I'm currently looking for a new RPG to play. Hopefully someone can help me find the right one.

Here's a list of what I'm looking for in a game:
1. High replay value.
2. Different side quests or a branching main quest line. Possibly different endings or New Game Plus.
3. Open world or at least a game that is not completely linear.
4. Different party members and/or an extensive character creation mode. (Adds to replay value)
5. I'd prefer turn-based combat. If not turn-based then pausing during combat. I'd prefer the game not be real-time combat.
Also, I want the combat to have depth. Not just you encounter an enemy and your character does all the work as you watch and wait for it to end.


The setting doesn't matter. It could be fantasy or sci-fi or steampunk or whatever.


I grew up playing the Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger/Cross games. I'm looking for something that will bring back some of that nostalgia. Although it doesn't have to be an older game. I'm currently playing Divinity: Original Sin and I think it's great.

The games I've been looking into include;
1. Dragon Age: Origins - seems similar to D:OS. Also high on many RPG lists.
2. Fallout 1 or 2 - I've played 3, 4 and NV. I know the original 2 are very different but I do like the setting and humor of the later games.
3. Expeditions: Conquistador
4. The Age of Decadence
5. Planescape: Torment
6. Baldur's Gate 1 or 2
7. Wasteland 2

Those are just a few. I haven't decided on one or any of them yet.

I'll take any and all suggestions. The only thing I'm not looking for are games like Witcher and Elder Scrolls. I enjoy those games but it's not what I'm trying to play right now.

Thank you anyone and everyone for your input.

Dragon Wars and Wasteland (1) happen to fit your requirements (aside from the official way to do Wasteland 1's New Game + having been lost over the years).

(Note that these games aren't like Final Fantasy, as FF games, for the most part, tend to be rather linear with a small-ish number of side quests.)


Also, Ultima 6 might be worth looking into. (Ultima 4 and 5 don't really have side quests, and Ultima 7's combat is real-time "you encounter an enemy and your character does all the work as you watch and wait for it to end", which you explicitly said you don't want.)

Looking for the meaning of life, hope someone can help me find it

42

I doubt you'll find a game that fits all these requirements.

I comment on some of the games you mentioned:

1.) Age of decadence: VERY high replay value, there are about six totally different questlines, with lots of branching, Game plays drastically different depending on the type of character you create. It has turn-based combat which is very good imo, challenging, but you've got many options to level the playing field.
It doesn't have an open world and you don't have a party, so while it delivers on points 1,2 and 5, it fails on points 3 and 4.
There is also a purely combat-focused spinoff Dungeon rats where you can recruit party members, but it's totally linear and focused on nothing but combat, without quests or any branching, so probably not what you're looking for.

2.) Expeditions: Conquistador: Have only played through it once, but I'd say it does have replay value, because you've got quite a few choices, e.g. you can play a humane explorer who respects native cultures or a brutal conqueror. You create a party at the start and you can also recruit new party members during the game (who have values of their own and some side content, even if it's not that deep). Turn-based combat is decent, with different character classes (e.g. soldier, fast scout, ranged fighter, healer etc.), I enjoyed it a lot. Game is also good with exploration and resource management, e.g. collecting herbs and food, crafting etc.
Regarding open world: Depends what you consider open world...there are two scenarios (Hispaniola, Mexico), and you can explore them quite freely.
So definitely a game which checks many of your boxes.

3.) Planescape Torment: not at all what you're looking for imo, it's fairly linear, combat is real-time with pause and an afterthought. Great story though.

4.) Dragon Age Origins: Has some replay value due to some choices you can make in the main story, but the game is damned huge (played it recently, took me 50 hours without the dlcs), so depends what time investment you're willing to make. Side quests are lame and unimaginative. You get lots of banter with party members, so if you like that kind of thing, you might enjoy it. Combat is real-time with pause and can be fun, but there's too much of it imo. Regarding open world: The main quest has four parts and you can choose in which order to do them.

