Turning to the experts - Game suggestions

[Charagma]

Done with Divinity2 DKS. Looking for a new RPG to sink my teeth into. New in the sense of something new to play, not necessarily a new game. Looking for something pre-2018, preferably RPG open world. I am not a huge fan of Pixel graphics, and I am using keyboard and mouse. I do not own a controller, so Dark souls series is a no go. Yes, tried AutoHK etc, I just do not get the Controller to Keyboard "conversion" right.

Keep in mind something still purchasable on Steam or GOG.

I have played fall out series, elder scrolls series, dragon age series, gothic series, Dark siders series, divinity series, sacred series, The Witcher series (Long list I have played) and others similar (Odd titles in-between).

What "older-ish" game would you personally recommend for someone looking for something new or different?

 

[Zimbaly]

Well since it's RPG's that can get into a long list.

There's the Final Fantasy series which you can get on steam.
Torchlight series *I like 2 the best*
Baldurs Gate and Never Winter
Dead Island
Mass Effect
Borderlands
Tale of series
Kingdoms of Amalur
The Last Remnant *Demon baby monster!*
Dungeon Siege
Pillars of Eternity
Avernum series
Shadowrun
Van Helsing series
Victor Vran
Tyranny
Jade Empire

Hope this small list helps.

 

[Charagma]

Well since it's RPG's that can get into a long list.

There's the Final Fantasy series which you can get on steam.
Torchlight series *I like 2 the best*
Baldurs Gate and Never Winter
Dead Island
Mass Effect
Borderlands
Tale of series
Kingdoms of Amalur
The Last Remnant *Demon baby monster!*
Dungeon Siege
Pillars of Eternity
Avernum series
Shadowrun
Van Helsing series
Victor Vran
Tyranny
Jade Empire

Hope this small list helps.

See now that is why I love asking. Some names in there I have never heard of. Will go a bit of YT'ing and see what looks interesting. Thank you.

 

[neogunhero]

Zimbaly had some great suggestions, especially Torchlight 2 and Kingdoms of Amalur, love those games. Here are some more suggestions:

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. Very unique early 2000s RPG with an amazing setting and story. Game is very janky, so it requires some mods to get it working, but well worth the effort.

Shadow of Mordor. More action with very light RPG elements, but great if you like the LoTR setting, and generally just very fun to play.

Dark Messiah of Might & Magic. Another somewhat janky 2000s action RPG, but much more playable right off the bat without needing mods. Light RPG elements allow you to unlock different abilities and craft your playstyle. Amazing use of the Source engine outside of Valve games.

Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun. Very similar gameplay style to Divinity, but stronger focus on stealth. I'm not a huge stealth fan but the way this game does it made it very fun and strategic.

Mount & Blade: Warband (and Bannerlord, but thats a much newer game). Craft your own destiny as you try to create a ragtag militia and rise to the top of the kingdom.

 

[Colif]

Looking for something pre-2018, preferably RPG open world.

Grim Dawn - helps to buy expansions as they add more to game than just new areas. semi open world... large levels. https://store.steampowered.com/app/219990/Grim_Dawn/
Titan Quest - though its a little dated now, one day its sequel will release... https://store.steampowered.com/app/1154030/Titan_Quest_II/

I only play Arpg so I recognise much of Zimbaly's list already.

Boredlands? an rpg? in same way Mario is.... Thats a stretch, all games have rpg like elements in them now. Its more a looter shooter.

Not Sacred 3... I assume you know why... At least Torchlight 3 was similar to the first two... I still didn't play it a lot. The part 3 of most ARPG seems to be where they go bad... looks at Diablo 3... yep.

 

[Frindis]

Fun, cheap, and has a unique spell system that you can see in the trailer:

Arx Fatalis on Steam

This critically acclaimed first-person RPG from Arkane Studios takes the player on an amazing journey into the fantasy world of Arx. Arx is wrought with turmoil, brought to the brink of destruction by a violent war.

store.steampowered.com

Janky, but pretty cool RPG game.

Anachronox on Steam

Join Sylvester "Sly" Boots and Stiletto Anyway as they trek across six bizarre planets investigating a galaxy-crushing mystery, searching for artefacts from an extinct alien race and unlocking the secrets of a powerful, advanced technology. It's your turn. PICK YOUR POISON.

store.steampowered.com

Samurai Diablo clone. Not played it that much, but it was fun while I played it.

