Octopus Overlords

I honestly can’t heartily recommend any of those, except maybe Grimrock 2, and iirc the few hours I played of that, it was more real timey than turn based.

The art in Banner Saga is worth that trip alone maybe, if you dig that kind of thing. I never finished because I wasn’t drawn in at all (and I backed it on KS). It was very solidly “meh” to me, in terms of game play.

Someone gifted me Massive Chalice for Wishlistmas, but have not tried it yet. Planning to dive in post haste.

Blackhawk wrote: Fri Feb 02, 2018 1:41 am I am really in the mood for a good turn based RPG or strategy game, preferably fantasy. I used Steam Library Filters to get some suggestions. I'm weeding out those I know I'm not interested in or have already played. Do any stand out as particularly amazing or awful?

Blackguards
Blackguards 2
Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes
Heroes of Might & Magic V
Heroes of Might & Magic V: Hammers of Fate
Heroes of Might & Magic V: Tribes of the East
Joe Dever's Lone Wolf HD Remastered
King Arthur - THe Role-playing Wargame
Legend of Grimrock 2
Legends of Eisenwald
Massive Chalice
Of Orcs and Men
South Park: The Stick of Truth
The Banner Saga
Warlock: Master of the Arcane

I'd have thought Battle Brothers might be for you then. From that list though, probably Banner Saga if it's the TBS element you want to get your teeth into.

I've played the six of these. I can rank 4 of them from best to worst.

The Banner Saga - great art, good story and characters, too gamey with scripted events and how combat works to be an all time great.
King Arthur - It is a knockoff and unbalanced Total War game but I loved it. Might not be turn based enough due to TW battles.
Blackguards - Solidly average. I liked that it felt different from other turn based RPGs but something distracted me and I've never felt the need to go back and finish the game.
Massive Chalice - I never did figure out why I disliked it. It's not a bad tactical combat engine and the kingdom and people management is neat. I suspect that the resource management was just too tight. I wanted to explore different options but the game was punishing me for not focusing.

Fallen Enchantress and Warlock blend together in my memory. Neat take on fantasy 4x that I'm glad to have played but that didn't hold my interest very long.

Quitch wrote: Fri Feb 02, 2018 8:30 am I'd have thought Battle Brothers might be for you then. From that list though, probably Banner Saga if it's the TBS element you want to get your teeth into.

I'd put Battle Brothers above all of the listed games overall but The Banner Saga and King Arthur depending on how much story versus sandbox you want.

Madmarcus wrote: Fri Feb 02, 2018 9:46 am I've played the six of these. I can rank 4 of them from best to worst.

The Banner Saga - great art, good story and characters, too gamey with scripted events and how combat works to be an all time great.

I loved it, and the scripted events didn't bother me one bit. The game is telling a story that you play; you're not creating a story by playing. The story being the primary element got me more involved in the characters than I otherwise would have.

I'd say Warlock is pointless if you don't have the Armageddon DLC. The base game is a simplified fantasy Civilization. Very simplified. Armageddon changes it enough to make it interesting, for me. I've played it a number of times.

I love FE:LE. I've played it a lot more than the other similar ones on the market (AoW III, Endless Legend).

I enjoyed Blackguards. But I ran into an insurmountable wall in the sequel that is going to make me have to restart. Not fun. I also liked the characters and story of the first one more than (what I've seen of) the second one.

I haven't played any of the others. Though I hear that The Stick of Truth is a MUST for South Park fans.

Thanks, that whittles the list down a bit. There are a few I own that aren't on there. Total War titles because I just finished the Warhammer 2 campaign a week or so ago. Pillars of Eternity, which isn't turn based but scratches the itch, because it is bigger than what I want right now. A few I finished. Elven Legacy because I forgot about it.

Battle Brothers looks mechanically interesting, but I'm sticking with game I already have for now, and to be honest, the chess-meets-creepy-chibi aesthetic really turns me off.

I'm a causal South Park fan and I enjoyed The Stick of Truth tremendously. It's morel like you're playing an interactive TV episode than anything else. The RPG and combat engine is paper then. It's all about the story.

Thanks for all the input. I think off of the original list I'm leaning toward Banner Saga, although I have added Divinity: Original Sin and Pillars of Eternity back into the options. I just need to pick between those three.

Well, shit, if you're going to throw a late curveball, I will vote for PoE, hands down. Though Banner Saga and PoE are significantly different enough that you might scratch different itches with those two.

Banner Saga to me is defined by its tile based fighting core (they obviously spent the most time on this part of the game), then has beautiful art and some story sprinkled around it. It seems to be more...disjointed in some ways (the core fighting and the story line). Kinda like Fallout Tactics was more combat centric than Fallout 1 and 2.

