Whats the best DnD game?

[Nats]

I like DnD tabletop and am thinking of getting into a DnD computer game but which one is the best?

And can I just pick any or do I need to play through them in order to get the most out of them?

[Tio Taveira]

It depends on what you are looking for.

Story = Planescape Torment
Combat = Icewind Dale (It's pretty much the same combat mechanics as Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 with minor differences but the game doesn't focus so much on the story)
Combat and story = Baldur's Gate 1 and 2

There's Baldur's Gate 3 which releases in August and many consider it to be the best dnd game ever made. As of now only the first act in the game is available so it's a bit too soon to crown it as the king of dnd.

[Clockwerks]

BG3 uses 5e rules, it cannot possibly be the best anything ever by that fact alone.

[GetToDeChoppa]

Temple of Elemental Evil is the best table top like computer game.

It is a direct port of the classic Greyhawk module by Gary Gygax and uses the 3.5 Edition ruleset.

You can get it on GOG. You need to install the Circle of Nine Mod Pack and the Temple + Launcher to get it running correctly on Windows 10, but its the best implementation of the D&D tabletop experience to a computer game.

You can't go wrong with Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, both are fantastic RPG's with great writing. They use the 2nd Edition ruleset, so if you play current 5e you will be completely lost with the system. They play more like a video game that uses D&D mechanics then actual D&D though.

Planescape Torment is a great game, but I do not recommend it if you are looking for a table top like game.

Icewind Dale uses the same engine as BG, and is similar, but more combat focused. Its a very slick game, and a lot of fun. Think of it a a huge dungeon crawl. Icewind Dale 2 is the same, but uses 3rd edition rules. It can be found on GOG

I do not recommend Neverwinter Nights, it has not aged well. Neverwinter Nights 2, on the other hand is great. It uses 3rd Edition and can also be found on GOG

There is also the classic Goldbox games if you want a old school AD&D game. The Pool of Radiance Series, the Sword Coast Savage Frontier series, and the Dragonlance Krynn series. All good games, but very, very old.

The 2nd Edition Ravenloft games are very good to, but again, very old. The Eye of the Beholder series is shallow.

For slightly different but more modern stuff, Solasta: Crown of the Magister uses 5e rules and is a solid, if pretty generic RPG with pretty good tactical combat. You can buy it anywhere, but its on PC Gamepass if you want to try it for free.

There is also the Pathfinder games. Pathfinder is just 3.5 D&D with the open license agreement,


My recommendations for a tabletop like game are =

Temple of Elemental Evil
Neverwinter Nights 2
Icewind Dale 1 and 2

My recommendations for the best games using D&D rules are =

Baldur's Gate 1 & 2
Icewind Dale 1 & 2
Temple of Elemental Evil.

[Noodle]

Originally posted by GetToDeChoppa:

Temple of Elemental Evil is the best table top like computer game.

It is a direct port of the classic Greyhawk module by Gary Gygax and uses the 3.5 Edition ruleset.

You can get it on GOG. You need to install the Circle of Nine Mod Pack and the Temple + Launcher to get it running correctly on Windows 10, but its the best implementation of the D&D tabletop experience to a computer game.

You can't go wrong with Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, both are fantastic RPG's with great writing. They use the 2nd Edition ruleset, so if you play current 5e you will be completely lost with the system. They play more like a video game that uses D&D mechanics then actual D&D though.

Planescape Torment is a great game, but I do not recommend it if you are looking for a table top like game.

Icewind Dale uses the same engine as BG, and is similar, but more combat focused. Its a very slick game, and a lot of fun. Think of it a a huge dungeon crawl. Icewind Dale 2 is the same, but uses 3rd edition rules. It can be found on GOG

I do not recommend Neverwinter Nights, it has not aged well. Neverwinter Nights 2, on the other hand is great. It uses 3rd Edition and can also be found on GOG

There is also the classic Goldbox games if you want a old school AD&D game. The Pool of Radiance Series, the Sword Coast Savage Frontier series, and the Dragonlance Krynn series. All good games, but very, very old.

The 2nd Edition Ravenloft games are very good to, but again, very old. The Eye of the Beholder series is shallow.

For slightly different but more modern stuff, Solasta: Crown of the Magister uses 5e rules and is a solid, if pretty generic RPG with pretty good tactical combat. You can buy it anywhere, but its on PC Gamepass if you want to try it for free.

There is also the Pathfinder games. Pathfinder is just 3.5 D&D with the open license agreement,


My recommendations for a tabletop like game are =

Temple of Elemental Evil
Neverwinter Nights 2
Icewind Dale 1 and 2

My recommendations for the best games using D&D rules are =

Baldur's Gate 1 & 2
Icewind Dale 1 & 2
Temple of Elemental Evil.

Pretty solid advice here.

One point I disagree on though, I think neverwinter night holds up well enough. While I have nostalgia for all of these games, my partner does not, and she enjoyed neverwinter nights coop more than the baldurs gates coop.

[Centurion]

Although each new game has more than the others, I have nostalgia for a lot of them. I still own the venerable Gold Box games. Their simplicity seems almost table top to me. (And three of them are the only ones in the Krynn universe instead of the Forgotten Realms.)

[wendigo211]

My top 10 D&D and D&D License games are:

1. Planescape: Torment
   
2. Baldur's Gate 2
   
3. Temple of Elemental Evil
   
4. Darksun: Shattered Lands
   
5. Neverwinter Nights 2
   
6. Icewind Dale
   
7. Baldur's Gate
   
8. Pathfinder: Kingmaker
   
9. Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous
   
10. Neverwinter Nights

[Nats]

The thing that really puts me off getting crpg games is they often have puzzles in them. I hate puzzles. I do not find being stuck in a linear game trying to get past a puzzle interesting at all. Unlike in real rpg games with a dm where you will get help if you are stuck, puzzles in computer games can be just really annoying. So I am wondering how BG3 will be and whether not getting the older games might be sensible as old games tend to feature old mechanics.

[Sstavix]

Originally posted by Nats:

The thing that really puts me off getting crpg games is they often have puzzles in them. I hate puzzles. I do not find being stuck in a linear game trying to get past a puzzle interesting at all. Unlike in real rpg games with a dm where you will get help if you are stuck, puzzles in computer games can be just really annoying.

I hadn't really thought about this before, but puzzles in RPGs - especially CRPGs - can really disrupt the tone of the game, too. In role-playing games, you are playing a character. Likely a very different person than you are. But when it comes to puzzles, the story is no longer challenging the character, but the player. It breaks the immersion, Basically. It's no longer Zognak, the Master of the Seventh Circle, but Bob the Accountant trying to figure out how to move a stone block from point A to point B.

However, I think this could be adapted in CRPGs. Just like a character with a high strength can break down doors easily, or a character with a high charisma can get better deals from a merchant, a character with high intelligence should have an easier time with puzzles. The higher the intelligence, the easier the puzzle should seem. For example....

Int 6: Sort these 33 irregular glass vials by the amount of liquid each can hold.

Int 18: Which shape is round?

I think the idea has potential.

[Clockwerks]

>Int 6: Sort these 33 irregular glass vials by the amount of liquid each can hold.
How to make the Barbarian angry in 2 seconds flat.

[mommysboiii]

baldurs gate 3 will BY FARRRRRR(I am talking about light years) be the best dnd game in 2 weeks

[Nats]

Originally posted by mommysboiii:

baldurs gate 3 will BY FARRRRRR(I am talking about light years) be the best dnd game in 2 weeks

That's not going to be difficult - there isnt going to be any other CRPG games released over the next two weeks lol It won't be better than tabletop DnD.

[GetToDeChoppa]

Originally posted by mommysboiii:

baldurs gate 3 will BY FARRRRRR(I am talking about light years) be the best dnd game in 2 weeks

Just like every other Larian game the writing in BG3 is hot garbarge. The tone is all over the place, and it seems like it was written by a team of writers that had no communication with each other about the overall ascetics of how the game will feel. Its like Multiple Personality Disorder: The Game. D:OS 1 and 2 were both like that as well.

I had MASSIVE reservations when I first heard the BG3 project was given to Larian years ago. When it was first announced I made a lot of posts on a gaming forum about my thoughts on how it would turn out with the typical bad writing and D:OS gameplay with a 5E ( a somewhat questionable ruleset anyway) coat of paint, and a lot of hype. In my opinion just about all my fears about the whole game have unfortunately proven well founded.

The game should have went to Obsidian and have the publisher properly fund them for once. Nothing will fix the restrictions of using the 5e ruleset, but at least if Obsidian or even current Bioware made the game it would not be the incoherent high school level mess it is now.

[GetToDeChoppa]

Originally posted by wendigo211:

My top 10 D&D and D&D License games are:

1. Planescape: Torment
   
2. Baldur's Gate 2
   
3. Temple of Elemental Evil
   
4. Darksun: Shattered Lands
   
5. Neverwinter Nights 2
   
6. Icewind Dale
   
7. Baldur's Gate
   
8. Pathfinder: Kingmaker
   
9. Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous
   
10. Neverwinter Nights

Darksun is one of the very few games I just can't get to run well in Dosbox. I have both Darksun games over on GOG and they have always had such poor performance no matter what PC I installed them on. It must be something with that particular engine.

It's a shame too, because the setting is very cool and the games seem like they would be good.

That is a pretty strong list... Wanted to ask if you have ever heard of a game called D&D: Warriors of the Eternal Sun. It was a Sega Genesis exclusive, used AD&D rules, and as far as I know is the only video game ever made to use the Hollow Earth campaign setting. I really enjoy it.

[mommysboiii]

Originally posted by Nats:

Originally posted by mommysboiii:

baldurs gate 3 will BY FARRRRRR(I am talking about light years) be the best dnd game in 2 weeks

That's not going to be difficult - there isnt going to be any other CRPG games released over the next two weeks lol It won't be better than tabletop DnD.

Originally posted by GetToDeChoppa:

Originally posted by mommysboiii:

baldurs gate 3 will BY FARRRRRR(I am talking about light years) be the best dnd game in 2 weeks

Just like every other Larian game the writing in BG3 is hot garbarge. The tone is all over the place, and it seems like it was written by a team of writers that had no communication with each other about the overall ascetics of how the game will feel. Its like Multiple Personality Disorder: The Game. D:OS 1 and 2 were both like that as well.

I had MASSIVE reservations when I first heard the BG3 project was given to Larian years ago. When it was first announced I made a lot of posts on a gaming forum about my thoughts on how it would turn out with the typical bad writing and D:OS gameplay with a 5E ( a somewhat questionable ruleset anyway) coat of paint, and a lot of hype. In my opinion just about all my fears about the whole game have unfortunately proven well founded.

The game should have went to Obsidian and have the publisher properly fund them for once. Nothing will fix the restrictions of using the 5e ruleset, but at least if Obsidian or even current Bioware made the game it would not be the incoherent high school level mess it is now.

I mean thats your opinion but if you objectivly have a list and try to evaluate which the best dnd game is with points how many roleplay options?how many endings? how many class options? how you can shape the game ??deeper romances.................................

and than all this qualitie of life like graphics,cutscenes ................

than I actally have no idea how anyone can say its not by far bg 3 after they played it in 2 weeks

[wendigo211]

Originally posted by GetToDeChoppa:

Darksun is one of the very few games I just can't get to run well in Dosbox. I have both Darksun games over on GOG and they have always had such poor performance no matter what PC I installed them on. It must be something with that particular engine.

I seem to recall having to jump through some hoops, although I can't recall which hoops exactly. I think I had to install a more recent version of Dosbox and adjust the settings for the FPS.

It's a shame the game didn't sell better, the devs were running out of money and didn't get a chance to advertise the game or bugfix the sequel, Wake of the Ravager.

Originally posted by GetToDeChoppa:

That is a pretty strong list... Wanted to ask if you have ever heard of a game called D&D: Warriors of the Eternal Sun. It was a Sega Genesis exclusive, used AD&D rules, and as far as I know is the only video game ever made to use the Hollow Earth campaign setting. I really enjoy it.

I've heard of it back in the day, but I was a Nintendo guy and didn't get a chance to play a lot of Sega games. I see it's in the Steam Sega Bundle, so maybe I'll pick it up the next time there's a sale.