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Similar types of RPGs


jambongusa

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I have been looking for similar games to Spiderweb games. Primarily I'm looking for large, exploration-based, non-action RPGs similar to the Avernum series with hopefully a more elaborate stat/skill system. Preferably I'd rather play newer games that have better interfaces (Baldur's Gate and Planescape are fun, but the GUI is simply too old for my tastes now).

 

I did a quick search for this topic but was unable to find anything.

 

Thanks and cheers.

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If it weren't for the non-action bit, I might have suggested Fallout New Vegas, as it's a massive, massive RPG with quite a few options and fairly recent. FPS, but VATS makes encounters much easier.

Fallout 1 and 2 are exploration based as well, and are turn-based, but also older.

 

Not exactly elaborate skill systems, but sometimes less is more. Otherwise I draw a complete blank for massively open, explorable RPGs. Kinda sad. Until I looked at this thread, I hadn't realized that I can't think of any exploration based games besides ones from Spiderweb and the Fallout series.

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There are other Bioware games to look at, notably Dragon Age, but it's less exploration-based. The Neverwinter Nights series might appeal. You could try the Fallout games as well; the original two are probably even more aged and clunky than Baldur's Gate, though, and the recent ones are first-person and slightly more action-oriented.

 

Or you can look at other indies. Eschalon is the series that gets compared to Avernum a lot. I don't like it much, but you can try it out.

 

—Alorael, who would also just wait. There are number of Kickstarter projects that look promising and will show up in a year or two. Plus there will be more Spiderweb games!

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Eschalon's worth playing and it looks very much like a Spiderweb game on the surface, but the writing and world design aren't anywhere near Spiderweb quality so I kind of had a hard time keeping with it (Haven't played the sequel yet, so who knows---maybe it's way better).

 

I've never played them and I've heard mixed things, but I really want to try "Winter Voices" at some point. I know a lot of people hate them, but they just look so strange that I have to try them. I don't want to pay full price, though, in case they end up sucking so I've been waiting and hoping they will go on sale on steam this Christmas (here's a link if anyone has never heard of them): http://store.steampowered.com/app/72900/?snr=1_7_suggest__13

 

Also, Beamdog just released the remake of :"Baldur's Gate." I mention this because they completely rehauled the interface to make it more user friendly (Among other changes) That'd probably be worth a try if you still haven't played that, but are scared off by the interfaces of older infinity engine games.

 

As of now, though, you can only buy it direct from their website: http://www.beamdog.com/products/baldurs-gate-enhanced-edition

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if you don't mind flashgames then Arcuz I and II and King's Island I-III and KI Kaptivo's Rage and Eukarion Tales I-II.

 

Eschalon-games are nice but in those char basically needs to do everything by him/herself and there are n+1 skills which are needed and somewhat dumb restrictions like can't cast simple spell if has too much armor etc (no idea if that can be circumvent somehow).

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Eschalon's worth playing and it looks very much like a Spiderweb game on the surface, but the writing and world design aren't anywhere near Spiderweb quality so I kind of had a hard time keeping with it (Haven't played the sequel yet, so who knows---maybe it's way better).

 

I've never played them and I've heard mixed things, but I really want to try "Winter Voices" at some point. I know a lot of people hate them, but they just look so strange that I have to try them. I don't want to pay full price, though, in case they end up sucking so I've been waiting and hoping they will go on sale on steam this Christmas (here's a link if anyone has never heard of them): http://store.steampo...1_7_suggest__13

 

Also, Beamdog just released the remake of :"Baldur's Gate." I mention this because they completely rehauled the interface to make it more user friendly (Among other changes) That'd probably be worth a try if you still haven't played that, but are scared off by the interfaces of older infinity engine games.

 

As of now, though, you can only buy it direct from their website: http://www.beamdog.c...nhanced-edition

 

Theres a few problems with that. I pre-ordered the game and even though it came out a week ago, its still unplayable for many people, including myself. They have major problems with pc and while I am patient, its kind of hard to know that half the users on forums are playing the game, while the other half arent getting past the bug crash at startup.

 

Your better off waiting for them to release some patches if you want a party based game.

 

If that doenst work, I can definitely recommend Eschalon book 1 for a solo character game. Its a great game, has a great story, and is relatively alot like old spiderweb games with character cusomization. You can specialize into a few select skills and feel very much like the spiderweb experience. Its also very replayable as well.

