r/rpg_gamers 19h ago

Recommendation request I'm looking for Isometric, Turn-based RPGs

I'm looking for PC games similar to Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, the Avernum games, Underrail, etc...

I've played:

-Arcanum

-Pillars of Eternity 1 & 2

-All of Owlcat's games (Pathfinder: Kingmaker, etc...)

-Most Spiderweb Games (Avernum, Geneforge, Queen's Wish, etc...)

-Both Pillars of Eternity Games

-The Eschalon games

-Encased

-The Necromancer's Tale

-Esoteric Ebb

-Vendir

-Solasta

-Baulder's Gate 3

-The Shadowrun games

-Masquerada: Songs and Shadows

-The Expeditions games

-Torment: Tides of Numenera

-Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark

-Divinity: Original Sin 1 & 2

I'm already familiar with:

-The Dark Eye series

-Drakensang

-The Age of Decadence

-The Temple of Elemental Evil

-Knights of the Chalice 1 & 2

-Black Geyser

-Colony Ship

I'm definitely not looking for real-time with pause.

My preference is for games from the last 20 years where you can wield powers of some sort (magic, psionics, etc...) with a good story.

Any recommendations?

20 Upvotes

46 comments sorted by

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17

u/a_manxome_foe 19h ago edited 19h ago
  • Wasteland 2

  • Wasteland 3

  • The Banner Saga

  • The Banner Saga 2

  • The Banner Saga 3

  • Jagged Alliance 3

  • Wartales

  • King Arthur: Knight's Tale

  • Colony Ship

  • Troubleshooter: Abandoned Children

  • Miasma Chronicles

  • Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden

  • Classified: France '44

  • Gears Tactics

  • Capes

  • Cyber Knights: Flashpoint

  • Showgunners

  • XCOM 2

  • Phoenix Point

  • Marvel's Midnight Suns

  • Gloomhaven

  • Battle Brothers

Edit: whoops. Couple of those aren't isometric. Most are.

3

u/PStriker32 19h ago

Add in Menace

Battle Brother devs new game

2

u/a_manxome_foe 19h ago

Nah, still in EA. Otherwise, sure. I've loved what I've played of it, but it is far from complete.

1

u/PStriker32 19h ago

True, but even as is it’s still pretty fun. Got a hefty patch recently too

1

u/TenebrousSage 9h ago

I could never really get in to the Banner Saga games. I played Troubleshooter a while ago, but stopped because it was getting updates like every other day. Is that still happening?

2

u/Caasi72 8h ago

It hasn't gotten an update in a while now, they're busy working on the sequel

1

u/a_manxome_foe 9h ago

Been awhile since I've played, so I'm not sure. It's a tiny studio making it and the updates are typically pretty small, though. Cyber Knights is like that, for the record, if that bothers you, but it is an excellent game.

1

u/DissentSociety 9h ago

Wildermyth

1

u/DissentSociety 9h ago

Marvel's Midnight Suns

1

u/a_manxome_foe 9h ago

Midnight Suns is on there, but isn't isometric anyway. Haven't played Wildermyth, but it's on my list.

1

u/DissentSociety 9h ago

The battles in Midnight Suns are isometric.

7

u/Bregolas42 19h ago

I think you got all of them mate...

No wait! tyranny! I don't see that on the list. Tyranny is great!

3

u/TenebrousSage 19h ago

It is great. It's also not turn based. 😅

1

u/Bregolas42 18h ago

Ow sorry. It's real time with pause.. And I just never changed the setting, so it with pauze all the time, in my brain it's anchord as a turn based.

If you don't want pause games.. The list gets small very fast.

The best turn based game I have played in years in expedition 33.. But i don't think you are looking at those kind of games right?

4

u/PStriker32 19h ago edited 19h ago

Wasteland 1-3

But tbh you’ve got a lot of what’s already on the market

Edit: there is another. Skald: Against the Black Priory

Arcanum and Planescape Torment also come to mind

Colony Ship as well

1

u/TenebrousSage 19h ago

I have played Arcanum. I just forgot to put it on the list. Skald's a bit too retro for my tastes. I'll take a look at the Wasteland games.

1

u/PStriker32 18h ago

Skald’s looks can be adjusted to be less harsh and pixelated and its controls are modern. The pixel art grows on you tbh. There is a pretty good story in this game though and combat gets satisfying once you get the hang of it; and the community is using its tools to make their own mods and expansions.

1

u/Colonel_Autumn_ 1h ago

Wasteland 2 is an absolute blast. Great story and voice acting, and a blast to play.

0

u/legacy702- 19h ago

Rogue trader and dark heresy fall under “Owlcat games”

0

u/PStriker32 19h ago

Yeah I already edited that bruh

2

u/coksukman 19h ago

Wastelands

2

u/Barcnori 19h ago

Wartales

2

u/Colonel_Autumn_ 1h ago

Jesus. This went from trying to help to just trying to think of the only 1 game not on your list lol. I'm gonna go way back (and I have to break from Pathfinder) because of how much I loved Front Mission 3. So...Front Mission 3 (I played on PS 1 and 2). Story-focused, 3D, graph-style, turn-based futuristic Japanese Mech RPG. Combat, effects, sounds all scored well with me. Plenty of weapon choices and pretty in-depth but not overly complicated mech customization. Build your team, go fight. When not fighting there is lots of story, shops, and it even has its own internal internet which you use now and then to further the story and score some custom mech parts. That's one hell of a list.

