Reccommend to me a game to play

[attackshark]

PC gamer here. i've got the shakes for a new game to play, but after some perusing of steam, i can't seem to find anything that will scratch my fancy. i went back and played some old games that did it for me in the past, but they didn't quite do it this time around. as such, i would like the community to recommend something to play to tickle my itch. if you would be so kind.

what i like/what i am looking for:

an RPG of sorts, to be sure. something with a lot of exploring, character leveling, and jazz. I played/liked well enough Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2 (didn't like 1 and i'm not interested in 3), and i like Bethesda games such as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Oblivion, and the Fallout series, all of which i have played the balls off of. i also enjoyed Kingdoms of Alamur: Reckoning and the Fable franchise. exploration and character leveling i would say are the two features at the top of my list.

what i an not looking for

MMOs or Final Fantasy games (i did X and XII which is all i needed). no pokemon, since i'm already waiting for Alpha/Omega, and no competitive games (i already have an unhealthy obsession with DOTA2). no KOTOR. i've dabbled; it's regrettable to say they're not to my liking.

last, but certainly not least, i'm on a tight budget; i'm not looking to spend more than 20.00 USD here since i don't have an income at the moment. i can wait around a bit for a sale if need be.

thank you all in advance for your contribution(s); you're a beautiful crowd and i hope you stay that way.

IT WAS TOO LONG AND I DIDN'T READ THE WHOLE THING: recommend to me a game with exploration, character building, a decent play time, and a relatively low cost; PC only.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Dark Souls seems to fulfill all your requirements, if you feel like you have the patience and mental fortitude to actually play through the game.

It's an RPG, there's stats and character leveling, and looting and gear, and even little sidequests for various characters (if you can figure out how to do them). It's also go exploration out the ass, if you're brave enough to do it. There's a lot of little nooks and crannies to explore, some optional side areas and bosses.

It's a decently long game (the average person's first playthrough of the game tends to clock in around 30 or 40 hours depending on how good they are and how thoroughly they're exploring), and it's available on PC (and can often be found on sale on steam for around $5).

 

[Twinrehz]

How about Neverwinter Nights, or perhaps Baldur's Gate. The latter is available on steam, the former you'll probably have to *cough* acquire by other means, I don't believe it's in sale any more. They're older games, but at least Baldur's Gate has been upgraded to Win7 support. If you think you can like isometric gaming, then those are good choices.

EDIT: Unsure about the exploring aspect in those games, though.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

How about Neverwinter Nights, or perhaps Baldur's Gate. The latter is available on steam, the former you'll probably have to *cough* acquire by other means, I don't believe it's in sale any more. They're older games, but at least Baldur's Gate has been upgraded to Win7 support. If you think you can like isometric gaming, then those are good choices.

EDIT: Unsure about the exploring aspect in those games, though.

Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate 2 are both available on gog.com.

Also, if you're going to recommend him Neverwinter Nights you might as well recommend Diablo and Torchlight which I think are way more fun.

 

[Twinrehz]

How about Neverwinter Nights, or perhaps Baldur's Gate. The latter is available on steam, the former you'll probably have to *cough* acquire by other means, I don't believe it's in sale any more. They're older games, but at least Baldur's Gate has been upgraded to Win7 support. If you think you can like isometric gaming, then those are good choices.

EDIT: Unsure about the exploring aspect in those games, though.

Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate 2 are both available on gog.com.

Also, if you're going to recommend him Neverwinter Nights you might as well recommend Diablo and Torchlight which I think are way more fun.

The gog-versions aren't Enhanced Edition, from what I can tell. I don't know how much difference that makes, but I assume it would mean less hassle getting the games to run, as they've been updated to work properly with Win7 and higher resolutions.

EDIT: I see Neverwinter nights 1&2 are available on GoG as well.

 

[lechat]

dungeon siege 2 [http://store.steampowered.com/app/39200]
7 bucks man you can thank me later
i honestly don't think an rpg has been made to date that can stand up to that game

 

[MysticSlayer]

Dark Souls is certainly a good game to go for. I haven't actually played the PC version, but from what I hear, it requires some mods to work properly. Still, it offers plenty of challenging combat, exploration, leveling, and pretty much anything you'd want out of an action RPG. It can be a test in patience given how ridiculously hard it is when compared to other similar games (e.g. Skyrim), but I found the challenge both worth it for itself and to explore the interesting world.

There's also The Witcher. It doesn't offer quite the same open world as The Elder Scrolls games, but at least in the first one, each level offers rather expansive environments that also have some light exploration. The second one has the same, but the levels are designed more as a web of corridors rather than open environments. There's plenty of leveling in both, and the second one does allow players to build Geralt to their content, but the first one mostly just has you go through the motions of getting up to max level and unlocking everything as you go along. However, I'm not entirely sure what you'd think of the leveling overall, considering it might be considerably less than what you're looking for, but I will say that it is far more a part of the game than leveling in ME2 was. Considering you're a fan of Dragon Age, I would advise at least checking out the first one, especially since their worlds are so similar. I wasn't as big a fan of the second one, and I would highly advise playing the original first if you really want to get an understanding of the world (the second game's world building pales in comparison to the first's), but I'd imagine the second game should be able to scratch an itch for a fantasy RPG as well.

 

[ohnoitsabear]

I know of a few games that may or may not strike your fancy.

Planescape: Torment. How much you enjoy this game depends a lot on how much tolerance you have for older titles. It doesn't really have a ton of the exploration or character building you're looking for, and the gameplay ranges from serviceable to just plain bad. However, if you can get past the clunky combat and confusing D&D stats system, what you get is the best written game I have ever played. The setting is unique and alien, the characters are all interesting and have a lot of depth, the plot is extremely compelling, and the duologue is excellent. It probably isn't the kind of RPG you're used to, but it is a game I feel that everybody should at least try.

Morrowind. The third game in the Elder Scrolls series can be very difficult to get into if you've only played Oblivion or Skyrim. The game has tons of problems, most of which you will encounter within your first hour of playing. It's really a game where you need to know exactly what you're getting yourself into before you jump into it, otherwise you'll probably be very disappointed. But if you're looking for a game about exploring a large, interesting, handcrafted world, you absolutely cannot do any better than Morrowind. I've been playing this game on and off for years, I've probably put hundreds of hours into it, and there are still tons of new things I'm discovering with every playthrough. This is a game that you should seriously consider.

If you're looking for something a little closer to Oblivion or Skyrim, then I can't recommend Nehrim enough. Nehrim is a total conversion mod for Oblivion, meaning that they used the Oblivion mod tools to make an entirely new game (albeit with very similar gameplay). Personally, I think it's better than Oblivion proper, and I have definitely spent more time playing Nehrim over the years.

Other games that I haven't played enough of for me to recommend but are probably worth looking into: Witcher series (especially 2), Gothic series (especially 2, and definitely not 3), Divinity: Original Sin, Baldur's Gate series, and the original Fallout games.

 

[Elfgore]

I'd give DC Universe Online a go. Nice exploration, made easy with three different forms of movement. Free to play, nice set of powers, and methods to attack.

Vampire: The Masquerade- Bloodlines. Has to be one of the best RPGs I've played in a while. You need to download a fan patch to let it work on modern OSs, or at least Win 8.

Maybe check out Rogue Legacy and the Overlord series. Small bits of RPG thrown in there, but little exploring.

 

[Gergar12_v1legacy]

Wasteland 2, and Watch Dogs... If you want to explore... Guild Wars 2 is perfect for you, it's not like the normal MMO's.

Edit: Never mind Wasteland 2 got delayed, but Watch Dogs is still good enough to fill the void.

Edit: I would wait for a sale...

 

[TristanBelmont]

Dragon's Dogma is pretty awesome. Can't not recommend it.

 

[Super Cyborg]

Recently Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky came out on Steam and GOG. It was originally on the PSP and got ported to the PC. It has exploration aspects, various side quests you can do to rank up your level in the guild (which gives you extra goodies), There's leveling up, customizing your party both with characters and the types of arts they can use. The story and characters are really good as well.

