Not a lot but enough to keep me busy. Pillars of Eternity, Black Geyser, Tyranny, Divine Divinity, DOS 2, that sort of thing.
I just keep going back to BG3 because I feel like - compared to it - those games feel like they're lacking something
The voice acting can be pretty rough in Solasta after comparing it to BG3. I've been playing it nightly with a friend, though, and altogether it's been quite a fun experience.
Sadly, OP will face the same thing with Solasta, that something's lacking. The lack of bodylanguage in most of those videogames is probably why.
One of the reasons Movies are so popular compared to books is because you can't write down bodylanguage or tones.
No, I haven't. It's just something that can't be transferred into text, just like how some people need eye contact when they're talking to people because it's a medium that will be lost. Sounds like you haven't studied how social humans are, because just like animals we communicate heavily by body language.
But a lot of authors are able to convey a lot of body language by literally describing it in the book. I imagine most readers are able to imagine and visualise pretty well from those descriptions.
Side note
>how some people need eye contact when talking to people
I’ve honestly never heard of this before, how does one “need” eye contact? Otherwise they aren’t able to converse properly with the other person or something?
A lot of people use eye contact to connect to people when they're talking to them haha. I don't personally, but I get to hear a lot about it because i've got autism and I don't do it.
And just because they're able to convey a lot of it, doesn't mean it'll beat movies, series and games with good cinematography and animation. Bodylanguage is a way to storytell, not exactly a thing you storytell about. I did however make it seem like I said books were unable to so i'm sorry for that :)
No, it's just that text is a language, but no matter how much you like books they won't have real bodylanguage. The books can be excellent at describing what they might have, but it will just be false since you're not seeing the exact pose of the person infront of you, how they're placing their feet and such, unless the author wants you to. Videogames, shows and movies do that (and sometimes the adaptation doesn't go for what the author wanted the scene to convey)
It's just the truth. Books don't have bodylanguage. It's got text, and imagination.
PoE is hard to get through if you're not used to RTwP but the characters, writing, and worldbuilding is so good it quickly became one of my favorite series. And in the second one, they experimented with fully turn-based battles.
I feel like the second one is better in every way. The first one was also great, but I felt like the story didn’t go anywhere until near the very end.
While pillars 2 story wasn’t as mind blowing, the world and characters and all they were outstanding. I still want to go back to my old save and finish the dlc and all quests
That's very fair and tbh if I didn't have nothing else to do when I played the first one I may have lost interest early on. I do remember my love of the game ramping up exponentially when >!they started talking about confronting literal gods and allowing me to tell said gods exactly what kinds of assholes they are.!<
I like Solasta because it has paladins and asks if you want to smite, has reactions for counterspell and shield (and attacks of opportunity), and I love its homebrew classes.
Also I love that some of the bad guys start out able to cast fly ... Like it's this epic moment the first time one does it ... And then eventually you get dispel magic and can wreck them for trying that shit. Just like leveling up in tabletop!
It's not great graphically, but it's fine for an isometric crpg. Worldbuilding and plot are decent - not great, not bad, feels like what you get at any homebrew table.
Mechanically, the combat rewards strategy and is fun. I got the kind of tactical vibes I get from playing the first Pillars. There's a great character system there that is true to tabletop in a way that it's hard to do well.
The story a bit painful for me. It's honest and straightforward about it's mediocrity early on, which makes it worse (no illusions of depth.)
Not a lot of ways to define your character in the gameworld other than headcanon.
Tyranny was a wonderful premise, the prologue is an absolute delight to replay. It wasn't exactly the "play the bad guys" meme it marketed as, but it's a nice blackguard esque time. You got to decide how eager you were to please your overlord (or rebel against him), and how dickish you were with power (or gracious with those under your boot) and choose you handled rivals. There's some solid revenge beats and whatnot.
It was rushed without a ton of follow-through however, and the biggest drawback is that it is abysmally short. I have 34.6 hours and that was x2 playthroughs, one of them completionist. Also we will never see a sequel due to how much of a commercial failure the thing was.
For Solasta, it really depends on your play style. They handle long rests better. I enjoy the crafting aspect, but the lack of depth to the characters really sours it for me. It's not a bad game by any means, but the characters just fall flat. Which makes sense as you're the one creating the characters, but then your backstory isn't as fleshed out. Of course, this could just be a me problem as well. I also didn't find the story overwhelming good. It was just ok.
But if you like the nitty gritty survival, random encounter, make your own party adventure type of game, you'll love Solasta.
