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My recs are gonna be more on the indie / pixely side of things, because I love this type of game and haven't seen a ton recommended.
Darkest Dungeon - Great game but brutally unforgiving
LISA - It's like a darker Earthbound
Stardew Valley - Maybe more of a farming game with RPG elements, great time sink
West of Loathing - Comedy RPG by the creators of Kingdom of Loathing
Hyper Light Drifter - Action RPG, the soundtrack is amazing
Couple that aren't out yet but look nice:
Children of Morta
Eastward
Knuckle Sandwich
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rpg
mixed with action
mixed with fps
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My favorite RPG to this point is Wizardry VII: Crusaders of the Dark Savant. I'm a huge fan of the Wizardry series, and the seventh game was just so vastly improved over the previous six (which are all classics). The size of the world blew me away, the puzzles were great and the depth of the game is something to behold. I didn't have Steam to track how many hours I spent playing it, but I'm sure it far exceeds all others I've played... except for Everquest.
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https://www.steamgifts.com/discussion/gRksK/best-rpg-games-you-ever-played/search?page=4#7KCJn0Q
How Long To Beat gives it a playtime that puts just about every other computer game ever created to shame
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Nice link, thank you!
That data definitely backs up what I remember. I played a good number of hours before I decided I didn't like the makeup of my party. I needed a little more magic diversity, I just had one mage and one priest for magic users, and I didn't have a good way to engage in combat from the 4th party slot based on the ranged weapons I was finding. I didn't like having two fighters, either. So I rolled up a new party and restarted.
Just trying to estimate how many hours I played, I remember one summer when I was in high school all I basically did was play games on the family computer while my parents were working. So figure 40 hours a week for 10 weeks. I'd say almost half that time I was playing Wizardry 7, otherwise I was playing Star Control 2 and Wolfenstein.
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the witcher. the games mechanics (for the most part) got better as the series progressed, but it was the first game - with its interesting mechanics, fantastic story, world setting and atmosphere, that made me realise that rpgs didnt have to suck and could actually be really good.
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Best? Without thinking, because it's unlike any other game I've ever played, I must say it's Suikoden II
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i got blocked by a bug just in the beginning, before it really cought me, I abandoned.
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It's been years, but my favorite is still Fallout 2, especially with KillaP's Restoration Mod, which updates the UI (better mouse support, higher display resolutions, etc), fixes a bunch of bugs, and restores a CRAP-TON of content that the developers had to leave out of the game as Interplay rushed them to get the game out the door ASAP after the success of Fallout.
I enjoy the new 3D Fallout games, especially New Vegas (not coincidentally, the only one made by the developers of the original two Fallout RPGs), but none of them match Fallout 2. I also enjoy plenty of other RPGs, and there are a lot of really excellent ones. But Fallout 2 will forever hold a special place in my heart.
Honorable mention goes to Wasteland 2. Brian Fargo created the original Wasteland and the original Fallout (because he lost rights to the Wasteland name), and his team has continued the trend with Wasteland 2, and soon, 3.
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There's enough good suggestions in this thread to last you several years but I'll add a few that haven't been mentioned:
Vagrant Story: It has a fantastic atmosphere and a fun weapon modification/crafting system. It's a bit difficult for newcomers though.
Tactics Ogre: Final Fantasy Tactics's cousin.
Septerra Core: It has great worldbuilding and characters, but the endgame is a little repetitive and weak.
Megaman X Command Mission: Nobody talks about this game, but it's a good turn based RPG. If you never played any other Megaman games it's ok since this is a spinoff and it's not action/reflex oriented.
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i only read the first and last page so far, so sorry if i repeat someone else. but back in time, the best rpg i remember with my pink glasses of passed time: gothic 1 and gothic 2. was super nice when released. graphics didn't age well of course, and buggy as hell. but the freedom and the universe was great for me :-)
edit: ok, of course the gothic series was mentioned before, but i happily second that ;-)
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I usually prefer the old style sprite-type RPG's like Ys and Phantasy Star II & IV, and I haven't actually played any "real" RPG's on Steam at all!
