Recommendation for January - April RPG

Alright, so once the Dec. 6 Kingmaker DLC comes out I'm going to get the new companion and start to finish my current run of the game (in chapter 5 now). I'll probably finish Fallout in the time I'm waiting for that DLC to come out, and I figure I'll finish Kingmaker around the end of December or so. So I'm trying to plot out what I'll play from end of Kingmaker (Dec/Jan) to the April Kingmaker DLC. Here's a few I was considering.

Aielund Saga - one of @purpleblob 's favorite CRPGs so I'm very interested in checking it out.

Mask of the Betrayer - heard it's got a great evil campaign and I never managed to do an actual evil playthrough in an RPG, so might be cool to try.

Tortured Hearts - another NWN module but I might just wait for the "real" version to come out sometime next year.

Arcanum: Of Magick and Steamworks Obscura - now this is a very interesting game to me, and it's massive, and I have only played a dozen hours of it ever, if that. Love these types of CRPGs.

Atom RPG - Russian Fallout post-apoc CRPG, very deep and complex and it releases soon. But I'm playing Fallout 1 right now, so…not sure if I want more post-apoc at the moment.

Sword Coast Legends - I started playing this and really enjoyed it for quite a few hours, might go back and restart for a Let's Play. (All these games would be Let's Plays by the way).

Edit - Also forgot to list Serpent in the Staglands. Really been trying to get around to playing it as it's very old-school and has unique lore.

So what should I play? I think I'm leaning towards Arcanum for the setting (mixing steampunk guns and magic!), and maybe Aielund Saga for blobby's recommendation. Is MotB an expansion for NWN2, so maybe I should play the whole game + expansion then?

Any other recommendations? Need something to last a few months (if possible) so it has to have a good chunk of content. Want something that isn't a depressing setting but has charm and charisma. What should I play?

All good games on that list but that upcoming Tortured Hearts game is not the real version. As the two MWN mods look and play a lot better then that Unity version.

Anyway since you play NWN mods like me try out these also.

Bastard of Kosigan - http://neverwintervault.org/project/…nglish-version
Knights of the Holy Grail - http://neverwintervault.org/project/…timate-edition
Vis et Virtus Series - http://neverwintervault.org/project/…irtus-prologue
Runes of Blood - http://neverwintervault.org/project/…le/runes-blood
Lords of Darkness Series - http://neverwintervault.org/project/…1-fugitive-v30
Dragon Dominant - http://neverwintervault.org/project/…ragon-dominant
Enigma Island - http://neverwintervault.org/project/…sland-complete
Prophet Series - http://neverwintervault.org/project/…nnot-be-denied
Agrenost - http://neverwintervault.org/project/…eneath-cobbles

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
All good games on that list but that upcoming Tortured Hearts game is not the real version. As the two MWN mods look and play a lot better then that Unity version.

So would you recommend the module version then, and you enjoyed it? How's the setting?

Originally Posted by TheRealFluent
So would you recommend the module version then, and you enjoyed it? How's the setting?

Both versions are sand box in the way that you play as you want to. You have to think and plan ahead as the quests are not obvious, and it's the same with the companions.

Also yes I highly recommend it as it feels like a living world.

In TH I, a traveler gets embroiled in the disappearance of two star-crossed lovers and a competition between evil mages. In the process of trying to locate the lovers, the traveler becomes an accomplished adventurer. At the end, he/she settles down to obscurity.

In TH II, the protagonist is the child of the TH1 hero/heroine, who grew up on a farm and went to the big city of Raven Fall to seek his fortune. He soon established a little candlemaking enterprise, but was even sooner bored. Curiosity led him to leave the secure life of a merchant and learn the adventuring trade. He had only the stories of his parent to guide him, so looking for "work" was something of a random hit and miss affair. However, his curiosity was the key factor that kept him poking into new crannies, turning over social rocks and finding cockroaches as it were.

He was able to meet others who would travel with him, and they supported themselves in the usual manner by doing favors, finding treasure in unlikely caves, fetching things, gathering items from the wild, and even crafting. As they wandered around, they heard a name that was very familiar to him: Vynblud. It was the clan that his parent had fought. But they were apparently still around. A powerful member had escaped from the parent and kept things going. This gave him some goal: to finish the work his parent had started.

Also from my list above Enigma Island is similar to the Aielund Saga. Try the Agrenost mod also as it has a ton of replayability based on your class and alignment.

Sounds good, thanks for the recommendations Couch!

Well, obviously, I reccomend The Aielund Saga

Fluent,

You can not play Fallout 1 and choose not to play Fallout 2. I forbid thee. Simple as that.

I fully agree with the belief that, if you've played the first Fallout, you must, MUST play the second. And then, you must play the tactics game.

Also, I think the Atom game is going to be in development for quite a bit longer. I have high hopes that we'll have a decent game to explore when it is completely finished!!

