Computer RPGs
Community for CRPG and other RPG discussions. Focus is on CRPGs, but discussion around JPRGs, ARPGs and hybrid games with RPG components is also welcome.
Tabletop/pen & paper RPG discussion is not a good fit for this community. Check out !rpg@ttrpg.network for TT/P&P RPG discussions.
Rules (Click to Expand):
-
Follow the Lemmy.world Rules - https://mastodon.world/about
-
Be kind. No bullying, harassment, racism, sexism etc. against other users.
-
No spam, illegal content, or NSFW content (no games with NSFW images/video).
-
Please stay on topic, cRPG adjacent games or even JRPGs are fine. Try to include topics / games that have a strong roleplaying component to them.
Some other gaming communities across Lemmy:
- Adventure Games - !adventuregames@retrolemmy.com
- Automation Games - !automationgames@lemmy.zip
- Cozy Games - !cozygames@lemmy.world
- City Builders - !citybuilders@sh.itjust.works
- Incremental - !incremental_games@incremental.social
- Indie Games (variety) - !bside@fedia.io
- Lifesim Games - !lifesimulation@lemmy.world
- Open Source Games - !foss_gaming@lemmy.world
- Roguelike Games - !roguelikes@lemmy.world
- RTS Games - !rts@reddthat.com
- Strategy (RTS, 4X etc.) Games - !strategy@lemmy.world
- Turn-based Strategy - !turnbasedstrategy@piefed.world
- Tycoon / Business Sim Games - !tycoon@lemmy.world
- Video Game Art - !gameart@sopuli.xyz
- Video Game Music - !vgmusic@lemmy.world
Game-specific communities on Lemmy:
- Baldur's Gate 3 - !baldurs_gate_3@lemmy.world
- Cyberpunk - !cyberpunk2077@lemmy.world
- Deus Ex - !deus_ex@lemmy.cafe
- Elder Scrolls - !elderscrolls@lemmy.zip
- Fallout - !fallout@lemmy.world
- Lovecraft Mythos - !lovecraft_mythos@lemmy.world
- The Witcher - !thewitcher@lemmy.world
Thank you to macniel for the community icon!
view the rest of the comments
Disclaimer: I don't really count Disco Elysium as a CRPG. Maybe that's wrong, but I see it as a piece of art and a pseudo visual novel. Otherwise it would be that.
For proper CRPGs I can't really pick between Baldur's Gate 2 and Fallout 2. I love them for different reasons, and they have different strong points.
Fallout 2 is so sprawling and immense, and gives you so much freedom. It's full of neat little things. It's also very much a product of its time though, and so maybe if I didn't play it for the first time as a teenager I would have a different opinion of some of its humour.
Baldur's Gate 2 is just peak CRPG in my opinion. Great story, amazing characters and one of the best video game villains of all time, acted to perfection by David Warner. The hook after the prologue establishes stakes beautifully, and the open-ended goal of amassing resources for the trip is one of the best ways I've seen of maintaining suspension of disbelief while side questing.
Something also needs to be said about the companions, who are for the most part superb. BG2 in many ways handle companions better than many recent games, I feel. Just a small thing like having dialogues trigger spontaneously while travelling (as opposed to the player going to camp and initiating dialogue) makes them feel much more natural and less player-centric.
Same goes for the romances, which are reasonably varied and interesting and not just "everyone has a boner for you by default because you're the protagonist" á la BG3. Hell, characters actually interact with each other, not just the player! Two companions can enter a romance with each other, and there's a possible triangle drama!
I'm currently playing Dragon Age: Origins, and the party banter that just happens without my input, between each other and not involving me, is a big part of why I like it. I have been meaning to play the other Baldur's Gates before doing 3, and this is a good case for doing BG2.
Baldur's Gate 1 can be kind of rough. It was a different time. The encounter design is not good. The companions have very little dialogue. It's much more exploration-oriented instead of story and character driven. It strives to fulfill that classic fantasy of travelling around the magic forests and whatnot, doing some dungeon crawling and finding some loot. I'd say it's still worth playing if you have decent tolerance for retro games, but I personally rarely feel the urge to replay it. It does set up the story for the sequel, but you could conceivably skip it. It actually sets up more for the Throne of Bhaal expansion than BG2 itself.
BG2 remains one of my all time favourites and I have replayed it several times.
One suggestion I will float for when you do get around to BG2: it's still sort of old school. Some characters hate eachother, and will eventually fight to the death. Characters will also just leave the group if your reputation gets too far away from their alignment. I personally tend to disable both of these features via the Tweaks Anthology. Reputation is a nightmare to manage in vanilla if you're trying to be anything but a goody-two-shoes, and some of the best banter is between characters who hate each other. I get the intention behind the design, but I think it's a better experience to just pick whoever you feel is interesting for your party and not worry about it.