Torment Any good "recent" 2D ARPG?

[Darth Canoli]

So, I feel like playing a good ARPG.

I'm not asking for the top 100 Codex ones as I probably already played it or don't care much about it.
- Not 3D
- Not A walking simulator (No Morrowind-likes, NO FO 3+ and the likes)
- Preferably not a platformer or light on platfoms shenanigans
- Top down view preferably but I'd go for a side-scroller if it's really good (and not a platformer)
- Preferably low key, I might get a new computer soon but I already have a backlog for the occasion.

Ideally, it'd be
- A D&D RPG but with Real-Time combat
- Or with a good system/character customization (NOT skill trees and cool-downs)
- A good (at least decent) quest design
- Good itemization (NOT diablo-like)
- Top down 2D or isometric

Latest one I really liked is Exiled Kingdoms (great quest design) by Archaelund devs.

Any games comes to mind and some reasons to play them?

 

[agris]

So, I feel like playing a good ARPG.

I'm not asking for the top 100 Codex ones as I probably already played it or don't care much about it.
- Not 3D
- Not A walking simulator (No Morrowind-likes, NO FO 3+ and the likes)
- Preferably not a platformer or light on platfoms shenanigans
- Top down view preferably but I'd go for a side-scroller if it's really good (and not a platformer)
- Preferably low key, I might get a new computer soon but I already have a backlog for the occasion.

Latest one I really liked is Exiled Kingdoms (great quest design) by Archaelund devs.

Any games comes to mind and some reasons to play them?

Dex, surprisingly decent sci-fi 2D aRPG that works on the couch to boot.

 

[Darth Canoli]

Dex, surprisingly decent sci-fi 2D aRPG that works on the couch to boot.

I just checked some steam reviews and this seemed quite convincing (from a positive review)

The gameplay consists of a mix of stealth, combat, and hacking in cyberspace. Hand-to-hand combat was really well done. The fighting was smooth and each impact was felt. By contrast, gun combat was done rather badly. For some odd reason, it's not possible to walk with your gun out. If you want to shoot, you have to stand absolutely still. If you make so much as a step, the character automatically holsters the gun. This can become extremely annoying during fight sequences, where each second can mean a difference between shooting the enemy and them taking off half of your healthbar.

The platforming aspects such as jumping and climbing were fine enough, although at times it was very hard to tell where you could jump onto and where you couldn't. At times it seemed like you could jump onto something, only to see your character fall through it and to their death. And because you cannot save when you want, this becomes annoying.

What do you think about it?
- ranged combat sucks
- platforming might be an issue

 

[Martyr]

I have only played it for a very short amount of time, so have no real feedback - but I've seen Chronicon being favourably compared to Diablo 2 time and again.

 

[agris]

Dex, surprisingly decent sci-fi 2D aRPG that works on the couch to boot.

I just checked some steam reviews and this seemed quite convincing (from a positive review)

The gameplay consists of a mix of stealth, combat, and hacking in cyberspace. Hand-to-hand combat was really well done. The fighting was smooth and each impact was felt. By contrast, gun combat was done rather badly. For some odd reason, it's not possible to walk with your gun out. If you want to shoot, you have to stand absolutely still. If you make so much as a step, the character automatically holsters the gun. This can become extremely annoying during fight sequences, where each second can mean a difference between shooting the enemy and them taking off half of your healthbar.

The platforming aspects such as jumping and climbing were fine enough, although at times it was very hard to tell where you could jump onto and where you couldn't. At times it seemed like you could jump onto something, only to see your character fall through it and to their death. And because you cannot save when you want, this becomes annoying.

What do you think about it?
- ranged combat sucks
- platforming might be an issue

Combat is fine, it goes from hard at the start to easy by the end of the game. I wouldn’t say it ducks, just that it’s serviceable.

There’s no platforming, that user doesn’t know what the word means. He’s describing vertical navigation in maps, and it works without issue.

 

[Darth Canoli]

I have only played it for a very short amount of time, so have no real feedback - but I've seen Chronicon being favourably compared to Diablo 2 time and again.

