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

[holla_cabezas_de_mierda]

Icewind Dale
Fallout
Fallout 2
ToEE

In that order

 

[CHIN00K]

Kingmaker as the foundation gameplay-wise, but with actual AI, Icewind Dale's itemization, and some form of pre-buffing queuer. From there just get some decent writers and bam: the perfect RPG.

 

[Denim Destroyer]

All of my favorite games have a hand off approach and allow the player to explore the world at their own pace. I want the freedom to go somewhere and die because the enemies are too strong, I want to struggle through mountains so I can reach the village on the other side, I want to have options when building characters so replays can be more diverse. So basically the older Ultima games but with good combat and interesting character build options.

 

[Jvegi]

IWD2 but good.

What an amazing concept.

 

[Agesilaus]

AoD.

 

[Orud]

BG2 with ToEE combat and class design.

 

[Oropay]

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

the mechanical combat layer needs to be: isometric + turn based + squad based + hex based. then add worldbuilding that has breadth

I basically agree with this, if we're considering cRPGs retrospectively. For me, an excellent cRPG has the combat of a top tier tactics game combined with all the most interesting aspects of cRPGs like choice (in terms of narrative, party, solutions to problems, responses to encounters, etc) and an expansive and detailed universe that can be explored at my own pace. Leveling / improving gear and characters is obviously a part of this cRPG since we're talking about an RPG.

I haven't encountered the perfect cRPG, but when I think of cRPGs retrospectively, the Expeditions series and the Shadowrun Returns series come to mind, and I wouldn't be sad to see more games like them come to market. Worth noting there a LOT of cRPGs I still need to play or at least try.

Looking to the future, or 'ideally,' I would love to see a cRPG that can hold my interest without much killing (Disco Elysium could not, although I'll go back and try it again eventually); that's not to say that combat should be completely absent, but instead that it could be a diminished aspect relative to most current cRPGs. As a hypothetical example, I would be interested in a cRPG in which most of the combat occurs in training or practice arenas (think the zero gravity team fights in Ender's Game) as preparation for a few complicated and difficult real fights, which might be the climax to an act. Actual combat in this type of game would have major consequences like possible disfigurement, so choosing to fight when not forced to would be a heavy decision that could massively affect the world, the narrative, and the player character's reputation.

I enjoy builder games like Surviving Mars, interactive fiction like Detroit: Become Human (obviously a few cRPGs already have mostly talky talk routes), and the journey in whatever the hell Cultist Simulator is, so I think there's a lot of room for cRPG designers to expand on the formula and fuse more traditional cRPG design with the essences of other niche genres. A little role reversal: since other genres have been constantly stealing from RPGs, now RPGs can steal a little from other genres.

 

[Darth Canoli]

Anything that doesn't have elves.

Not even busty smokin hawt elf waifus?

Nah, half the codex prefers short, muscular, bearded ladies.

 

[Robotigan]

A unix terminal and a command-line interface. Anything else is a dumbed down ARPG for consoletards.

 

[Darth Canoli]

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

Grimoire with a decent UI (M&M VI or Wizardry 8 like) and an open world, no bullshit roadblocks/keys.
I like my puzzles optional and/or less interconnected and roadblocking.

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.

This looks great but I'd rather have a more complex system, at least BB + Legends + Magic Origins for classes/origins and additional perks and better itemization.

Other than this:

• Fallout is great but add a class system, encounter design and a mod-kit to create more adventures or many sequels and it would be just perfect.
• Wizardry 6/7 in Wizardry 8 engine, game mechanism being a mix of Wiz 7 & 8. And a shitload of sequels and a mod-kit.
• Dark Sun in KotC 2 engine.

 

[Hag]

Morrowind but I'm 17 again and I'm about to launch my first game.

 

[EtcEtcEtc]

I'd like Age of Decadence and Underrail guys to get together, throw a bunch of money & all the talented devs they need at them - and get Chris Avellone circa 1998 from the past to write it. That's my ideal.

 

[Lim-Dûl]

I like my puzzles optional and/or less interconnected and roadblocking.

I spent more time trying to show the game that I solved the puzzles than figuring out the answers. Cryptic puzzles are great but the UI has to be consistent enough where it doesn't become part of the puzzle.

 

[perfectslumbers]

Baldur's Gate, the first game. It's not my favourite CRPG but I love the low level isometric rtwp adventure that focuses more on the wilderness and stumbling upon dangerous things, than dungeon crawling and linear story like most isometric CRPGS do. Unfortunately Baldur's Gate 2 has ended up being the template for most RPGS and the first game has been left in the dust. Pathfinder Kingmaker is the only game that came close, but it's filled with long loading screens and downtime where you watch your little figurine slowly move across the overworld map. Not to mention kingdom management.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

I have no idea. My mood changes and I adapt to the game played. There are times I want something simpler than bardstale, might & Magic 1, and Wizardry 1. Too complex like some JRPGs I've seen and I like.. "fuck it, done!"

