Which of these are the best games of the CRPG revival? [Sep 2021 Edition]

[Louis_Cypher]

Did they inspire you? Were you compelled to finish, or did you get bored? Was it laborious work you forced on yourself, or was it a genuine joy to play? Do you still remember interesting ideas and details long after? Did Underworld Ascendant or The Bard's Tale 4 ever get fixed? Is there anything good in the D&D or Pathfinder games like Solasta? Are there in fact any truly great games among them? What were positive trends, what were negative ones, and what commended particular games?

I know the list probably isn't authoritative in scope, apologies for that, please choose from whatever is there, because it's just an informal gathering of the mood and consensus.

 

[RNGsus]

Battle Brothers

 

[Darth Roxor]

Since the thread title is "which are the best", I chose to ignore the poll question of "choose all that are good" and decided to stick with the best. Picked:

Grimrock 2 - a fantastic game of mystery and exploration
Expeditions: Viking - very well-researched, well-written and overall very cool viking sim that manages to stand out as unique among the sea of norse-inspired media
Shadowrun: Dragonfall - best of the Shadowrun games and, on reflection, perhaps even one of the best games on the list when it comes to the "overall package" (even if the exploration is non-existent)
Divinity: Original Sin 1 - with the caveat that this is the non-"enhanced" edition. Had massive fun with it in coop, especially since it gave me massive Guild Wars flashbacks, except turn-based. Too bad the enhanced edition ruined it
AoD - I still stand by my claims that AoD is a one-of-a-kind game
Dungeon Rats - AoD beat 'em up, what's not to like.
Grimoire - The legend. There is something immensely ironic about the fact that once Grimoire used to be a total meme game and a synonym for a scam or vapourware, when it turned out to be one of the best blobbers in existence. I would even risk ranking it ex aequo with my favourite of all time, which is Wiz8.
ELEX - The game that showed Piranha Bytes still have it.

Bonus poll:

ELEX 2 - DUH

 

[Bester]

I didn't play a single of those games more than 5-10 hours. 10h was AoD and nothing else.

I can't put my finger on it, but there's something fake and utterly boring about these games.

Very hypocritical of you to put TToN in the list, but not Disco. Disco did something new and inspired a lot of games to follow their example. It was actually a mini revolution. "BG"3 borrowed its dialogues with dice. Colony Ship borrowed its dialogue UI. I expect some games to borrow the inner dialogues. It was the only post-2004 RPG I loved.

 

[V_K]

Meh, shit poll. Lots of good games not on the list, lots of games on the list nowhere near good or promising.

 

[Disciple]

There was a similar poll a month ago: What is the best RPG of the CRPG Renaissance?

 

[unseeingeye]

I like Grimoire, what I've played of Age of Decadence and Expeditions: Vikings.
Calling this relatively recent trend a renaissance as the above linked poll does is kind of absurd though; in most (but not all) cases it is a slight design and marketing reorientation capitalizing on a narrow window of generational nostalgia. The Carolingians, the Florentines and Venetians of the past turning towards classical antiquity after centuries of loss of literary, medicinal, architectural, scientific, artistic &c knowledge were renaissances that profoundly reshaped their respective cultures on practically every level.

 

[Rusty Eyes]

Age of Decadence? Really?

 

[luj1]

Grimoire and Underrail are above everything else here

 

[luj1]

and the most promising new RPGs are Space Wreck, KotC 2 and Mechajammer IMO. Now that Realms Beyond and Sigil are dead.

 

[Daedalos]

Shadowrun has disturbingly high amount of votes...

the fuck is that shit.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Divinity: Original Sin 1 - with the caveat that this is the non-"enhanced" edition. Had massive fun with it in coop, especially since it gave me massive Guild Wars flashbacks, except turn-based. Too bad the enhanced edition ruined it

I always find the EE hate amusing because it confirms what I already know: most of the codex plays games on easy difficulty. EE added Tactician difficulty, without that you might as well not even play it.