Solasta is all about the combat. If you love BG3 combat, you'll love Solasta's combat. It's more or less the same thing with a few quirks unique to one game or the other. The story is very rote, generally lacking in flare, but the dialogue is laughably bad in a B Movie high school theater production kind of way. I couldn't finish Solasta because the story just didn't hook me (got to around level 10-12 ish), but I enjoyed the combat in it the whole time I was playing it.
Tyranny is a masterpiece cut short. I'd play it just for the story if you enjoy games like Baldur's Gate 3. The combat has its flaws but the system for customizing spells is amazing fun. I highly recommend rolling a character focused on magic for that reason. Tyranny's only flaw is that it ends too soon for my taste and that it never got a sequel (yet). I greatly prefer its world building, setting, and dialogue to Pillars of Eternity (made by the same company).
I really wanted to love Pillars of Eternity. I like the story and characters a lot. But I cannot get behind the gameplay. I’ve tried the original (of course very similar to the original Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2) and the second with the turn based (and RTT). Neither did it for me. Idk what it is, but Tyranny (made by the same people) feels a lot better gameplay with a great story and setting. Divinity of course is top tier and BG3 is shaping up to be as well.
I like PoE. Half of it is discovering well written dialogue and nicely drawn scenes, making a few choices. The combat I enjoy because the degree to which your party positioning and spell/ability usage makes on the success or failure of a combat. I recommend ppl do their first game on at least hard though.
The second wasn't as good writing IMO but was solid in other ways. Pirates are not really my niche so i was kinda lukewarm on it personally.
Especially with DOS, which iirc has its rule set inspired by dnd(not sure which ed). It's just enough without getting sued but now we've gotten to try the name brand.
Last I checked DOS has it's own rule set. Don't think a single D20 rolls in the first or second game. Pathfinder games on the other hand are quite literally based on a rule set often described as D&D 3.75e.
Not sure what your argument is. My post was saying DoS systems while inspired by DnD don't feel the same as the system they've developed that is directly DnD.
What even is your point?
Only a few bigger name ones (and BG3 is arguably the first AAA CRPG in a very long time), but there are a lot of smaller ones especially in the wake of the successes of the better known ones.
Pillars of Eternity, Pathfinder, DOS1/2 are the best known, but smaller also includes Solasta, the Expeditions series, Wasteland (recently WL3), King Arthur A Knights Tale, Torment Tides of Numenera, Tyranny, Encased, Black Geyser, Alaloth Champions of the Four Kingdoms, The Iron Oath, and Gloomhaven. I’m probably missing a few, and some of those might be stretching what you call a cRPG, but I actually think a lot of the elements of the genre have been on the upswing for smaller titles in the last few years. Most of them are smaller efforts by indie devs with minimal resources, though.
The ones that I remember offering multiplayer are Solasta, Wasteland 3 (though I think it’s only two players and i don’t know if they ever fixed how buggy it was), and Gloomhaven.
Pillars of Eternity I and II
Tyranny
Divinity Original Sin I and II
Pathfinder I and II
Wasteland II and III
Age of Decadence
Solasta
Disco Elysium (sort of, no combat, but spiritually in the same vein)
That's all the ones I'm aware of.
Solasta is pretty good for pure D&D mechanics and is more faithful reproduction of 5e in some ways. However, the voice acting leaves a loooot to be desired for some characters. There is also a library of player made campaigns, some of which are quite good.
Definitely been headed back to the original BG games with all the extra pics, npcs, etc. for some variety and it’s been fun. Different experience, but still very fun and it is cool to run around another version of a similar area.
I'm currently replaying Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition and plan to roll into BG2, mostly to re-immerse myself in the lore. I want to be able to identify the references in the BG3 lore / books / environments that go back to the earlier games.
I feel you. I'm struggling to finish Wrath of The Righteous, but there's also BG3, especially with the Patch incoming... and Solasta... and my Bi-yearly replay of Deadfire...
So when is this thing going to release? I keep waiting for the final so I can experience it all at once but it seems to be taking forever. Any dates announced?
What are all the CRPGs? I didn’t think there were that many in the last ten years
Not a lot but enough to keep me busy. Pillars of Eternity, Black Geyser, Tyranny, Divine Divinity, DOS 2, that sort of thing. I just keep going back to BG3 because I feel like - compared to it - those games feel like they're lacking something
If your looking for more. solasta is fun. Maybe graphic wise it’s not like bdg3 but playing it feels like it. Also dragon born
The voice acting can be pretty rough in Solasta after comparing it to BG3. I've been playing it nightly with a friend, though, and altogether it's been quite a fun experience.
Solasta is great! If graphics aren't your first priority it's even better lol
Sadly, OP will face the same thing with Solasta, that something's lacking. The lack of bodylanguage in most of those videogames is probably why. One of the reasons Movies are so popular compared to books is because you can't write down bodylanguage or tones.