 

[Tihskael]

I should have said it in the post itself, but my ideal RPG has meaningful moments of respite, like a maiden singing songs and allowing me to bake some bread.

 

[Atlet]

Well written rpg, fuckloads of memorable npcs, insanely long level design in a huge and detailed world where you pixel hunt to find loot, rival parties, hard political decisions, ja2 freedom to approach problems, absurdly deep itemization/char creation and progression, deep tactical combat and huge battles in some moments where you cobtrol 10+ chars, all in pillars of eternity 2 deadfire artstyle.

New rules system, must not be an adaptation of tabletop.

Game must be very replayable and at least 300 hours up to 1000 hours playtime to finish each run.

Must receive sequels that continue the story from where you finished in the previous games.

Must be a epic journey, have political intrigue, average magic and Gods can be challenged in late game and the sequels. Great companions must die in key monents.

Some battles should take hours to finish (namely in the moments you control 10+ chars cause plot reasons)

 

[Lord Rocket]

NO GAY SHIT

don't waste my time. tile based, wizardry style first person/ultima style overhead viewpoint, my party moves as fast as I can push the buttons. turn based combat for the same reason. if I'm watching my little dudes doing things and not making decisions it's gay. no gay shit.

not too long. The longer something is the more likely it is your game will have barely playtested 1st draft gay parts, that are gay. no gay shit.

not too much reading. reading is not playing and besides you don't need a billion words to be evocative/build character, learn to write short stories instead of novels. novels are gay. no gay shit

'romances' are pretty embarrassing too. especially if they're gay romances. no gay shit

bad graphics are gay. I don't require all the latest bells and whistles but don't look like every other game/have assets that don't fit together/assets in different resolutions/way too busy UIs that I can't easily extract information from. no gay shit.

if you have a class based game, remember that basically every class in the universe is just a (gay) variation on one of fighter/cleric/magic-user (and really clerics are just halfway houses between f/m-u anyway, and thus quite possibly gay themselves). consider putting your EXCITING and totally not gay character customisation options as in-game rewards for completing quests/joining factions or whatever instead of wasting my time telling me about the precise delineations between fighter/ranger/barbarian/viking/berserker/valkyrie/amok/dervish/samurai/gay because I don't care. no gay shit

as a corollary to the above too many classes will routinely result on OP/suboptimal choices. yeah breaking games is fun but it shouldn't really happen by accident as a result of some gay and arbitrary decision you made before even seeing your first monster. no gay shit

as another corollary to the above, character creation is gay. It should take five minutes TOPS. Moving numbers around a spreadsheet is gay. no gay shit

I dunno, I was just planning to write another drive-by shit post and now I'm ranting, but basically every sacred crpg cow is gay and needs to be put out to the gay pasture where it belongs, along with the other gay cows. in short you should be able to play at your own pace, all important decisions should be made in-game and not as a result of reading a wiki, the game should be fun all the way through. nerds seem to think that the 'rp' part of rpg game is the most important, but it's the 'pg'. rpg games are role-playing GAME games. That you fuckin play. not playing a game that you are 'playing' is gay. no gay shit
Anyway my most best and idealest games are Wiz1 (the SNES version with the awesome art and atmosphere, plus no gay apple ii load times) and, uh, Worlds of Ultima Savage Empire. on the basis I fixated on hot cave babes as a kid for whatever reason (probably because of that one bint in the fur bikini in the D&D cartoon) and it's got a bunch of them in it. Ray Dyer's Realms for FRUA is fuckin cool too, something like that but in an engine built for it would be as robustly heterosexual as any crpg could ever be.

tl;dr, no gay shit

 

[Agesilaus]

NO GAY SHIT

... wizardry style first person...

pick one and only one

 

[Volourn]

Never played my ideal rpg. I've played ones I've really enjoyed, but game developers are incapable of making such a thing.

 

[Kainan]

Wasteland 2 and JA2. I just wish JA2 had more quests and c&c.

 

[Pink Eye]

Dungeon Rats and Chalice 2. Basically perfection.

 

[The_Mask]

If it's 3rd person action: Dark Souls.

If it's real time... anything: Kenshi.

If it's Turn-Based: something half way between ToEE and X-COM.

If it's Phase-Based: something between Grimoire and Age of Wonders, and with better sound effects.

I'm not gonna touch all the other genres.

 

[Rieser]

Many good suggestions in the thread, but I just want a sequel to Arcanum...

 

[Heroic Liberator]

Many good suggestions in the thread, but I just want a sequel to Arcanum...

I want a sequel to Vam-... Nevermind, I don't))