Arcanum is one of those games that I never take off the hard drive. Yeah, it has some issues, but overall it's a great game that I keep going back to, year after year.

Uninstall, refund, trash and sell everything NWN.

If it has to be something good yet "outdated" go for:
https://www.rpgwatch.com/games/hero-…ption-512.html

Mask of the Betrayer is a high level expansion for NWN2, where you continue with your character from the regular campaign. It can be played without it, but you'd miss a lot of the context. The regular campaign is actually pretty good, but it's a bit drawn out at times. MotB is much more focused.

There's also Storm of Zehir, which is the 2nd expansion, and the only one that allows you to create your entire party from scratch. I found it quite good actually, though I suspect it might be a rough start to NWN2, as it's quite hard at times.

Arcanum is awesome, but it is, like Kingmaker, somewhat messy from time to time. You'd do yourself a big favor if you leaned more towards magic than technology, as that means you'd avoid some of the biggest balancing issues and what not.

@TheRealFluent we should of made a bet that Joxer would show up to bash NWN.

Originally Posted by purpleblob
Well, obviously, I reccomend The Aielund Saga

And it being in your top 3 RPGs ever, I take that to mean a lot!

Originally Posted by henriquejr
Fluent,

You can not play Fallout 1 and not play Fallout 2. Simple as that.

Yeah, I've been told I have to play Fallout 2, too. I will, but probably not immediately after Fallout 1. But who knows, maybe I will?

Originally Posted by Carnifex
I fully agree with the belief that, if you've played the first Fallout, you must, MUST play the second. And then, you must play the tactics game.

Also, I think the Atom game is going to be in development for quite a bit longer. I have high hopes that we'll have a decent game to explore when it is completely finished!!

Arcanum is one of those games that I never take off the hard drive. Yeah, it has some issues, but overall it's a great game that I keep going back to, year after year.

Thanks Carnifex! ATOM RPG is releasing Dec. 18 or 26, but you're right, they're going to keep developing it and making it "three times as big as it was on launch". So might hold off on that one too.

Originally Posted by Maylander
Mask of the Betrayer is a high level expansion for NWN2, where you continue with your character from the regular campaign. It can be played without it, but you'd miss a lot of the context. The regular campaign is actually pretty good, but it's a bit drawn out at times. MotB is much more focused.

There's also Storm of Zehir, which is the 2nd expansion, and the only one that allows you to create your entire party from scratch. I found it quite good actually, though I suspect it might be a rough start to NWN2, as it's quite hard at times.

Arcanum is awesome, but it is, like Kingmaker, somewhat messy from time to time. You'd do yourself a big favor if you leaned more towards magic than technology, as that means you'd avoid some of the biggest balancing issues and what not.

Thanks man! So would you suggest a complete NWN2 run - Original content + MotB + SoZ, in that order with the same party? When able I like to do that but I'm not sure if SoZ can be played that way without creating a new party..

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
@TheRealFluent we should of made a bet that Joxer would show up to bash NWN.

I will say thanks to him for recommending Hero-U, I actually played a bit of that and had some fun, have to get back to it sometime in fact.

I should mention I was going to try and play evil, because I never have done that in an RPG. Or at least play in Arcanum for example, as a gun-wielding outlaw who doesn't care about the law, etc.. Might want to try a change of pace that way.

I heartily recommend Fallout 76, but only start it on February 30th

Originally Posted by TheRealFluent
Thanks man! So would you suggest a complete NWN2 run - Original content + MotB + SoZ, in that order with the same party? When able I like to do that but I'm not sure if SoZ can be played that way without creating a new party..

Your assumption is correct. SoZ is a stand alone story, with an entirely different character. It's probably the closest NWN2 gets to Kingmaker in a sense, as it has an overland map, an option to create a full party and so on. It's much shorter, but ends up roughly at the same level as Kingmaker (17-18).

NWN2 + MotB is pretty massive. I like it a lot, but it requires a bit of patience. It ends up at level 30, which is super high levels in D&D terms, so you can really create some amazing builds if you plan ahead. I actually suggest looking into something like http://nwn2db.com/ to do a bit of planning, as there are so many options. Kingmaker has a lot, but NWN2 + MotB has a lot more due to the increase in cap and the amount of prestige classes available.

If you do give it a go, and you feel like playing a certain style, but not sure how to create a build that'll work well, just let me know and I'll cook something up. I'm sure others around here can do that too.

Edit: And by that I don't mean set up an exact build, as simply following a guide in such a game isn't as fun as playing it out yourself. I simply meant certain classes, combos and things to look out for (certain prestige classes have pretty steep requirements for example).

Originally Posted by Maylander
Your assumption is correct. SoZ is a stand alone story, with an entirely different character. It's probably the closest NWN2 gets to Kingmaker in a sense, as it has an overland map, an option to create a full party and so on. It's much shorter, but ends up roughly at the same level as Kingmaker (17-18).

