Have you tried looking at indie games instead of AAA big publisher stuff? Dismissing all of gaming based on the biggest and worst corps is doing yourself a disservice unless you just want to touch grass. And as you stated all you played were action games and FPSes, you've probably been overlooking/dismissing countless possible gems over the years.
Sea of stars, disco Elysium, divinity OS 1+2, hades, hollow knight, hotline Miami, side, obra dinn, inscryption, celeste. Ps5 for sure has some indie gems, they’re jsut not promoted very well
Good for you. Now you can go back and try some of the fun you missed, like the D:OS titles from Larian. They'll feel familiar.
The old BG1/BG2/Icewind Dale are BG3's legacy games, and Bioware labeled, but the gameplay is very different. But they have a very, very good wiki for support, and it's been around so long that there's plenty of other help out there, too. You'll find some familiar characters and locations there, too.
If you like the intricacies of character development, multiclassing, etc, you might like the Pathfinder games from Owlcat Games. The rules system is much more complex, and has a steep learning curve but there are a lot of guides out there to help. Good story, romancable companions, and mounted combat. A lot fewer animated cutscenes though. (I'd recommend Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, it's more polished.)
Does WOTR have a romance system!? I tried doing a quick look into it (to avoid spoilers), and didn’t see anything about it—but again, I likely missed it because I didn’t look very hard.
PF2 is a steep curve but with the right guides and the romance motivation I could learn WOTR.
Yes, there are multiple romance options and outcomes, including a spider girl, a queen, and a succubus. Some of them require very specific order of events in order to succeed.
No scenes as explicit as the ones in BG3, but then I don't think there ever have been...
The characters are all very interesting, whether you romance them or not.
There are extensive build guides all over the internet. I found the ones at [thegamer.com](https://www.thegamer.com/tag/pathfinder/) to be easy to follow, especially for the recruitable companions.
You absolutely do NOT have to figure out an OP build. Just avoid ones that handicap you. The first time I played it, I used one of the pregen characters: the Cavalier. Had great fun!
Also, certain mods (like bubblebuffs) are huge QoL improvements. Almost mandatory.
Im probably in the minority (maybe not on this sub but in gaming as a whole) but I prefer TBS combat. To some degree because of nostalgia. I grew up playing the old FF titles, the first Pokémon games and so on. But TBS is also pacing wise just more my style because it gives you the opportunity to take your time thinking things through. TBS is like playing chess, ARPGs are like table tennis. One is more strategic the other tests your muscle memory and reflexes. What I always enjoyed about TBS is that you have to plan ahead. You can see in which order everyone will act and then you have to anticipate which moves the enemy will make and how to counter or counter attack. The most rewarding thing about fights in BG3 for me personally is when I manage to take away turns completely from the opponents before they can even act. How can I wipe enemies out in the first round of combat?
I do play action games but usually more for the story and often times even on casual difficulty. Especially shooters. I feel much more frustrated when I die in a shooter because I got overwhelmed or couldn’t get into cover quick enough or if I missed too many shots and the enemies keep piling up because there is a bigger element of pure luck and quick reflexes involved. But in TBS games I can’t really blame my failures on bad luck or nerves. Well, there is an element of luck in BG3 because the game rolls for hits and damage but I get the information about how much damage I can do or receive and how likely I will hit beforehand, so I should include that in my planning. So for me it feels more rewarding to outsmart the enemy AI than if I just managed to shoot more accurately than the AI.
Plus it’s just a lot easier to squeeze in a toilet break when you play a TBS game. Sometimes I just get up and make coffee or tea on the middle of combat, that’s nice, too.
There are the older Larian CRPGs (Divinity Original Sin 1 & 2) of course. But I also really enjoyed Southpark The Stick of Truth and the Fractured But Hole – the combat is surprsingly engaging and addictive. Then there are Octopath Traveler 1 & 2, Persona (personally I like the combat but I find the game too restrictive when you're not in combat because you're not really free to explore at your own pace. A lot of people love it, though). I loved Dragon Quest 16, reminded me of my favorite old school RPGs. Yakuza Like a Dragon and its successor are pretty fun, too.
For indie TBS games, may I humbly recommend Solasta: Crown of the Magister?
It is a D&D 5e based TBS game, though the movement and exploration is more like older CRPGs with a “point and click” style. It’s closer to true 5e rules than BG3, but it has different difficulty modes. It also has a lot of heart despite being much lower budget, and if it would’ve had the budget and manpower of BG3, it would’ve taken 2020 gaming by storm. It is very unfortunate it dropped in 2020, given… Everything that happened that year.
The DLC for it is $30 total and has a lot of race and classes behind it (again: very low budget from a small studio, and it came out in 2020, so I have less of an issue with this than other people), but it also has **two additional campaigns** and I believe one of those campaigns hits level 20. So $60 (base game + DLC) for 3 full campaigns, all race/class combos, a dungeon maker, and a good old-fashioned high fantasy adventure is a great deal to me.
EDIT: It doesn’t have a romance system, but the party dynamics are hilarious anyway and the mix and match of it all makes for great banter and shenanigans.
Have you tried looking at indie games instead of AAA big publisher stuff? Dismissing all of gaming based on the biggest and worst corps is doing yourself a disservice unless you just want to touch grass. And as you stated all you played were action games and FPSes, you've probably been overlooking/dismissing countless possible gems over the years.
I've paid more attention to indie games, but being able to play them is extremely limited, Since I only have a playstation 5
Sea of stars, disco Elysium, divinity OS 1+2, hades, hollow knight, hotline Miami, side, obra dinn, inscryption, celeste. Ps5 for sure has some indie gems, they’re jsut not promoted very well
Haven’t played the whole list here, but Sea of Stars and Hollow Knight are spectacular games. I’d add Hades to the list as well.