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I've never played them and I've heard mixed things, but I really want to try "Winter Voices" at some point. I know a lot of people hate them, but they just look so strange that I have to try them. I don't want to pay full price, though, in case they end up sucking so I've been waiting and hoping they will go on sale on steam this Christmas (here's a link if anyone has never heard of them):

I'd like to co-sign a Winter's Voices playthrough. I'm about half-way through the second episode and really enjoying it thusfar. The atmosphere of the game, particularly in the writing, is excellent. I would recommend trying the first episode at least, you may very well enjoy yourself.

 

If you want to experiment a little bit, I would also recommend trying out To The Moon. No combat to speak of, so it's also story-based. You're a pair of scientists entering a dying man's dreams, trying to relive his life. It gets extremely deep at points and is very immersing. The graphics are pretty eastern-inspired. It is linear though, not much exploration involved. Still, a great game for a weekend.

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Are you calling Avernum dumb indirectly? :p

 

In Avernum casters can wear armor if their stats are high enuf (and even w/o good enuf stats but then some spells aren't usable and in Esc 1 char couldn't cast light if had heavy armor) but no idea if Eschalon 1 its possible (got enuf from Esc 2 when trying to destroy that freaking nest since apparently nothing except powder kegs could damage it).

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If you want to experiment a little bit, I would also recommend trying out To The Moon. No combat to speak of, so it's also story-based. You're a pair of scientists entering a dying man's dreams, trying to relive his life. It gets extremely deep at points and is very immersing. The graphics are pretty eastern-inspired. It is linear though, not much exploration involved. Still, a great game for a weekend.

 

Yeah, I loved "To The Moon." I like to describe it as "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" + "Citizen Kane" + RPGMAKER = "To the Moon." It's an awesome game, but it's really more an interactive storybook with the occasional push puzzle. So it's not really much of a "game," but I'd still recommend everyone play it as I think it's kind of revolutionary in the way it tells its story.

 

It's good to hear that you enjoy Winter Voices. I tried the demo and liked it fine, but I've heard it had so many bugs that I've been waiting. They supposedly released a massive game wide update along with episode 5, so I think I'm ready to play them now. Like I said, I'm just hoping they go on sale this Christmas so I can snap them all up in one go.

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If you place a powder keg next to the nest and attack it, it will speed up that quest considerably. There should be one just NW of the nest when you first enter that map. Many people have complained about the quest, rightly so, but it would be ridiculous to release a patch just to fix one quest that isn't really 'broken'. The Eschalon games are not quite on par with Avernum/Geneforge to me, however they are the most similar that I have been able to find thus far. I would recommend them.

 

Edited for clarity.

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There are RPG's outside of Spiderweb?

 

Wait. There is LIFE outside of Spiderweb?

Heel young one. Despite the empty rumors of malcontents, I can positively guarentee you that there is nothing of interest outside your front door. Should you feel the need to exit said door, follow up on said feelings by slapping yourself with an exceptionally large, wet flounder.
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also Mordor Depths of Dejenol (abandon/freeware nowadays) could be 1 possibilty since in it there's alot to be played but graphics are old but still not bad (although I doubt it works on modern Windows much less on 64bit Windows).

 

Mordor 2/Mordor Rise of Ku'Tan apparently never saw daylight beyond beta.

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also Mordor Depths of Dejenol (abandon/freeware nowadays) could be 1 possibilty since in it there's alot to be played but graphics are old but still not bad (although I doubt it works on modern Windows much less on 64bit Windows).

 

Yes, it does work quite well on a 32-bit Win7 (amazing, considering that the setup detected my system as running Windows 95 :p ). The graphics look pre-Exile though.

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  • 3 months later...

I thought I should plug Winter Voices again since I finally got around to playing them, although they are really nothing like Spiderweb games. They have an insanely cool skill tree system and stat system, which might seem strange on the surface, but aren't anything a RPG vet can't handle (my character's essentially a tank, for example, eventhough if I told you about her stats it wouldn't make much sense on the surface).

 

Pros:

 

-unique stat system

-one of the most awesome skill trees of any current gen RPG (with different paths actually affecting the way you play)

-Neat difficulty system--where difficulty is always determined by how many points you put in one particular attritbute, rather than any external game setting. The higher this attribute, the harder battles are, but the more experience you get

 

Nuetrals:

 

-Battles are more "puzzle like" than your typical SW game, but stats do matter.

