Recommend a fun action RPG for PC

[iseko]

are you... are you the anti me? You hate every game I like and like every game I hate O>o

I don't think I can help you.

 

[veloper]

Just the demand for cRPG with fluent controls and combat, rules out 99% of RPGs on the market (sadly).

Then demand a FP or TP persective and a dark, fantasy atmosphere, so only Dark Messiah, Severance and DS remain (all which you already have on your list and arguably have somewhat clunky controls still).

Scratch fantasy and you may have DX:HR and System Shock 2(after you rebind the key layout).

 

[Ftaghn To You Too]

I thought adding it isn't necessary, as it's not really fantasy. Should've seen that coming. While it has its moments, it's not a game that lasts long. Main issue is the lack of story whatsoever. You can play knight for 3-4 days, then what? You have nothing to do except for more and more battles, which becomes boring really quick. If it had a story, it would have been playable for much longer for me.

What?! Not much to do? There's soooo much to do. You can become an independent king, when you conquer a place while being independent. And once you do that you have to conquer the whole world OBVIOUSLY.

Do not bother, brother. Only a certain few can appreciate the chosen game. This one must be one of those unworthy infidels. Allow him to wallow in his ignorance and filth until the day of The Reckoning, when all others will be swept away and our Bannerlord will return to this earth to carry us to eternal warfare in paradise.

Seriously though, Warband is a fantastic game, and probably my favorite, but it very much isn't for everyone. It's definitely a game where you set your own goals and stories. Once you realize that and throw yourself in, you discover how deep the game actually is. And it's deeper with mods. If you're one of those more-dog-than-man types (I kid, all of you wretches are cool) and want a structured, story driven, and polished experience, Warband is going to feel like banging your head against a wall while a person like me can put, at my last count, 600 hours in. Different people have different fun.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

what about mass effect?

I've tried that already, but forgot to mention. Didn't like the gameplay very much, though. It instantly reminded me of Gears of War.

Duuuuude! You have no idea what you're missing. Go play the Mass Effect trilogy now and stop fooling around.

 

[ninja666]

perhaps jade empire?

Aw yiss. I remember buying it about 5 years ago or so with a gaming magazine, but I completely forgot about it. It's a non-steam version, so no problems with launching it for me. I'll give it a shot for sure (more because of lack of other options than anything else, but still).

I want to tell you to buy a console and get Dragon's Dogma or Kingdom Under Fire. But I can't because that is probably the golden rule.

It's not a golden rule, but more of a... uhh... let's call it "financial handicap". I really wish I had the money to buy a console and Dragon's Dogma along with Demon's Souls, but really can't. "Then go get a job" you might think. I'm going to get one, but I still can't take out any of the money I'll make as it goes mainly for my college/university fund or other basic things I'll really need when the appropriate time comes (clothes etc.).

What didn't you like about Gothic/Risen?

- clunky controls
- typical "good guy saves the world from an incredibly evil cult" storyline
- scarcity of equipment and ridiculously elevated prices, forcing you to steal everything to see to get by
- basically forcing you to develop your character in a stricly determined manner in order to do some key quests in the game
- bad voice acting
- schematic gameplay in every one of these games (first go rags-to-riches, become a respectable individual, then go kick the bad guy's ass)

are you... are you the anti me? You hate every game I like and like every game I hate O>o

Maybe I'm your long lost brother?

Ys: The Oath in Felghana.

Too fast, too cartoony, too colorful. Might give it a try, though, as it reminds me of all the aRPG games I've played on SNES back in the day (Secret of Mana and such).

 

[seedcow]

Since you liked Fallout 1/2 and Arcanum, you should try Planescape: Torment. It fits right in with them.

Also if you're willing to try sci-fi then Star Wars Jedi Knight 2 is a favorite of mine. It has awesome acrobatics and lightsaber combat that feels realistic and smooth

Oh, can I ask why you didn't like Baldur's Gate? Its on my to-play list.

 

[IndomitableSam]

What about Deus Ex : Human Revolution? It's on a Steam Sale this weekend.

Edit : Actually you have about an hour and a half to buy it now.

Seconded, even though the sale is over. I bought this about a year and a half ago and got about halfway through when I was home really ill with the flu, then got better and stopped playing.

Started it up again last week and finished it last night.

I recommend giving it a go if you can get is for $10 or less.

 

[ninja666]

Oh, can I ask why you didn't like Baldur's Gate? Its on my to-play list.

It's probably nothing you could be bothered with. I just don't understand the rules of D&D and I don't like that this game, as well as a few other ones, is so heavily based on it. Practically every stat is described by the number of thrown n-sided dices times multipliers given by buffs and such. It's pure math, which I simply cannot grasp.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

Oh, can I ask why you didn't like Baldur's Gate? Its on my to-play list.

It's probably nothing you could be bothered with. I just don't understand the rules of D&D and I don't like that this game, as well as a few other ones, is so heavily based on it. Practically every stat is described by the number of thrown n-sided dices times multipliers given by buffs and such. It's pure math, which I simply cannot grasp.