Throne of Darkness

Terror Strides Our Land. You and Your Seven Samurai Stand Between Order and Oblivion. In

www.gog.com

Been a couple of decades since I played, but it felt pretty unique in its style. It's a space RPG basically with
ship combat

Freelancer V1 2003 Microsoft Game Studios CD : Microsoft Game Studios : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Freelancer V1 2003 Microsoft Game Studios CD

archive.org

Really good RPG game if you have not tried it out and like the Star Wars universe.

STAR WARS™ Knights of the Old Republic™ on Steam

It is four thousand years before the Galactic Empire and hundreds of Jedi Knights have fallen in battle against the ruthless Sith. You are the last hope of the Jedi Order. Can you master the awesome power of the Force on your quest to save the Republic? Or will you fall to the lure of the dark side?

store.steampowered.com

While not made before 2018, THIS would be the ultimate deep RPG game to play. I have just started, so perhaps I am not the best person to judge, but it's deep, REALLY deep, and I love it so far after 22 hours.

Save 70% on Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - Enhanced Edition on Steam

Embark on a journey to a realm overrun by demons in a new epic RPG from the creators of the critically acclaimed Pathfinder: Kingmaker. Explore the nature of good and evil, learn the true cost of power, and rise as a Mythic Hero capable of deeds beyond mortal expectations.

store.steampowered.com

Super deep lore with an amazing story that sucks you right in. It's one of the best RPG games ever made, so you have to play it if you haven't already.

Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition on Steam

Uncover secrets of past lives in this story-rich, tactical roleplaying game set in Sigil, a dark fantasy city at the heart of the Dungeons & Dragons multiverse. Explore the planes, survive combat alongside a party of bizarre companions, and solve puzzles unlike any ever seen in the genre.

store.steampowered.com

Awesome game with one of the best developer commentary ever made, so not only would I recommend playing it, I would recommend playing it a second time with the commentary on. You could also do it like I did and just wing it with the dev commentary on.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Director's Cut on Steam

You play Adam Jensen, an ex-SWAT specialist who's been handpicked to oversee the defensive needs of one of America's most experimental biotechnology firms. Your job is to safeguard company secrets, but when a black ops team breaks in and kills the very scientists you were hired to protect...

store.steampowered.com

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Loads of good recs already, couple more I can add.

I really liked:

Wasteland 2: Director's Cut on Steam

From the producer of the original Fallout comes Wasteland 2. With over 80 hours of gameplay, deck out your Ranger squad with devastating weaponry, test the limits of your strategy skills, and bring justice to the Wasteland! The choices are yours…but so are the consequences.

store.steampowered.com

Its a bit newer but might be playable on lower end hardware depending:

Wasteland 3 on Steam

Following the critically acclaimed 2014 Game of the Year winner Wasteland 2, the RPG series that pioneered the post-apocalyptic genre in video games returns with Wasteland 3.

store.steampowered.com

To expand on Shadowrun, theres 3 of those games and theyre all good.

Shadowrun Returns on Steam

The unique cyberpunk-meets-fantasy world of Shadowrun has gained a huge cult following since its creation nearly 25 years ago. Now, creator Jordan Weisman returns to the world of Shadowrun, modernizing this classic game setting as a single player, turn-based tactical RPG.

store.steampowered.com

Shadowrun: Dragonfall - Director's Cut on Steam

Harebrained Schemes' biggest Shadowrun game to date, and the definitive Shadowrun RPG experience available on PC. Now a standalone title with tons of new content & improvements!

store.steampowered.com

Shadowrun: Hong Kong - Extended Edition on Steam

Shadowrun: Hong Kong - Extended Edition is the capstone title in Harebrained Schemes' Shadowrun series - and now includes the all-new, 6+ hr Shadows of Hong Kong Bonus Campaign. Experience the most impressive Shadowrun RPG yet, hailed as one of the best cRPG / strategy games of 2015!

store.steampowered.com

Wildermyth is also good and runs on more modest hardware:

Wildermyth on Steam

Wildermyth follows heroes over their whole careers, from their pitchfork days to their powerful primes, and on into old age and memory. It’s a party-based procedural storytelling RPG where tactical combat and story decisions will alter your world and reshape your cast of characters.

store.steampowered.com

 

[Pifanjr]

I'd like to add the Risen games:

Risen

A mysterious volcanic island. The heavy tremors on the island bode ill for its inhabitan

www.gog.com

Not quite an open world like The Elder Scrolls games, but a pretty decent RPG nonetheless.

