I have tried a ton of RPGs, and most just don’t click for me. Here are a few:

  • Skyrim - enjoyed Morrowind for the side content, Skyrim just felt empty
  • Chrono Trigger - enjoyed until about halfway through with the battle with Magus; felt very RNG dependent, or maybe I was under leveled; I bailed after 5 or so attempts that all ended the same way (healer got killed and everyone got picked off)
  • Pillars of Eternity - burned out somewhere in Act 2 (20-25 hours); combat system annoyed me, and I dislike picking new abilities
  • Banner Saga - story is great, but I hate the combat, so I bailed

Some things about me:

  • I don’t care about leveling up/character builds, it feels like a chore; abilities also don’t interest me
  • I hate grinding
  • using items feels like cheating, so I tend to just use character abilities (I will heal if needed); I’d rather “git gud” than buy and use items
  • turn based combat (tactics) is generally boring, but I do like puzzles, so that can make it acceptable
  • I don’t like the feeling of being OP, I want to struggle through the end
  • I don’t like loot

That said, here are a few that I’ve really enjoyed:

  • ARPGs like Ys and Zelda - items are rare or are tools in a puzzle-like system; favorites are Ys 1, Ys Origin, Zelda: A Link to the Past, and Zelda: Skyward Sword (probably because I played Skyward Sword recently); I dislike BotW, and Memories of Celceta has been dragging a bit (I’m near the end, but excited to finish)
  • interesting RPGs like Undertale - short and very unique experience
  • Souls-like games - challenge involving melee/dodging keeps me going
  • Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky - not a fan of the combat, but the story is interesting somewhat at least; I’m about 2/3 through I think (30 hours), but I’ve taken a multi-month break; likewise, Xenoblade Chronicles is interesting so far, but I’m not super excited about it (may bump down to story mode to get through it, the combat sucks imo)
  • Nier: Replicant - great story, leveling stayed out of the way, and I never felt like I needed to grind or upgrade gear

I really like the storylines of RPGs, I just don’t like actually playing them. Unfortunately, my preferred ARPG genre is filled with loot nonsense, and I’ve played most of the ones that don’t really on that as a mechanic. Perhaps my favorite RPG-adjacent game not mentioned already is Yakuza 0, I’m not a fan of the combat, but he story is amazing and the side content is fun.

Does anyone feel similarly? Do you have any suggestions for other games to try?

  • tal@lemmy.today
    3·
    1 year ago

    Traditional roguelikes have brutal difficulty and grinding is effectively not a thing you can do.

    Ehhh. You can definitely grind in Angband.

    A number of traditional roguelikes, like Nethack or Dungeon Crawl: Stone Soup, have a finite amount of food available that forces you to keep moving. But not all.

    • Knusper@feddit.de
      2·
      1 year ago

      Yeah, I was wary making such sweeping statements about the genre, because I’m sure, there’s oddballs, but I didn’t either want to talk just of DCSS + Shattered Pixel Dungeon, which I’ve played more of…

      And DCSS used to have food. They removed it some versions ago. What stops you from grinding, is that there’s a rather limited number of (non-respawning) enemies/XP.

      • tal@lemmy.today
        2·
        1 year ago

        Ah, fair enough. I haven’t played it in quite some time, and it’s notable for the developers doing gameplay revisions.