In need of a Dragon Age-esque RPG

I'm looking for an alternative because I can't stand playing the original. Not because the mechanics or anything, they're fine. The problem is the ill-considered character cast - there's a fuckton of warriors and rogues of all sorts, but only one offensive mage, Morrigan. She's one of the characters that is useful because of her abilities, but she has such a bitchy attitude, she pisses me off to no end. So because I can't replace her because of lack of other mages (my character is also a warrior), aside from Wynne, who can't fight for shit, I'd rather stop playing the game at all. But enough ranting. What I want is:

- isometric view with option to control the characters with the keyboard outside of combat (it's far more convenient than clicking on the ground all the time);

- "start-stop"/active pause, party-based combat that requires tactics to some degree;

- leniency and forgiveness (don't confuse it with being balls easy; I want a challenge, just not in a way where I lose the whole fight because of one tiny factor);

- a really good storyline, preferably dark and not about saving the world;

- a fantasy setting (the more original, the better, as I'm not fond of Tolkienesque "elves, dwarves, and wizards" worlds, if you catch my meaning)

- interaction with party members (conversations and such; romance options not necessary);

- character customization (the more complex, the better; I like my character to be unique);

- not being based on any version of Dungeons and Dragons (I can't and won't uderstand its rules, even if my life depended on it)

Dragon age is my first "traditional" RPG that got me hooked up. There's lots and lots I haven't played yet, so I think you have enough of a leeway.

Thanks for all the help in advance.

Most RTwP RPGs I can think of were based on D&D, so that really narrows down the number of available choices. However... if you are willing to overlook some things, Drakensang is very BioWare esque, and RTwP to boot. But at hte same time, the story isnt quite very good, and based on The Dark Eye Ruleset which is another tabletop RPG.

It's not exactly what you're asking for but I think you should give Divinity: Original Sin a shot. It's really good and at a certain point (I think you need 2 or 3 Star Shards), you can dump the two followers with personalities for generic ones (it might even be a good idea, I found myself a lvl 1 warrior with maxed out Man-at-Arms which is a lot of free skill points).

Regardless, Divinity characters are flexible enough that you can "waste" points as long as you decide the type of character early on and max no more than 2 (3 tops) skills. With a couple of items, I even manage to have rank 5 Rogue type abilities without actually having a Rogue type character.

I roll with 3 mages and a tankish lockpick/pickpocket fellow. That's two high int mages, one with high perception (Jahan) and a thieving sword/board warrior.

Edit: I need the warrior All my mages have Glass Cannon and I really don't want certain enemies hitting them too much; I need a turn to summon pets afterall.

By "some things" you explicitly mean "a good story", right? Isn't that what most RPGs are played for?

I heard some good things about Divinity: Original Sin, however I'm a bit skeptical about all the fanboyism since my huge disappointment with Dark Souls 2. Also, I don't really like that it has a turn-based combat - all games that have feel extremely slow and sluggish, as opposed to RTwP. Is worth my time regardless? I might look the other way at the whole combat system thing if the story and setting is really worth the hassle.

Yes, story. The story in the drakensang games arent good.

As for Original Sin, the writing is not very good, the game excels in combat. Really the problem is that you narrowed it down too much in the OP, especially considering that RTwP is mostly untouched territory outside. Of the IE esque games you are looking for there is either DAO, the IE games and Drakensang. I suppose I could say that I would recommend Arcanum. But that may not really be your type of game since it isnt all too similiar to DAO, but the worldbuilding and lore is awesome. The combat is not... however.

After getting the hang of things, I settle most fights in 5 turns or less. At least to me, it never really drags on unless you're facing 15 enemies at once (a rare occurance).

The story and setting..... Well.... There's a ton of text to read and a lot of inventory management to the extent where it's a good idea to not pick up ever single ingredient you come across :) I find the world itself beautiful but it's very much a taste thing. Same goes for the story really... It's very much character driven and that character is you as the player(s). It wants you to interact directly with the world more than it wants to elaborate on the 2 main characters as their own entities.

Also, it does'nt explain itself very clearly :) You're either going to have to live with some choices, start over or possibly read the manual :) While the game can feel a little brutal (especially in the beginning), it's also rather forgiving unless you make some really bad character progression choices.

I guess you can tell that I really like it ;) I think it's the best CRPG to come out in a long time but there's also Wasteland 2 and Torment: Tides of Numenera to look foreward to. Torment is indeed a spiritual sequel to Planescape: Torment.

Edit: It might be a good idea to check out some Youtube videos explaining mechanics or LPs, just to get a better idea of what's going on. I guess it looks simplistic in the beginning but my mages are on their 5'th skillbar and most of those spells are useful in some way.

I'll be happy to elaborate on the plot, even if it's going to bea little spoilerish.

Editedit:

And you can have an affro, which makes it an automatic 10/10 game!

Well, I play RPGs both for the story and the mechanics. If either one of them is bad then the game is ruled out in my book.