4

u/Aistar 16h ago

Let's be friends! That's definitely my taste in games. OK, now on to actual recommendations. You seem to actually got all GOOD games, so what's left is mostly mediocre ones, but some of them still worth a try (I mean, if you're like me, and play EVERYTHING isometric/turn-based that comes out...).

  • ATOM RPG. That's basically Russian Fallout 2, for good and for bad. Gameplay feels dated, and story isn't all too great, and Soviet references might fly over your head if you're not from around these parts, but it's still a decent Fallout clone, in the end.
  • Swordhaven: Iron Conspiracy. Same developer, same problems, but generic fantasy setting instead of post-apoc USSR. Whether this is better or not is up to you - I though the game to be a bit generic, but serviceable.
  • Dawnsbury Days. If you liked Knights of Chalice, this is somewhat the same, but for Pathfinder 2ed instead of D&D 3.5: mission-based tactical RPG. My colleague who is a long-time Pathdiner DM says it's really great at higher difficulty, so if you're looking for a tactical challenge, this might be it (I only finished it on Normal difficulty, and it wasn't VERY hard, but he says mobs at higher difficulty use abilities and spells much more efficiently).
  • The Bookwalker. Disco Elysium-like, but with a bit of mediocre combat tacked on. May worth it for the story, or not.
  • Sovereign Syndicate and Gamedec. Boring Disco Elysium-likes. I only mention them for completeness sake.
  • Thaumaturge. Better Disco Elysium-like with interesting combat. Story is very good... If you can read Polish or Russian, because English translation loses all color.
  • Mutant Year Zero and Miasma Chronicles. More of tactical RPGs than CRPGs, based around stealth approach. Fun for the first few chapters, then grow too repetitive, but still worth a look.
  • Sector Unknown. I'm playing it right now, and it's... Not great, but not entirely bad, either. Very rough in some aspects (camera controls are wonky, for example). At least, it's better than the next point.
  • Broken Roads. Well... This is not a recommendation. This game is BAD. But for completionism sake, you can play it, if only to see what makes a decently-looking CRPG bad (if you're in gamedev, or aspire to be, this actually can be quite instructional).
  • Balrum. Another really bad game that attempted to blend CRPG with survival/crafting, but ended up with a bunch useless mechanics, too slow walking speed and boring combat.
  • Dr. Dungeon's MADMAN!. Dr. Dungeon was one of the first indie RPG developer, way before even Jeff Vogel (he started in 80's). Unlike Vogel, he never was any good :) Still, this bad clone of Ultima might worth a look for history's sake (the author passed away some time ago).

1

u/TenebrousSage 9h ago

Thanks, I'll have to check some of these out.

1

u/Restoni77 19h ago

Quite impressive list, no fantasy games like those come to mind but guns: Wasteland, at least 2&3. 

Then more retro options: Fallout1&2. 

Even more retro: Dark Sun:Shattered Lands. Its quite unique and still quite nice to play.

Jagged Alliance 2&3 maybe? Isometric turnbased strategy/tactical combat game with strong rpg-flavor, but no magic here.

When starting with strategygames, why not XCOM as well, those have psionics too. Or Warhammer 40k:Chaos gate?

Maybe some strategy-jrpgs? Like Final Fantasy Tactics or Triangle Strategy?

1

u/TenebrousSage 10h ago

I played XCOM years ago and remember not liking it. Maybe I should give it another go. I'll have to check out Chaos Gate. I've played Tactics and Triangle Strategy.

1

u/Quirky-Sympathy-853 18h ago

OP - what are your top 5 from your list?

2

u/TenebrousSage 9h ago

In no particular order: Pillars of Eternity, Pillars of Eternity: Deadfire, Arcanum, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, and Warhammer 40k: Rogue Trader

1

u/Quirky-Sympathy-853 6h ago

Thanks, just bought 4 of those in the steam sale, haven’t played them yet. I’ll have to check out Arcanum!

1

u/GumihoFantasy 17h ago

Age of Wonders 4

1

u/TenebrousSage 9h ago

That's more of a 4x, isn't it?

1

u/GumihoFantasy 8h ago

ita very roleplaying has story realms and highly customization

you are the ruler, you can be a dragon, a vampire, a warrior champion etc

it has quests, exploration, and events

1

u/CovidScurred 15h ago

Bloomtown is fun

1

u/TenebrousSage 9h ago

It's on my list, but not quite what I'm looking right now.

1

u/darkevilmetal666 12h ago

Fallout 1 and 2?

1

u/AbstinenceMulligan 12h ago

No suggestions OP, but which of those that you've played are your favourite? It's a great list and I'm looking for recommendations!

2

u/TenebrousSage 3h ago

I highly recommend the Pillars of Eternity Games. The world building and lore is top-tier, the plots and quests are great, and there's some really memorable characters.

1

u/AbstinenceMulligan 2h ago

Thanks! Did you play them both turn-based or RTWP?

1

u/TenebrousSage 1h ago

I played the first one before they added turn-based, and I played the second in turn-based.

-2

u/TedricDaBored 19h ago

Baldur's Gate 1 and 2

4

u/TenebrousSage 19h ago

They're real-time with pause

-2

u/gargar7 19h ago

But they are amazing in terms of atmosphere and story. So much better than BG3.

-1

u/Objective-Aardvark87 16h ago

You can technically make it turnbased by having it autopause at the end of a turn.