Veteran RPGer needs help!!!

So I'm trying to find a new RPG that isn't a classic (because I've probably played it) but has not fallen into the devil's trap that is streamlining.

I'm anxious about DAI - I am praying every day to Lathander to make DAI as awesome as they say it will be and that I will be able to customize, side-quest and spend 100s of hours on it.

Pillars of Eternity is in beta but they have pretty much shat on their promise of making it a spiritual predecessor of Baldur's gate - limited abilities, no out of combat depth (pickpocketing, lockpicking etc), no incentive to side-quest... Also praying to Lathander that the absence of these things are just due to early beta.

Anything else people know about coming up? Feel free to list them/give reasons. Maybe there's something in the waters that I don't know about.

What I'm looking for: Neverwinter Nights, Baldur's gate, Icewind Dale, all elder scrolls (as far as customization and side quests go), original Mass Effect (minus the bugs), Fallout, Arcanum, even DAO as far as choice/dialogue goes etc etc... You know what I mean. Tonnes of side-quest incentive, depth of customization, intense story-line (except for Skyrim!). Desperate for recommendations!

I hope I don't sound snobby, just tired of streamlining. Really want someone to break the formula.

I highly recommend Kingdoms of Amalur and Dragon's Dogma.Fantastic and heavily underrated games.Some of the best of 2012 IMO KoA Had a great variety of weapons,fantastic combat and gameplay,a decent story,I enjoyed the Fate System and Twist of Fate Cards etc. Dragon's Dogma is also great,the story was good,the gameplay was good,very medieval setting,good boss fights,I liked its class system too,the pawns were a nice addition that made you playing alone just a fraction less lonely.I really enjoyed both of these fantastic games.So yeah get them.

I highly recommend Age of Decadence.

The game isn't entirely finished yet (you can play most of it, but they're still working on the last city and much of the late-game content), but what has been released on Early Access is an extremely replayable, deep and challenging RPG.

It plays almost identically to Fallout (AoD is a turn-based post apocalyptic roleplaying game...albeit one set after the fall of the Roman Empire) - but the catch is that you're just a regular person with a very limited skillset, so death is easy and failing quests is an ever-present threat. It's great fun training up your character, mastering skills to open up new quest solutions, betraying quest-givers if you like, and carving out a name for yourself against pretty huge odds.

Pillars might not end up being the completely deserving successor to the IE games, but I'm sure it'll be better than any Dragon Age game, that's for sure.

And here.....

Recently released/upcoming cRPGs- http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/the-second-list-of-incline-new-poll.91705/

All time list - http://www.rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=9453

(look at the list as a whole and don't get hung up about individual rankings, as it was not a curated top 70 list)

I love Streamlining !

Cut out the Fat ! :)

Have you played The Witcher 2 yet? That's a fantastic RPG, in my opinion.

Divinity: Original Sin seems like it'd be perfect for you.

Yeah, I second Divinity: Original Sin

I'm assuming you've played Divinity: Original Sin and Wasteland 2, otherwise you wouldn't be asking this question, so.....

Try any of the Spiderweb Software games: Avernum, Avadon, Geneforge, etc...

It works for some things i.e. I wasn't as offended by the stramlining in Mass Effect. But for games that pride themselves on being spiritual successors to games like Neverwinter Nights/Baldurs gate it's terrible to see such radical simplification.

Also great suggestions above! Have played a few of them but actually haven't gotten around to Divinity - will also check out some of those other ones on the 'can't wait for' poll.

@burningrand

In my experience Spiritual Predecessors are usually deeply flawed, Everything from President Evil to System Shock, if those games were actually good they would have sequels, not Spiritual Successors.

@Lulu_Lulu: System Shock 2 has a spiritual successor. It's called BioShock, and it was fantastic. And apparently, The Evil Within is getting rave reviews as a good revival of the survival horror genre. Games don't always need sequels, just so you know.

Well, I would likely pick the following (if you have not playied them).

Divinity: Original Sin

Wasteland 2

Vampire teh masquerade: Bloodlines (were not on the list so the horror of you possibly passing this one by is err... horrible?)

The Witcher 1 (not able to customize sadly, but has fairly good depth despite that.)

upcomming: The witcher 3

@mastermetal777

Good games need sequels.... Just so you know...

That's oversimplifying things. Many great games don't get sequels because of low sales (critical acclaim doesn't always lead to financial success), rights issues (developers tend to go out of business over the years), or simply being distracted by other projects.

For example, System Shock 2 is easily the best 'Shock' game, Bioshock included. It didn't receive a sequel because Irrational didn't have the rights to make one.

You're also assuming that Spiritual Predecessors don't get sequels, but that isn't always true. For example, X-Com: Enemy Unknown is a brilliant game with some great spiritual sequels (like Xenonauts). It had a whole bunch of sequels that weren't as good, and the series eventually collapsed after mediocre yearly releases. Nobody wants a spiritual sequel to the later games, but people definitely want spiritual successors to the older games.

Same thing with Thief. Thief 2 is the spiritual predecessor to Dishonered, and is a vastly superior game. It got one sequel, which was not particularly amazing, and another more recent reboot, which was relatively crap.

@Planeforger

Basicly what you're saying is anything can happen ?

@Lulu_Lulu: no they don't. Many games are standalone titles that have a complete enough experience to not warrant a sequel. Those usually happen cuz of financial pressure and/or intention to make one.

@mastermetal777

Complete for you perhaps.... other people always want more.... Especially those of us who like gameplay..... I can see how frustrating it would be for some one who plays games for the story.

@Lulu_Lulu: that implies I hate sequels, which I don't. And story, as I've said before, isn't the only reason I play games. It's second to gameplay in my book, if not equally as important if a game chooses to have one. I love how you assume things without evidence. I like more with my games. It's not always necessary though.

@mastermetal777

Actually I was implying you hate gameplay... And considering your definitions on just about everything revolve around what you like and dislike I stand firmly behind my assumptions. You may like your version of "gameplay", but when it comes to actual gameplay its never that simple with you.

@Lulu_Lulu: that definition applies to anyone really. I don't hate gameplay. I just know what I prefer. I love all types of games if they're entertaining to me, and that's it. You just can't get over that people like different things than you, and that gameplay is whatever you want it to be

@mastermetal777

I can.... Its the made up definitions that bother me.

FYI I like story in games too, only if it makes use of the medium....

Tell me it wouldn't bother you if people refered to "Mexican" as a language. you know what... It probably wouldn't... You would be a hypocrit if it did.

@Lulu_Lulu: I wouldn't be bothered cuz I'm not Mexican. And everyone tries to come up with definitions of what gameplay is, yourself included. If anything, you're the hypocrite for saying that.