what engine do YOU guys use for making your retro games?

[Space]

im wanting to try making a 2.5d top down rpg thats like zelda a link to the past but has that pseudo 3d feel to it but i dont know which engine to use that has good texture painting for landscapes etc. any advice would be appreciated. just bought this software so now im a bit invested lol

[Ninja Sprout]

I personally use Godot, but I've seen a whole range of engines used by others.
One example I've seen is this: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3219390/The_Ballad_of_Bellum/
It is made in GameMaker, and the creator uses Crocotile to build the houses and objects and things. I think he created his own tools and system for generating the terrain though.
I don't have any experience using GameMaker, so I can't say how good it is. I think you have to be pretty skilled to get 3d set up in GameMaker though, since I don't think 3d is supported by default in the engine.
A common engine I see being used is Unity. There's also the Unreal engine. Both are really capable engines and have a lot of plugins and support, etc.
Godot is open source though, and feels like it keeps getting better. Version 4.4 will bring a lot of improvements. It will include Jolt physics, which generally performs better than the default physics. Previously you would have had to use a plugin to use Jolt.
I made a video on the crocotile youtube channel that shows how I import stuff from Crocotile into Godot, if you are interested in seeing that process.
There are a lot of engines though, and I think it really depends on the individual and what they naturally prefer to use.