i wanna make this post finally as a list thst i can add to as time goes on (in order of when i beat them)
crpgs ive beaten and my general rating/review
fallout new vegas - 8/10
the first that reallly got me into the genre, absolute classic, really good writing, insane amount of in depth interesting side quesrs that put you into situations where you need to make decisions that take alot of thought and consideration, loads of roleplaying value, loads of variation in the builds you can make, always a game id recommend
fallout 1/2 - 7/10
these are the classics, ive only played each one once and i struggled greatly, but i really loved the experience and atmosphere of the wasteland and how difficult it is to navigate, genuinelu nothing as satisfying as the feeling of growth when you can finally take on the tougher enemies of the wasteland without immediately fucking dying, these are tough to adjust to and get good at, but valuable, cannot recommend for everyone
baldurs gate 3 - 7/10
this is the big one, the one that everyone fucking lovesss and its good! its very good, its a fun game, dnd style roleplaying and exploration and experience is phenomenal, the writing isnt anything special or unique, most choices often come down to murder a buncha people, or not but because its a larian game the actual gameplay and combat is incredible, you are rewarded greatly for exploring and just finding weird shit that you can make a whole build around, and completing honor mode was such a fun experience for me, though not necessarily a challenge compared to other games and especially compared to divinity, great intro crpg, highly recommend
disco elysium - 10/10
first 10/10 and guaranteed recommendation for everyone, oh my fucking god this game ruined me for a while, deeply emotional, deeply political, it has a shitload to say and the gameplay is pretty much just reading and walking around but it was a fucking incredible experience and i cried twice
pathfinder kingmaker - 6/10
the first owlcat game i played, its for a very specific kind of audience, i loveee owlcat and their pathfinder rpgs, i found the companions in this one interesting, but the gameplay is a brutal fucking slog, the kingdom management was a major downside for me, and despite pouring over 80 hours into the game i cannot remember much of that experience
pillars of eternity 1 - 10/10
my favorite game/series of all time, i will talk about it frequently on this blog, i have talked about it frequently on this blog, this is an experience i cannot recommend enough, its a real-time-with-pause isometric crpg which at first mifht be intimidating, but on easier difficulties is generally manageable for newcomers, and on tougher difficulties provides a major challenge that is unbelievably satisfying to overcome, much of the early game is focused on establishing lore, and many of the sidequests work to familiarize you with the way the world works, the way gods, politics, souls, and reincarnation have real tangible impacts on peoples lives, and after becoming familiar with the world, it then asks you to navigate so many incredibly interesting complex decisions and questlines with how you feel about the world, it gives you so many opportunities to form opinions on issues and play a part in how a country in a time of change will develop, i cannot recommend it enough, it has my favorite companions in a game ever, phenomenal gameplay
pillars of eternity 2 - 10/10
a direct continuation of pillars of eternity, your character and decisions directly cross over and impact the second game and you get to navigate a whole new area and conflict with the collective history and understanding youve gained through yhe first game going into this one, some of the companions from 1 become increasingly fleshed out and many of the conflicts you navigated before have new dimensions to them to deal with, and the game has so much to make you consider and decide on, the final encounter in the game witj the primary antagonist isnt even a boss fight, but instead a conversation about how the world should develop when confronted with a massive inevitable change about to take place, cannot recommend it enough i beg of you go check the pillars games out
pathfinder wrath of the righteous - 8/10
kingmaker was a fun but long and brutal game, wotr is an even longer and even more brutal experience, it has a massive 100+ hour story with a fucking unbelievable amount of character customization and roleplaying possible, ive done like 3 playthroughs so far and each was wildly fucking different, the writing is a bit limited when working within a dnd style system with good/evil alignments but the companions and romances are where thw game shines most i think, offering some really wonderful complex characters who can grow in so many different directions, the gameplay is fun and despite its difficulty there is a shitload of ways you can customize it to make it easier or just less annoying to work through, its a massive improvement over kingmaker and definitely one of my favorite games
shadowrun dragonfall - 7/10
i lovedd cyberpunk 2077 so the shadowrun games were absolutely perfrct for me, cyberpunk setting with fantasy elements, the quests are gigs you run as you work towards a greater mystery with alot of variation as to how you can go about them, the combat is some of my favorite in an isometric game ever, wonderful short rpg experience
shadowrun hong kong - 8/10
slight improvement on the previous game gameplay wise, the story and characters were a bit more memorable, overall a blast, both of these games really id recommend
divinity original sin 2 - 8/10
bg3 with better combat, better writing, and companions who werent focus group tested to be as fuckable as possible, highly recommend
games ive yet to own/get that im gonna play and beat eventually
-tyranny
-arcanum
-planescape: torment and torment: tides of numenera
-the old baldurs gate games
-the wasteland games
-icewind dale
-probably more drop your recs please
-underrail
-solasta 1 before solasta 2 comes out
-divinity original sin 1