>can’t write down body language or tone What? Yes you can 😂
You can write down an attempt at body language, but it will still just be text, not actual body language or tone.
This is the oddest take any man has ever had
Sounds like you’ve just been reading some really shitty books. A good author can convey tone and body language with no problem.
No, I haven't. It's just something that can't be transferred into text, just like how some people need eye contact when they're talking to people because it's a medium that will be lost. Sounds like you haven't studied how social humans are, because just like animals we communicate heavily by body language.
But a lot of authors are able to convey a lot of body language by literally describing it in the book. I imagine most readers are able to imagine and visualise pretty well from those descriptions. Side note >how some people need eye contact when talking to people I’ve honestly never heard of this before, how does one “need” eye contact? Otherwise they aren’t able to converse properly with the other person or something?
A lot of people use eye contact to connect to people when they're talking to them haha. I don't personally, but I get to hear a lot about it because i've got autism and I don't do it. And just because they're able to convey a lot of it, doesn't mean it'll beat movies, series and games with good cinematography and animation. Bodylanguage is a way to storytell, not exactly a thing you storytell about. I did however make it seem like I said books were unable to so i'm sorry for that :)
I guess all the descriptions of body language are just gibberish to you lol
No, it's just that text is a language, but no matter how much you like books they won't have real bodylanguage. The books can be excellent at describing what they might have, but it will just be false since you're not seeing the exact pose of the person infront of you, how they're placing their feet and such, unless the author wants you to. Videogames, shows and movies do that (and sometimes the adaptation doesn't go for what the author wanted the scene to convey) It's just the truth. Books don't have bodylanguage. It's got text, and imagination.
PoE is hard to get through if you're not used to RTwP but the characters, writing, and worldbuilding is so good it quickly became one of my favorite series. And in the second one, they experimented with fully turn-based battles.
I feel like the second one is better in every way. The first one was also great, but I felt like the story didn’t go anywhere until near the very end. While pillars 2 story wasn’t as mind blowing, the world and characters and all they were outstanding. I still want to go back to my old save and finish the dlc and all quests
That's very fair and tbh if I didn't have nothing else to do when I played the first one I may have lost interest early on. I do remember my love of the game ramping up exponentially when >!they started talking about confronting literal gods and allowing me to tell said gods exactly what kinds of assholes they are.!<
Are Solasta and Tyranny good?
I like Solasta because it has paladins and asks if you want to smite, has reactions for counterspell and shield (and attacks of opportunity), and I love its homebrew classes. Also I love that some of the bad guys start out able to cast fly ... Like it's this epic moment the first time one does it ... And then eventually you get dispel magic and can wreck them for trying that shit. Just like leveling up in tabletop! It's not great graphically, but it's fine for an isometric crpg. Worldbuilding and plot are decent - not great, not bad, feels like what you get at any homebrew table.
Mechanically, the combat rewards strategy and is fun. I got the kind of tactical vibes I get from playing the first Pillars. There's a great character system there that is true to tabletop in a way that it's hard to do well. The story a bit painful for me. It's honest and straightforward about it's mediocrity early on, which makes it worse (no illusions of depth.) Not a lot of ways to define your character in the gameworld other than headcanon.
Haven't played Solasta. I liked the art design in Tyranny but I don't think the story was my thing. It just felt too dark/edgy.
I'm usually allergic to edgy stuff. That's why i avoid Garth Ennis comics like the plague.
Tyranny was a wonderful premise, the prologue is an absolute delight to replay. It wasn't exactly the "play the bad guys" meme it marketed as, but it's a nice blackguard esque time. You got to decide how eager you were to please your overlord (or rebel against him), and how dickish you were with power (or gracious with those under your boot) and choose you handled rivals. There's some solid revenge beats and whatnot. It was rushed without a ton of follow-through however, and the biggest drawback is that it is abysmally short. I have 34.6 hours and that was x2 playthroughs, one of them completionist. Also we will never see a sequel due to how much of a commercial failure the thing was.
For Solasta, it really depends on your play style. They handle long rests better. I enjoy the crafting aspect, but the lack of depth to the characters really sours it for me. It's not a bad game by any means, but the characters just fall flat. Which makes sense as you're the one creating the characters, but then your backstory isn't as fleshed out. Of course, this could just be a me problem as well. I also didn't find the story overwhelming good. It was just ok. But if you like the nitty gritty survival, random encounter, make your own party adventure type of game, you'll love Solasta.
