Looking for a new PC RPG to play

[infohippie]

If you're not ruling out MMOs, I've just begun playing Blade and Soul and have found it highly enjoyable so far. Like other MMOs, it's heavier on the mechanics than story or characterisation, but the story has been pretty interesting so far and while the Big Bad of the story has been pretty moustache-twirling I have found a few decent sympathetic characters. It's Korean in origin and has a heavily Asian-themed design, feeling quite Chinese in particular. Once you get used to the mechanics and combo skills it feels like you're playing Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the MMO.

 

[Hurrly]

I loved Alpha Protocal i thought it was a great RPG not sure if im one of a minority thou and its been years since i played it

 

[Trunkage]

The only other thing I can think of is Kingdom of Amalur the reckoning. Its bit too easy though

 

[sanquin]

As said before, maybe try Dragon's Dogma. It just got released on PC. It has a very clich? story, the voice acting is pretty bad (though maybe in a fun way?), your companions give a little bit TOO much 'helpful information' all the time (they won't shut up), the menu's are clearly made for controller, and the graphics are...pretty decent but also pretty outdated.

However, the character creation is wonderful. You even get to create 2 characters. Your npc companion, and yourself. And you can choose 2 more companions premade or made by other players to form the party of your choosing. You can switch classes whenever you want, after buying a class once. Mages actually feel useful and powerful. And the combat is simply fantastic.

So if you want a game with fantastic combat, pretty good character creation (even your height/weight affect your character's stats), and a great class system...and can look past the flaws, go and give it a try. Just...don't expect to be very interested in the story. I personally play the game for the combat and classes alone.

 

[infohippie]

As said before, maybe try Dragon's Dogma. It just got released on PC.

Ah, I got all excited for a moment there, and then disappointed. I thought you had said Dragon's CROWN had been released on PC, damnit. I'd love to play that but I'm not buying a handheld system.

 

[Ender910_v1legacy]

Avernum should match your criteria fairly well (and I think both the first and second in the remade series are on sale):

http://store.steampowered.com/app/208400/

Probably my favorite fantasy RPG series, since I was introduced to the first Avernum game oh... 15 years ago or so. Very fun tactical combat, brilliant writing, and a really cool world/setting (basically, Avernum is a cobbled together nation of exiled misfits that are sent deep underground via a portal. A little like Australia, only a not so sunny ).

 

[Drathnoxis]

What's this? Haven't played Planescape:Torment?? Go play Planescape:Torment!
Here's a modding guide for widescreen support, UI fix for widescreen, and bugfixes.

I played the game a couple years ago and found it to be one of the most engrossing RPGs I've ever played.

 

[spartandude]

It would help to know why you could get into some games but not others. For example you liked Neverwinter Nights and Baldurs Gate but not Neverwinter nights 2 or Pillars of Eternity?

I think OP likes it story heavy fantasy - not just for the D&D gameplay.

I share his sentiment of not liking PoE and NWN2(this one in particular...), I play it for Mask of the Betrayer.

Would recommend Mask of the Betrayer, assuming that you can get through terrible NWN2 main campaign.

Fair enough, althought I thought PoE was great. and how someone can think NwN 1 is better than NwN 2 is beyond me.

at OP

I really would recommend Mask of the Betrayer for Neverwinter Nights 2. Also for both NwN 1 and NwN 2 there is a fantastic modding community with an amazing amount of campaign you can download, some of which are really good.

 

[Kathinka]

It doesn't fit all your criteria perfectly, but I suggest you give Planescape: Torment a shot.

You seem to like a good story, and without exaggeration, P:T is the best century novel to come out in the last few decades. Only that it wasn't published as a book, but as a video game. Seriously, it's brilliant.

Other than that, as others have said, Jade empire is insanely fun.

