Larian Studios Forums General Chat RPG Chat New to RPG's, besides BG3, what should I play?

I played 1E D&D in high school, and did a little computer gaming over the years, but not much. Lately, my kids were interested in D&D, and as a Covid hobby we started playing. That got me interested in it again, and then I heard about BG3. I'm really enjoying it. So, I just ordered a laptop that can run many of these games, and I'm trying to figure out what I should play?

Are BG 1 and 2 worth playing now? Or do they seem too dated?

How about DOS 1 and/or 2?

What other titles should I be looking at?

I dislike first person shooter, I just can't keep up. Turn based is great. RPG is great. D&D even better. Something I have to think about, but don't need the reflexes of a 20 year old to be successful with.

Please, suggestions, even if they seem obvious, because they won't be for me.

Pathfinder Kingmaker is imo the golden standard for CRPGs currently. But it is a very complicated system and as beginner you might feel overwhelmed. Same applies to BG1 and 2 (there are Enhanced Editions which update the graphics a bit).
The other games of this style are Pillars of Eternity 1 and 2.

Divinity 1/2 come from the same company as BG3 here, so they share many things including the unique Larian style. So if you really like what you see in BG3 then DOS is good for you.
For something lighter you can look at the Shadowrun games. The base game is average (and if you know Shadowrun the story was very easy to guess), but Dragonfall and Hong Kong are better (Dragonfall>Hong Kong).

If you want 3D graphics you can try Neverwinter Nights 2 (not turn based but you can pause whenever you want and its not a action game which requires direct input). The Mask of the Betrayer addon is far above the base game in storytelling.
Wasteland 2 and 3 might also be something to try out. They have less character driven plots though (you create your whole party instead of just 1 character).

Tyranny is good when you want to play something different as you basically start out as a minion of Sauron, figuratively speaking. Otherwise its close to Kingmaker/Pillars in how it works.

If old games are not a problem and you like more (very good story) and lots of text try Planescape Torment. Its still a insider tip among RPG fans. If you on the other hand want less story and more (pausable real time) combat you can try Icewind Dale 1/2, the small brothers of Baldurs Gate.

BG1 and BG2 are worth playing however they are realtime and not turn-based like bg3
Dragons age origins are very close to Baldur gate 1 and 2 experiences in 3D graphics
Planescape Torment is a game where you need to read a lot to understand the story still it's a great game.
If you want we can play BG1 and 2 (maybe 3) together if you need assistance.

I started playing DOS2 because I learned that the same studio is doing BG3. It is OK.

You can certainly try the games from the same family as Baldur's Gate: Icewind Dale, Planescape: Torment. If you are seriously into turn based games, try first two Fallouts. Pillars of Eternity 2 has turn based mode (in addition to that auto pause mode we know from BG1 and BG2). Also, XCOM is technically is not an RPG, but in XCOM2 I found everything I am looking for in an RPG title: turn based combat, decent story, character development. Wasteland 3 is a proper RPG with a similar combat system.

Dragon Age: Origins strikes a pretty good blend between being a reasonably deep RPG but also not too complicated, fairly accessible to newcomers. Probably should play it on casual difficulty at first, and then later on if it's starting to feel too easy, you can move it up to normal.

Neverwinter 1 & 2, Baldur's Gate 1 & 2, Starwars the Old Republic, Divinity Original Sin 1 & 2, Diablo 1 & 2

Dragon age series is pretty close to BG3.

Could just do a search on steam for rpg / crpg

Other than that point click story / puzzle game, Deponia: The Complete Journey

Graphic wise probably say divinity, dragon age, diablo

Based on what you've said, I'd recommend looking at the "Big 3" - the 3 most recent popular CRPG games in the recent resurgence of the genre. These are all brilliant in their own way, IMO, and are quite different

Divinity Original Sin 2:

• Most like BG3
• Of the big 3 (Pillars, Kingmaker, DOS), DOS has the best Turn-based gameplay (since it was designed for it)
• Most deterministic combat - less RNG - some people love it, others hate it
• It's Armor System is a hit or miss for people
• The most simplistic rule-set of the big 3 - not to say there aren't tons of permutations of builds and tons of abilities - it's just the most straight forward
• The one with the most "physically interactable world" (in regards moving items, objects) - kind of like in BG3, you can pick up, stack, throw things, with real game-play effects
• Dialogue and tone is the most light-hearted of the 3 (takes itself the least seriously), but there are pretty dark elements in the story too
• Origin system (companions can be player characters, etc)
• Playing #1 not required (no real story tie-in)