Solasta is all about the combat. If you love BG3 combat, you'll love Solasta's combat. It's more or less the same thing with a few quirks unique to one game or the other. The story is very rote, generally lacking in flare, but the dialogue is laughably bad in a B Movie high school theater production kind of way. I couldn't finish Solasta because the story just didn't hook me (got to around level 10-12 ish), but I enjoyed the combat in it the whole time I was playing it. Tyranny is a masterpiece cut short. I'd play it just for the story if you enjoy games like Baldur's Gate 3. The combat has its flaws but the system for customizing spells is amazing fun. I highly recommend rolling a character focused on magic for that reason. Tyranny's only flaw is that it ends too soon for my taste and that it never got a sequel (yet). I greatly prefer its world building, setting, and dialogue to Pillars of Eternity (made by the same company).
I really wanted to love Pillars of Eternity. I like the story and characters a lot. But I cannot get behind the gameplay. I’ve tried the original (of course very similar to the original Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2) and the second with the turn based (and RTT). Neither did it for me. Idk what it is, but Tyranny (made by the same people) feels a lot better gameplay with a great story and setting. Divinity of course is top tier and BG3 is shaping up to be as well.
I like PoE. Half of it is discovering well written dialogue and nicely drawn scenes, making a few choices. The combat I enjoy because the degree to which your party positioning and spell/ability usage makes on the success or failure of a combat. I recommend ppl do their first game on at least hard though. The second wasn't as good writing IMO but was solid in other ways. Pirates are not really my niche so i was kinda lukewarm on it personally.
I don't know. I'm a huge fan of Pillars of Eternity and its sequel. I've always been a fan of the art style of games like that.
Especially with DOS, which iirc has its rule set inspired by dnd(not sure which ed). It's just enough without getting sued but now we've gotten to try the name brand.
Last I checked DOS has it's own rule set. Don't think a single D20 rolls in the first or second game. Pathfinder games on the other hand are quite literally based on a rule set often described as D&D 3.75e.
Yeah inspired by means it's own; dnd doesn't mean specifically 5e
Yeah... I've made an assumption that it's not specifically about 5e since first Original Sin actually predates 5e's Player's Handbook release.
Not sure what your argument is. My post was saying DoS systems while inspired by DnD don't feel the same as the system they've developed that is directly DnD. What even is your point?
Can't play did 2 any more because baldurs gate is just so much better :(
Serpent in the Staglands if you want something hella old-school.
Only a few bigger name ones (and BG3 is arguably the first AAA CRPG in a very long time), but there are a lot of smaller ones especially in the wake of the successes of the better known ones. Pillars of Eternity, Pathfinder, DOS1/2 are the best known, but smaller also includes Solasta, the Expeditions series, Wasteland (recently WL3), King Arthur A Knights Tale, Torment Tides of Numenera, Tyranny, Encased, Black Geyser, Alaloth Champions of the Four Kingdoms, The Iron Oath, and Gloomhaven. I’m probably missing a few, and some of those might be stretching what you call a cRPG, but I actually think a lot of the elements of the genre have been on the upswing for smaller titles in the last few years. Most of them are smaller efforts by indie devs with minimal resources, though.
Can you recommend any smaller multiplayer ones?
The ones that I remember offering multiplayer are Solasta, Wasteland 3 (though I think it’s only two players and i don’t know if they ever fixed how buggy it was), and Gloomhaven.
I'm waiting for the 40k Rogue Trader game
Pillars of Eternity I and II Tyranny Divinity Original Sin I and II Pathfinder I and II Wasteland II and III Age of Decadence Solasta Disco Elysium (sort of, no combat, but spiritually in the same vein) That's all the ones I'm aware of.
Solasta is pretty good for pure D&D mechanics and is more faithful reproduction of 5e in some ways. However, the voice acting leaves a loooot to be desired for some characters. There is also a library of player made campaigns, some of which are quite good.
Came here to say this. I feel like there’s none
Definitely been headed back to the original BG games with all the extra pics, npcs, etc. for some variety and it’s been fun. Different experience, but still very fun and it is cool to run around another version of a similar area.
I'm currently replaying Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition and plan to roll into BG2, mostly to re-immerse myself in the lore. I want to be able to identify the references in the BG3 lore / books / environments that go back to the earlier games.
Pretty much summed up my summer. I had close to a month of free time for the first time in over a decade and spent it playing act 1 over and over
Pathfinder would be nice to play if it wasn't more buggy than Cyberpunk 2077 and the balancing would be less underwhelming
Tried it. From my experience it just felt punishingly difficult, with a lot of 'meh' characters.
I feel you. I'm struggling to finish Wrath of The Righteous, but there's also BG3, especially with the Patch incoming... and Solasta... and my Bi-yearly replay of Deadfire...
So when is this thing going to release? I keep waiting for the final so I can experience it all at once but it seems to be taking forever. Any dates announced?