Lesser known games like Solasta you enjoy?

[Snefru]

I don’t know any currently and hoping the community does. I’ve played all the major ones over last 40 years. I like to play a few games at a time for my mind. Figured I’d see what people who like Solasta also play that might be similar or fill a gap (like more story oriented where Solasta is more combat)?if this isn’t the place to post this let me know.

It’s kind of a broad question but if it’s some kind of adventure based and not AAA I’d be interested to hear. Thanks!

[Frostfeather]

İlk olarak Dorok tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak Sparkle tarafından gönderildi:

Wizardry 8 is fantastic. As are most of the might and magic. I remember playing the first M&M on our Apple 2. Using graph paper to map out the areas as I went. Good times.

There's many articles on Wizardry 8 about how not rush to a point in the campaign can let scaling derail up to be blocked at a point of the campaign. Moreover did the series finally fixed the awful character creation system involving hours of roll? With the 6 nothing is fixed and dev are even proud of it and explain it in the manual.

For MM6 it's no way MM3 to 5, in the context of Solasta TB, I would suggest more MM3 or perhaps later, the merge of 4&5 is also an option but one MM is already a toog big RPG so two is worse. But if MM3 to 5 are TB, MM6 is real time so in the context it's weird suggestion.

You don't roll for stats in Wizardry 8.

And MM6 can be played in turn based, I did the whole thing that way.

[Dorok]

MM6, only TB face to face until death? I didn't knew it was possible, for me it's a totally weird real time mode mixed with TB exploit phase, that said I write exploit, but it was looking necessary to abuse of such exploits. I don't call that TB, but real time with weird TB mix. Frankly it's more constant kitting and long range abuse, very bad combat system, one of the worse I ever played. I should retry again and this time consider TB is the norm not an annoying exploit.

And for character creation ok that's perhaps Wiz6 the last that used this weirdness of very rare rolls at character creation to get anything a bit good to not get destroyed rather fast. The scaling problem always discouraged me a bit, but I need to try again.

But it's not clear why you switched to AAA games classic? You believe those two more ignored than the many others as old or older AAA RPG classic? For sure for example Baldur's Gate 1, Fallout 1&2 was before those two, even Baldur's Gate 2 was before Wiz8.

[lejes]

İlk olarak Dorok tarafından gönderildi:

MM6, only TB face to face until death? I didn't knew it was possible, for me it's a totally weird real time mode mixed with TB exploit phase, that said I write exploit, but it was looking necessary to abuse of such exploits. I don't call that TB, but real time with weird TB mix. Frankly it's more constant kitting and long range abuse, very bad combat system, one of the worse I ever played. I should retry again and this time consider TB is the norm not an annoying exploit.

And for character creation ok that's perhaps Wiz6 the last that used this weirdness of very rare rolls at character creation to get anything a bit good to not get destroyed rather fast. The scaling problem always discouraged me a bit, but I need to try again.

But it's not clear why you switched to AAA games classic? You believe those two more ignored than the many others as old or older AAA RPG classic? For sure for example Baldur's Gate 1, Fallout 1&2 was before those two, even Baldur's Gate 2 was before Wiz8.

Dorok, Wiz 8 and MM 6 were just suggestions. Let's move on or this will monopolize the topic.

[seecat46]

If you want more combat and less roleplay try battle brothers.

[Ommamar]

There is a D&D sale going on on steam at the moment one of the games you can get is called Tomb of Annihilation which is based on the board game of the same name. It came out in 2017 and has tons of dlc you can by for $11 during this sale. I won't say it is for everyone as you are tied into the different characters that the developers have created (there is quite a few most of the DLCs are adding a character) and it can get repetitive as the way to craft is going through the different maps at different levels of difficulties to get what you need. It also has a interface it takes some getting use to as there are three different ways to move around/interact with the game so you have to figure out the best times to use them. It does tell a decent story and the characters are pretty fleshed out so exploring their back stories is a big draw.

[Blackdragon]

İlk olarak Ommamar tarafından gönderildi:

There is a D&D sale going on on steam at the moment one of the games you can get is called Tomb of Annihilation which is based on the board game of the same name. It came out in 2017 and has tons of dlc you can by for $11 during this sale. I won't say it is for everyone as you are tied into the different characters that the developers have created (there is quite a few most of the DLCs are adding a character) and it can get repetitive as the way to craft is going through the different maps at different levels of difficulties to get what you need. It also has a interface it takes some getting use to as there are three different ways to move around/interact with the game so you have to figure out the best times to use them. It does tell a decent story and the characters are pretty fleshed out so exploring their back stories is a big draw.