@MlauTheDaft: Both of my characters used afros. One of them was named Afro Knight.

Sadly, I cant think of any RPG right now to recommend you in that case. While there are RPGs with both good story and mechanics, they involve at least one of the following

• Turn Based Combat
• Action combat
• D20 ruleset

Hopefully Pillars of Eternity will be good, since the gameplay has potential to be good (getting a bit worried with Josh Sawyer balancing though), its an obsidian game (so good writing is guaranteed) and it will be RTwP.

Well you get 2 mages, if you start as one that's 3. 3 mages is fun but it's kinda overkill and makes the game pretty easy. I loved the characters in DA:O, it continues to be one of my favorite games.

Divinity: Original Sin is the obvious answer here, though it has turn-based combat so there's no need for the pause (in battle at least).

Any of the old BioWare DnD style games are basically what you want; or the Obsidian sequels; or the Interplay games that use BioWare's Infinity Engine.

Newer titles in the same vein as those old classics like Avadon; or any of the Spiderweb Software games.

Are those good? I've looked at them quite often but screenshots make them seem so... Dated...

@Maroxad:

Current Scarlett:

Current Smith:

If you like Star wars try the Knights of the Old Republic games.

The problem is that I don't. Will I still like this game regardless?

Geneforge, the early ones at least are great. I would recommend.

If you can get over the graphics and dated controls, yes! You're probably going to want to mod them, but they're really good games.

@Maroxad:

I'll definitely look into them, they're dirt cheap afterall ;)

Maybe 2. It was an Obsidian game, as opposed to 1 being a Bioware game... it was darker and not very Star Wars-y (good is good and evil is evil) like 1 was. (which is a good thing, imo)

Make sure to get the restored content patch for it though, if you do get it.

Also...Darklands was a good cRPG and RtwP too.

You mean the Darklands game from over 20 years ago? I think I'm not hardcore enough to play it.

Just play Planescape.

It has the best story elements (writing, characters, descriptions, dialogs..) It's dark..no saving the world stuff

It lets you interact with your party members

It has the RtwP combat you want

It uses an Isometric view

It's not too hard

It's in a fantasy setting that's NOT your typical elves, dwarfs, Tolkien...blah blah blah (setting and music is excellent)

It doesn't have complex character creation, but you can play different classes (fighter, mage, thief..) and distribute attribute points differently, so there is some form of customization there.

And you DON'T EVEN NEED TO KNOW THE D&D RULES....seriously, it checks off more boxes for you than anything..just gotta get over your d&d obsession.

Dvinity Original Sin is as close as you can get into deep RPG that acts like original Dragon Age

Well, I must say I'm pretty disappointed. Didn't expect my options to be that limited. Looks like I have to save up for Divinity, then, cause it looks like I'm out of choices.

I can't say for sure since I haven't played the game yet but you could keep an eye out for Wasteland 2 which is supposed to be released 19 September.

An idea hit me. Maybe what I need is a change of subgenre.

Let's say I want an isometric action RPG/hack n' slash now. It has to meet all (or at least most) of these criteria, though:

- leniency and forgiveness (don't confuse it with being balls easy; I want a challenge, just not in a way where I lose the whole fight because of one tiny factor)

- a really good, dark, and deep storyline, preferably not about saving the world (mandatory requirement)

- fantasy setting (the more original, the better, as I'm not fond of Tolkienesque "elves, dwarves and wizards" worlds)

- character customization (the more complex, the better; I like my character to be unique)

- dialogue choices

- diverse, non-linear environments

Does something like this exist, or am I barking up the wrong tree?

In two more months dragon age inquisition will fill all those requirements

What's the best alternative to a Dragon Age game? Another Dragon Age game! Yay! Plus, isn't it a direct sequel to the two existing Dragon Age games?

Dragon Age 2 and the 3rd are the same and yet tottally different from the original game.

The original was true RPG game, the new games are more action fast pased games.

I meant it in a more sarcastic way, as in "Can't stand playing the original and looking for a similar, yet entirely different experience not connected in any way to the original? Try a direct sequel!"

=)
I can recommend playing Divinity with a friend

You may also want to try Fallout 3 GOTY if you haven't tried it, you can also kinda pause the game using the V.A.T.S. system.

I'm not really a person who enjoys playing any sort of a multiplayer/co-op game. Is a singleplayer experience enjoyable in this game, or will I be missing out on something if I don't succumb to this whole "social gaming" bullcrap?

Social gaming isn't bullcrap just because YOU don't like it, but to answer your question, YES, it's a great single player experience.

All I'm saying is that Inquisition is the perfect fit for you based on requirements. You say you don't like DAO because of the characters, thankfully inquisition will have all new characters, it features many large open areas, isometric tactical view and action combat. Obviously it is heavy with dialogue choices as all BioWare games. Customization is also present with weapon crafting. Character interactions with romances.

Of course the only thing that cannot be confirmed is the quality of the story and the likability of characters. But Inquisition is the closest you will get to your list.

There you have it, a fine answer.