PoE is more of a balanced CRPG in the traditional sense, IMO, where you come across or create battle sequences a little more organically. There's more flow I guess is what I am trying to say.

Again, I vote for PoE, but I think you should also play Banner Saga at some point. I am determined to go back to it one day and finish it. Not sure how close I was, but will probably replay from he beginning since it's been a while.

Blackhawk wrote: Fri Feb 02, 2018 1:41 am I am really in the mood for a good turn based RPG or strategy game, preferably fantasy. I used Steam Library Filters to get some suggestions. I'm weeding out those I know I'm not interested in or have already played. Do any stand out as particularly amazing or awful?

Blackguards
Blackguards 2
Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes
Heroes of Might & Magic V
Heroes of Might & Magic V: Hammers of Fate
Heroes of Might & Magic V: Tribes of the East
Joe Dever's Lone Wolf HD Remastered
King Arthur - THe Role-playing Wargame
Legend of Grimrock 2
Legends of Eisenwald
Massive Chalice
Of Orcs and Men
South Park: The Stick of Truth
The Banner Saga
Warlock: Master of the Arcane

Legend of Grimrock II is a hell of game if you're up for a challenging, expansive, modernised blobber. But like the original Dungeon Master game that first inspired it, it's not turn-based (though that really shouldn't keep you from playing -- it's easily among the top five RPGs released over the last 15 years IMHO).

Another vote for Legends of Grimrock 2, you can also play (and create) user made levels.

And I played the living snot out of Blackguards I & II. I liked how you could visit the towns and quests in any order you want, (after some initial exploration) until you need to progress the main story.

So I am well into Fallout 4, I have been to the Institute and killed everybody. Didn't plan on that but it just worked out that way. I am not sure I have the willingness to play this thru to one of the actual "endings".

I am tired of settlement building, never really wanted to do that anyway. I have enjoyed the game up until the big reveal, which just kind of took the air out of the game.

Scuzz wrote: Mon Feb 12, 2018 2:03 pm So I am well into Fallout 4, I have been to the Institute and killed everybody. Didn't plan on that but it just worked out that way. I am not sure I have the willingness to play this thru to one of the actual "endings".

I am tired of settlement building, never really wanted to do that anyway. I have enjoyed the game up until the big reveal, which just kind of took the air out of the game.

I played Fallout 4 through till an ending, which is unusual for me in any one of these vast AAA open world games. I then loaded a save from just before a big decision point and tried another ending, which was fun. However, I didn't do every quest or go to every location. And I think I prevented burnout by almost ignoring any settlement building except that required by specific quests.

I usually never play out till the end of the main campaign in a lot of these games because the gameplay would get repetitive and I'm not big into getting a resolution of the story. I've only ever completed one Assassin's Creed game, that was AC4 Black Flag, and I couldn't tell you what the main theme of the story was there, other than Templars bad, assassins good.

Also there's something about the AC games that make me give up on the story as it nears the climax, as those last few missions are usually designed to be very hard, requiring several attempts, and playing a mission over and over isn't something I care to do.

I am tired of settlement building, never really wanted to do that anyway. I have enjoyed the game up until the big reveal, which just kind of took the air out of the game.

You dont have to build those. they are not required. Just little side missions to do. I also tired of them and quit after 6 of them. I just ignored him.

Daehawk wrote: Mon Feb 12, 2018 4:23 pm

I am tired of settlement building, never really wanted to do that anyway. I have enjoyed the game up until the big reveal, which just kind of took the air out of the game.

You dont have to build those. they are not required. Just little side missions to do. I also tired of them and quit after 6 of them. I just ignored him.

I did just a touch of the settlement building, refused the offer of being General and just did my own thing until after the big reveal. I thought maybe something at Sanctuary would lead to what to do so when I chose that route I did agree to be general, and I did some settlement building. Never more than water, a few beds and some gun turrets.

Anyway, I figured I may have ruined things when I thought maybe I was supposed to go back to the institution after being banned but..
I do have a save just before that point so I guess I could start over there but I don't think I want to do that.

So I finally got to the ending (a ending) of Fallout 4. I thought I had messed things up but it turned out I just had to get the Minuteman line far enough to kick in their ending quests.

Overall, I really enjoyed this game, as I have enjoyed every Fallout game. I don't think the big reveal was done well, there are so many other ways they could have done that, but I recovered and finished off.

I never used power armor and for the most part only used 2 .45 caliber guns I bought about 1/3 of the way thru my play thru. I ended up putting 150+ hours into the game, and I know I still missed a whole bunch of stuff.

At some point I will replay this, only I think I will try survival mode.

Spoiler for the ending and your son.

Daehawk wrote: Thu Feb 15, 2018 3:14 pm Spoiler for the ending and your son.