-The concept behind the game isn't exactly typical. You play a girl trying to deal with the emotional trauma of her father's death, while also trying to discover secrets about your family's history. All "combat" is defensive, too. You simply try to survive a certain number of turns against mental projections. Again, I think this is awesome, but I realize it might not appeal to some.

-Not very many battles. I personally like this as I think any typical SW game can usually do with way less combat, but if you like combat you might be disappointed.

-It's very adventure like. Most experience comes from just talking to people rather than fighting.

 

Cons:

 

-The Engine is SOOOOOO slow. Like, your character walks really slow, I mean, which makes the games longer than they should be.

-Terrible translations. The games were written in French and the text often leans towards the poetic, which too often just translates as awkward word salad. Some of the more artistic and philosphically oriented sections don't work as well as I suspect they might in French just because the translations are so bad (a couple times I felt like I was watching a poorly translated, freshman, art film).

-It's episodic, still unfinished (one episode is still unreleased), and has TONS of bugs, although they are still fixing them.

 

All in all I like the games. They are definitely flawed and I'm not sure if, in their execution, they ever fully live up to the brilliance of the basic concepts behind the game, but they worth playing if you want to try something different.

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I myself am really getting into games like Eschalon, The Quest, Fallout 1 and 2. I like games like that because you are only controlling one character so you have to be very careful with your build. Its too bad there aren't many other games ilke those mentioned. I happen to think that jeff could make an awesome solo character rpg like all the other old school ones. Party combat is fun, but getting through a game with a lone hero is pretty friggin epic.

 

If anyone knows of any other solo rpgs that are turn based, post them here.

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I myself am really getting into games like Eschalon, The Quest, Fallout 1 and 2. I like games like that because you are only controlling one character so you have to be very careful with your build. Its too bad there aren't many other games ilke those mentioned. I happen to think that jeff could make an awesome solo character rpg like all the other old school ones. Party combat is fun, but getting through a game with a lone hero is pretty friggin epic.

 

If anyone knows of any other solo rpgs that are turn based, post them here.

 

Actually I played the whole Geneforge series as a solo Agent - no creations and no extra party members. It was great fun.

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Even if you don't play solo, Geneforge still gives you only one real character. You have only one build. For a shaping-dependant character choosing your creatures and when to shape them is part of the build.

 

—Alorael, who nevertheless agrees. If you want solo, you can play Geneforge as a solo agent/infiltrator or servile, or you can go for the harder Avernum singleton. It's quite doable.

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Even if you don't play solo, Geneforge still gives you only one real character. You have only one build. For a shaping-dependant character choosing your creatures and when to shape them is part of the build.

 

—Alorael, who nevertheless agrees. If you want solo, you can play Geneforge as a solo agent/infiltrator or servile, or you can go for the harder Avernum singleton. It's quite doable.

 

Yeah but thats the problem. The game is meant to be a party game but only 1 class in Geneforge 1-3 uses creations-The shaper. Even in Geneforge 4 and 5, Only Lifecrafter and Shocktrooper really use creations. The sorceress uses them minimally. Every time I play one of the gene forge games, I always pick 4-5 skills and it always fails. I usually pick strength, melee, quick action endurance and a little mechanics and thats it. I don't bother with luck and shaping skills as I don't like creations.

 

I would play an agent but a spell caster isn't really a cool character class. I usually like ranged weapons experts or warriors as my main character in rpgs. Would it be ideal to use a guardian or agent as a ranged weapons expert and go all out with haste and what not for extra attacks. Or is melee more viable. If someone can tell me what Im doing wrong I'd like to know because I have Geneforge 1-5 and Avernum 4-6 and I haven't completed one save G1.

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Yeah but thats the problem. The game is meant to be a party game but only 1 class in Geneforge 1-3 uses creations-The shaper. Even in Geneforge 4 and 5, Only Lifecrafter and Shocktrooper really use creations. The sorceress uses them minimally. Every time I play one of the gene forge games, I always pick 4-5 skills and it always fails. I usually pick strength, melee, quick action endurance and a little mechanics and thats it. I don't bother with luck and shaping skills as I don't like creations.

 

I would play an agent but a spell caster isn't really a cool character class. I usually like ranged weapons experts or warriors as my main character in rpgs. Would it be ideal to use a guardian or agent as a ranged weapons expert and go all out with haste and what not for extra attacks. Or is melee more viable. If someone can tell me what Im doing wrong I'd like to know because I have Geneforge 1-5 and Avernum 4-6 and I haven't completed one save G1.