 

[d1r]

Divinity: Original Sin 1 - with the caveat that this is the non-"enhanced" edition. Had massive fun with it in coop, especially since it gave me massive Guild Wars flashbacks, except turn-based. Too bad the enhanced edition ruined it

I always find the EE hate amusing because it confirms what I already know: most of the codex plays games on easy difficulty. EE added Tactician difficulty, without that you might as well not even play it.

Plus Tactician difficulty actually changed some encounters too. It was way better in 1 than 2 (where it just was HP bloat and some "AI refinements").

 

[fantadomat]

LoL nu pissfinder lol,the kodex is dead lol


EDIT: Shouldn't have been private poll,we should shame those retards.

 

[samuraigaiden]

There a recent games in the Codex Top 101 which aren't in the poll, like Lords of Xulima.

Also, no Blackguards? GTFO with that shitty poll

 

[Darth Roxor]

Divinity: Original Sin 1 - with the caveat that this is the non-"enhanced" edition. Had massive fun with it in coop, especially since it gave me massive Guild Wars flashbacks, except turn-based. Too bad the enhanced edition ruined it

I always find the EE hate amusing because it confirms what I already know: most of the codex plays games on easy difficulty. EE added Tactician difficulty, without that you might as well not even play it.

Non-EE DOS1 was harder than EE tactician.

The EE completely defanged the game, and the final bossfight is the best example of that.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Divinity: Original Sin 1 - with the caveat that this is the non-"enhanced" edition. Had massive fun with it in coop, especially since it gave me massive Guild Wars flashbacks, except turn-based. Too bad the enhanced edition ruined it

I always find the EE hate amusing because it confirms what I already know: most of the codex plays games on easy difficulty. EE added Tactician difficulty, without that you might as well not even play it.

Non-EE DOS1 was harder than EE tactician.

No, it wasn't. But good cope though.

 

[Darth Roxor]

A significant number of fights in vanilla DOS1 gave me trouble, while the EE I breezed through on tactician. Nice try, though.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

A significant number of fights in vanilla DOS1 gave me trouble, while the EE I breezed through on tactician. Nice try, though.

"I play game once it hard. I play again it easy... wtf??"
idk man

 

[Darth Roxor]

There's a boatload of difference between a game being naturally easier on a subsequent playthrough when you are used to the content, and when it is nerfed to hell. I already noted it in my final impressions in 2016 that the EE felt 'significantly' easier than the OG. This is not something that happens just through familiarity.

Again, take the final boss. In EE tactician the void dragon has a measly 3500 hp compared to the OG's 15000 or something (it was over 10k for sure), and you even get an additional strong NPC to help.

I also have very clear memories of the major battles in chapter 1 - like the bone baron or braccus rex - being total walkovers in the EE, to the degree that I'd beat them on first try without breaking a sweat.

 

[fantadomat]

A significant number of fights in vanilla DOS1 gave me trouble, while the EE I breezed through on tactician. Nice try, though.

Ahh on replay games are a lot easier,meta knowledge and shieeeet.

 

[unseeingeye]

There a recent games in the Codex Top 101 which aren't in the poll, like Lords of Xulima.

Also, no Blackguards? GTFO with that shitty poll

Forgot about Xulima, good one. One of the few games I like without having to qualify or excuse myself for.

 

[Darth Canoli]

Shadowrun has disturbingly high amount of votes...

the fuck is that shit.

On top of that, Braindead's Shadowrun are barely RPG if at all...
They're Tactical RPG, which is a different genre (Like Fantasy General, Incubation, Dungeon Rats, Shining Force and the likes...)

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Disco did something new and inspired a lot of games to follow their example. It was actually a mini revolution

yea but this isn't a poll for visual novels

 

[Parabalus]

Disco did something new and inspired a lot of games to follow their example. It was actually a mini revolution

yea but this isn't a poll for visual novels

D:OS2 is also in the poll though.