Beyond the fact that judging by reviews it is a subpar game, I think it's a travesty to call it a "Dungeons & Dragons game" in the first place.

It is NOT based on the D&D ruleset or the real Tomb of Annihilation modules. It's a completely different, very casualised game, which is at most "inspired" by ToA, but even that in a loose sense (I wouldn't even use the word "inspired" in the same sentence with this game, as it is utterly derivative and lacking any true inspiration).

It is basically the complete opposite of Solasta (which is among the closest implementations of D&D rulesets in computer gaming).

It's also incredibly illustrative of the degrading policies of WoTC, which is willing to slap its "D&D" logo on such trash, but begrudged the D&D licence to makers of Solasta and Pathfinder: Kingmaker, forcing the former to use the gutted SRD version, and the latter to switch to Pathfinder. Another case in point is the recent "Dark Alliance", which also has almost nothing in common with actual D&D but has been given incredible support and promotion by WoTC.

Personally, I would not buy such pseudo-"D&D" crap on principle. Support developers that stay true to the ruleset, do not support false advertising and money grabs.

[Rhalius]

Have you seen the full depth of D&D videogames made over the years though? They have slapped the name onto a lot of garbage, most of which has been forgotten over time or never even heard of.

I guess they are mainly hesitant about giving the license to unproven indie developers, which seems like standard policy. If there's to be a Solasta 2 I think they'll get the full license for it.

While they play quite differently, I think the only other game that came this close to the D&D experience was Neverwinter Nights 1.

It has the multiplayer and dungeon master aspects along with an easy to use toolset. Based on 3.0 rules though.

Would be really amazing if we'd ever get a real sequel to Neverwinter Nights, not that unfinished garbage that Obsidian dared to call a sequel.

I mean a sequel that uses 5.0 rules. No prestige classes, but the warlock added as well as additional playable races. Also using the same rules for feats and all that, include the subclasses or at least adding them in expansions, etc.

NWN also had a problem translating the fighter to videogames, was the weakest class and that game actually had some good feats for them to pick. It just didn't stack up to all the free abilities and stuff other classes got. Fighter got nothing aside from the extra feats.
Only got worse with epic levels. I don't think any D&D game should bring epic levels back.

[Ommamar]

İlk olarak Blackdragon tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak Ommamar tarafından gönderildi:

There is a D&D sale going on on steam at the moment one of the games you can get is called Tomb of Annihilation which is based on the board game of the same name. It came out in 2017 and has tons of dlc you can by for $11 during this sale. I won't say it is for everyone as you are tied into the different characters that the developers have created (there is quite a few most of the DLCs are adding a character) and it can get repetitive as the way to craft is going through the different maps at different levels of difficulties to get what you need. It also has a interface it takes some getting use to as there are three different ways to move around/interact with the game so you have to figure out the best times to use them. It does tell a decent story and the characters are pretty fleshed out so exploring their back stories is a big draw.

Beyond the fact that judging by reviews it is a subpar game, I think it's a travesty to call it a "Dungeons & Dragons game" in the first place.

It is NOT based on the D&D ruleset or the real Tomb of Annihilation modules. It's a completely different, very casualised game, which is at most "inspired" by ToA, but even that in a loose sense (I wouldn't even use the word "inspired" in the same sentence with this game, as it is utterly derivative and lacking any true inspiration).

It is basically the complete opposite of Solasta (which is among the closest implementations of D&D rulesets in computer gaming).

It's also incredibly illustrative of the degrading policies of WoTC, which is willing to slap its "D&D" logo on such trash, but begrudged the D&D licence to makers of Solasta and Pathfinder: Kingmaker, forcing the former to use the gutted SRD version, and the latter to switch to Pathfinder. Another case in point is the recent "Dark Alliance", which also has almost nothing in common with actual D&D but has been given incredible support and promotion by WoTC.

Personally, I would not buy such pseudo-"D&D" crap on principle. Support developers that stay true to the ruleset, do not support false advertising and money grabs.