Two that I REALLY enjoyed on PS2 (both now available on PS4):
Star Ocean 3: Till the End of Time - (Never played the first two) I didn't think I was going to like this one at first. I did not like the environment and overall feeling from the whole intro area, but once I got past that, it got really intriguing. There are some fabulous characters (Peppita! squee), fun real-time combat (I'm not good at finesse, but I still enjoyed it), and a story that kind of blew my mind... I'd never seen or heard of anything like the main, overall storyline before. My favorite parts were actually getting those 100% map completion bonuses and the crafting. lol~ Overall good fun (although the final "dungeon" was a slog!" There are 19 different endings for this one! :o
Wild Arms 3 - Another I didn't think I'd like, this time because of the weird character design. Neither my brother nor my dad would play it, as it just didn't hold up after playing the first two games, but I didn't have that bias, since this was my introduction to the series! This is an 80 hour+ game to complete, and there is SO much content, including optional puzzles (with great rewards!) The way the magic works in this game was really interesting to me, and the turn-based combat never bored me.
Two wildly different games, but both super-enjoyable!
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I see you've already played almost all good RPG games that are worth spending your time on.
If you are into JRPG's (and if you also have PS4) you could check out Persona 5, it's an amazing game, FFXV is also great, but not as great as Persona 5. Also older FF's are worth playing.
Edit: Action RPG games are also fun (if you like that that genre). Dark Souls, Sekiro, Diablo etc.
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I gotta say Wizardry 7, even if it is a bit dated these days. it's an old-school party-based dungeon crawler, but it's open world (from 1992!).
I can rave about the way skills are done, which is still better than most games to this day, or how the game can be defeated with just about any party combination, including a party of one (yay Faerie Ninja). It also let you import your characters from Wizardry 6 and export them to wizardry 8 (which came out a year later), and your ending in one game affects your beginning in the next (not to mention a certain bonus which I won't spoil)
but, the one really standout part was that you're in competition with other characters. Basically, you're on a quest to find several map pieces. But, other adventurers are out to get it too. You may be the first one to find a particular treasure, or you may get there and it's already gone one dungeon, upon entering, you might see a thick layer of dust, undisturbed for centuries... or you might see footprints. When you talk to NPCs, you can find out who has which map piece and where they are, but by the time you get there, that NPC's already gone somewhere else.... but it doesn't matter because a different NPC stole the it from him/her. Likewise, they're also trying to get to your map pieces, and may hunt you down and kill/steal/trade for it.
I've never seen any other RPG do that, before or after. That, to me, more than makes up for the initial grind, the long traveling time between different locations, and the overly complex puzzles (which is typical for a game from 1992).
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This. You bring up some excellent points. I loved how other adventurers, NPCs, were chasing map parts. It made what was a single player RPG - as they all were at the time - feel alive and dynamic, almost like others were playing against me. Wizardry 7 was way ahead of its time.
I still have a goal of beating 1-8 with the same party of characters. One of these days I'll get started on that.
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that is actually impossible. Apart from 1-3 being a trilogy, and 6-8 being a trilogy, and it not being possible to import characters into 4, 5, or 6, Wizardry 4's protagonist is the big bag villain from wizardry 1, werdna. Wizardry 4 is, by far, the most difficult RPG ever created, and you'll frequently come across 'real' parties form Wizardry 1-3, taken from broken discs sent into sirtech software for repair.
Wizardry 2 and 3 cannot create their own parties, so you're obligated to take a party from Wizardry 1.
I have, on a few occasions, taken a party from 6 through 8. There is definitely a preferred way to finish 6, leading to better interactions in 7 and 8. But, Wizardry 6 is somewhat lacking compared to 7 and 8, I'd rather just skip straight to 7 and play through 8.
If you want a real challenge, try playing with a single-character Faerie-Ninja. It's extra tough, but, the best weapon in each game is exclusive to that build.
I'm also a big fan of the skill system - you get better by levelling up AND by doing. e.g. you need to use points earned from leveling to get your swimming from 0 to 10 (any less and you'll drown). Thereafter, you can wade into shallow water a few times to bring your swimming up from 10 up to 100.
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I did not know that 4, 5 and 6 lacked an import feature. To this point I have only played 1-3, 7 and 8, but I do own the whole series. I know one of them, I believe it is 5, is very strange in that it needed to be booted from a PC when it was new rather than installed on a PC and run under DOS like 6 and 7 were. I really got into computers as a teen when 7 was new, so my knowledge of the older games is lesser. I just assumed that importing a party was something that could be done in all of them beyond the first. This will actually make my mission easier. I'll just do 1-3 with a party, and 6-8 with a different party.
