I’m looking for a single player game, first person or third person, but something more action or role-play oriented. Not particularly a fan of turn based combat
Imagine the most trash isekai. There is an Adventure’s Guild that posts quests on a board. You fight monsters, level up, get new skills, some of which are some real OP shit. you spend that money so you can stay at an inn, recruit powerful people for your party, buy new equipment, etc.
I want to go on quest to fight bandits, pick herbs, fight a dragon. There’s gotta be a dungeon of some kind. A “defeat the demon lord“ quest is not a dealbreaker, but I kind of just want something I can play as an adventure for a while. I want it to be the most stereotypical “Adventurer Game” ever.
P.S.
I’d prefer to not reinstall Skyrim for the upteenth time.
I think you’re looking for Kingdoms of Amalur.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1041720/Kingdoms_of_Amalur_ReReckoning/
Ah yes, the single player MMO.
Graphics aren’t as good, but my favorite single-player MMO is http://progressquest.com/
Have you played Dragon Age: Origins? It’s an older title, but sounds like it has everything you want.
And, if your itch can be scratched with something other than dragons, I’d recommend Mass Effect. The very first game in the trilogy is very much an RPG while the second and third games are more story and character focused. Overall, it’s just a good gaming time.
Mass Effect is my most favorite series ever. Also played dragon age and liked it.
The most generic, stereotypical fantasy RPG I can think of is The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
I know you’ve said you don’t want Skyrim, but the first thing that comes to mind is Oblivion, I can’t think of a more generic, stereotypical fantasy RPG than that game.
In fact it makes me sad considering they retconned the lore of Cyrodil to a super generic LOTR fantasy land.
I really enjoyed Two Worlds as a generic RPG.
The new Dragon Quest games were fun too.
Also, the ‘Tales of’ series is fun if you can get into the combat mechanics.
Two Worlds is a gloriously bad game that is an absolute blast to play.
The game has a two-minute speedrun, because the main villain is right there when you start, and some invincible townsfolk NPCs can be tricked into ganging up on him.
Dragon’s Dogma?
honeatly, dragon’s dogma ticks some boxes
Fuck. You’re right…
The pawns are such contrived, video-gamey nonsense
The old Fable games were really good too
The original Fable is definitely some good-ass bog-standard fantasy. There’s even a “guild of heroes”
I also go back to Skyrim constantly; it is probably my most played game. I have a hard time making a definite suggestion because I sit here many nights and wonder which game I want to play and frequently find that I don’t want to play any of them (so I scroll Lemmy instead). That said, below are a few that might be possibilities and I’m looking forward to reading everyone else’s suggestions so I can find my next game too!
You could check out the Dungeon Siege or Torchlight series. They’re both Diablo-style gameplay, but in a super generic RPG setting. They’re both older, cheaper, and okay game series.
The Overlord series is fun, its kind of a reverse RPG where you are the bad guy terrorizing the locals with your minions. The gameplay mainly revolves around directing your minions more than direct combat. It is a bit simplistic, but I really enjoyed it.
I’m not a fan of the Witcher series, but lots of people love it and it seems to check most of the boxes you’re looking for.
I agree with the Oblivion suggestion. I’m always conflicted on this one because I think it is a better game than Skyrim in terms of quests and interactions, but the gameplay is a bit dated and there were some questionable design decisions that resulted in some major overhaul mods being built to completely redesign the leveling system. I would love to have Oblivion, but with Skyrim graphics and mechanics (mostly).
Kingdoms of Amalur definitely seems like it hits everything on your list. I struggled to stay interested in it long enough to finish it (I think I finished it), but I’m not sure why since it has all the elements I enjoy from other games.
Similar to KoA, Dragon’s Dogma seems to have all the typical things I like in a game, but I’ve played it twice and not made it out of the starting region either time. I’m not sure what it is that causes me to lose interest so fast. There’s nothing I can point to and say I dislike.