No but it is based pretty closely on the board game. There is the old age argument you brought up of yeah lets put D&D in front of it that will sell. I remember an D&D arcade game that was more similar to Gauntlet in how it played but people swore it was authentic D&D at the time. I won't claim it is anywhere close to Solasta in how closely it holds to the rule, either the actual board game or the video game inspired by the board game. I will say I enjoy playing it in small doses of time but once it begins to get repetitive I take a break. It is also on sale right now so you can get a lot of content for a little money, some will consider it a bargain some will consider it a waste either way worth a look and it will become pretty clear whether it is for you or not so you can always refund.

[Blackdragon]

İlk olarak Rhalius tarafından gönderildi:

Have you seen the full depth of D&D videogames made over the years though? They have slapped the name onto a lot of garbage, most of which has been forgotten over time or never even heard of.

I have looked into it, and I am fully aware of WoTC's policy of promoting pseudo-"D&D" crap like card games, board games, action games etc. - anything except actual CRPGs that would faithfully implement the ruleset.

In fact, how WoTC treats the D&D ruleset itself is illustrative of the same approach - they almost killed D&D with the unspeakable 4th edition, which was basically a "tabletop MMO". 5e is a grudging reversal to some of the basics, while still flanderising and casualising the game so much it's difficult to stomach for fans of the older editions.

İlk olarak Rhalius tarafından gönderildi:

I guess they are mainly hesitant about giving the license to unproven indie developers, which seems like standard policy. If there's to be a Solasta 2 I think they'll get the full license for it.

Nah. They have given the license to absolute crap developers, and produced tons of absolute crap games, and continue doing so without a second thought. While at the same time pointedly ignoring any attempts to revive the classic CRPG genre that was rooted in D&D. For TEN YEARS they didn't make a single D&D CRPG, despite the great success of games like Baldur's Gate, Planescape: Torment, Icewind Dale, and even KOTOR (D20 based). Now the only D&D CRPG they're sponsoring is BG3, which looks and plays more like a mix between Divinity and Mass Effect/The Witcher than Baldur's Gate.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker collected a ton of Kickstarter funding, was a success, and now has a sequel coming out - WoTC is not even on the horizon to offer its developers to make a D&D CRPG. Same will be with Solasta, I'm pretty sure.

İlk olarak Rhalius tarafından gönderildi:

While they play quite differently, I think the only other game that came this close to the D&D experience was Neverwinter Nights 1.

NWN2 was better IMHO, especially MoTB. And SoZ actually allowed a full custom party.

İlk olarak Rhalius tarafından gönderildi:

I mean a sequel that uses 5.0 rules.

5e is vastly inferior to 3e, in my view. A faithful implementation of 3.5 rules in a computer game would have been amazing, and I feel is perfectly possible with this generation's hardware.

[Rhalius]

NWN2 made Rome 2 total war look like a bug free launch in comparison.
Not only that but all character models looked imbred, multiplayer was barely functional because you even had to download things on servers that didn't use mods, anything that took 10 minutes to do in the NWN1 toolset took 10 hours in the NWN2 toolset, the camera and controlls where terrible, and the campaign was even worse considering it did not fit if you where anything else than a young adult human farmer who is either good or evil since there never where neutral dialogue options, and forced friends on you.

It was a complete faillure that offered less than the first game, which patched in mounted combat and had a highly detailed armour/clothing editor. NWN2's armour appearances where garbage.

NWN2 was never able to attract more players online than NWN1, not even when it was new.

[Dorok]

Yeah NWN1 toolset was rather exceptional in term of ease of use, and generated a ton of users creations, and NWN2 failed reproduce it. But on another way, NWN1 is a huge simplification:
- Single character instead of party, at first one follower and you couldn't do much with him, later 2 followers but no party here.
- Single character and more real time, but the team failed to make the jump and design a true real time action gameplay, and instead stayed at a RTwP level despite only one character controlled.
- NWN1 OC is a lite RPG, pleasant to play, but nothing worthy of being of a list of best RPG.
- Many mechanism was a bit simplified, fitting to the almost real time design. Basic rest system, basic chess and door opening system, simple stealth system, basic search system, areas design a bit simple with very few tricks, more.
- It's D&D 3e when the standard is more 3.5e and 3e more an intermediate version.