Spoiler:

Not long after starting I began to guess that more time had passed than my character thought it had though I expected the kid to be a young teen or something not an old 60+ year old man running things.

I knew....
I just thought it was poorly written.

In the end though...

What happened to 3dfx.

https://tedium.co/2018/02/14/3dfx-history-failure/

Blackhawk wrote: Fri Feb 02, 2018 1:41 am I am really in the mood for a good turn based RPG or strategy game, preferably fantasy. I used Steam Library Filters to get some suggestions. I'm weeding out those I know I'm not interested in or have already played. Do any stand out as particularly amazing or awful?

Blackguards
Blackguards 2
Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes
Heroes of Might & Magic V
Heroes of Might & Magic V: Hammers of Fate
Heroes of Might & Magic V: Tribes of the East
Joe Dever's Lone Wolf HD Remastered
King Arthur - THe Role-playing Wargame
Legend of Grimrock 2
Legends of Eisenwald
Massive Chalice
Of Orcs and Men
South Park: The Stick of Truth
The Banner Saga
Warlock: Master of the Arcane

Late to the party I know, you're prob already playing something but I wanted to throw in my $.02.

Iv'e played 6 of them. Blackguards was good, I think I liked it more than some of the other posters in this tread did. Grimrock 2 was good as well, if you liked 1 you know what your getting. South Park was fun but more casual than the others. King Arthur I liked a lot, would be my 2nd recommend from the list (I thought the text adventures mixed in were a nice addition to the combat). Banner Saga was ok.

You added PoE and Original Sin, both really good. Although for me OS is better than PoE.

Legends of Eisenwald would be my recommendation from the original list and why I wanted to post since no one else mentioned it. I loved this game, thought it was great. Don't overlook this one.

Installed Deus Ex Mankind Divided as Ive tried it but never finished it. I hate those intro vids and credits so looked how to turn them off. For some reason all my tries failed. Then I notice I installed Human Revolution not Mankind Divided. Sigh.

Blackhawk wrote: Fri Feb 02, 2018 1:41 am I am really in the mood for a good turn based RPG or strategy game, preferably fantasy. I used Steam Library Filters to get some suggestions. I'm weeding out those I know I'm not interested in or have already played. Do any stand out as particularly amazing or awful?

Blackguards
Blackguards 2
Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes
Heroes of Might & Magic V
Heroes of Might & Magic V: Hammers of Fate
Heroes of Might & Magic V: Tribes of the East
Joe Dever's Lone Wolf HD Remastered
King Arthur - THe Role-playing Wargame
Legend of Grimrock 2
Legends of Eisenwald
Massive Chalice
Of Orcs and Men
South Park: The Stick of Truth
The Banner Saga
Warlock: Master of the Arcane

If you're not going to play HOMM 3 for some reason, then V is probably your best bet. Sadly, every HOMM after that one was utter shite.

Banner Saga was one of those games that I really wanted to like, but just could never really get into it. I can't even really put my finger on why. I love narrative-focused games, I love turn-based strategy, I loved the art style, I loved the music...but the game just kinda bored me for some reason.

I did like Warlock quite a bit. I'm not much of a 4X guy, but that one was super fun. Might have something to do with the fact it's in the same universe as the Majesty series, which I loved.

I liked Warlock: Master of the Arcane and played it quite a bit. If you're interested in the genre, now will be a great time to pick it and all its DLC up for only $6.24 at Steam.

I'll go against the grain and say Warlock was pretty bad. The AI cheated in unfun ways to cover up how boringly braindead it was. It as a fantasy 4x game, so there was no fun beyond enjoying playing against the AI.

Of the rest HoMM V was a big disappointment but at least it was better than IV.
King Arthur got about 20 minutes of play I was done.
Fallen Enchantress was overhyped and underdelivered.

Of the HoMM/FE fantasy 4x games, I think Eador:Genesys is the best I've played since. It's biggest wart is that the pace of the game. Something apparently fixed in later renditions of the game, but I got frustrated with bugs in the later editions.

Thanks for all the input. I settled on Pillars for now, but having this thread and discussion here will be invaluable later on.

LordMortis wrote: Mon Feb 19, 2018 12:39 pm I'll go against the grain and say Warlock was pretty bad. The AI cheated in unfun ways to cover up how boringly braindead it was. It as a fantasy 4x game, so there was no fun beyond enjoying playing against the AI.

I enjoy Warlock for what it is and break it out every so often. But I don't disagree with this at all. Playing the "regular" game on hard levels is beyond frustrating. I've had enemies show up on my borders with Tier 3 units in the first 50 turns; at a time when I only had a couple of buildings built and was still fielding Tier 1 units. That's not fun. Or "challenging". That's rage-quit worthy.

I've mentioned it repeatedly, but the only way I play the game is with the Armageddon mod.