 

[Rastrelly]

I'd love to try out Planescape Torment, however it seems to be somewhat unplayable at this stage

And now... Some magic!
We take Planescape here (http://www.gog.com/game/planescape_torment), and then read the article (http://www.gog.com/news/mod_spotlight_planescape_torment_mods_guide). Afterwards PST works in HD without any issues.

 

[Matthew Jeffs]

There's a great game on GOG, Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura - Nice RPG from Sierra, a nice big world a crazy amount of character customisation - you can go tech and make grenades and automatons and all sorts of firearms or forge your own weapons, or go magic and wield some crazy powerful spells, played the game through a dozen times and always find new things to do.

It's got a few bugs, some can break the game completely but they are few and far between, and for ?4.19 its a good few hours of fun.

 

[Zaltys]

I loved Alpha Protocal i thought it was a great RPG not sure if im one of a minority thou and its been years since i played it

Probably not. It tends to be rated high on various RPG-sites.
It's the players who go in expecting a standard first-person shooter who end up disappointed by it.

Other than that, I second the Avernum series and Drakensang (http://store.steampowered.com/app/12640/, not the MMO).

 

[blackrave]

snip

Hmmm, you're not making this easy.
Few of the top of my head.
System Shock 2- while protagonist is fixed, he is silent blank page. He only speaks a little in the end, so I wouldn't be surprised if there is mod that replaces skin and last words into whatever you like. Other than that it's a great game. But then again it is older game, so early 3D graphics.
Jagged Alliance 2- tactical take-over-south-american-dictatorship RPG. You can create your own characters, but they are only mercenaries- if custom characters die you can hire a new team. But if you couldn't get into Wasteland2, you may not like it as well.
Freedom Force- superhero RPG-lite. Matter of taste, but if you like things like that it can be very fun. There is also sequel. If I have to guess you may like it.
Arcanum-RPG set in the "steampunk vs. magic" setting. To be fair I found main story a bit dissapointing, but the game itself is quite unique to at least try it.

 

[NinjaTank56]

I will give my suggestion to Kingdoms of Amalur and Dragon's Dogma. Just keep in mind, both were released originally on last gen consoles, and that Neither of them have a very good story (In DD's case, It might have had a good story hidden somewhere, but it was delivered horribly). What these games do have, however, is great combat and classes. You can switch classes at any time, and all of them feel useful and fun. DD has more of a traditional class system, with 9 classes to chose from (3 basic warrior/mage/rogue, 3 advanced classes, and 3 hybrid classes), whereas KoA lets you put points into abilities, weapons, and stats from the 3 basic warrior/mage/rogue archetypes, letting you specialize or make a hybrid. Both games are open world, but each of them have different flaws. KoA has the MMO zones syndrome, where an area is just a semi-large landmass being connected to the others by a small pathway and a loading screen. DD on the other hand, has a well-crafted open world, but is plagued by non-random enemy spawns, a limited fast-travel system (you have to use items to fast-travel), and only one (and a half) town. That said though, if you can look past some of their flaws, the combat is more than enough to carry these games to the end.

I personally couldn't get into dark souls, on account of its terrible level design (also the game's reputation works against itself sometimes), but I seem to be in the minority there.

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

Welcome to Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday.
It ticks all your boxes and going by your list, you haven't played anything like it before.

 

[veloper]

Seconding Dark Souls, Dragon's Dogma and Amalur, for lack of other options. These three are the only action-RPGs on PC that I consider to have decent to good action gameplay. OP liked M&B even, so it could work.

OP doesn't appear to be really into "action-RPGs" of the Diablo-clone variety, based on his list, so that shortens the PC list considerably.

Other preferred games on the list appear to be heavier on the story or CYOAB side than on gameplay and I cannot really recommend those. ...although, Jade Empire should fit the story/biodrone requirement and the gameplay while subpar, isn't entirely crap, so that game might actually please.

 

[MercurySteam]

I can understand you not wanting to go back to the Fable series but surprised that Dragon Age: Inquisition didn't work for you. It takes a bit of getting used to but it's a fairly good game, albeit a huge one.