I totally get where you're coming from, but I can assure you of two things. First, that this game (and particularly its sequel) are well worth the perseverance. Once you get past the learning curve (which isn't that steep) you'll be rewarded by a masterpiece of RPG gaming. Second, you don't actually need to learn or perform a great deal by way of rules or maths to enjoy the game. One could min-max and obsess if they chose to, but it's not necessary since the basic rules and almost any character build/party composition *can* succeed.

Specifically with regard to D&D rules, die rolls and "maths", the beauty of playing it in CRPG form is that the game handles it all for you. You don't at any time have to actually roll or calculate anything. The only rules required to be understood to play well are now common-place through most all RPGs today.

- Mages can't cast spells in armour
- Rogues will be ineffective in any metal armour
- Each class has a "main" stat, no different than many RPGs and MMOs. The higher this stat, the more effective the character.
- The LOWER the AC the better (this is the most confusing thing about D&D2 and earlier and was changed in 3rd Ed.)
- The HIGHER the THAC0 the better
- Only warriors can fully master any weapon
- Stats go up to 25 with 18ish being considered "peak" human levels. 20+ is reserved for dragons, giants and God-like beings. The only potential issue here is Strength which has "sub values" of 18, ranging from 18 flat to 18/100. This represents the variations among even strong people. Again tho, just understand that HIGHER is better.
- Clerics are awesome
- Bards suck
- Weapon damage is described by dice rolls, the game handles it all however. Just look and see which is HIGHER and therefore more powerful.
- Trolls need acid or fire damage to kill since they regenerate.

That's really the main stuff right there. You *could* get into spell tables, progression and the rest but there's no need for it. Simply put, characters progress, get more powerful. Wizards get new spells, warriors get new weapon skills and thieves get new rogue skills. That's normal in all RPGs.

The BG saga is epic adventure, really and worth the effort. It can be long and slow at times, but once past the learning curve that tactical pseudo-real time combat, story and colourful characters will suck you in. Those NPCs are still among the best BW have ever written and Athkatla in BG2 is so much more interesting than Kirkwall by orders of magnitude.

 

[Smiley Face]

what about mass effect?

I've tried that already, but forgot to mention. Didn't like the gameplay very much, though. It instantly reminded me of Gears of War.

Duuuuude! You have no idea what you're missing. Go play the Mass Effect trilogy now and stop fooling around.

Yeah, if you've tried Mass Effect 1 and couldn't get into the gameplay, you should give the series another try - with the success and feedback they got with ME1, they revamped the way combat worked for ME2; faster, more visceral fighting, better level design and targeting, and they pared down the skill system from a huge number of interchangeable buffs and abilities, to a small set of more integral combat abilities. I love the Mass Effect series, but yeah, the combat in Mass Effect 1 was very dry.

 

[Mister K]

Please do give Jade Empire a try. It does have a fantasy setting (eastern, not western medieval, but still) and it also is semi-dark.
I got it from GoG few days ago and am having my 5th playthrough. It is fun, it has nice story, companions are useful (I use them mostly in a supporting role) and nicely written and combat is great.

Just don't forget that when you pick your character, you can tweak him/her, i.e. change style, name and give a few stat points to him/her.

 

[kingthrall]

Some decent rpg's maybe crossing your narrow viewpoints (other than the cartoon look) but you didnt like baldurs gate and any person who didn't like bg 1 +2 as far as I am concerned is not a true rpg fan IMAO.

A Bards Tale (get it for the laughs)
Diablo series (must get D3 expansion if you get number 3)
Mass Effect 2. 3 is ok but number 2 is best However I refuse to recommend Origin software.
Sacred Gold, Sacred 2
The Adventures of Van Helsing (steam)
Planescape Torment
Nox (get it from the website gog)
Inquisitor; super hard rpg and very unforgiving but probably the most Gothic and has a interesting story (get it from the website gog)

Neverwinter Nights 1 diamond, Neverwinter nights II (worth a look, for me it was interesting but isnt my cup of tea and may be too cartoonish for you)

L.A Noire? Would you count this as a role playing game? Considering your traveling in a car and playing a detective, if so Highly recommended.

 

[TheSYLOH]

Sort of been going on a "The Secret World" binge.
Pretty good, though its more Urban Fantasy than Pure Fantasy.

I like it it, the atmosphere is usually pretty dark, but playing the Illuminati tends to make you laugh at it.
Plus you literally get to alternate shooting Cthulhu in the face with an assault rifle, and casting a blood magic heal spell on your buddy, while he goes at it with his fist and a sword.
That's right, you get to punch out Cthulhu!

The art style is usually pretty grounded, as the appearance is separated from the equipment resulting in most people picking something out of good taste.

I found the locations I've been to interesting.
The game is all about what's hidden. So on the surface the first zone is a small coastal town in Maine.
Look deeper and its actually a small coastal town in Maine from a Steven King/HP Lovecraft novel.