 

I just pulled up a late-game save from G4. My Agent was specialized in Melee, Battle Magic and Blessing Magic. There were obviously other points spread around in Quick Action, Mechanics, etc. Didn't mess with ranged weapons because she used Battle Magic for that need. Her points were heavy in Strength, but she was also high in Endurance and not too bad in Dexterity and Endurance. She was your basic, all-around fighting machine.

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Yeah but thats the problem. The game is meant to be a party game but only 1 class in Geneforge 1-3 uses creations-The shaper. Even in Geneforge 4 and 5, Only Lifecrafter and Shocktrooper really use creations. The sorceress uses them minimally. Every time I play one of the gene forge games, I always pick 4-5 skills and it always fails. I usually pick strength, melee, quick action endurance and a little mechanics and thats it. I don't bother with luck and shaping skills as I don't like creations.

 

I would play an agent but a spell caster isn't really a cool character class. I usually like ranged weapons experts or warriors as my main character in rpgs. Would it be ideal to use a guardian or agent as a ranged weapons expert and go all out with haste and what not for extra attacks. Or is melee more viable. If someone can tell me what Im doing wrong I'd like to know because I have Geneforge 1-5 and Avernum 4-6 and I haven't completed one save G1.

 

Play a Guardian in Geneforge 2. Pump Parry as high as possible as soon as possible, plus some Endurance, Strength and combat skills. Enjoy being invincible.

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I would play an agent but a spell caster isn't really a cool character class.

And here's your problem. It's true: most games don't support playing without magic. Linear warrior, quadratic wizard.

 

—Alorael, who even thinks this makes sense in Geneforge. The Shapers hold power by use of magic. Shaping, yes, but other magic as well. If you reject it you're throwing away your advantage. You should have a tough time.

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dunno, I liked Ultima 6's big party (cause they all were melee fighters (I count halberd as melee in this case) so their AI worked fine) and also Exile Crystal Soul's big party (although most I did was killing Empiere soldiers after native monsters refused to fight against my party) but I'm fine with 2-4 chars party or even soloing (not in SW-games).

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As people have already mentioned: -

Planescape Torment

Baldurs Gate + Expac

Baldurs Gate II + Expac

Icewind Dale + Expac

Icewind Dale II + Expac

Neverwinter Nights + Expacs

NeverWinter Nights II + Expacs

 

TES - Arena

TES - Daggerfall

TES - Morrowind

TES - Oblivion

TES - Skyrim

 

One thing I will say is that 3D graphics do not age as gracefully as 2D... The infinity Engine games {Baldurs Gate,Icewind Dale....} may looked dated, yes..but they will be much easier to immerse yourself into that say 'Neverwinter Nights'.. it was the first 3D rpg made by Bioware..It loos horribly dated now, to the point where I really struggle to play it.. Even when it was new though I didn't like it as much as the older games...

 

The Witcher Series is pretty darn good, and very nice graphics considering the first game was made with the aurora engine (Neverwinter nights engine) granted it was heavily modified..

 

If you dont mind what setting your games are in then the Fallout series can be quite good...

 

 

PS - they have a deal on GOG.com for the next 2 Days... You can get a whole bunch of RPG's for a little over $20 http://www.gog.com/promo/hasbro_stacking_weekend_promo_050413

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As people have already mentioned: -

Planescape Torment

Baldurs Gate + Expac

Baldurs Gate II + Expac

Icewind Dale + Expac

Icewind Dale II + Expac

Neverwinter Nights + Expacs

NeverWinter Nights II + Expacs

 

TES - Arena

TES - Daggerfall

TES - Morrowind

TES - Oblivion

TES - Skyrim

 

What's wrong with the Elder Scrolls expansions? :p

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I played through all the Geneforge games, trying all the classes at least once, and my solo games were always more fun than my shaper based games. My ideal class for a solo playthrough is probably an agent, but solo guardians (and later) serviles can be lots of fun too.

 

I did play a couple games as a Shaper and they bored me to tears, just because I think the games tend to be easier when you play as a shaper, but I also just found the process of managing my monsters tedious. Also, having to play all those attack animations, one by one, in my 7 monster party kind of sucked. Not so much in the bigger fights, but they really get tedious in the lesser fights when you know you can crush the opponent, yet you still have to sit through the animations.

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  • 1 month later...

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