Greedfall is super weird (to me) and not quite a fantasy RPG, more like medieval fantasy RPG. It is generally an open world game, but not as open as Skyrim (fewer side-quests, semi-linear main quest line). I thought it was an okay game, the main thing that frustrated me is that there were some areas of the game where you could make decisions with major story impacts and other areas where you were not given any choice in the narrative. As a result, I sometimes felt like my character was taking actions that were not in alignment with the narrative I had created for him. I appreciated that the game seemed unique and not just copying something else that was successful and I think I played it on GamePass at the time, so it was kind of like playing it for free. :)
Personally I was really surprised by Greedfall. For some reason the story and setting and everything just clicked for me. I equate it to Dragon Age: Inquisition, but with guns. Tbh I never actually finished it though.
Good suggestions here, I disliked Greedfall* and KOA as well, but found Dragon’s Dogma so good that I finished it on xbox and again on pc. If you like playing for the story it’s pretty barebones but the ending is great, and the combat and character building (+sidekick building) are better than anything else. it holds up pretty well for a 2012 release, but make sure to play the Dark Arisen version as it added easier fast travel. It is bound to be on sale as the sequel comes out in March
*Greedfall is much more story driven but you can’t avoid occasional combat
imagine the most trash isekai
There are plenty of JRPGs that are literally exactly like those animes. Isn’t Sword Art Online one? I haven’t played it, personally, but it sure sounds like .Hack//Sign (which I have played) but crazier.
None of the ones I’ve ever played were real-time, though. They’re all turn-based like Final Fantasy or, at best, like the “Tales of” series.
Final Fantasy 7 remake? The first one might seem more sci-fi than fantasy given that it’s entirely in Midgar, but the next one should have more of the fantasy world since that city and the casino were really the only high tech places originally. It’s not turn based at least.
Yes, we all want a sequel to Skyrim.
If old graphics aren’t a deal breaker, try the Gothic series, 1-3. They’re about 20 years old but they’re the only rival to the Elder Scrolls series. First person, action RPGs in open worlds with great storytelling and branching decision systems.
I am gonna give you some lesser known suggestions.
Chronicon - 2d Diablo like
Heroes Of Hammerwatch - same but procedurally generated levels
Grim Dawn - 3D Diablo like
Also I would check out Monster Hunter World or Rise, they aren’t exactly what you are looking for but the looting and upgrading loop might really be up your alley.
Oh yeah, what about Mount And Blade?
I appreciate the answer, I haven’t played any of those.
Isn’t the Witcher series pretty much this? May not be as RP-friendly as others though.
If you’re okay with a party-based, real time with pause system, there’s Pillars of Eternity, Dragon Age, and Baldur’s Gate.
There’s also the Wizardry series, but I don’t know much about it and they’re quite old.
I haven’t played any of the other games in the series, but Dragon Age Origin was solid
They are remaking Wizardry 1 under the banner Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord in early access on Steam
Well there’s Adventure Quest but idk how basic you want it. Could go for Gothic or if you want jank then Two Worlds.
Gothic or if you want jank
I love the implication that Gothic is not jank here. It’s a great RPG (the first two) partly due to being janky.
Nothing better than literally killing the unbreakable orc siege in G2 chapter 2 because they can’t deal with sidesteps.
Maybe I should have said more jank. Two Worlds you can kill the final boss within the first few minutes of the game by having the villagers beat him to death.
Or stacking 30 traps on top of each other so when an enemy walks onto it they instantly die.
Or putting traps down in an enemys path and watching them hit every single one in a row.
Man i love how broken Two Worlds is.
Daggerfall, probably. You are john daggerfall. Your mission; to scrape randomly generated labyrinths for randomly generated macguffins. You have 50 arrows and must find secret doors. A zombie appears, pray you have a silver weapon and a potion of remove disease. Brave hero, accept this quest.
The only thing its missing is dwarves.