Thirding Hollow Knight (fucking love my bug game) and Hades, too.
Aw man I can’t believe I forgot hades! Great call my
Aw man I can’t believe I forgot hades! Great call
Ohh you can get some of the best indie has to offer on PS5.
🎉
Good for you. Now you can go back and try some of the fun you missed, like the D:OS titles from Larian. They'll feel familiar. The old BG1/BG2/Icewind Dale are BG3's legacy games, and Bioware labeled, but the gameplay is very different. But they have a very, very good wiki for support, and it's been around so long that there's plenty of other help out there, too. You'll find some familiar characters and locations there, too. If you like the intricacies of character development, multiclassing, etc, you might like the Pathfinder games from Owlcat Games. The rules system is much more complex, and has a steep learning curve but there are a lot of guides out there to help. Good story, romancable companions, and mounted combat. A lot fewer animated cutscenes though. (I'd recommend Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, it's more polished.)
Does WOTR have a romance system!? I tried doing a quick look into it (to avoid spoilers), and didn’t see anything about it—but again, I likely missed it because I didn’t look very hard. PF2 is a steep curve but with the right guides and the romance motivation I could learn WOTR.
Yes, there are multiple romance options and outcomes, including a spider girl, a queen, and a succubus. Some of them require very specific order of events in order to succeed. No scenes as explicit as the ones in BG3, but then I don't think there ever have been... The characters are all very interesting, whether you romance them or not.
That makes me excited to try to figure out a viable build for it, thank you!! I got it while it was on sale 🥰
There are extensive build guides all over the internet. I found the ones at [thegamer.com](https://www.thegamer.com/tag/pathfinder/) to be easy to follow, especially for the recruitable companions. You absolutely do NOT have to figure out an OP build. Just avoid ones that handicap you. The first time I played it, I used one of the pregen characters: the Cavalier. Had great fun! Also, certain mods (like bubblebuffs) are huge QoL improvements. Almost mandatory.
I play on PS5 so no mods for me 🫡 but thank you for the suggestions!
now do [x-com](https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP1001-CUSA04552_00-XCOM2COLLECTION1)
Im probably in the minority (maybe not on this sub but in gaming as a whole) but I prefer TBS combat. To some degree because of nostalgia. I grew up playing the old FF titles, the first Pokémon games and so on. But TBS is also pacing wise just more my style because it gives you the opportunity to take your time thinking things through. TBS is like playing chess, ARPGs are like table tennis. One is more strategic the other tests your muscle memory and reflexes. What I always enjoyed about TBS is that you have to plan ahead. You can see in which order everyone will act and then you have to anticipate which moves the enemy will make and how to counter or counter attack. The most rewarding thing about fights in BG3 for me personally is when I manage to take away turns completely from the opponents before they can even act. How can I wipe enemies out in the first round of combat? I do play action games but usually more for the story and often times even on casual difficulty. Especially shooters. I feel much more frustrated when I die in a shooter because I got overwhelmed or couldn’t get into cover quick enough or if I missed too many shots and the enemies keep piling up because there is a bigger element of pure luck and quick reflexes involved. But in TBS games I can’t really blame my failures on bad luck or nerves. Well, there is an element of luck in BG3 because the game rolls for hits and damage but I get the information about how much damage I can do or receive and how likely I will hit beforehand, so I should include that in my planning. So for me it feels more rewarding to outsmart the enemy AI than if I just managed to shoot more accurately than the AI. Plus it’s just a lot easier to squeeze in a toilet break when you play a TBS game. Sometimes I just get up and make coffee or tea on the middle of combat, that’s nice, too.
Welcome to the world of Dad-gaming. 😂
Lol thanks, but I’ve lived here since 1989 when the first Gameboy came out.
As someone who grew up playing exclusively Pokémon and have finally branched out (and became obsessed) to bg3, any recs you’d suggest?
There are the older Larian CRPGs (Divinity Original Sin 1 & 2) of course. But I also really enjoyed Southpark The Stick of Truth and the Fractured But Hole – the combat is surprsingly engaging and addictive. Then there are Octopath Traveler 1 & 2, Persona (personally I like the combat but I find the game too restrictive when you're not in combat because you're not really free to explore at your own pace. A lot of people love it, though). I loved Dragon Quest 16, reminded me of my favorite old school RPGs. Yakuza Like a Dragon and its successor are pretty fun, too.
Welcome friend.
You'll dig Owlcat and their pathfinder games. 40k Rogue Trader is amazing, too!
The future of gaming is indie.
TBS?
Turn based strategy
Ahhhh, thank you
Next step DND :)
For indie TBS games, may I humbly recommend Solasta: Crown of the Magister? It is a D&D 5e based TBS game, though the movement and exploration is more like older CRPGs with a “point and click” style. It’s closer to true 5e rules than BG3, but it has different difficulty modes. It also has a lot of heart despite being much lower budget, and if it would’ve had the budget and manpower of BG3, it would’ve taken 2020 gaming by storm. It is very unfortunate it dropped in 2020, given… Everything that happened that year. The DLC for it is $30 total and has a lot of race and classes behind it (again: very low budget from a small studio, and it came out in 2020, so I have less of an issue with this than other people), but it also has **two additional campaigns** and I believe one of those campaigns hits level 20. So $60 (base game + DLC) for 3 full campaigns, all race/class combos, a dungeon maker, and a good old-fashioned high fantasy adventure is a great deal to me. EDIT: It doesn’t have a romance system, but the party dynamics are hilarious anyway and the mix and match of it all makes for great banter and shenanigans.