I have a library and a half of unplayed games. However, I find myself wandering down the paths of yesteryear when I played Lands of Lore ,Eye of the Beholder, Icewind Dale, Baldur’s Gate, and Jagged Alliance for hours on end. I’ve long since gone through the Dragon Age and Mass Effect series and enjoyed my time, yet I still I’m still wanting something more.
So does anyone have suggestion for modern RPG’s that might scratch the itch? No need for them to be any particular genre, although I prefer more than 16-bit graphics because I’m a schmuck that way (Avernum was just a bit too much of a throwback).
Good ideas. I’ve already played a couple, but Tyranny has been lingering in my gaze for a bit. FWIW, I agree with Wastelands 2 - it’s good, but I just didn’t feel like it had “it” (whatever “it” is). Might have just been the mood I was in when I played the game.
Pillars of Eternity is my vote. Best game on @Murbella’s list imo, unless you can play Divinity Original Sin in co-op, then it becomes a really close call.
Tryanny is excellent as well, though it’s more story/dialog heavy (which may be what you are looking for). PoE is closer to Baldur’s Gate, while Tyranny is a little closer to Torment (the original and the new one), for instance.
I feel like Torment: Tides of Numenara and Wastelands 2 are fairly decent games, but I’d suggest Pillars or Tyranny first. If you want to branch out of isometric view games, I also recommend Dragon’s Dogma, which let’s you control a party of 4 characters, after a fashion. It’s closer to JRPG territory though, but not in a bad way or anything.
EDIT: I’d probably be remiss if I didn’t recommend Dragon Age Inquisition. It’s got its fair share of issues (as all Bioware RPG’s seem to the last several years) but I liked it a lot more than DA2 and it’s real, real nice looking. I enjoyed my first play through quite a lot, though try as I might I can’t get back into it again for whatever reason. Still, I had more fun with it than I did with Torment or Wasteland 2 (sadly - I really think those games could and should be better).
On that same note though, if you never played Dragon Age Origins it’s quite high on my personal list, and has held up quite well over the years (and would be dirt cheap I imagine, to boot).
The nice thing about Pillars of eternity and Divinity original sin is that both are getting a sequel in the “near future.” Divinity’s is technically in open beta i guess, but it seemed pretty rough when i checked it out last so i for one am waiting for full release.
I enjoyed a bit of my time with Lords of Xulima. It is more a game about mechanics than setting, but I liked the first 10 hours of it. It’s a bit like a weird mix of the later Wizardries and Baldur’s Gate – without the whole brilliance of both, let’s not kid ourselves. It even features some riddles, which was a traditional form that seems to have disappeared in RPGs with Windows.
You mentionned your dislike of low def graphism, but I still want to give a push to Heroes of a Broken Land, a game with zero story that is all about exploring prodecuraly generated dungeons, with an extra layer of development reminding of Heroes of Might & Magic where you’d subdue the battles with 3D dungeon exploring. It is quite unique, and there even appears to be a demo that may make you wanting for more, despite its low quality esthetics. Low Magic Age is something to keep an eye on, when it gets content beyond the current Arena mode.
Ill third Divinity Original Sin. I thought it was great.
I would not recommend Tyranny. The world and story are good, but the combat is repetitive and boring.
I played Wasteland 2 when it was released. I liked it, but then I got to the 2nd act which was not just buggy, but almost totally broken. The main quest got borked and I stopped playing. I am sure it is fixed by now and is probably worth looking at, especially if you get it on sale.
Well Grimoire is looking to get delayed (stop laughing), so can’t help you there @Dan_Theman. I think a question I would ask, though, is “is Grimoire too old looking for your tastes?” If it is, then there’s no point in recommending something like the sort of recent Swords & Sorcery Underworld (but by all means peek and let me know if that’s beyond your threshold graphically).
We’re about out of recommendations, sadly. There are Japanese Wizardry-like games, but I don’t know if I would recommend any of them. Although if you’re big on the genre, I probably would with caveats.
Fair warning, it’s not really World’s of Xeen. A better comparison is M&M I and II. That means you’ve got the “rolled random encounters” aspect the series ditched with III, mixed in with fixed dungeon encounters (something Wizardry didn’t really use but I certainly did). The spells tend to reflect that style as well. Some don’t scale, some do, many use a special component (gems for the mage class, holy water for the priest; and you are capped at how much holy water you can carry although they can create more on the fly if there is regular water handy). Some spells can only be used when the enemy or party is arranged a certain way.
Just don;t go in expecting worlds (with monsters all appearing on the map, and plinking with bows/spells from range).
I essentially agree with pretty much all of Scott’s post.
I think Pillars is the best of the bunch because the combat is more varied than in Tyranny. Divinity OS might have the best combat mechanics (action point based), but it relies so much on using the environment (exploding barrels, poison, etc) that it really decreased my enjoyment. Also the story in Divinity OS isn’t very good. I haven’t played Torment.
DA: Origins is my favorite of the series. Great characters - Morrigan!. Combat is more tactical than the other DA games. Only real downside I remember is a bit of a slog through the Dwarven roads.
The combat is a step back from DA: Origins for sure, but the world is beautiful and fun to explore. I’m a sap for Bioware stories so I enjoyed this a lot. Characters great too. It’s a good thing that I probably have simple tastes when it comes to stories.
Huh. I am glad to see a mention of this, and one in bold no less. I purchased this a long time ago but never really gave it a chance. Perhaps I should go back and reinstall it.
