Comment on [Request] Retro Recommendations
soulsource@discuss.tchncs.de 3 months ago
If I weren’t currently at work and would have time to think about the answer, I could probably come up with more titles, but those are the top 2 that come to mind, if I ignore cRPGs (at least that’s how I read your “avoiding final fantasy-esque” requirement):
Settlers 2: It’s new enough to still look decent by today’s standards, and has amazing game design. Available at GoG.
Star Control 2: One of the best early open world games. The graphics have definitely aged by today’s standard, but the humour hasn’t. Or maybe it has, but just a bit. Available for free and open source.
apotheotic@beehaw.org 3 months ago
My relationship with cRPGs is weird. I adore disco elysium and citizen sleeper, two of my favourite games. I enjoyed the first ~30 hours of Divinity Original Sin 2 before I just got uber fatigued on how much the game got in the way of the characters for me. Final Fantasy (style) games i just get so exhausted by all the faffing around with party composition and stats and junctions and equipment and skills and whatever the fuck else. What I live for in my tabletop experiences is high storytelling and roleplay, where I can do a little fooling around with fun combat builds and whatnot without getting too bogged down, and my videogaming preferences mirror that.
I guess what I’m saying is that a crpg with a greater focus on the RP and less on the G really fits my tastes, so earthbound is a natural fit.
Settlers and star control both look somewhat neat! I’ll have a look, many thanks.
missingno@fedia.io 3 months ago
Older JRPGs in particular are definitely a bit of an acquired taste. There are a lot of games that I love dearly but have a hard time recommending to anyone who didn't grow up on that style of game.
That said, Chrono Trigger is the one that really stands the test of time and I think is the best entry point into the classics. Or just try some more modern games, the genre has evolved considerably.
Earthbound is probably the one I'd put next after CT, but it's a bit of a slow burn that's honestly carried by its writing. Mother 3 raises the bar considerably, but you gotta play EB before M3.
apotheotic@beehaw.org 3 months ago
Yeah, I’ve had such a love/hate experience with JRPGs. When the game gets out of the way and lets me just explore the world and its characters I fall in love. And then the gameplay comes back and I have to get out my spreadsheets and shit and I just fall asleep. CT comes highly recommended so I’m looking forward to giving that a go alongside EB and M3. I have Sea of Stars on my backlog which is apparently a spiritual successor to CT so that’ll probably follow along nicely.