Games to Fill the Gap: What you're playing before Sui Generis

[Empire²]

(And I didn't even managed a full playthrough of Witcher before I gave up)

*gasp* Really?!

Was that due to you not liking the game, or due to you being inexplicably bad at it somehow?

The Witcher 2 is such a good game. The lore is so damn interesting, even for people like me who have never played the original. The characters are diverse and feel like they're more than just assets, the story is original and unfolds in an exciting way and the locations you go to are utterly breathtaking.

Having said that, I am very excited for The Witcher 3.

I have some more suggestions as well, some not exactly RPGs in the way Sui Generis is.

Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic II (Sci-Fi RPG, WoW-style combat. Old game, a lot of fun though.)

The Stanley Parable (Psychological Puzzle/Exploration "game". Would definitely recommend going into it blind, a 9/10 from me.)

Sid Meier's Pirates! (Like Assassin's Creed: Black Flag, but without the assassins. Sailing, naval combat and treasure hunting. Also an old game with some notorious compatibility issues.)


Those are just a couple you can sink a lot of time into without having to prepare yourself for it. If you want more diverse games, tell me, I have a steam library full of them

 

[fluffydino2000]

I have the Witcher 2, but honestly, found it unplayable. I simply hated the combat, I didn't get far in the game so I may be judging it to quickly but I found the pacing of the combat to be dreadful, in my opinion of course. Maybe it was the controls or maybe it's just me but it stopped me playing it very quickly. It's a shame because I was really getting into the lore, I was intrigued.

I am hyped for the Witcher 3 though, being open-world I imagine the encounters will be more to my liking.

 

[Komuflage]

*gasp* Really?!

Was that due to you not liking the game, or due to you being inexplicably bad at it somehow?

The Witcher 2 is such a good game. The lore is so damn interesting, even for people like me who have never played the original. The characters are diverse and feel like they're more than just assets, the story is original and unfolds in an exciting way and the locations you go to are utterly breathtaking.

Having said that, I am very excited for The Witcher 3.

It was a few things that bugged me to much.
I bought the game at it's release, and put in in the hardest difficulty, played for as while, died, realised it was perma death. And changed to the second hardest difficulty. Played that for a while. Story was good, I felt like my actions did have some consequences and so on. But the combat was always bugging me, it's so (imo) bad for being a third person rpg.

Thing was, you had evade manoeuvres, you needed some skill to parry, and so on.
But the light attacks were "all" leap attacks. Hence, if I pressed LMB, my character was stuck in a stupid attack animation for 1-2 seconds, without me being able to do anything.
That just removes the whole purpose of "skilled" combat, every time you attacked you pretty much "stunlocked" yourself, and the enemy's were free to attack you. Divine divinity has the same problems, were your "normal" attack is a leap attack, and you can't dodge or parry during it.

So that was the first thing that was bugging me.

The second thing was the Lockon mechanic.
So the game automatically locked you against the closest enemy in your vision. You could Force-lock it by pressing Alt, but there was no way to easily change the target.

All this made me get so annoyed with it.
Lets say I was up against three guys, 2 shielded and 1 with a 2h weapon.

I wanted to kill the guy with a 2h weapon, since he would be the easiest to kill, so I aim at him, the game lockson, I press LMB and my character jumps towards him and attack, once the attack is done, he get pushed away a bit, and the game auto lock on 1 of the shielded guys since now he's closer, continuing to pressing LMB Gerald would proceed to just jump around the battlefield attacking whoever he seemed fit. It felt like I wasn't playing the game.
And I despise not having control over my character, I hate when a game does things for me.
And if the game now insist of taking control from me, since apparently it's to "difficult" to do everything yourself, then I see no point in playing.

This have been the case of a lot of games recently, hence I've a hard time finding new and fun games.

 

[Scarecrow]

I also own the Witcher 2, but like Komuflage, i eventually gave up on it as well. I invested a good 15+ hours into it, however the gameplay wasn't very engaging, nor was the story good enough to keep me interested alone (The story was good though). The combat in that game reminded me a bit of the combat in Kingdoms of Amalur, although slightly better.