NWN2 screwed up the toolset, made an awfully linear OC, was needing quite more advanced 3D still using the same engine and ended design areas a bit small, some more. But:
- True party RPG hence much better suited to D&D designed for party.
- Better combats complexity with 4 characters.
- Certainly the most advanced UI for such party RPG, modern RPG still have hard time achieve the same, multiple shortcut bars you can position and size yourself, a very advanced command system during pause even if it proved be not very useful in the context, shortcut bar management (coming from NWN1) at its best including with a great weapons sets management, more.
- Bring back true companions, even if in OC a lot too many so not as much developed than Bioware have been used to do, but still a lot more than NWN1 followers/
- D&D 3.5e feels just a lot more mature.
- OC brings on the table one of the best castle RPG implementation, even BG2 can't compare because in BG2 it's spread though multiple castles management one for each main class type.
- NWN2 adds Mask of the Betrayer extension, easily among best RPG ever done for many players, and for sure a very marking game even if MotB is a bit small as a RPG.
- As years passed, more and more NWN1 modules get translated to NWN2. And if for persistent worlds NWN1 was certainly still the reference, for users modules NWN2 take the crown.

For multipayer perspective it's possible that NWN1 always been the NWN reference, but for single player play, no matter how good are NWN1 Bioware extension and many users creations, NWN2 took the lead and from far.

[Ichthyic]

"Personally, I would not buy such pseudo-"D&D" crap on principle. Support developers that stay true to the ruleset, do not support false advertising and money grabs. "

well, the problem, as you noted, is WoTC. the reason you see so many devs making games that seem similar to DnD, but use entirely customized characters and rulesets, is entirely BECAUSE of WoTC and their inane, draconian business model. if WoTC were more sane, and actually wanted to really make money, they would open up the entire rulesets to standard licensing fees, and then all those devs that actually want to develop a true DnD game but can't... would. WoTC would see a TON more business coming in, at slightly less profit per.

but nobody, and I mean NOBODY has ever been able to reason with them in a sane fashion.

[Dorok]

İlk olarak Ichthyic tarafından gönderildi:

"Personally, I would not buy such pseudo-"D&D" crap on principle. Support developers that stay true to the ruleset, do not support false advertising and money grabs. "

well, the problem, as you noted, is WoTC. the reason you see so many devs making games that seem similar to DnD, but use entirely customized characters and rulesets, is entirely BECAUSE of WoTC and their inane, draconian business model. if WoTC were more sane, and actually wanted to really make money, they would open up the entire rulesets to standard licensing fees, and then all those devs that actually want to develop a true DnD game but can't... would. WoTC would see a TON more business coming in, at slightly less profit per.

but nobody, and I mean NOBODY has ever been able to reason with them in a sane fashion.

Nobody can know, but that seems like a good bet, stop try select projects, at least not until D&D became too dominant in video game and then avoid too many tagged D&D games could be a serious negative.

I played a little bit Tomb of Annihilation video game and it's very clear, it's not a D&D game, it's a video game based on Tomb of Annihilation board game which has a D&D license.

In all honesty I didn't go past first understanding of rules and mechanisms, I suspect I didn't finish any run, I don't remind well. For sure it failed grab me. But anyway it's clearly a board game port, take it for something else is plain wrong. It's also clear that it's about playing a party of 4 very different characters to progress in a dungeon crawler, each character inspired by D&D but no way it's any D&D character.

EDIT:
About Ichthyic total lack of education shown by his post just bellow, ok fine, and Ichthyic, I don't care, even better don't lost my time please. I don't have tome to lost with your boredom aggressiveness.

[Ichthyic]

oh, and I should probably let Dorok know I blocked him a long time ago, since he is active in this thread. save yourself the bother of responding to anything I have posted.

[Rhalius]

Why even play with a party of NPC's when you can play with a party of other players? The very core of D&D.

I played NWN1 more than any other game, never finished any of the campaigns. Once I went online there was no looking back.

And NWN2 messed up there, with both the online mode and toolset part. Even the chat channels where broken, NWN1 was very good there too with the right whisper range, easy way to send a PM to other players and seeing the player's portrait next to their text in the chat log to easily find them there.
NWN2 did not have the text show up above the player as they said it either if I recall.

If you don't like the NWN1 campaign, there's over a thousand others, you can find hundreds of good quality. There's more quality content than you could finish in your life time probably.