As for the story, its seems rather good, but the real draw are the investigation missions.
Best Summarized By this Extra Creditz episode, which incidentally got me interested in the game in the first place.

Hint for a couple of those missions, They set up websites for several of the in game corporations.

So yes there are combat quest where you kill Lovecraftian horrors by repeatedly hitting them, but there are also quest that require you to think and research outside of the game.

 

[pearcinator]

Mass.
Effect.
3.

Mass Effect 3 has the best gameplay of any action-RPG and is super fun! Especially multiplayer. Trust me, you won't be disappointed (the endings that everyone hates on are bad but the game is that good that you can forgive that)

It's not fantasy, or open world, it's sci-fi and fairly linear (there's some places where you can explore a bit but it's quite limited compared to Mass Effect 1) but it's still worth playing.

 

[Scars Unseen]

Oh, can I ask why you didn't like Baldur's Gate? Its on my to-play list.

It's probably nothing you could be bothered with. I just don't understand the rules of D&D and I don't like that this game, as well as a few other ones, is so heavily based on it. Practically every stat is described by the number of thrown n-sided dices times multipliers given by buffs and such. It's pure math, which I simply cannot grasp.

I totally get where you're coming from, but I can assure you of two things. First, that this game (and particularly its sequel) are well worth the perseverance. Once you get past the learning curve (which isn't that steep) you'll be rewarded by a masterpiece of RPG gaming. Second, you don't actually need to learn or perform a great deal by way of rules or maths to enjoy the game. One could min-max and obsess if they chose to, but it's not necessary since the basic rules and almost any character build/party composition *can* succeed.

Specifically with regard to D&D rules, die rolls and "maths", the beauty of playing it in CRPG form is that the game handles it all for you. You don't at any time have to actually roll or calculate anything. The only rules required to be understood to play well are now common-place through most all RPGs today.

- Mages can't cast spells in armour
- Rogues will be ineffective in any metal armour
- Each class has a "main" stat, no different than many RPGs and MMOs. The higher this stat, the more effective the character.
- The LOWER the AC the better (this is the most confusing thing about D&D2 and earlier and was changed in 3rd Ed.)
- The HIGHER the THAC0 the better
- Only warriors can fully master any weapon
- Stats go up to 25 with 18ish being considered "peak" human levels. 20+ is reserved for dragons, giants and God-like beings. The only potential issue here is Strength which has "sub values" of 18, ranging from 18 flat to 18/100. This represents the variations among even strong people. Again tho, just understand that HIGHER is better.
- Clerics are awesome
- Bards suck
- Weapon damage is described by dice rolls, the game handles it all however. Just look and see which is HIGHER and therefore more powerful.
- Trolls need acid or fire damage to kill since they regenerate.

That's really the main stuff right there. You *could* get into spell tables, progression and the rest but there's no need for it. Simply put, characters progress, get more powerful. Wizards get new spells, warriors get new weapon skills and thieves get new rogue skills. That's normal in all RPGs.

The BG saga is epic adventure, really and worth the effort. It can be long and slow at times, but once past the learning curve that tactical pseudo-real time combat, story and colourful characters will suck you in. Those NPCs are still among the best BW have ever written and Athkatla in BG2 is so much more interesting than Kirkwall by orders of magnitude.

You actually kind of just prove his point by rolling a critical fumble with your factoid list. Namely, you want THAC0 to be low, not high. THAC0 means "To Hit Armor Class 0." That means that if you have a 20 THAC0(as all classes start with), you need to roll a 20(after adjustments) to hit AC 0, and a 10 to hit AC 10(the base AC of an unprotected human). Then if your THAC0 was 12, you'd need a 12 to hit AC 0 or a 2 to hit AC 10. Basically your target roll is always THAC0 minus AC, and then you add any bonuses(or subtract penalties, such as in the event of a called shot) to your rolls.

This actually is kind of confusing(even if it's easy once you're used to it) because this means that you want your AC and THAC0 low, and any bonuses are subtracted to get your modified AC and THAC0. So you could have a -1 AC because you're wearing +2 full plate (armor AC 1 -(+2)). To make things worse, defensive adjustment due to dexterity swaps things about, so if that same guy had a 6 dexterity, he'd have an armor class of 1 ((armor AC 1 -(+2)) +(+1)).

So yeah, I can see how someone could look at that and say "fuck that noise."

 

[ninja666]

All right, I think the thread is done, unless you have any unbelievably good titles I've never heard about. I'm gonna play Jade Empire, give Mass Effect another try and enjoy some dungeon crawling in a fan-made RPG I found myself - Diadem of Maunstraut (very similar to King's Field series and made with the same tools; fans of From Software's earlier work should definitely check it out).

 

[Not Lord Atkin]

one game that comes to mind has not been released yet bu oh well - Kingdom Come: Deliverance. You might want to follow that. It seems like it could turn out to be just the thing you're looking for.

Other than that, Yeah I think you've pretty much played it all. Have Fun with Jade Empire, it's a good game.