I'd add Pirates of the Caribbean, but it's abandonware now. However, there's a standalone mod that is based off of it that's available for free:

Beyond New Horizons by Hammie

Pirate and age-of-sail RPG

cmdrhammie.itch.io

I haven't tried the mod myself, but the base game is by far the best pirate sandbox game I've ever played. It's fairly light on RPG mechanics, but gaining levels and skills is definitely important if you want to survive.

 

[Charagma]

"While not made before 2018, THIS would be the ultimate deep RPG game to play. I have just started, so perhaps I am not the best person to judge, but it's deep, REALLY deep, and I love it so far after 22 hours."

So have decided to look into this one (Added a few dlc's to it just for kicks) and then a friend of mine suggested this one:

ELEX on Steam

ELEX is a handcrafted action role-playing experience from the award-winning creators of the Gothic series, set in a brand new post-apocalyptic Science Fantasy universe that puts players into a huge seamless game world full of original characters, mutated creatures, deep moral choices and...

store.steampowered.com

Now is the long download and wait part. Keeping the lists of suggestions though just in case. I can still request a refund within 6 hours gameplay. Horizon paid for Pathfinder and some dlc's.

 

[Frindis]

Now is the long download and wait part. Keeping the lists of suggestions though just in case. I can still request a refund within 6 hours gameplay. Horizon paid for Pathfinder and some dlc's.

I hope it will be to your liking🙂 I played ELEX for a few hours, and it wasn't half bad. At times, I have a weird way of playing such games, in the sense that I try to explore areas at a low level to see how far I can get. Now in ELEX, I could explore a really big chunk of the game and at one place, I even got myself a companion robot that was really strong. I enjoy games that open up for that type of adventure.

I can still request a refund within 6 hours gameplay.

On Steam, it is most of the time 2 hours, just in case you meant that platform.

 

[dxchase]

Solid suggestions. So you said you played the elder scrolls/skyrim? If you are looking for something different but with that same great forumla from those series id highly recommend Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon.

Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon on Steam

Step into a dark reimagination of Arthurian legends in this first person, open world RPG. Explore a world stuck in everlasting autumn, witness falling legends and make meaningful choices woven into a complex, branching storyline.

store.steampowered.com

 

[Charagma]

Sounds like my type of gameplay as well. I hate being stuck into something specific (Multi Talented Characters) and also do not like predictable story lines. Obviously, I always start as a rogue of some sort (Need those chests open as early as possible) and build/grow my character up from there to use a Two-handed sword/weapon (Yeah, I am one of those LMAO). I think that is why it is so hard for me to decide on games.

 

[Charagma]

Solid suggestions. So you said you played the elder scrolls/skyrim? If you are looking for something different but with that same great forumla from those series id highly recommend Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon.

Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon on Steam

Step into a dark reimagination of Arthurian legends in this first person, open world RPG. Explore a world stuck in everlasting autumn, witness falling legends and make meaningful choices woven into a complex, branching storyline.

store.steampowered.com

Actually saw that title somewhere today. Will have a look at it. I personally loved skyrim but still think it would have worked better under the Dragon age series (My opinion though). Will have a look I still have some credit.


Edit: My little pc will never be able to play that. LMAO when I saw 2025 release date I knew I can just stop reading from there.

 

[Charagma]

I can still request a refund within 6 hours gameplay.

On Steam, it is most of the time 2 hours, just in case you meant that platform.

Just saw this. Thought it was 6 hours. Ok so 30 minutes to figure out the controls and 1 hr to try and get somewhere. Should be enough time LMAO.......hopefully

 

[Frindis]

Ok so 30 minutes to figure out the controls and 1 hr to try and get somewhere. Should be enough time LMAO.......hopefully

I'm not joking when I say this: You'll probably spend roughly 1 hour just in the character creation 😀

Also, this might come in handy later on:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYbOgmZmjKc

 

[Charagma]

I'm not joking when I say this: You'll probably spend roughly 1 hour just in the character creation 😀

Also, this might come in handy later on:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYbOgmZmjKc

Watching it now. Thanks

Edit: Halfway through. Love what I see till now. Reminds me of a turn-based game I played years ago (Name eludes me) But you actually threw some dice (Think was 2 and later you had 3) and your character could move or attack or defend according to what you threw.

From what I have seen so far, I will start with casual and a pre created character. Just to get to learn the game. Character creation is very involved. I tend to play a Rogue (Most games) and then build from there. In this title it sounds as if it might not be a good idea. Will see after I have played a bit. But so far, I love what I am seeing.