For exploration and leveling, you Can't go wrong with Recettear An Item's Shop Tale. You can use various people to raid dungeons that are randomly generated, so there is endless exploration. The people who go through the dungeons level up, and you can level up your shop by doing well when selling lots of items.

Both games go for $20 each at regular price, but you get a lot of game for it. If you wait for a sale, you will be able to get Recettear for $5 and Legend of Heroes might be half price when it finally goes on sale.

 

[FPLOON]

Uh... Corruption of Champions? It's free and filled to the gills with exploration... (Seriously...)

OT: Have you tried your hands at Persona 3 or Persona 4?? What about any of the Tales games??

Uh... uh... Fuck it... Just play Dark Souls... or Oblivion, I guess... ("Maybe" also Cave Story...)

 

[Michael Tabbut]

RPGs eh? I have quite a few, some already mentioned.

Baldur's Gate 1 and 2. I recommend the Enhanced Editions, works better on modern OS and adds some bits but the story and gameplay are kept intact.

Planescape Torment. Best RPG story ever. I should have wrote my term paper for Philosophy 101 on this game.

Deus Ex 1 and Human Revolution, I consider both to be some of the best games of all time (prefer Human Revolution more if only because I like the pure cyberpunk setting).

Anything by Zeeboyd Games. Breath of Death VII, Cthulhu Saves the World, and Penny Arcade Adventures 3-4 are fun affectionate parodies to the 16 bit era RPG.

Neverwinter Nights 2 and its first expansion Mask of the Betrayer are pretty good if buggy. I prefer Mask of the Betrayer over the first's campaign though if only because I felt the storyline was much better executed.

Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines is good, you'll need to patch it though in order to play it properly on modern PCs though and even then it can be really buggy.

Shadowrun Returns and it's expansion campaign Dragonfall are really good. The gameplay is a lot like the original Fallout games (turn-based Action Point system) and has a rather unique setting. (Cyberpunk meets Modern Fantasy).

I could probably think up of more if I thought about it but these are the ones that stick out the most right now. Anyway I hope you like these OP.

 

[Michael Tabbut]

Uh... Corruption of Champions? It's free and filled to the gills with exploration... (Seriously...)

While I like this game,I would most certainly not recommend it without a disclaimer. It's a text based RPG based around exploring a world filled with monsters that have sex on their mind while also doing the same(optional or not) is kind of hard to recommend to anybody.

 

[attackshark]

Kenshi - early access. Japanese post apocalyptic western.

i got kenshi. it's definitely up my ally, but there's not a lot to do right not but run around and not die as best you can.

thanks for the suggestions.

 

[attackshark]

Dark Souls seems to fulfill all your requirements, if you feel like you have the patience and mental fortitude to actually play through the game.

It's an RPG, there's stats and character leveling, and looting and gear, and even little sidequests for various characters (if you can figure out how to do them). It's also go exploration out the ass, if you're brave enough to do it. There's a lot of little nooks and crannies to explore, some optional side areas and bosses.

It's a decently long game (the average person's first playthrough of the game tends to clock in around 30 or 40 hours depending on how good they are and how thoroughly they're exploring), and it's available on PC (and can often be found on sale on steam for around $5).

i picked up DS. i've got about 20 hours on it. i enjoy it for the most part, but spirits can be broken if you keep dropping all your high-value loot.

 

[attackshark]

How about Neverwinter Nights, or perhaps Baldur's Gate. The latter is available on steam, the former you'll probably have to *cough* acquire by other means, I don't believe it's in sale any more. They're older games, but at least Baldur's Gate has been upgraded to Win7 support. If you think you can like isometric gaming, then those are good choices.

EDIT: Unsure about the exploring aspect in those games, though.

Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate 2 are both available on gog.com.

Also, if you're going to recommend him Neverwinter Nights you might as well recommend Diablo and Torchlight which I think are way more fun.

i don't necessarily have a problem with isometric. i have both torchlights, which i enjoyed to a certain extent, and i loved the tits off of Bastion, but i'm not really one for dungeon crawling. dungeon, boss, repeat. i never really get a sense of exploration or depth out of it. plus i like my sky boxes.