Pathfinder: Kingmaker (Real-time with Pause, Turn-based available)

• Uses the Pathfinder 1E system - basically an updated D&D 3.5E. Based on an actual adventure module, which means you might get a bit of that old-school roleplaying game vibe
• Very faithful adaptation of the ruleset translates to TONS of mechanical depth - tons of build options. Deepest of the Big 3 IMO
• Follows "D&D" rules - so certain classes are less "active" to play (i.e. fighters hit things). Balances out in a 6 person party system though
• Story is linear and simple, but does an excellent job of enabling the gameplay
• Has a kingdom management component to the game (that you can turn off if you don't like)
• Gold-standard in difficulty customization
• Patched on Turn-based mode
• Terrible enemy AI (worst of the 3)

Pillars of Eternity 1/2 (Real-time with Pause, #2 has Turn-based available)

• Deepest world-building of the 3 games. Tons of lore, which can be good or bad - since you drown in it
• Most mature theme-wise (most philosophical IMO)
• However, that doesn't mean best writing though - the dialogue and description prose can be quite clunky and dense
• Has stronghold (#1) or naval (#2) mechanics/gameplay
• Really fun, original class/mechanics system that has decent depth, and lots of active skills for all classes.
• #2 improves on the gameplay mechanics dramatically (introduces a cool multi-class system), but party is limited to 5 in 2.
• Most fun to solo of all 3 games
• Most interactive world (of the Big 3) - has a faction system that reacts to your choices and actions
• Patched on Turn-based mode

Other Great Games (but I'd play after the 3):
Tyranny - I love this game more than the above 3, but feel like it's best played after - it's best enjoyed when you can contrast it against other RPGs (and how it differs from the standards of the genre).

Shadowrun Trilogy - cyberpunk, turn-based setting. Much lower budget than the others listed, but incredible fun and charming, especially Dragonfall IMO.

I'm going to second the Shadowrun series. They're incredibly fun games. Really I second all the games in this thread so far.


The most recent RPG's I've played are Greedfall, Atom RPG (still getting the rare update or patch) , Atom RPG Trudograd (still in early access and gets major updates that add new content.) and Pathfinder Kingmaker (still getting lots of patches and updates.) For strategy tactics gameplay Fell Seal Arbiter's Mark is very good. It's mostly compared to Final Fantasy Tactics which is accurate (also a very good game to check out if you've never played it.) SteelRising is an upcoming game to keep an eye on.. made by the same guys who made Greedfall.

Undertale was a nice little game that had a good story and didn't require a punch-card to play in a timely manner. FallenJ, mentioned Star Wars: The Old Republic I'd second that; Knights of the Old Republic kept me going as a Star Wars fan.
On the completely different end of the spectrum, Disco Elysium is my pick for RPG of this decade.

The first BG games, the Dragon Age games, the Divinity games, if you like scifi and shooter rpg's give the Mass Effect games a go. If you like starwars you could give the KOTOR games and the new one.... uhh.... Jedi Fallen Order. Pillars of Eternity is pretty damn good, the sequel is OK but buggy as all getout. Skyrim and Greedfall are not bad either. ShadowRun is good too. The Witcher games are pretty good too, but the story gets more "modern" flavour as the games get newer and prettier which I think is not such a good thing.


These are not all strictly "RPG's" in the BG3 sense, but they are all brilliant and have strong RPG elements and a ton of story.

Do you mean the MMO, or the original Knights of the Old Republic? If the latter, I strongly second it, as well as the not-quite-a-sequel KotOR II: the Sith Lords.

Thank you all for the suggestions and taking the time to reply. I'll check out every game mentioned!

I recommend Knights of the Old Republic. The first one. It's amazing, well written, yet very simple, but that actually makes it better.
The second game is good too, but as usual for Obsidian, it's a largely unfinished game, which is sad. I love the characters and the gameplay in that one a lot, even though I hate the starting area.

