Question Weekend Question: What RPG that isn't by BioWare feels the most like a BioWare RPG?

[PCG Jody]

I ask the PCG staff a regular Weekend Question and post the answers on the site. If you'd like to throw in an answer here, I'll squeeze the best into the finished article!

This week's question is: What RPG that isn't by BioWare feels the most like a BioWare RPG?

Everyone misses Old BioWare, the BioWare who made some of our favorite games. Have you found any games that fill the gap in your life for their particular flavor of dialogue-heavy party-based RPGs that probably have moral choices and the option to befriend and/or bang your companions? You know the kind I mean.

 

[Zloth]

For current developers, I would say it's a tie between Owlcat and Larian. DTP's Drakensang games fit very well, too, without going back to the isometric look but I haven't heard a peep out of DTP in almost a decade now.

 

[Scaramouche]

Well, KOTOR 2 of course. But that's a bit of a boring answer, since it's a direct sequel to a BioWare game. Obsidian did make more games that were BioWare-ish. Alpha Protocol and the Outer Worlds come to mind. The latter - while more reminiscent of Fallout - because of the companions.

I think what make BioWare games so beloved among other RPG's is the interaction with companions. While the romance stuff got stuck on a level that's a bit cringy for today's standards, that social dynamics with your party members still make BioWare games unique. The Citadel DLC for Mass Effect 3 was the pinnacle of that. And I think no other game ever came close.

 

[Sarafan]

If we're talking about really old BioWare, then it's Obsidian and Pillars of Eternity series. I think that Baldur's Gate 2 is one of the best RPGs in history of gaming. It's a model example, how you should develop an isometric RPG. We haven't seen too many games, which got close to BG2 quality. One of the exceptions is Pillars of Eternity. Both PoE games are isometric, have a very good main plot (it's even better than the one BG2 has to offer!) and quality side quests. The relations with followers are complex and well-written. Also combat is very close to its predecessor. PoE games rely on a real time with pause system, which is based on turns just like in BG2. If there's a fan of BG2 out there who hasn't played PoE, he should change that right away!

 

[mainer]

Bioware games have always been my favorites over the years, as I love the complexity of dealing with a group of companions with different personalities and goals and working with , and sometimes loving, them throughout the story. No one did it better than Bioware of old.

Of recent games, Pillars of Eternity 1, and POE2: Deadfire come close to the old Baldurs Gate games. Another under rated game was Greedfall that had some complex character interactions & relationships that are close to the ones in Dragon Age & Mass Effect.