gurugeorge
Arcane
Neverwinter Nights 1 & 2. And i don't mean the official campaign, but the custom modules with several players, ran by a DM. Or the servers with even more players and DMs. No game has since captured that feeling of actual tabletop as well, with the DM(s) reacting and interacting directly with your groups actions (maybe the DM mode for Divintiy Original Sin 2, don't know how active multiplayer scene is).
There are great singleplayer games, but they are always on (more or less visible) rails: the core benefit of P&P - a DM customizing and running the world, reacting to your actions, and the freedom of doing whatever you can think of - just isn't possible (so far).
Yeah I agree very much with this. I only played a few of those custom modules run by a DM, but those are among the most amazing gaming experiences I ever had. There is NOTHING more immersive you can do on a computer in terms of fantasy roleplaying, than being in a group of roleplayers (even just lite) being led through a NWN1/2 module adventure by a DM. Being able to have actually intelligent conversations with "NPCs" and being led by clues along an adventure trail is just superb, with the world coming alive around you and reacting to your actions - nothing like it.
It continually amazes my why no developers have tried to iterate on this, as it's peak gaming. I'd love to see it with even more sophisticated systems and modern graphics. I envisage that if "AI" actually does develop into something that can have a passable conversation with you and build an adventure for you on the fly in a passably intelligent way, this sort of thing might be possible in single player or multiplayer games; but even then I doubt it would be able to beat the experience with a proper DM.
Short of that, re. the OP, ofc ToEE and Pathfinder: Kingmaker (with the turn-based mod) so far, especially the latter as the more rounded experience (though I think ToEE's combat just edges ahead).
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