Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate 2, Icewind Dale, Icewind Dale 2, Konung Legends of the North, Konung 2 Blood of Titans, and Planescape: Torment are the infinity engine games. Planescape Torment is very different, but I recommend playing it. I'm doing my first playthrough now. I've never played the Konung games.
Beyond that Neverwinter Nights and Neverwinter Nights 2 share similarities with BG but are not isometric RPGs. The Diablo series is Isometric and enjoyable but not D&D based and are more action RPGs. The original fallout and Fallout 2 are similar to Baldur's Gate in many ways, but are not fantasy, highly recommended. Also highly recommend The Temple of Elemental Evil, which is based on D&D 3.0 and is a turn-based game. It's buggy as hell though so install the Circle of Eight mods that to fix everything.
Well, I'm going to suggest Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura. Its story is great, and so is the customization of skills. So, if you're looking for a good story, that would be a good place to start. My only recommendation when first starting is to use the Unofficial Arcanum Patch, and the High Resolution Patch.
Arcanum has some genuinely amazing stuff, but it's nauseatingly ugly and combat is unspeakably awful. It's a very mixed bag, worth keeping this in mind. I would recommend Torment since you already have it.
It's much newer by comparison, but The Neverwinter Nights 2 expansion "Mask of the Betrayer" is a fully realized game in its own right (and I don't even think you need NWN2 to play it). Although it's not isometric, it's the only Forgotten realms game I've seen that matches the BG series in character and narrative depth. Awesome game.
Inquisitor - dark scenery and medieval times. Already waiting for me on GOG but didn't tried it yet but read a lot of positives. Also one funny review that said something like: "a lot of texts to skip....", how can reviewer even say something like that?
Edit: I will add also NOX, recently heard it's pretty good, but again never actually played.
Edit2: I remembered another game before dragon ages but so so similar called Drakensang was good with fine way of spending experience instead of gaining a levels.
Inquisitor - dark scenery and medieval times. Already waiting for me on GOG but didn't tried it yet but read a lot of positives. Also one funny review that said something like: "a lot of texts to skip....", how can reviewer even say something like that?
Edit: I will add also NOX, recently heard it's pretty good, but again never actually played.
Edit2: I remembered another game before dragon ages but so so similar called Drakensang was good with fine way of spending experience instead of gaining a levels.
NOX is an awesome game. I would recommend it though its more action oriented than storyline oriented (there is a story its just not exceedingly strong).
You do gain levels in Drakensang though beforehand you can also spend points upgrading yourself as well.
All the Other Infinity Engine games are *like* Baldur's Gate. But they can hardly even lift a candle to the Baldur's Gate Saga. Icewind Dale and Planescape: Torment come very close, but no cigar.
Nox is alright, but it's pretty short and has very little replay value, once you've played all three classes. Hilariously funny sometimes though. The opening video is comedy gold.
Considering BG is actually a pretty terrible game, it's not a very high bar to beat. Torment crushes it both mechanically and as an RPG, and Icewind Dale, while lacking in NPC companions is a little bit better from a Roleplaying standpoint (which seems counter-inuitive since Icewind Dale is supposed to be the most Dungeon-crawler-ish of the big Three) (it's also the most multiplayer friendly of the bunch).
Arcanum is quite solid (after fan patches), though I strongly recommend using Turn-based mode exclusively, the real-time mode is basically worthless.
Doesn't get much Love, but Sacred is actually pretty good. (the first game). It's kind of a mix between an Isometric TES game with some Diablo-style game-play. Though it's more of a Sandbox rpg then a more focused story-driven RPG. There is a main story, but it's totally up to you if you want to follow it.
Sacred 2....I didn't like. It was heavily influenced by it's console release and is a much worse game as a result. (and Sacred 3 is an in-name only sequel with basically nothing in common to the previous two games but a few names).
Fallout 1 and 2 are also very good, if you prefer a more post-apocalyptic rpg.
Temple of Elemental Evil (after fan patches), is also a very solid release, and is IMO the best DnD-based CRPG ever made. It's a faithful adaptation of the module of the same name, and extremely faithful mechanically as well..to the point it makes the infinity engine games feel like shallow diablo clones by comparison (mechanically).
Neverwinter Night 1.....the official campaigns are pretty bland and awful (they're really more just examples of what you can make using the development toolkit)....but the user created modules are often quite nice, and there's still persistent worlds running to this day, some of which can approach a tabletop level of gaming quality. It's interface and control methods are utterly superior NWN2.
NWN2 is garbage. Complete and utter garbage. It's engine is garbage, it's interface is garbage, it's OC is garbage. It has pathetically tiny, linear maps..ugh..makes me mad just remember how much money I spent on that game and then spent on trying to build a computer that could run it...only to find out that it just genuinely runs like $%#^ in general. Even MotB which is admittedly well written, is garbage simply because it requires you to own the POS base game and play it on the same POS engine.
Knight of the Old Republic has similar issues to NWN1's official content, with a terrible bland campaign, buggy as hell, and is just all around a terrible game...and no where near enough good mods to make it worth the money. It makes the Star Wars prequels look compelling. Though if you liked the prequels, you might enjoy KotOR. Kotor 2 is the same...but even worse in every respect.
I'll think of some more later. Those are just the ones I've played that I either enjoyed or hated so much I had to talk about it.
Considering BG is actually a pretty terrible game, it's not a very high bar to beat. Torment crushes it both
WHAT?! Baldur's Gate is a great game, and Baldur's Gate 2 is it's vastly superior sequel. They will and always will be one of the greatest rpg series of all time, if not one of the greatest game series of all time. Period.
If you wait a while, Obsidian (the guys behind Neverwinter Nights and the new Fallout games) are making a new one called Pillars of Eternity. It looks promising, and is due to go into beta later this month.
Lol topic raised from the dead.. well i would recommend NWN1,BG series,Torment,Dragon age 1 and now good new TURN BASED RPG Divinity Original Sin. Thats my personal taste- some people find NWN2 attractive,NWN1 aweful,bg boring,torment too complicated and etc. Basically for RPG purpose BG,Icewindale ,Torment and fallout 2. For strategic\fun\action purpose you have Divinity,dragon age and.. chess. Lol just kidding. Anyway i found TEMPLE OF ELEMENTAL EVIL Extremly boring thought the engine is good. NWN2 as really good game.. in EXTREMLY BAD ENGINE which ruines all the fun. In BG and Icewind - the possibility to move the camera like in NWN.
Every game got certain problem. The question is if you can work around the problem,bug etc. I finished Dragon age with bad nerves because the end battle always crashed so i needed to finish it in less then 2 minutes. Bg 1 is kind of repititive once you try all the major classes. NWN 2 engine and camera is SO FRUSTRATING - although i tryed to play it many times i lost interest after few hours every time.. and i still have it. Fallout 1 is SOO outdated even compared to BG1 that you will probably want to skip it too. In bg u cant rotate the camera which is downside.. while in NWN the quests seems so.. regular. The items in Icewind dale are boring.. if i could rate RPGs (beside ACTION RPGS like oblivion,fallout)- BG2>Torment>original sin>bg1\icewind dale>dragon age1>ALL OTHER CRAP GAMES.
@ZanaithKariashi *Facepalms and rolls eyes* Another of those people, I guess.
No NwN2 is not complete and utter garbage. Because you haven't played true garbages apparently. Let me guess, you like the RPG Codex forum?
The NwN games are toolboxes. With the exception of NwN2: Mask of the Betrayer you buy the games for the modules, PWs and to make your own stuff.
It has a bad engine, yes. But it's a flawed gem. Tons of custom content. Tons of PWs. Baldur's Gate/Icewind Dale remake possible.
Newsflash: just because a game is better than other games, it doesn't make those games garbage.
You really remind me of people on IGN/Gamespot that anything that isn't a 9-10/10 is garbage. Learn to calibrate and be less absolute and black and white.
Also, no BG1 = no Infinity Engine = no Planescape Torment. Icewind Dale and Planescape Torment happened because people loved BG1 and 2. Not the other way around.
I've been playing NwN2 for some years and I know VERY well of it's flaws, crappy engine etc. Yet I still play it? Why? Because the custom stuff and online roleplaying on the various servers make it worth it.
It's like bitching that Minecraft has a crappy engine, graphics and "campaign". Well, duh. That's not why you buy it. You buy it for the creation and online part. These are the most important parts.
lol... while I don't disagree with all of that (personally I like NWN2 - I also find it interesting how he cites the campaign as a major flaw of NWN2 but only a minor one of NWN1! ), we have to bear in mind that declaring things to be "garbage" is a standard part of human nature.
We use terms like "rubbish" and "garbage" arbitrarily, to refer to something we don't like, but really, what we mean is "not to my taste", or at most, "I have a rather strong dislike of this particular thing". Very few things are objectively "garbage" , with the possible exception of D&D4e (j/k! ;-) I'm sure it does have its merits and I recognise that some people do enjoy it despite the fact that I personally can't stand it)
This is just the nature of the internet. People have strong opinions on things, and are more likely to be able to unleash them, since they know there will be no real ramifications. It's much easier, and conveys a much stronger feeling, to say "this is rubbish" than "I find this to be not to my liking". Anyway, I just thought I'd throw that out there in an attempt to stop this from getting out of hand. :-P
NWN1 and 2 were fine... for their times. But their janky control schemes have only become jankier with age, and their moddability has also suffered with the implosion of NWN Vault.
Within my personal pantheon of RPGs, Skyrim is the only other RPG which stands close to Baldur's Gate. A distant second, but a second nonetheless. Virtually any criticism that can be leveled at the base game likely has a mod to undo it.
@Squire I have played NwN1 for YEARS. It was my first PC RPG I think. Or one of my first ones. But it has a more stable engine, nice portraits and epic Prestige Class levels as well as an easier toolset.
NwN2 has party control, a MUCH more powerful toolset (fact), subraces, more races, more classes, more prestige classes and ability to customize your UI, Quickcast button, real Bags of Holding etc etc.
It's also much buggier and unfinished. You can blame Atari for that. They are paying for the updates and the release date, not the developers.
@terzaerian The NwN games are the ONLY games I know that multiple and diverse roleplaying servers that are run and updated exclusively by the community.
Even the "RP" servers of MMOs have people that derp around and ruin the RP for others. And either with a subscription or pay-to-win.
There's a Ravenloft server in NwN1 and BG, Sigil and other original servers on NwN2. That is priceless and makes NwN2's shortcomings worth it.
If we're going to talk about crappy engines, the Gamebryo is pretty garbage. All Elder Scrolls games were released with a ton of bugs and Skyrim is pretty infamous for being quite buggy on the PS3.
Fallout 3 and New Vegas were also VERY buggy. And most of the bugfixing was done by the community.
Arcanum, Temple of Elemental Evil, Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines are also buggy as all hells. Yet people still play those because there's value in them. The same with NwN2.
At the time, I assumed that NWN was linear and didn't allow you any real control over NPC followers simply because it was the first BG-style game in a 3D engine - at the time, I was willing to forgive it that shortcoming and I played NWN1 extensively. I even dipped my toes into the server scene but the timing was bad - when it came out I was still in high school and lived in an area with 56K. Perhaps things would have turned out differently if it was a little earlier or a little later but it's milk long spilled.
I could not have imagined that the linear style and janky controls were, in fact, the endgame for developers, and aside from some memorable characters I found NWN2 to be a bitter disappointment. Around that time I finally decided to give Fallout 3 a try and was mesmerized by it, sparking my ongoing love affair with Bethesda games.
Whatever bugs Gamebryo has are easily overcome with mods - and yes, that includes stability bugs. The great Sheson fix for Skyrim has been out for most of a year already, which finally put to rights the last lingering memory management bug which has plagued Skyrim since it launched - my current build is rock-solid in terms of stability and richer than you could imagine in terms of gameplay. And I find it more than a little hypocritical that you vaunt the servers made and maintained by the NWN community in one breath but then curse Gamebryo for being fixed and expanded by the community in another.
As for the PS3, I'm utterly unconcerned with the shortcomings of consoles, myself.
Comments
Beyond that Neverwinter Nights and Neverwinter Nights 2 share similarities with BG but are not isometric RPGs. The Diablo series is Isometric and enjoyable but not D&D based and are more action RPGs. The original fallout and Fallout 2 are similar to Baldur's Gate in many ways, but are not fantasy, highly recommended. Also highly recommend The Temple of Elemental Evil, which is based on D&D 3.0 and is a turn-based game. It's buggy as hell though so install the Circle of Eight mods that to fix everything.
35/100 on metacritic for sequel. About the same for 1st one. http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/konung-2
Happy gaming.
I'll leave now.
Edit: I will add also NOX, recently heard it's pretty good, but again never actually played.
Edit2: I remembered another game before dragon ages but so so similar called Drakensang was good with fine way of spending experience instead of gaining a levels.
You do gain levels in Drakensang though beforehand you can also spend points upgrading yourself as well.
lol
cool for multiplayer too
Though, Siege of Avalon is an enjoyable game no one mentioned - and likely no one knows.
Interesting, I never knew about this games until I came to this thread.
But they can hardly even lift a candle to the Baldur's Gate Saga.
Icewind Dale and Planescape: Torment come very close, but no cigar.
Considering BG is actually a pretty terrible game, it's not a very high bar to beat. Torment crushes it both mechanically and as an RPG, and Icewind Dale, while lacking in NPC companions is a little bit better from a Roleplaying standpoint (which seems counter-inuitive since Icewind Dale is supposed to be the most Dungeon-crawler-ish of the big Three) (it's also the most multiplayer friendly of the bunch).
Arcanum is quite solid (after fan patches), though I strongly recommend using Turn-based mode exclusively, the real-time mode is basically worthless.
Doesn't get much Love, but Sacred is actually pretty good. (the first game). It's kind of a mix between an Isometric TES game with some Diablo-style game-play. Though it's more of a Sandbox rpg then a more focused story-driven RPG. There is a main story, but it's totally up to you if you want to follow it.
Sacred 2....I didn't like. It was heavily influenced by it's console release and is a much worse game as a result. (and Sacred 3 is an in-name only sequel with basically nothing in common to the previous two games but a few names).
Fallout 1 and 2 are also very good, if you prefer a more post-apocalyptic rpg.
Temple of Elemental Evil (after fan patches), is also a very solid release, and is IMO the best DnD-based CRPG ever made. It's a faithful adaptation of the module of the same name, and extremely faithful mechanically as well..to the point it makes the infinity engine games feel like shallow diablo clones by comparison (mechanically).
Neverwinter Night 1.....the official campaigns are pretty bland and awful (they're really more just examples of what you can make using the development toolkit)....but the user created modules are often quite nice, and there's still persistent worlds running to this day, some of which can approach a tabletop level of gaming quality. It's interface and control methods are utterly superior NWN2.
NWN2 is garbage. Complete and utter garbage. It's engine is garbage, it's interface is garbage, it's OC is garbage. It has pathetically tiny, linear maps..ugh..makes me mad just remember how much money I spent on that game and then spent on trying to build a computer that could run it...only to find out that it just genuinely runs like $%#^ in general. Even MotB which is admittedly well written, is garbage simply because it requires you to own the POS base game and play it on the same POS engine.
Knight of the Old Republic has similar issues to NWN1's official content, with a terrible bland campaign, buggy as hell, and is just all around a terrible game...and no where near enough good mods to make it worth the money. It makes the Star Wars prequels look compelling. Though if you liked the prequels, you might enjoy KotOR. Kotor 2 is the same...but even worse in every respect.
I'll think of some more later. Those are just the ones I've played that I either enjoyed or hated so much I had to talk about it.
@ZanathKariashi WHAT?! Baldur's Gate is a great game, and Baldur's Gate 2 is it's vastly superior sequel. They will and always will be one of the greatest rpg series of all time, if not one of the greatest game series of all time. Period.
Thats my personal taste- some people find NWN2 attractive,NWN1 aweful,bg boring,torment too complicated and etc.
Basically for RPG purpose BG,Icewindale ,Torment and fallout 2.
For strategic\fun\action purpose you have Divinity,dragon age and.. chess. Lol just kidding.
Anyway i found TEMPLE OF ELEMENTAL EVIL Extremly boring thought the engine is good.
NWN2 as really good game.. in EXTREMLY BAD ENGINE which ruines all the fun.
In BG and Icewind - the possibility to move the camera like in NWN.
Every game got certain problem. The question is if you can work around the problem,bug etc.
I finished Dragon age with bad nerves because the end battle always crashed so i needed to finish it in less then 2 minutes.
Bg 1 is kind of repititive once you try all the major classes.
NWN 2 engine and camera is SO FRUSTRATING - although i tryed to play it many times i lost interest after few hours every time.. and i still have it.
Fallout 1 is SOO outdated even compared to BG1 that you will probably want to skip it too.
In bg u cant rotate the camera which is downside.. while in NWN the quests seems so.. regular.
The items in Icewind dale are boring..
if i could rate RPGs (beside ACTION RPGS like oblivion,fallout)-
BG2>Torment>original sin>bg1\icewind dale>dragon age1>ALL OTHER CRAP GAMES.
*Facepalms and rolls eyes* Another of those people, I guess.
No NwN2 is not complete and utter garbage. Because you haven't played true garbages apparently. Let me guess, you like the RPG Codex forum?
The NwN games are toolboxes. With the exception of NwN2: Mask of the Betrayer you buy the games for the modules, PWs and to make your own stuff.
It has a bad engine, yes. But it's a flawed gem.
Tons of custom content. Tons of PWs. Baldur's Gate/Icewind Dale remake possible.
Newsflash: just because a game is better than other games, it doesn't make those games garbage.
You really remind me of people on IGN/Gamespot that anything that isn't a 9-10/10 is garbage. Learn to calibrate and be less absolute and black and white.
Also, no BG1 = no Infinity Engine = no Planescape Torment.
Icewind Dale and Planescape Torment happened because people loved BG1 and 2. Not the other way around.
I've been playing NwN2 for some years and I know VERY well of it's flaws, crappy engine etc.
Yet I still play it? Why? Because the custom stuff and online roleplaying on the various servers make it worth it.
It's like bitching that Minecraft has a crappy engine, graphics and "campaign". Well, duh. That's not why you buy it.
You buy it for the creation and online part. These are the most important parts.
We use terms like "rubbish" and "garbage" arbitrarily, to refer to something we don't like, but really, what we mean is "not to my taste", or at most, "I have a rather strong dislike of this particular thing". Very few things are objectively "garbage" , with the possible exception of D&D4e (j/k! ;-) I'm sure it does have its merits and I recognise that some people do enjoy it despite the fact that I personally can't stand it)
This is just the nature of the internet. People have strong opinions on things, and are more likely to be able to unleash them, since they know there will be no real ramifications. It's much easier, and conveys a much stronger feeling, to say "this is rubbish" than "I find this to be not to my liking". Anyway, I just thought I'd throw that out there in an attempt to stop this from getting out of hand. :-P
Within my personal pantheon of RPGs, Skyrim is the only other RPG which stands close to Baldur's Gate. A distant second, but a second nonetheless. Virtually any criticism that can be leveled at the base game likely has a mod to undo it.
I have played NwN1 for YEARS. It was my first PC RPG I think. Or one of my first ones. But it has a more stable engine, nice portraits and epic Prestige Class levels as well as an easier toolset.
NwN2 has party control, a MUCH more powerful toolset (fact), subraces, more races, more classes, more prestige classes and ability to customize your UI, Quickcast button, real Bags of Holding etc etc.
It's also much buggier and unfinished. You can blame Atari for that. They are paying for the updates and the release date, not the developers.
@terzaerian
The NwN games are the ONLY games I know that multiple and diverse roleplaying servers that are run and updated exclusively by the community.
Even the "RP" servers of MMOs have people that derp around and ruin the RP for others. And either with a subscription or pay-to-win.
There's a Ravenloft server in NwN1 and BG, Sigil and other original servers on NwN2. That is priceless and makes NwN2's shortcomings worth it.
If we're going to talk about crappy engines, the Gamebryo is pretty garbage. All Elder Scrolls games were released with a ton of bugs and Skyrim is pretty infamous for being quite buggy on the PS3.
Fallout 3 and New Vegas were also VERY buggy. And most of the bugfixing was done by the community.
Arcanum, Temple of Elemental Evil, Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines are also buggy as all hells.
Yet people still play those because there's value in them. The same with NwN2.
I could not have imagined that the linear style and janky controls were, in fact, the endgame for developers, and aside from some memorable characters I found NWN2 to be a bitter disappointment. Around that time I finally decided to give Fallout 3 a try and was mesmerized by it, sparking my ongoing love affair with Bethesda games.
Whatever bugs Gamebryo has are easily overcome with mods - and yes, that includes stability bugs. The great Sheson fix for Skyrim has been out for most of a year already, which finally put to rights the last lingering memory management bug which has plagued Skyrim since it launched - my current build is rock-solid in terms of stability and richer than you could imagine in terms of gameplay. And I find it more than a little hypocritical that you vaunt the servers made and maintained by the NWN community in one breath but then curse Gamebryo for being fixed and expanded by the community in another.
As for the PS3, I'm utterly unconcerned with the shortcomings of consoles, myself.