I know this one, I think tried the demo before the release twice.
And yes, it's diablo alright.
Not really my thing.
In ARPG, i don't mean hack & slash but a RPG with Real-Time combat.
With a decent (good would be nice) quest design and a good character customization (definitly not diablo-like)

I'll edit my first message.

Combat is fine, it goes from hard at the start to easy by the end of the game. I wouldn’t say it ducks, just that it’s serviceable

There’s no platforming, that user doesn’t know what the word means. He’s describing vertical navigation in maps, and it works without issue.

Thanks, I'll try it.

 

[Mauman]

I have only played it for a very short amount of time, so have no real feedback - but I've seen Chronicon being favourably compared to Diablo 2 time and again.

I know this one, I think tried the demo before the release twice.
And yes, it's diablo alright.
Not really my thing.
In ARPG, i don't mean hack & slash but a RPG with Real-Time combat.
With a decent (good would be nice) quest design and a good character customization (definitly not diablo-like)

I'll edit my first message.

Combat is fine, it goes from hard at the start to easy by the end of the game. I wouldn’t say it ducks, just that it’s serviceable

There’s no platforming, that user doesn’t know what the word means. He’s describing vertical navigation in maps, and it works without issue.

Thanks, I'll try it.

If you haven't gotten it yet, I'd wait. It commonly goes for 80-90 percent off at every sale event.

Just trying to save you some cash.

 

[vitellus]

balrum

eschalon book i is free

i'll always plug feldar vale and morgoth because they're great turn based combat games that need more attention

 

[d1nolore]

balrum

eschalon book i is free

i'll always plug feldar vale and morgoth because they're great turn based combat games that need more attention

Those are all turn based

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Those are all turn based

Balrum is, but it doesn't get enough love. It's a really a pretty decent game if you're looking for a CRPG that offers up everything but the kitchen sink - which you can problem craft later. Honestly, I can't think of any 2D ARPGs these days. Diablo II set that bar pretty high. People expect visible armor after that game, so you can either lessen the amount of loot which is antithetical to the genre or go 3D where such things are easier.

 

[Darth Canoli]

I've played all these, not completed though.

Eschallon - great character creation screen, good game overall but combat gets tedious around mid-game or it's just me getting bored when not everything is awesome.

Balrum - This one bored me really quick, first the Ultima shenanigans with NPC having their own schedule, I just don't like it, then, the ultima shenanigans where you get a lot of useless garbage and of course, there's no way to know what's useful. Then, survival elements, I hate that crap. And everything else is average at best.

Feldar Vale / Morgoth - I want to like these but each location is a slog, even with morgoth improvements, too many trash mobs hiding everywhere, it takes hours and hours to achieve anything.
If it was high quality handcrafted encounters, you'd have no complains from me but it isn't.
It has some potential but to achieve it it'd require a different dev to use the engine.

 

[Reinhardt]

looks like you want some survivors bullet-hell.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

-Death Road to Canada
-Sands of Salzaar
-River City Ransom: Underground
-Weird West, this one is isometric 3d.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

I take it Gateway to Apshai for atari/c64 or best Colecovision isn't your cup o tea? Damn thing needs a remaster imho. And NO, the dungeons are NOT random. You just can choose from 1-16 (atari/c64) or (1-99) every level you go down. You start over and choose the same dungeon # per level and it'll be the same. No random bullshit. EVERYTHING is placed the same.

 

[jagged-jimmy]

I thought Dex sucked pretty hard, and i have a pretty high tolerance for shit/average gameplay to pass time.
It's a plattformer and melee combat is overtuned and not fun at all.

 

[Darth Canoli]

-Death Road to Canada
-Sands of Salzaar
-River City Ransom: Underground
-Weird West, this one is isometric 3d.

Any personal notes on these games?
What did you like and didn't like about them for example?

I followed Sands of Salzaar a while back but I'm not sure why I didn't make the jump.
Maybe the huge real-time battles...

 

[Klysandral]

I think Wigmund is pretty great. It's isometric 3D though.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Don't know how I failed to mention this after the thread started, but there you go. 2D, real time, and do everything how you want to do it - so long as it works.

 

[jagged-jimmy]

Death Road to Canada is a shallow roguelike and pretty boring.

Wierd West has some interesting ideas and has some fun pew pewing in the first hours. But progression systems are not good/deep enough. So just combatwise will get boring soon.

 

[luj1]

Nothing trumps Tales of Maj Eyal in my experience. Old versions of DCSS are fun and atmospheric af, but they lack the complexity and depth.

 

[Sukhāvatī]

-Weird West, this one is isometric 3d.

Has a first person mod now.

 

[Darth Canoli]

Nothing trumps Tales of Maj Eyal in my experience. Old versions of DCSS are fun and atmospheric af, but they lack the complexity and depth.

I like ToME but every location having multiple floors kills the fun, there's too much of everything.
At some point, you have to use most skills automatically or even use the auto-exploration mode and the auto combat mode and you're not playing the game anymore.

Of course, the auto combat is can be set to stop when you face a hard encounter but you can't win against half of them anyway if you play a decent difficulty level (if you don't, the game isn't fun, if you do, the game isn't fun)

In the end, the best thing about ToME is the different classes and builds, which the games does really well.
But if you want to try multiple builds, you'll have to get through the same content (randomization doesn't add any replayability at all) over and over again...

So, good game but not that replayable, randomized content doesn't work at all for me.

Death Road to Canada is a shallow roguelike and pretty boring.

Wierd West has some interesting ideas and has some fun pew pewing in the first hours. But progression systems are not good/deep enough. So just combatwise will get boring soon.

Thanks for the comments.
At first glance, I thought Death Road wasn't for me but I wasn't sure about weird west.

-Death Road to Canada
-Sands of Salzaar
-River City Ransom: Underground
-Weird West, this one is isometric 3d.

I played Sands of Salzaar for 2/3 hours.
Basically, it's a chinese Age of Empire but with an exploration/ "RPG" mode with little control over the combat except skills which have CD...
Combat is terrible because early on, you have no idea about roaming opponents strength. (except for caves/lairs)

The building phase is terrible.
It takes time to build anything and you can't manage it remotely so you have to cross multiple maps to get back to camp.

I can see there is some complexity in some mechanisms but it's really all over the place and nothing is well made.
Many mechanism and nothing feels like the core gameplay.
Combat is janky, like a RTS on 10x speed.
Building is RTS/"strategy" MMO tier
Faction and NPC relations is just grind.

I can feel there is a decent game hidden under that pile of garbage but in my opinion, it'd require years of development to make it shine like a polished turd.

One great thing about the devs, their game runs smoothly on my toaster on the highest settings.
Just for that, I can tell they're not the average lazy fucks.

The genre seems to have quite a lot of fans (there's probably 90/95% of chinese players) but it's not for me.

 

[luj1]

I like ToME but every location having multiple floors kills the fun, there's too much of everything.

That makes no sense at all

At some point, you have to use most skills automatically or even use the auto-exploration mode and the auto combat mode and you're not playing the game anymore.

What auto combat mode? What are you talking about?

But if you want to try multiple builds, you'll have to get through the same content (randomization doesn't add any replayability at all) over and over again...

Well you asked for a "2D ARPG" .... Name me one game that doesn't have "going through the same content" with every build

 

[Darth Canoli]

What auto combat mode? What are you talking about?

It's a mod or add on, whatever they call it.

As for your other question.
Handcrafted content is vastly superior, so having dozens and dozens of different builds here makes no sense to me because going through randomized content once is painful, and even more so on subsequent playthrough.

 

[luj1]

What auto combat mode? What are you talking about?

It's a mod or add on, whatever they call it.

As for your other question.
Handcrafted content is vastly superior, so having dozens and dozens of different builds here makes no sense to me because going through randomized content once is painful, and even more so on subsequent playthrough.

Do tell in which ARPG you arent going through the same content