from, more along the lines of BG1. And a bit more freedom of exploration, also like BG1, but with more content in the style of BG2. I'd prefer it to be in a more interesting setting like Planescape, but even Forgotten Realms works, especially if it's low-level.

Arcanum, but the combat is from Underrail or Dungeon Rats.

Also, I think games focus too much on being seamless to the detriment of fun. You could have Bloodlines with first-person exploration, but for combat you switch to isometric tb or rtwp, for example.

 

[Wunderbar]

Morrowind balancing + Arcanum combat + VTMB's endgame encounter design + KOTOR 2 level design + Divinity Original Sin itemization + Skyrim writing + KotC graphics

 

[DemonKing]

Icewind Dale 1.

1. Uses the best D&D system to date.
2. Classic magic items.
3. Requires you to make your own party, no self inserts from the developer.
4. Dungeon crawling.

5. Great music and atmosphere.
6. Surprisingly deep storyline for a hack n' slasher.
7. Memorable and unique locations.
8. Doesn't outstay its welcome.

 

[Sunsetspawn]

I came here to give out brofists and chew bubble gum, and I'm all outta bubble gum.

oh, and

Spoiler

Temple of Elemental Evil

Like, I could say Baldur's Gate II (which I heard is leap aheads of Baldur's Gate). But I don't necessarily want a party-based cRPG.

Nigga, you "heard?" You need to go find out. There's a reason why some people consider it better than the second, like people with awesome Spathi avatars. Though I understand why people prefer the second, I am not one of them.

I can tell you what I don't want in a cRPG, and that's a game that wastes my time. And frankly, I've had my share of Beth RPGs wasting my time.

Word to big bird.

 

[His Dudeness]

Temple of Elemental Evil

Another great choice.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

VTM Bloodlines, except 2-3 times longer and more technically complete, with better combat etc...

+1 in terms of atmospheric RPGs.

Otherwise another TES title (praise Todd) but with no level scaling and with a more traditional approach to character building in which you can't become a jack of all trades (without introducing character classes though, just reducing the amount of points one can invest into various attributes & skills and increasing the impact of the latter upon one's playstyle). That aside, more fleshed out side content would be great: more handcrafted dungeons with care being put into making them distinctive in terms of layout, look and lore; more side quests being part of longer quest chains; more NPC reactivity to character background and actions; more factions to join (divided into groups of mutually exclusive ones, either due to in-universe narrative reasons and/or due to the inability of meeting the mechanical requirements to simultaneously join more than one from each group).

 

[Abu Antar]

Arcanum with a combat system inspired by ToEE.