NWN2 + MotB is pretty massive. I like it a lot, but it requires a bit of patience. It ends up at level 30, which is super high levels in D&D terms, so you can really create some amazing builds if you plan ahead. I actually suggest looking into something like http://nwn2db.com/ to do a bit of planning, as there are so many options. Kingmaker has a lot, but NWN2 + MotB has a lot more due to the increase in cap and the amount of prestige classes available.

If you do give it a go, and you feel like playing a certain style, but not sure how to create a build that'll work well, just let me know and I'll cook something up. I'm sure others around here can do that too.

Edit: And by that I don't mean set up an exact build, as simply following a guide in such a game isn't as fun as playing it out yourself. I simply meant certain classes, combos and things to look out for (certain prestige classes have pretty steep requirements for example).

Thanks @Maylander for the info! How big is the Aielund Saga in comparison? I figure if NWN2 + MotB is massive, I could try an evil run through the game and it might even take me until April. I heard the evil run in MotB is really good, and I've never played an evil character before. But still Arcanum is tugging at me, because of that awesome setting. I dunno, I have to think about it until January or whenever I've completed Kingmaker after Dec. 6.

Originally Posted by TheRealFluent
Thanks @Maylander for the info! How big is the Aielund Saga in comparison? I figure if NWN2 + MotB is massive, I could try an evil run through the game and it might even take me until April. I heard the evil run in MotB is really good, and I've never played an evil character before. But still Arcanum is tugging at me, because of that awesome setting. I dunno, I have to think about it until January or whenever I've completed Kingmaker after Dec. 6.

NWN2 + MotB is probably twice the size of the Saga (50 vs 100+ hours). I have no idea if an evil run is good or not, as I have a very hard time doing such runs. I can play Renegade in Mass Effect, but that's about it.

I keep trying to replay both NWN2 and Arcanum myself, but there's always something stopping me. Scope is probably part of it. Neither one can be done without months available. However, it seems like you might just have months, so either one could be a good fit.

Originally Posted by Maylander
NWN2 + MotB is probably twice the size of the Saga (50 vs 100+ hours). I have no idea if an evil run is good or not, as I have a very hard time doing such runs. I can play Renegade in Mass Effect, but that's about it.

I keep trying to replay both NWN2 and Arcanum myself, but there's always something stopping me. Scope is probably part of it. Neither one can be done without months available. However, it seems like you might just have months, so either one could be a good fit.

I really think I'm going to go with Arcanum, and try a renegade outlaw gunslinger type. I have trouble doing evil runs too, but eh, for something different it might be fun, if there's ample reason in the game to do so. We'll see. I'll probably just roleplay it and see how it goes. For Arcanum do you know if I need an extra patch or anything? Don't want content mods, just the basics - widescreen support, maybe an unofficial or official bug-squashing patch or the like.

Originally Posted by TheRealFluent
I really think I'm going to go with Arcanum, and try a renegade outlaw gunslinger type. I have trouble doing evil runs too, but eh, for something different it might be fun, if there's ample reason in the game to do so. We'll see. I'll probably just roleplay it and see how it goes. For Arcanum do you know if I need an extra patch or anything? Don't want content mods, just the basics - widescreen support, maybe an unofficial or official bug-squashing patch or the like.

Yeah, the unofficial patch:
http://terra-arcanum.com/downloads/a…/UAP091225.exe

There's also a high res mod:
http://terra-arcanum.com/downloads/a…ighRes1.1a.exe

As I mentioned earlier, leaning towards magic rather than tech is much easier, but tech is still doable. It's just harder.

Originally Posted by Maylander
Yeah, the unofficial patch:
http://terra-arcanum.com/downloads/a…/UAP091225.exe

There's also a high res mod:
http://terra-arcanum.com/downloads/a…ighRes1.1a.exe

As I mentioned earlier, leaning towards magic rather than tech is much easier, but tech is still doable. It's just harder.

I kind of want to do a mix of both, which I heard is not very easy and doesn't work well together but I'd like to try it. Is it possible to do a successful and fun run while using a bit of both tech and magic? If not I'd like to try a tech run just because I enjoy the tech.

Originally Posted by TheRealFluent
I kind of want to do a mix of both, which I heard is not very easy and doesn't work well together but I'd like to try it. Is it possible to do a successful and fun run while using a bit of both tech and magic? If not I'd like to try a tech run just because I enjoy the tech.

Possible, but difficult. What you need to keep in mind is that when you build your character, any points you put into magic will make your character lean towards magic, and any point put into tech makes the character lead towards tech. So in other words, if you put 5 points into magic and 5 points into tech, it'll even out. However, tech and magic generally has different requirements, so you may end up with a rather weak jack of all trades.

It's entirely possible to do though, by getting certain tech skills combined with magic that either heals, buffs or summons. I wouldn't bother with damage spells if you're trying to stay balanced.