The swkotor series has been praised to the skies, but i have yet to give it a try. The thing that prevents me from getting into it is the combat, because i have gotten the impression tat it plays in a somewhat similar way to that of Dragon Age? And i just barely managed to play through Dragon Age Origins for the story alone, which wasn't THAT impressive i might add.

The Stanley Parable is cool, i wouldn't quite consider it a game either though. It's more of an experience (but not in the same way Journey for instance is an experience).

Sid Meier's Pirates i grew tired of after two hours because it was just sooo repetitive imo.

 

[Empire²]

The swkotor series has been praised to the skies, but i have yet to give it a try. The thing that prevents me from getting into it is the combat, because i have gotten the impression tat it plays in a somewhat similar way to that of Dragon Age? And i just barely managed to play through Dragon Age Origins for the story alone, which wasn't THAT impressive i might add.

Well, I have never really played Dragon Age myself, although I have always been under the impression it's not very different from a run-of-the-mill hack & slash action-RPG (In the style of Fable).

I honestly don't know what that specific style of combat mechanics is most often referred to as. It's like the old RuneScape or pretty much any MMORPG in the style of WoW or Guild Wars.

If you happen to be looking for a fun MMORPG, I'd suggest Tera: Rising. It's got your standard MMO and RPG mechanics, but the combat is, once again, more hack & slash-esque. However, because of the fact it is still an MMO, you have to be a lot more tactical about using your attacks and skills. You can even be a cute little raccoon guy with a giant lance! What's there not to like about that?! It's a decent MMORPG, which means it's as grindy as every single other one but it looks prettier and the combat is more fun.

 

[Komuflage]

If you want more diverse games, tell me, I have a steam library full of them

Maybe you know of any game with turned based combat in the same faction as Temple of elemental evil?

Pretty much a rpg (not necessary) that's group based (Baldur's gate, NeverWinter nights) but with turn based combat instead of that 'realtime pause' type.

Preferably something with similar amount of options like in Toee, instead of just being able to give attack order.
Also if it's actually difficult that's a Huge plus, I tend to get bored with games when there is no challenge in them.
Graphics: I don't care that much, I need to be able to look at it without my eyes bleeding.
(Pretty much, games that tried to look Realistic back in 00's look like shit today, even DA:O is not that pretty, however, Planescape tornment, Heroes of Might and magic 3 and similar still looks beautiful. This is ofc extremely subjective, but generely, games that look "photo realistic" tends to age very badly.)

 

[Empire²]

There is a game in the works that doesn't fit the D&D feel of TOEE very well, but still looks very promising, called Legends Of Eisenwald. It's on Steam in Early Access, and it looks quite promising. Rather than the dungeon crawling though, the combat is hex based, while the map is more like the Total War single unit movement. Its features include/will include a single player campaign with a story/objective and a lot of settlements, a politics & rumours system and a battle mode.

A similar game to Legends Of Eisenwald, but themed differently would be Expeditions: Conquistador. I suppose I don't have to really expand on what the theme is, since the title kind of spoils that surprise.

The thing I can recommend the most is Torchlight 2. Not TBS at all, but hey, it's better than D3.

There's not a lot of TBRPGs that have not been mentioned here or anywhere else on the forums, so I can't provide you with anything new, but I suppose it doesn't hurt to try a new (sub)genre every once in a while. Heck, I thought Civ 5 would be the most boring game ever and I'm now stuck playing it every day!

I also have some random recommendations:
Gunpoint (Puzzle-Platformer, Action)
Frozen Synapse (Turn-based SWAT Tactics)
Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons (Dual-Stick Puzzle-Adventure)
King Arthur's Gold (2d Medieval TDM)
Rogue Legacy (Roguelike Action Platformer)
Volgarr the Viking (Roguelike Action Platformer)
The Wolf Among Us (Interactive Visual Novel)
Mark of the Ninja (Stealth/Puzzle Platformer)
Knights of Pen and Paper +1 (TBS D&D)
Foul Play (Comedy Beat 'em Up)
Dysfunctional Systems: Learning to Manage Chaos (Interactive Visual Novel)

Of course, I assume you've played at least some of these, but the suggestions are open to anyone

 

[Tessaya]

Maybe you know of any game with turned based combat in the same faction as Temple of elemental evil?

Pretty much a rpg (not necessary) that's group based (Baldur's gate, NeverWinter nights) but with turn based combat instead of that 'realtime pause' type.

Preferably something with similar amount of options like in Toee, instead of just being able to give attack order.
Also if it's actually difficult that's a Huge plus, I tend to get bored with games when there is no challenge in them.
Graphics: I don't care that much, I need to be able to look at it without my eyes bleeding.
(Pretty much, games that tried to look Realistic back in 00's look like shit today, even DA:O is not that pretty, however, Planescape tornment, Heroes of Might and magic 3 and similar still looks beautiful. This is ofc extremely subjective, but generely, games that look "photo realistic" tends to age very badly.)

Could be a silly question but still ... have you played the first two Fallout games ? You have to like the setting (post-aco) but damn they were fun ! They do hold a very special space in my heart (Fallout being my first pc game).

 

[Komuflage]

Could be a silly question but still ... have you played the first two Fallout games ? You have to like the setting (post-aco) but damn they were fun ! They do hold a very special space in my heart (Fallout being my first pc game).

Yea I've played them both, they're truly amazing, awesome mix of; great story, great setting, great combat, great dialogues, great character.
They're kinda a 'jack of all trades' since they get every part right, not perfect, but more than enough,

 

[Scarecrow]

Gunpoint is really cool, unfortunatly it's quite short though.

Brothers i haven't tried myself, but TotalBiscuit made a WTF is about it, and he praised it a lot. I really have to give that a go.

Rogue Legacy is quite cool, but it didn't take me too long to grow tired of it to be honest. I think it was worth the money though.

The Wolf Among Us was just great, can't wait for the next episode! It's made by the same guys that made The Walking Dead (Game), Telltale Games. Imo it was better than the Walking Dead.

Other than that, i might suggest Spelunky which is a roguelike action platformer, really cool and addictive.
Risk of rain looks pretty cool, particularly when played with friends. Roguelike action platformer, but in a completely different setting and way than Spelunky for instance.
King Arthur the Roleplaying Wargame is great mix of strategy, RPG and story. Fantastic. (Be warned though, many people have had SEVERE performance issues with the game. I have had none personally.)

I would suggest the Souls games, but it seems that almost everyone on the forums has already played them, or at least heard of them. I still play them both to this date.

 

[Empire²]

I agree that The Wolf Among Us was better than the Walking Dead. I guess it works better when there's not an incredibly popular TV show running parallel to a story you're trying to convey independently.

I'm personally not a fan of Risk Of Rain, although I adore the aesthetics. Never been too good at stuff like twitch shooters and run & gun games. I get incredibly spastic when I play something like Unreal Tournament or similar titles.

Another fun game to play with friends is Speedrunners. It's a sidescrolling platform-racer for up to 4 people, with Mario Kart-style power-ups and traps.

 

[Lathspell]

When it comes to great storys in RPG I think the BS and planescape torment have the best. However if you don't like the gameplay, then perhaps Fallout 1 or two suits you better? The story is still good, but gameplay is (imo) better.

Other than that, you got Temple of elemental Evil or Nox, both great games, the story ain't that spectacular, but it's alright, gameplay is a blast though, especially Temple, great mix of turnbased strategy and RPG.

Arcanum is a game I've hear good about, although I not tried it myself yet.

Arcanum is cool, someone has gave a try to Gorasul? is hard to make old games work in windows 7 ...now Im trying zomboid, as it seems I will suck hard in a case of zombie apocalypse Im really trying indie games because they bring or try to bring something good and fresh to games and not just make cool graphics with the same shallow games...

 

[MoonyJello]

An amazing side-scrolling action online-multiplayer strategy video game called King Arthur's Gold.

King Arthur's Gold (abbr. KAG) is a game about mining resources, building castles and destroying your enemies. It is a side-scrolling 2D action multiplayer war game with focus on building, constructing siege machines and intense PvP-combat. Some inspirations for the game are Soldat, Minecraft, Dungeon Keeper, Ace of Spades, and King Arthur's World. InKAG, two teams (by default red and blue) struggle to dominate the other on giant randomly generated or beautiful custom made 2D maps. Nobody remembers why the war started, but the battle is ferocious and never ending.

Don't let the word mining turn you off immediately, it's still ridiculously fun.

http://www.kag2d.com/en/

 

[Tony]

@Komuflage, The Witcher 2 gameplay can be pretty tactical once you learn and master the mechanics. My biggest gripe with it was that the player could only control specific directional moves (like a reverse stab behind the player) while using an Xbox controller. You'd point the control stick at where you wanted to stab and you'd attack in that direction. So pointing behind you and attacking would hit the enemy behind you. I prefer to use the mouse and keyboard so I did not play using a controller. However, even using the M+K I was able to target whichever enemy I wanted by understanding that it will first target the one closest to you and to change you simply had to move the focus to that enemy using the mouse. Also, you'd do different attacks based upon the distance from you to the enemy. Learning what attacks you'd do at what range was very helpful.

Here is a video of me playing in arena mode on dark (hardest) difficulty. On dark difficulty setting some enemies will kill you in one hit.

 

[Komuflage]

Also, you'd do different attacks based upon the distance from you to the enemy.

Yea but that's the problem, why does it do it automatically, why don't I have control over whatever attack I want to use?
It makes no sense to me and I don't like it when a game does that.

However, even using the M+K I was able to target whichever enemy I wanted by understanding that it will first target the one closest to you and to change you simply had to move the focus to that enemy using the mouse.

This is also a problem, you can "work around it" but it stills autotarget, I shouldn't have to work around a game mechanic.

If they just removed autotarget, so I can target manually, and divide the attacks into different moves (For instance in dark souls LT/R2 is a heavy attack, but if you want to attack some1 at a distance you press LS-up + LT/R2, here the leap and normal attack are divided into 2 different attacks, and I got full control over which one of them I want to use) then the problem would be fixed. Also if they made potions useful in Dark I wouldn't mind.

 

[Tony]

I agree that there could be many improvements to the combat in TW2. I also agree that it's better to have more direct control over your character and less automated attacks (I find melee combat in games like Baldur's Gate incredibly boring since you have no control at all over what your character does). However, the combat wasn't so horrible in TW2 that I couldn't enjoy the game because of it. I just had to learn what was required in order to get Geralt to do what I wanted him to do even if it wasn't the most intuitive or best way of doing it.

What really made The Witcher 1 and The Witcher 2 shine was the well written story, the character depth and how they both required making a lot of morally difficult decisions which had unforeseen consequences. The combat was not the main focus of the game but even so TW2 was an improvement on TW1 combat system. I thought the rest of the gameplay elements were good enough that I wasn't put off completely by the somewhat weak combat in both games.

 

[the0thMonkey]

An amazing side-scrolling action online-multiplayer strategy video game called King Arthur's Gold.

I'm glad to see that some other people have heard of this game. I've been following Michal Marcinkowski (the head developer) since Soldat days. I always liked his style but I could never really get the hang of KAG. Regardless, I'm still supportive and it's nice to see that it's gaining popularity.

 

[Komuflage]

I'm glad to see that some other people have heard of this game. I've been following Michal Marcinkowski (the head developer) since Soldat days. I always liked his style but I could never really get the hang of KAG. Regardless, I'm still supportive and it's nice to see that it's gaining popularity.

Soldat brings back memories Played it quite a lot a few years ago.
Also bought KAD a while back, but there were so few populated servers I got bored after a while.

 

[Lathspell]

answering the question which is the thread title, Im staying with project zomboid, pretty cool game it may not have storyline but it has great atmosphere and actually the 1st zombie game which actually makes me feel like nervous about going out with them around, just like those times with my old ps1 playing silent hill and alone in the dark...those are real horror games

 

[Avramovic]

right now, Age of Decadence R4.3 demo... it's not as much a game as it is exercise in masochism