I did know about the faerie-ninja thing. When I played 7 the first time I had a faerie mage that I thought about switching to a ninja when I got the cane from that ratling. I decided to ditch the whole party, though, and restart. I think it would be really difficult to start #7 with just a faerie ninja. The battles can be difficult in the early going with a full and healthy party. I imagine there would be a lot of reloading due to death with a single, fragile character.
I do like the skill system. The skill system in some of the Elder Scrolls games is similar or inspired by it. Granted those are single character action RPGs (I much prefer party and turn based combat). My second favorite RPG franchise is probably Elder Scrolls, although I do like Might & Magic too.
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I grew up with Wiz 1, long before I was a teen. Played 2, which was a major challenge. then got 7, which blew my mind. The first time I finished 7 was with a Faerie Ninja - while playing my own game, a friend and I started a new faerie ninja game for shits & giggles. He became obsessed with the game, and did most of the game on his own.
Just to clarify - Wiz 2 is really hard, and requires a party in the teens at a minimum just to venture into the first level. It's a true/traditional sequel, with your stats carrying over. Wiz 3's story is that your characters are the descendants of the heroes of the first two games, and their stats & level are dropped significantly.
Wiz 4 is, as I said earlier, the story of the evil wizard Werdna, who you may have managed to kill at the end of level 10 on Wiz 1. It's.... incredibly difficult.
Wiz 5 is a stepping stone toward the later games. It's still the Wiz 1 engine, but different spells, outdoor locations/maps (not that you can tell the difference), and a few other quirks.
Wiz 6 plays similar to 7, but is much simpler. It's alright, but these days I wouldn't bother playing it on its own, only for the purpose of getting a party through to the next game. Wiz 7 has 3 starting points, depending on how you ended 6, or if you started a new party. Your old party is rusty from the long journey, and reduced in level significantly. I don't recall if you also lose some of your equipment or not. Transferring your party to Wiz 8 is the same story (reduced level), but all start in the same spot.
Even though each game can be played completely separate even with an imported party, there are a few things that carry over. Spoiler you probably don't want to read: ~especially if you get X item off Y character at the end of 6, which can be used to get certain unique items in 7 and a gazillion XP in 8)
If you haven't played wiz 8, it's an interesting experience. They've transposed the party into an FPS engine, which is quirky, and I'm fairly certain it's a unique playstyle. I do recommend finding the patch that fixes wilderness encounters.
Oh, here is a very good resource for everything wizardry
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What, no love for rpgmaker games? Well here are some Steam hidden gems.
Hero and daughter
https://store.steampowered.com/app/271970/Hero_and_Daughter/
Your hero doesn't level up, but your summoned party-members do. I love the interactions between the characters. You'll find ways to get stat boosting items. It's got little bit of dating sim element, but not too much. It's strongest point is it's dialogue.
One way Heroics
https://store.steampowered.com/app/266210/One_Way_Heroics/
Rogue-like that has great music, very short playthroughs. You are being chased by the left screen, a black wall that follows you around for every turn you take. Be super-efficient in looting and leveling up and you may be able take down the boss at the end of 400 meters or play hard mode by letting the boss show up randomly to chase you down.
Cubicle Quest
https://store.steampowered.com/app/349500/Cubicle_Quest/
Here's an RPG I would give to elementary schools to teach about being an adult, fighting monsters like work, depression, and debt. A simulation rpg that has you battling to take control of your character's bad spending habits, fighting co-workers to get a promotion. A hidden educational rpg, I wish I thought up.
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Cthulhu Saves the World.
I definitely recommend this!
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The entire Persona series (3,4, and 5 especially, but I do love one and the two 2s, they are just very different games) and the entire Dragon Age series (yes, I even liked 2 though Origins is the best.). Also, Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines, I am looking forward to the sequel coming out.
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Gothic 1&2
The graphics didn't age well, but there are community texture patches.
The atmosphere is incredible (especially in Gothic 1) and even if the controls feel very clunky at first, the combat system is a lot of fun as soon as you get used to it.
If you can understand German good enough I would recommend you to play the German version cause the German sync is much better than the English one.
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I love RPG games as they are my favorite type but maybe there are some I have missed in last 20 years?
So please post all RPG games that you loved and are great. You can post links to steam for that games.
RPG FANS UNITE!
EDIT: Just wanted to say I love you all guys and gals!
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