My only suggestion is The Witcher 3 - Wild Hunt. The controls of the first game irked the shit out of me and I couldn't get into the second game but the third feels to me as the way all fantasy RPGs should be. CD Projekt Red took old fashioned RPGs and rolled it into one amazing and fantastically written game (seriously, I think they have Bioware beat for storytelling). Its not without its flaws but definitely the longest RPG I've ever played so if the scale of DA:I turned you off then it may not be for you.

 

[Aulleas123]

So to answer some of the posts put up:

If you were willing to give it another go, the user created campaigns for Neverwinter Nights 2 are pretty solid. Especially Baldur's Gate Reloaded and the Icewind Dale remake, among many others.

It's quite fun to the play classics with the 3.5 edition ruleset.

That's a good point, I should check that out. Thank you!

You could try Drakensang. Its a fantasy themed RPG based on a German pen and paper system. The combat system and skill trees take a while to get used to but the story was really good.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/12640/

Saw it, put it on my wishlist, now that I hear you suggest it, I'll give it a shot!

Lately Ive been playing Blade and soul which IMO holds up pretty well as a single player experience even though its an MMORPG set in a Asian martial arts themed world. That said, there are a few points in the story where it feels more about established characters then you and youre actions

Besides that, have you looked into Shadowrun returns, Shadowrun Dragonfall, and Shadowrun Hong Kong? All three have pretty good primary campaigns with pretty good mod support that allows you to play other peoples adventures. Shadowrun has earned a place on my favorite games of the year for 3 years running because the writing and character advancement is so good.

Others I recommend, and were already mentioned, include Dark souls, Jade Empire, and Alpha protocol

I'll take a look at Blade and Soul, I actually don't mind MMOs so long as they let me do what I want without being forced to interact with others. I will say that I posted in the OP that I've tried out Shadowrun Returns series and I really enjoy it!

What's this? Haven't played Planescape:Torment?? Go play Planescape:Torment!
Here's a modding guide for widescreen support, UI fix for widescreen, and bugfixes.

I played the game a couple years ago and found it to be one of the most engrossing RPGs I've ever played.

I'll check this out too.

Avernum should match your criteria fairly well (and I think both the first and second in the remade series are on sale):

http://store.steampowered.com/app/208400/

Probably my favorite fantasy RPG series, since I was introduced to the first Avernum game oh... 15 years ago or so. Very fun tactical combat, brilliant writing, and a really cool world/setting (basically, Avernum is a cobbled together nation of exiled misfits that are sent deep underground via a portal. A little like Australia, only a not so sunny ).

...interesting, I'll check that out!

Freedom Force- superhero RPG-lite. Matter of taste, but if you like things like that it can be very fun. There is also sequel. If I have to guess you may like it.

In the OP, I said that I played it.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions, I've heard a lot of folks giving support or criticism for the Souls series as well as Dragon's Dogma, and I'll take a look at those as well!

Feel free to keep posting! This is great to read guys!

 

[Aulleas123]

My only suggestion is The Witcher 3 - Wild Hunt.

...sadly, I don't get to create my own character in The Witcher. I'm sure Geralt is a bad ass, but he's someone else's creation and I like creating my own badasses! That's the challenge!

 

[Amaror]

My only suggestion is The Witcher 3 - Wild Hunt.

...sadly, I don't get to create my own character in The Witcher. I'm sure Geralt is a bad ass, but he's someone else's creation and I like creating my own badasses! That's the challenge!

Well if you can get over that, at least in my opinion, somewhat silly requirement then go play The Witcher 3. It's easily the best RPG I have ever played and would be the best game overall if I didn't enjoy Paradox Strategy games that much.
If you can't then I am sorry, there are just not that many good modern RPGs with Character Creator and you seem to have allready tried all the ones that are good or at least ok.