 

[dxchase]

Edit: My little pc will never be able to play that. LMAO when I saw 2025 release date I knew I can just stop reading from there.

I mis-read your OP about pre-2018. Theres a demo you can try for Tainted Grail but yea i am unsure how itll perform on older PCs.

 

[Zimbaly]

People are mentioning other great games, but I will say with some of the older games. Look at some of the fan side patches and fixes. Some games from years ago don't always work on newer operating systems, some *like anachronix* had some game breaking bugs that got fixed with fan patches... then some had cut content like Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic series.

Another thing with some games as well is they use the same/similar engines as other games. So like Fallout 1/2, Baldurs Gate 1/2 and some of those other rpgs have a feel to them that make them feel the same to play combat and movement wise. So if you like one game and how it feels and plays then you may like other games in that engine.

Also to the list I'm gonna add a few more. unar Complete is on PC and it's a Sega CD/PS1 era game.
Grandia 1 and 2
Titan Quest
Xanadu Next
Ys series
And it's kinda an RPG, a little wonky and broken, but honestly it's an odd game. WindForge.

 

[Pifanjr]

On Steam, it is most of the time 2 hours, just in case you meant that platform.

Just saw this. Thought it was 6 hours. Ok so 30 minutes to figure out the controls and 1 hr to try and get somewhere. Should be enough time LMAO.......hopefully

You can request a refund afterwards, but then you're dependent on the generosity of the Steam Support member that gets assigned to your request. From what I understand they're typically pretty generous if they have no reason to think you're trying to abuse the refund system and 6 hours of playtime for a game that can easily take well over 100 hours is probably reasonable.

 

[Zloth]

Wrath of the Righteous is HUGE! Bigger than BG3, I suspect.

ELEX 1 is ok. There's plenty of fun to be had, but you have to wade through some jank to get to it. You start out quite week, so keep your running shoes on until you find a good companion to help out.

I've got to re-up Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines. The graphics are getting dated but it had such fun characters and music! Dark Messiah of Might & Magic is a special one, too.

Others not mentioned:

Legend of Grimrock: https://www.gog.com/en/game/legend_of_grimrock
This one is a dungeon crawler. if you think you might like those.

Battletech: https://www.gog.com/en/game/battletech_mercenary_collection
It's a year late and you have to squint a bit to see it as a tactical RPG, but $12.60 USD is a great price for that game plus all of its DLC! I had many, many hours of fun playing around with mech builds on this one.

The two South Park RPGs, Stick of Truth and Fractured but Whole are both very well done RPGs, which is a big shock for a TV tie in. You have to like South Park style raunchy humor, of course.

Valkyria Chronicles is an excellent turn-based squad strategy game much like XCOM but in 3D. Also, it calls itself an RPG and everyone seems to believe it for reasons beyond me.

The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet Of Chaos

Are you ready to dive into a tactical RPG chock-full of charm, humor and crazy

www.gog.com

Just a straight-up fun romp through a dungone.... well, mostly it's a tower, but whatever.

Tower of Time

A new kind of RPG awaits you. A story-rich dungeon crawler with innovative real-time comb

www.gog.com

This also goes through a tower, but it's upside down so it's essentially a dungeon. The main claim to fame for this game is the combat system that lets you slow time down. Technically, it would be an action RPG, but you can slow down time so much that it feels closer to a turn-based combat system.

 

[Charagma]

The main claim to fame for this game is the combat system that lets you slow time down. Technically, it would be an action RPG, but you can slow down time so much that it feels closer to a turn-based combat system.

I will take a look at the list but usually when I read something like this I go "OOoooohhhh you mean VATS". It is the fastest way to know if someone plays games or not. LMAO.

 

[Charagma]

Pathfinder: Love it.......... Spent just over 5 hours on it today.

When I originally tried to play it, it just laughed at me. "You want to do what for how much?" kind of thing. Eventually figured out it is a display problem. Minimum requirements is an Intel UHD 620 where I have a UHD610. Fixed this by running "Borderless gaming" on it.

About 1 hours in (Just after Creating a character (Yeah you told me so....LMAO) and starting the actual game, The game crashed. Did a bit of research and found that there was a memory leak. This was fixed by a Nexus mod. Made loading the game faster as well.