I would love to recommend Neverwinter Nights 2, but sadly even on my high end gaming PC, it manages to be very annoying. NPC AI is very dumb, the game is a buggy mess, companion characters are barely fleshed out, the main story is kinda good, but the first (and longest) act of the game is a snorefest. The Mask of the Betrayer Expansion however is worth playing, it's one of the best D&D games you will ever find.

I also recommend Tyranny, it's the game that Pillars of Eternity should have been. It's rather short, but the combat and the story are both very satifying, the companion characters are interesting, and you get to make choices that actually matter in the end. I want to give special kudos to Tyranny because all companions have their own skill trees that reflect their own personal backgrounds and I just love it to bits. Rally goes to show how you don't really need a class system to make a good RPG.

Ment Knights of the Old Republic, posted right before bed so ya

Truthfully though all three are pretty good.

OP, if TB combat is your thing, then sorry but I can't recommend any games for you as I hate TB combat. However, if you are open to combat systems that are RT/RTwP, then I very strongly and passionately recommend the following (not in any particular order):

Pillars of Eternity 1
Pillars of Eternity 2
Pathfinder: Kingmaker
Dragon Age: Origins
BG1&2
Neverwinter Nights 2 (MotB expansion)
The Witcher 3

I recommend them for: story, storytelling, writing, character development, world-building, lore, choices and consequences, side quests.

I am not recommending them for gameplay mechanics, including combat mechanics. This doesn't mean these games are bad on that score. I consider the PoE gameplay mechanics to be the best out there among cRPGs, because I hate RNG-based mechanics and PoE mechanics have the least RNG impact on gameplay. But rather, I am saying this because for me personally, poor gameplay mechanics is something I can tolerate. But all those other things I listed above being poor I cannot tolerate.

Tyranny was a great game, if you like choices and factions and changing story based on decisions.

Last Epoch is great if you like action and want to run around slaughtering things and work on unique character build designs that are viable without a 'meta' < one true way > mentality about how to play a class

bg1/2 if you want the long campaign that spans over 2 games each with an expansion, and the long story of your character playing out.

pillars was actually a fairly family friendly game of this genre and even your kids could get excited about it, without worrying about nsfw content.

imho i have been looking for a long time for a game to respark my old AD&D nostalgia and most online games, hinder that. Of course, i just don't like people.

These two would get my vote. Even as someone who isn't a fan of "retro" games (I mean bearing in mind I started gaming in the 1970s, I'm still a bit "meh" about anything more than a decade past) Oranges has stood the test of time IMHO. It's an interesting and satisfying game. Even the infamous Fade section is okay.

TW3 managed to become a sort of gold standard of RPGs for good reason IMHO. Personally I don't like being handed a pre-made protagonist to play, but if I must play one, there's plenty worse than Geralt.

Also previous Larian games: both of the DOS games if you like the general playing style of BG3 (very broadly speaking, that is: the similarities are largely superficial) and my personal favourite of the series is Divinity 2, which is not like DOS as it's third-person, mostly non-party and real-time. It's based on the same engine as Oblivion and consequently looks and plays a bit like it but it's definitely its own thing; and it's much sillier; and it crashes much less often (in fact the only time I've crashed it is from carelessly modding it, IIRC).

- Lords of Magic -

Not really a role play so much and the graphics are older like original Baldur's Gate, but it's very fun to play and has a great soundtrack.

Pathfinder kingmaker is the most DnD intensive experience on the market but really takes some work to get into it if you are new to DnD. But because of complexity it has the option to autocreate character and autolevel them during play so you don’t totally mess up a character.

Also a new one pathfinder wrath of righteous is coming next year but this one will capitalize on complexity.

If you want nice real time combat Or also turnbased try pillars of eternity1+2. much easier to get into than pathfinder but still less cartoonish combat than bg3

to be honest, i see a lot of positives about this and am replaying it, trying to keep those positives in mind. i personally on first attempt to play through found it very linear. ( specificly travel ) and in rpgs im a huge fan of open world esq movement

If you prefer a more fairytale approach with(in) an medieval settingthen you should try out Drakensang 2 : The River Of Time.

Edit : If you are into humour and into tactical battles, then you should definitively try out The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk !