Skip to content

When I beat Baldur's Gate II EE & it's expansion what are the best similar games?

I am basically talking about isometric RPGs similar to Baldur's Gate on steam GOG or other downloadable formats.
GoturalBelgarathMTH

Comments

  • smyth25smyth25 Member Posts: 219
    The first games you may want to consider are the other EE games that Beamdog has released, which would be Icewind Dale, Planescape: Torment, and Neverwinter Nights. They do have differences to Baldur's gate though which I can try to explain.

    Icewind Dale:
    An excellent game which uses the Infinity engine, just like Baldur's gate. The main difference compared to the BG series though is that Icewind dale is a dungeon crawler game. It sacrifices the detailed side quests and character detail of BG in exchange for better character customisation and much more combat, both in quantity and quality.

    The classes in IWD have more abilities than in BG, as well as many more spells to choose from (especially priests and more bard songs). There are many more items to choose from as well, and rather than recruiting NPCs, you can create 1-6 custom characters at the beginning of the game.

    Overall, pick this if you enjoy tactical combat, as well as personalising your characters. However if you are more keen on dialogue, character development, and side quests, you may instead want to consider...


    Planescape: Torment:
    This is probably the most niche of the Infinity engine games, and the polar opposite of IWD. Planescape: Torment is admittedly rather poor in terms of combat and character customisation. There aren't many battles, and you are forced to play a character called 'The Nameless one,' who can only be a fighter, mage, or thief.

    However, do not let that deter you, as PST is unbelievably detailed in terms of its characters and in the world around you. There is so much to discover by talking to the NPCs you recruit and by interacting with the world around you. You could play this game hundreds of times over and have it be a radically different experience every time. It also actually explores a lot of thought provoking themes, mainly about the conflict between living life to its fullest and fear of death, so you may leave this game feeling more the wiser. BTW it is also the only video game that I cried in, it is genuinely emotional.

    Overall, play this if you like exploring and discovery, as well as character development and dialogue. Avoid if you prefer combat and customisation.

    Neverwinter Nights:
    Admittedly, I have not finished playing NVN yet so I can't say too much about it. It seems to be similar to BG in that it finds an equal balance between combat/customisation and characters/story. Note that it uses a different engine to BG so it looks rather different, but it is still isometric. It is also based upon a different set of rules in DND so the various classes and rules function differently also. However from what I have experienced so far it is thoroughly enjoyable.
    GoturalThacoBellcompleCCityBelgarathMTH
  • jsavingjsaving Member Posts: 1,083
    edited October 2018
    For role-playing, your best option is Planescape: Torment. For dungeon-crawling, your best option is Icewind Dale. For tactics, your best option is Temple of Elemental Evil. For a balance between the three, your best option is Pillars of Eternity. And if you want an alternative setting, your best option would either be the original Fallout or the flawed masterpiece Arcanum.

    Neverwinter Nights was entertaining but I wouldn't put in the same category as those games. NWN isn't isometric, isn't party-based and doesn't have much in the way of role-playing.
    GoturalcompleCCityMirandel
  • megamike15megamike15 Member Posts: 2,666
    after recently finishing it i'm gonna say arcanum. while gameplay wise it has more in common with fallout then bg. it does have an interesting twist on the normal fantasy setting.
  • BelgarathMTHBelgarathMTH Member Posts: 5,653
    Yes, check out Pillars of Eternity, and there's a new release called "Pathfinder:Kingmaker". I've tried Pillars of Eternity and had some fun with it, but I haven't tried Kingmaker. I want to wait a few patches down the line until they get some problems worked out.
    bleusteelThacoBellOrlonKronsteen
  • KhyronKhyron Member Posts: 626
    Tyranny is another good alternative.

    It isn't as similar to BG as the other mentioned games, but it is definitely in the same ballpark.

  • The_CheesemanThe_Cheeseman Member Posts: 175
    I have to second the opinion that NWN isn’t really similar to the BG series. The main reason to pickup NWN is for playing and building custom D&D 3rd edition modules. The official campaign of NWN is, frankly, just awful. Hordes of the Underdark I recall being better, but nothing on par with BG.

    Neverwinter Nights 2 is a bit closer to BG, but it’s much harder to make custom maps. Also, to be honest, I’m not a fan of 3rd edition’s class system. I won’t go into detail here, but it’s a lot harder to role play a character without lots of crunchy planning. It also heavily penalized multiclassing spell casters without using special prestige classes specifically for that purpose.
    ThacoBell
  • MonotremataMonotremata Member Posts: 78
    Hmm Id have to kinda agree with the above reviews of NWN and NWN2.. They were both good don't get me wrong.. I LIKED them. But the BGs, I LOVED. Little bit, but not much more, in the way of role-playing than IWD, but nowhere near in depth as BG/BG2. They were fun D&D romps though, you gotta play em for the completionist/history cred at least.

    Its funny people mentioned Fallout. Been playing it on and off since it came out in 97, never once even got the water chip. Fired it up and started again last week, and am shocked at how short the game actually seems. Granted Ive put in some long hours playing it, but in just a couple days Im already at the last two points you go to in the game. For all the hype its gotten over the years, I would've thought it was alot 'more'.. But then again, it helps when you know how to score unlimited caps, power armor and stat upgrades right off the bat when you start hah..
  • SkatanSkatan Member, Moderator Posts: 5,352
    You could also look into the Drakensang games, I think there's three of them. I bought a cheap GOG copy some time ago but never got it to work. I did play one of them a long time ago and liked it, especially the many different 'rogue' classes liked Charlatan etc, but never did finish it for some reason I can't remember now.

    PoE 1&2 and Tyranny are all great games. I preferred PoE2's class system, but enjoyed PoE1 story and setting a lot more. The whole pirate/carribean theme as in PoE2 just isn't a favorite of mine. Tyranny is a gem in it's own right. Similar to many other games but still has a very, very different feel to it. Also, you seldom get to play representing the "evil" side in games, not really. I absolutely LOVE the magic system in Tyranny and think it's one of the best new and innovative ways of implementing magic in a game.

    Regarding Fallout I believe a lot of the hype comes more from FO2 than from FO1. 1 is good, but 2 is a masterpiece. If you haven't played them, you might as well start with FO2 and if you like it, then play 1 since the first one is more frustrating regarding ie NPC control and some experience can help you. Storywise it doesn't matter that much either since they are not completely interlinked like BG1 and 2.

    Arcanum is amazingly good and amazingly frustrating at the same time. An EE version is a dream come true, because I've started the GOG version a couple of times but I just can't ever go through it all.

    Pathfinder:Kingmaker is similar but also quite different. I both like and dislike it at the same time. Personally I think it's interpretation of PnP is refreshing, however, it also make the player having to rely a lot of meta knowledge and/or save scumming. Example, you can miss many interesting places to visit without high enough Perception skill so you need to know that you have to have at least one char with maxed out PER always and know where PER checks are made so you can save scum if you fail a check. Of course you can just play the game and skip doing this, but then you miss out on a lot of places (and loot, exp, story). As a casual player, like I am nowadays, this becomes a bit frustrating when I read up afterwards and realize I missed several places in the first chapters.
    ThacoBellMirandel
  • LammasLammas Member Posts: 211
    My vote for Pillars too. Great game. Haven't tried the sequel yet myself but I've heard good things of that too. Also, like in BG's you can import your POE1 character into POE2 if I've understood correctly.

    It's not quite out of the same wood, pretty far from it actually, but since no one mentioned it yet you might also look into Divinity: Original Sin. Great game with lot of freedom to approach things in so many ways that it's almost baffling. I haven't tried the sequel for that either yet but I've heard it's great.
    ronaldo
  • ArtonaArtona Member Posts: 1,077
    Pillars of Eternity (and it's sequel) are both brilliant cRPGs with interesting world, mechanics, possibility to create very varied heroes, and great cast of NPCs.
    I tried out Kingmake, but so far it seems so generic, that it hurts.
    Mirandelronaldo
  • jsavingjsaving Member Posts: 1,083
    D:OS and D:OS2 can be solid options as well, but as Lammas says they are very different from the other games we're discussing. The role-playing to be had is about on a par with Diablo; quests exist but virtually never involve a choice that matters. On the other hand, they look great and give you a lot of flexibility to alter your immediate environment (by, say, destroying a door or igniting a patch of oil). D:OS2 in particular also shines when it comes to freedom of movement, letting you use a very large variety of teleportation-type skills to bypass encounters and/or give yourself "high ground" bonuses. Just don't go into either one thinking you'll find a PST-type literary masterpiece or a Fallout-style choices-and-consequences extravaganza.
  • LammasLammas Member Posts: 211
    edited November 2018
    Yeah, I guess I should've specified "freedom how to approach battles". Not really so much choise on the how to approach quests. The main story is pretty great if you decide to follow it, IMO.
  • KnobSchneiderKnobSchneider Member Posts: 1
    I'd personally recommend against the first Pillars of Eternity (though I have not played the sequel) and recommend Divinity Original Sin series. The reason I recommend against PoE 1 is it felt incredibly underwhelming on the character building side. The game has a lot of diminishing returns built into it that was an incredible shock to me coming from the IE games.

    I like exploiting mechanics and min-maxing characters to do things a little differently. Like in IE games bumping up my fire resistance to immunity levels and self bombing groups of enemies. Pillars of Eternity caps many of these stats out (or effectively does so with diminishing returns) so that you can neither be completely weak at something in favor of being godlike at something else, and that's a part of character building that I've always found compelling and fun - something that really drives my replay value upward.

    I havent played as much Divinity Original Sin but what I have played so far gives me that freeform tactical play that feels more reminiscent of my play on IE games. If you're expecting Baldur's Gate out of PoE you may find yourself as disappointed as I was given how much the game was marketed as a Baldur's Gate successor. That said, it's a game that, when standing on its own merit, is a fully forged game and is worthy of a playthrough. Just do not go in with the direct expectation of creating an adventure on it as if it were a continuation of this series in spirit.
  • GarrusN7GarrusN7 Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 155

    after recently finishing it i'm gonna say arcanum. while gameplay wise it has more in common with fallout then bg. it does have an interesting twist on the normal fantasy setting.

    You can fuck a sheep. The game is crazy as fuck, that's undeniable.
  • GarrusN7GarrusN7 Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 155
    edited November 2018
    2088432 said:

    I am basically talking about isometric RPGs similar to Baldur's Gate on steam GOG or other downloadable formats.

    Hmm...

    Kingmaker, a new crpg seems like a great game. Set in Pathfinder. Sure it's still buggy, however they are still fixing the game. I have a lot of fun and you can even build a Kingdom! It has romance and from what I have been told you can have your romance by your side. But fuck, the game is long. 7-8 chapters each long as hell. But worth it.

    Avoid Icewind Dale. It feels empty.

    Planescape Torment is fun, especially dialogues like you using your intestines as a rope. God, it makes you want to vomit, but it's fun.

    NWN seems like a good game. I'm still in prologue however because I'm on Android and it's a bit...of a clusterfuck on Android for now.

    If however you are willing to go beyond crpg, there's mass effect and Dragon Age.
  • megamike15megamike15 Member Posts: 2,666
    i can only recommend icewind dale if you useing the npc project mods that adds a party with acual characters.
Sign In or Register to comment.