Recommend a turn based, isometric/overhead, full party RPG for me

[Martyr]

ToEE isn’t that buggy tbh, but the fanboying over it is bizarre. It’s a decent dungeon crawler with a good rules implementation, that’s about it.

it's got perfectly implemented D&D combat, varied dungeons, full party creation PLUS recruitable NPCs depending on alignment and is gameplay-wise pretty much a modernized equivalent to Pool of Radiance, minus the need to refer to goldbox companion for dialogue, quest logs and access to a map at all times (whithout playing inside the map) - which imo makes it the greatest RPG of all times.

also, something no one ever talks about: the atmosphere is incredible, as far as vanilla high fantasy goes.
I've never understood everyone saying "Hommlet is boring" - it's like a medieval Twin Peaks, a peaceful seeming village with secrets. the soundtrack is gold and it reminds me of glorious summer afternoons.
the rest of the game can get darker. to me, even the Moathouse is a very impressive shift in atmosphere, if you're coming directly from Hommlet.

 

[bionicman]

Underrail
Age of Decadence

/end thread


But I may add Blackgards 1, Expeditions Conquistador and Vikings to the list. ATOM is nice if you love Fallouts

Are any of those RPGs where you control a full party of characters? I know that Underrail, AoD, and ATOM are not. Don't know about the other three.

+1 for blackguards, it lacks exploration (since it's a lower budget game), but it's one of my favorite rpgs, I think you'll like it, and yeah it has a full party of characters

 

[Grunker]

it's got perfectly implemented D&D combat

Just objectively untrue. Games like KotC have way better implementation of combat options, for example. Other games implement other aspects of the rules better. ToEE has almost no rules implementation beyond the core systems.

ToEE does the number's game well, but it's not a perfect rules implementation.

which imo makes it the greatest RPG of all times.

Darth Roxor, I bid thee to come lol with me

 

[Butter]

The Knights of the Chalice games are fantastic, and they don't fuck around with shit like Hommlet.

 

[Feyd Rautha]

ATOM RPG and Expeditions: Viking

 

[Gregz]

Knights of the Chalice 1
Temple of Elemental Evil
Baldur's Gate 2

 

[Grunker]

Caves of Lore, it's comfy.

I've been wanting to start this but it's extremely poorly documented (a pet peeve of mine). Is it viable to play a gish (fighter/mage) type dude?

 

[raeven]

ATOM RPG and Expeditions: Viking

Atom isn't a party based RPG. Not sure if expeditions is or not.

 

[Lemming42]

Expeditions: Conquistador is what you're looking for. You create your own character then build a party from premade characters who you can influence the development of, just like BG3. They have their own personalities and can cause a bit of drama. Combat is hex-based rather than freeform or w/e the word is for BG3, and there's far less environmental interactivity, but it still follows the same general theme of thinking about positioning, using character abilities, stuff like that.

If you don't mind extremely light RPG elements, there's also the world of turn-based-tactics-with-character-stats games, stuff like XCOM (obviously), Hard West, Gears Tactics, etc.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

Caves of Lore, it's comfy.

I've been wanting to start this but it's extremely poorly documented (a pet peeve of mine). Is it viable to play a gish (fighter/mage) type dude?

*shrugs* Maybe if you invest into trainers and remember to use spells during combat (game heavily relies on learn-by-doing system)
My main char was fighter with mostly rogue type abilities and rest of the characters we're dedicated single role types.

 

[Serus]

My two cents about your prospective picks:

- Pathfinder: wrath of the righteous - if you like Owlcat it's more of the same, but with probably worse companions than Kingmaker.
- Divinity: Original Sin - You can skip this one if you've already played DOS2, unless you're a hardcore Larian completionist.
- Knights of the Chalice / Knights of the Chalice 2 - very much recommended by the codex but allegedly painfully hard, and also probably hard to get used to after 5e
- Solasta: Crown of the magister - basically BG3 but much cheaper and worse at everything. I would now only recommend it for one reason: a campaign editor you can mess around with.

KotC games difficulty is overstated:
a) Much of it comes from KotC 2 beta/ea/whatever-it-was and people who played it. A commendable achievement but the game is different now.
b) KotC 1 is not that hard except one battle. It happens after main story has ended and is an optional challenge.
c) There are those silly, unused things called difficulty settings in KotC 2. Your computer won't tell Codex that you didn't play all the most hardcore options.
and
d) Is not difficulty related: 3e > 5e, at least when it comes to computer gaming.


Solasta, don't forget, also lacks bear sex! Truly, BG 3 is a masterpiece.

 

[Falksi]

You say you've tried Spiderweb games, but Avernum: escape From The Pit and Avernum 3: Ruined World are a class above the rest, so make sure that you try those as most others are a significant downgrade on them.

Temple of Elemental Evil is obviously a fine choice.

Don't fanny out with RtwP games entirely either; Baldur's Gate 2 is still one of the best RPGs ever made ever and is a must play. I'm just replaying it again for the 7th time now, and buzzing off it like a giddy kiddy.

 

[Grunker]

ATOM RPG and Expeditions: Viking

Atom isn't a party based RPG. Not sure if expeditions is or not.

Vikings is great, I just finished it. In contrast to Conquistador, it actually does feel like a party-based RPG in many ways.

 

[raeven]

Expeditions: Conquistador is what you're looking for. You create your own character then build a party from premade characters who you can influence the development of, just like BG3. They have their own personalities and can cause a bit of drama. Combat is hex-based rather than freeform or w/e the word is for BG3, and there's far less environmental interactivity, but it still follows the same general theme of thinking about positioning, using character abilities, stuff like that.

If you don't mind extremely light RPG elements, there's also the world of turn-based-tactics-with-character-stats games, stuff like XCOM (obviously), Hard West, Gears Tactics, etc.

Sounds great, thanks!

I love tactics games but not what I'm looking for at the moment.

 

[raeven]

Which makes me feel like I should shill my party-based isometric turn-based game.

Don't you have two of those?

 

[Bruma Hobo]

Yeah, Expeditions: Conquistador is one of the best games from the kickstarter era. The other games on the series aren't bad, but they're slower and not as inspired.

 

[Grunker]

Yeah, Expeditions: Conquistador is one of the best games from the kickstarter era. The other games on the series aren't bad, but they're slower and not as inspired.

I thought Vikings was just a better Conquistador tbh.

 

[raeven]

Don't fanny out with RtwP games entirely either; Baldur's Gate 2 is still one of the best RPGs ever made ever and is a must play.

I just can't do it, man. Idk what it is. RTwP just doesn't click with me. I've tried a half dozen times, at least. Just my subjective taste, I guess.

 

[HumanMaleFighter]

I tried to go from BG3 into a replay of WotR and just couldn't do it.

Encounter design in BG3 is absolute top-tier; encounter design in WotR is infuriating, perhaps the worst I've ever seen in a mainstream RPG. Shit reactivity, shit environment design, nonsensical enemy positioning, shit balance (min-maxing and save-scumming not optional,) stat-bloated cut-and-paste enemies, and I could go on all day.

I had fun with WotR the first time I played it, but BG3 opened my eyes as to how much better things could be in a CRPG insofar as turn-based combat is concerned.

Solastra, though rightly faulted for its story and its mid-2000s graphics, is considerably better than WotR in this regard. You might enjoy it.

 

[Falksi]

Encounter design in WotR is infuriating, perhaps the worst I've ever seen in a mainstream RPG.

The fact you think WotR is a mainstream RPG in the first place kinda invalidates this claim somewhat.

 

[Grunker]

Solasta is absolutely terrible, and it's specifically because it lacks almost any semblance of encounter design, which is what you found lacking in WotR, HumanMaleFighter.

It has quite good rules and downright brilliant verticality systems, but it's of no consequence since the encounters and enemies are so utterly uninteresting, piss-easy and rarely if ever utitilize the systems they've designed for the game.

If anyone want to see the potential Solasta squandered, I recommend they pick up Artyoan's mods for it. They have actual encounter design and shows the potential of the engine. They're not perfect, but they work as a contrast to really show how poor the dev content in Solasta actually is. 30 minutes into the 6 party member mod I had a fight in a cave with some Orcs and Goblins that absolutely shamed anything in Solasta in terms of encounter design. It almost made me mad experiencing how good Solasta could have been. The last DLC was a bit better in this regard. The first DLC is worthless.

 

[agris]

Yeah, Expeditions: Conquistador is one of the best games from the kickstarter era. The other games on the series aren't bad, but they're slower and not as inspired.

I thought Vikings was just a better Conquistador tbh.

Why is that? Iirc E:C was fairly light on quests, CnC and narrative branching absent a few occasions. It was kinda like Blackguards in that it was at least as much a tactics game as a cRPG

 

[luj1]

Looking to try out a new game after beating BG3's honor mode. The game was such incline I doubt any could ever top it (I mention this just to trigger the codex), but I'm in the mood for another turn based RPG where you control a full party of characters.

I've tried most of the RTwP games and i just can't get into that system, so I'm just gonna stop trying. I played BG1 when it first came out but couldn't finish it because that mode just isn't for me, and all the subsequent times I've picked it (or similar games) up have not changed my mind.

I love many single-protagonist RPGs, such as Fallout 1 and 2, but right now I'm more interested in fully controlling an entire party.

First person RPGs have never been my thing, I much prefer a top down perspective. Isometric, oblique, or overhead - doesn't matter.

My RPG experience started on Mac with Realmz (Gold box era, but on Mac), and as such I never got used to the blocky graphics / text and 8-bit sound of the DOS era. I'm only really interested in games made after that time period. Let's say after 1995 to make it simple. Don't kick me off the codex, pls.

Games in this vein that I've loved:

- Jagged Alliance 2 and 3 - one my all time favorites, and one of my recent favorites.
- Realmz - Gold box style design with a ruleset shamelessly ripped off from AD&D, simple overhead graphics and tiles, but very crunchy and combat heavy.
- Divinity Original Sin 2 and Baldur's Gate 3 - the codex's favorite games to hate. Too bad they're both such great games. Love the combat & encounter design of these games, despite the silly armor system of D:OS 2
- Shadowrun trilogy from HBS - simple, basic, but fun. Good times
- Wasteland 2 and Wasteland 3 - loved both of these. Fallout style setting and C&C, but with a full party to control? Yes pls.

Games that I didn't like so much:

Idk what it is, but I find it really hard to get into spiderweb software's games. There's just something about them that doesn't 'click' for me, and I can't seem to put my finger on why.

Games I'm considering picking up next:

- Pathfinder: wrath of the righteous - seems like it's more polished than Kingmaker, plus it was designed from the get-go with a turn based mode. Maybe that doesn't matter, idk. It's more recent and reviews seem to say it's a big improvement over the original in terms of polish and such.
- Divinity: Original Sin - played the 2nd one, but never got too far into the 1st one. Not sure why. I could give it another go though, especially if the general consensus is that it picks up after the first few hours of gameplay.
- Knights of the Chalice / Knights of the Chalice 2 - looks pretty fun. I dig the graphics and the overall design.
- Solasta: Crown of the magister - looks like it could be fun. Don't know that much about it.

Open to other codexian suggestions so long as they meet the requirements I've laid out above and are in english. If you just want to bash my shitty taste in games and tell me I'm the reason why everything is decline, do it in one of the game specific threads I've posted in.

Play ToEE you crazy man

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

I'll second the Exile series. They're very well made.
I know you said after 1995, but Ultima 4-6 fit what you're describing very well. Some ports like on Mac and Amiga make them look nicer than the DOS version, but I dunno if you want to go to the trouble of that.
For new games, Bastard Bonds is very well made, though you might find some of the game's subject matter too distasteful to want to play.

 

[Mortmal]

Looking to try out a new game after beating BG3's honor mode. The game was such incline I doubt any could ever top it (I mention this just to trigger the codex), but I'm in the mood for another turn based RPG where you control a full party of characters.

I've tried most of the RTwP games and i just can't get into that system, so I'm just gonna stop trying. I played BG1 when it first came out but couldn't finish it because that mode just isn't for me, and all the subsequent times I've picked it (or similar games) up have not changed my mind.

I love many single-protagonist RPGs, such as Fallout 1 and 2, but right now I'm more interested in fully controlling an entire party.

First person RPGs have never been my thing, I much prefer a top down perspective. Isometric, oblique, or overhead - doesn't matter.

My RPG experience started on Mac with Realmz (Gold box era, but on Mac), and as such I never got used to the blocky graphics / text and 8-bit sound of the DOS era. I'm only really interested in games made after that time period. Let's say after 1995 to make it simple. Don't kick me off the codex, pls.

Games in this vein that I've loved:

- Jagged Alliance 2 and 3 - one my all time favorites, and one of my recent favorites.
- Realmz - Gold box style design with a ruleset shamelessly ripped off from AD&D, simple overhead graphics and tiles, but very crunchy and combat heavy.
- Divinity Original Sin 2 and Baldur's Gate 3 - the codex's favorite games to hate. Too bad they're both such great games. Love the combat & encounter design of these games, despite the silly armor system of D:OS 2
- Shadowrun trilogy from HBS - simple, basic, but fun. Good times
- Wasteland 2 and Wasteland 3 - loved both of these. Fallout style setting and C&C, but with a full party to control? Yes pls.

Games that I didn't like so much:

Idk what it is, but I find it really hard to get into spiderweb software's games. There's just something about them that doesn't 'click' for me, and I can't seem to put my finger on why.

Games I'm considering picking up next:

- Pathfinder: wrath of the righteous - seems like it's more polished than Kingmaker, plus it was designed from the get-go with a turn based mode. Maybe that doesn't matter, idk. It's more recent and reviews seem to say it's a big improvement over the original in terms of polish and such.
- Divinity: Original Sin - played the 2nd one, but never got too far into the 1st one. Not sure why. I could give it another go though, especially if the general consensus is that it picks up after the first few hours of gameplay.
- Knights of the Chalice / Knights of the Chalice 2 - looks pretty fun. I dig the graphics and the overall design.
- Solasta: Crown of the magister - looks like it could be fun. Don't know that much about it.

Open to other codexian suggestions so long as they meet the requirements I've laid out above and are in english. If you just want to bash my shitty taste in games and tell me I'm the reason why everything is decline, do it in one of the game specific threads I've posted in.

Nothing will top BG3 in honor mode, but Solasta is quite decent. However, you will find it unchallenging. First Knight of the Chalice is okay, but 2 is a reload fest and can only be recommended if you don't care about money and are starved, to be honest. But all of those are titles everyone thinks about. I would advise trying hidden gems like Wildermyth, which has deeper combat and content than people might expect from a game like it. Then there's Troubleshooter: Abandoned Children, which has everything going for it - deep builds, highly tactical combat, and over 100 hours of value without ever being repetitive, all for a ridiculously low price tag. But people won't try it because of the anime look. As for Spiderweb Software, they are okay for the most part, but I end up getting bored by the end.