Still confusing myself with the camera controls (Keep using either E or Q at the wrong times but I am getting there. Pathfinder is definitely a game to try out if you can. You can have turn base on or off as well so if you are into turn base games, a must have to your collection. I learned very early in the game that each area needs to be checked thoroughly. First part of the game I got stuck at a locked door and after walking around in the area for possibly an hour found out I missed 1 door in another room. Also, you need to be fairly close to things for it to be visible. See a chest does not mean they see it kind of thing.

But let me not hold you guys, I am hunting for a guy named "storyteller" and have not found him................ yet. LMAO

 

[Zloth]

Let's see if he can defend the bar!

If this one is too much, maybe the first Pathfinder game would work? It's not quite as good, but it has Nok Nok in it, and he was a great character!

 

[Charagma]

Bar defended. Was fairly easy. Placed my 3 ranged in front of Irabeth and her crew. My 3 Melee I first did the left hand entrance (Bar entrance behind me), then placed 3 mellee at the bottom of the ramp with ranged still at original position defending and when they broke down the last door I placed the 3 melee with my ranged and defended pushing them back. Just finished the Wolfij quest and also did the story teller and the Party mansion. Got the "viking" shapeshifter just before I switched off. Still need to find the hidden door to I thimk the tower. Somewhere in the market place ......I think, and maybe about 2 or 3 side quests that needs to be done. Must say Took me a bit of time figuring out the 4 levers in the bar basement. Eventually got it solved. Also still trying to figure out what to do at the Winery. There is nothing I can see....yet. Might be over looking something or missing a quest for it. When I created the Character I decided I will stick with what I know best and so far my rogue is doing great...."she gets by with a little help from her friends" LMAO just wished I picked a larger Race. Will try a larger Race another time maybe. Unfortunately I do not find armor and anything other that Rapiers I can use. So now have that Magic weapon guy as a rapier and have a master cold iron rapier in the other hand. Seems to be doing the trick.

Have not figured out how to cast spells with Ember or anyone that can cast. I get whoever to cast start of the attack but after that I cannot get it right. I am missing something on the spell casting side of things.......I think. In addition, special attacks with my controlling character I do not get apart from start of attacks. Will sit and have a god look at it tomorrow. I am definitely missing something somewhere.

Lucky my character automatically casts the "light" you get in the beginning by herself. Somehow it is on auto, and she cast it maybe 3 or four times per enemy. Apart from the water elemental and the first boss of act 1, I am doing fairly ok. Will just have to learn attack strategies with my spell casters.

I now have 9 followers excluding the weapon that thinks he is a guy. Hopefully that is all of them because I do not know who to pick each time. Being a Rogue I do not need other rogues, so use mainly "tanks" and ranged.

Will Carry on tomorrow. Think I did ok-ish for 11hrs play

 

[Frindis]

Bar defended. Was fairly easy. Placed my 3 ranged in front of Irabeth and her crew. My 3 Melee I first did the left hand entrance (Bar entrance behind me), then placed 3 mellee at the bottom of the ramp with ranged still at original position defending and when they broke down the last door I placed the 3 melee with my ranged and defended pushing them back.

I liked that fight. I placed most of my party near the leader and one up on the roof. Then I plucked them one by one until the mini-boss whom I had sent my tank after. She got pummeled to the ground, so I had to use my rogue to sneak in for a couple of stabs before finishing it with arrows and a rapier.

Must say Took me a bit of time figuring out the 4 levers in the bar basement. Eventually got it solved.

Yeah, had to wander around a bit looking to see if anything was out of place. I hope there are more of those secrets because I enjoy the struggle🙂

When I created the Character I decided I will stick with what I know best and so far my rogue is doing great...."she gets by with a little help from her friends" LMAO just wished I picked a larger Race. Will try a larger Race another time maybe. Unfortunately I do not find armor and anything other that Rapiers I can use. So now have that Magic weapon guy as a rapier and have a master cold iron rapier in the other hand. Seems to be doing the trick.

My main is a chaotic neutral Bard Archeologist with one level as a rogue underground chemist. They advise against multiclassing, but I decided to take the chance. Hopefully, that one level won't bite me in the butt.

Lucky my character automatically casts the "light" you get in the beginning by herself. Somehow it is on auto, and she cast it maybe 3 or four times per enemy. Apart from the water elemental and the first boss of act 1, I am doing fairly ok. Will just have to learn attack strategies with my spell casters.

Hmm, maybe you have the AI combat toggled on? It's a small button near the action bar.