5.) Fallout 1&2: Does have replay value, even if it's somewhat overrated imo (unless you really want to play a diplomat or a melee character, most character builds will focus on small guns and energy weapons imo, because they're the best choice). Main ending is fixed, but your choices in sidequests influence ending slides. Combat is turn-based, but rather shallow imo, you don't have many options. You can recruit party members, but you don't control them directly, and you don't get much side content with them. On the plus side, both games are fairly non-linear, you can explore the entire world from the start (though some areas will be deadly for a starting character because of the dangerous enemies).

Personally I'd recommend Expeditions: Conquistador, and then Age of decadence, both are very interesting games with fresh ideas imo. Fallouts are also good (1st one more than the 2nd imo, because it has better story and atmosphere, but that's probably a matter of taste).

How about Radiant Historia? It is a JRPG centered on time travel, while feeling like Final Fantasy VI.

Or you could just play the fan translation of the Super Famicom version.

Also, try SaGa Frontier (PlayStation). It has a more diverse setting (mix of cyberpunk and fantasy, among others), 7 main characters, each with their own separate plotline (including separate final bosses and endings, with at least 2 of them having multiple endings), as well as 4 different growth systems. Actions taken during combat only affect stat growth for humans (which, admittedly, are the most common race), while robots (called mechs in this game) and monsters have entirely different growth systems.

One thing: If you do decide to try SaGa Frontier, do not play Lute's scenario first. If you do, you could easily end up in the final dungeon early on, be unable to leave, and have no hope of defeating the final boss. Choose literally any other main character instead, at least until you're familiar with how the game works and is structured.

Total wildcard: Caves of Qud

Did you hear that SaGa Frontier remastered is supposed to come out next summer? Will even have Fuse as a playable scenario supposedly.

You should definitely check out the original fallout games (1 + 2) then as they still hold up today. The second is the only game perhaps where you can be a made man, a boxer, a cultist, and a pornstar among other things. Finally, the turn-based combat is tough and pretty awesome.

Both games have immense replay value.

Of course, you can't go wrong with Baldur's gate or any of the infinity engine games (remasters included).

Underrail. Pretty much ticks all of the boxes you listed, and is just all around an excellent game. If you get it be sure to grab the Expedition expansion as it adds a huge amount of content to the game.

But not for any platform I have available. (And, in any case, I'm fine with the original when I feel like replaying it. Also, I still haven't even touched some of the scenarios (Red and Riki come to mind).)

(Anything with DRM I treat as being on a platform I do not own.)

(Worth noting: If this, or any other SaGa, gets a DRM-free digital release, I will likely buy it at full price.)

By the way: I actually don't like the fact that SaGa Frontier is so human-dominant when it comes to playable characters, especially given how much fun I've had with SaGa 2 with all robot/monster parties.

The Fallout games and Wasteland 2+3 seem like a good enough fit, Dragon Age: Origins possibly, too. If you're fine with Baldur's Gate 1 & 2's real-time with pause combat, there's also Pillars of Eternity 1 & 2 and Tyranny, and there is Pathfinder: Kingmaker (not quite sure if it's real-time with pause or fully turn-based). The Temple of Elemental Evil is a dungeon crawl (so mostly linear I guess and not that much story), but you get to create a full party and the combat is turn-based.

The Shadowrun games might be of interest to you, too, even though they tend to be rather linear. Shadowrun Returns is completely linear even, but you can skip it and try Dragonfall instead which has more side quests and choices. Despite being called a trilogy, they all have their own independent stories, you don't need to play them in order. Combat is fully turn-based.

On the indie game front - if simpler graphics are not an issue - you have Knights of the Chalice, which is focused on exploration and turn-based combat and can be quite challenging with regard to the latter; story and quests are there, but are not as extensive as in most other games above. If you want more of story but simpler combat, check the games by Spiderweb Software, like Avadon, Geneforge or Avernum.

Personally, I don't do Early Access, but if you're open to that, or you want to bookmark these for when they are finally released, Baldur's Gate 3 and Solasta: Crown of the Magister are very similar to Divinity: Original Sin.

And of course, there's still Original Sin 2, if you haven't played it yet. That should occupy you for a while. ;)