As if EA hasn't been attacked enough for loot boxes now UBI wants in and are adding them to RB6 Siege. Two states want them banned and myriad other things and UBI says "Hold my beer...."

http://www.ign.com/articles/2018/02/19/ ... 530c0001b7

LordMortis wrote: Mon Feb 19, 2018 12:39 pm
King Arthur got about 20 minutes of play I was done.

I'd be interested in hearing why.

Total War games do that to me. I've pickup Attila, Medieval 2, and Shogun 2. None of them held my interest because they felt more like puzzles (how can I exploit the game engine to win with absurdly minimal casualties) then strategy games. King Arthur had some of that but the text adventures, different named leaders, and theme worked better. Until the end when unbeatable Fey armies showed up but by that point I had my monies worth.

I dunno. I got it free with something else on Steam. I wanna say Torchlight but that doesn't make sense. They're not the same developer... Anyways, I tried it and it just didn't click. The interface didn't click, the game didn't click. Now it's a distant memory and given the amount of time I played, it's hard to remember. The good news, is it wasn't so bad in 20 minutes I don't have vivid memories of what horrible purchase it was.

but by that point I had my monies worth.

It seems rare I play a game to completion any more, except for games you can play in the course of a couple hours or days. All I really ask for is to "get my money's worth" before moving on.

LordMortis wrote: Mon Feb 19, 2018 12:39 pm Of the HoMM/FE fantasy 4x games, I think Eador:Genesys is the best I've played since. It's biggest wart is that the pace of the game. Something apparently fixed in later renditions of the game, but I got frustrated with bugs in the later editions.

I picked up Eador: Masters of the Broken World in a Steam sale a couple years back, but haven't ever played it. User reviews seem to be all over the place, but maybe it's worth a shot.

Skinypupy wrote: Mon Feb 19, 2018 3:53 pm I picked up Eador: Masters of the Broken World in a Steam sale a couple years back, but haven't ever played it. User reviews seem to be all over the place, but maybe it's worth a shot.

I have found no other game since HoMMIII to scratch the HoMMIII itch. It's not perfect but perfect is the enemy of good or some such thing.

LordMortis wrote: Mon Feb 19, 2018 3:57 pm

Skinypupy wrote: Mon Feb 19, 2018 3:53 pm I picked up Eador: Masters of the Broken World in a Steam sale a couple years back, but haven't ever played it. User reviews seem to be all over the place, but maybe it's worth a shot.

I have found no other game since HoMMIII to scratch the HoMMIII itch.

Me neither. I most gave up trying because I always came away so disappointed.

Maybe it's the nostalgia talking, but I would consider HOMMIII to be a nearly perfect game.

Skinypupy wrote: Mon Feb 19, 2018 4:00 pm Maybe it's the nostalgia talking, but I would consider HOMMIII to be a nearly perfect game.

I'm with you. It almost cost me my graduate degrees.

I had multiple variations of HOMM, and while I kinda liked the variety, the variety I think is also its biggest problem, in that you end up specializing on one race and when the game throws you into command of a different race you started to struggle. Those random encounters are also a bit problematic. I've played Chronicles (i've got a couple of them) and I have HOMM 3 complete (bought it twice, once on CD, then again on STEAM) I think it's a bit harsh that retreat penalties are so severe. But that's the way the game goes.

I'm done with Fallout 3 and I'm now playing XCOM (the Firaxis remake, not XCOM 2 though). Strangely, I've never finished that game. Apparently I rage quit after losing too many folks on a terror mission. Should have played on EASY, I guess.

I tried to get back into Fallout Shelter. I don't like the way the game penalizes you for leaving the game too long. Resources go down and never seems to recover, esp. when you don't ever seem to get enough people in your vaults, which causes all sorts of OTHER problems. *sigh*

The way that the game handles combat however, was a VAST improvement over the first version, which has no combat except attacks on the vault.

My vault is officially bad when I'm getting feral ghoul attacks instead of raider attacks. I imagine if I keep playing I'll get a lot worse.

I got one super-adventurer who's got so much **** he is FINDING more stimpaks as he goes along, and not using them. He's out for 12 hours and counting.

I started playing Dark Souls 2 SOTFS last week. I have played vanilla DS2 many times. Some of the changes in this version are good, and some have caught me by surprise. The white ghost characters who can actually attack (and kill) you were a shock the first time I met one of them. They look like the ghosts of other dead players.

The game has also been a little nicer about some item placement. At least so far a key and a ring were easier to get to than in the vanilla version.

Someone should really do an HOMM III remaster. Or at least move it into the HOMMIV interface/graphics/music. I much preferred the look and feel of IV over III, but the gameplay of III (although I also enjoyed IV).

Carpet_pissr wrote: Tue Feb 20, 2018 1:54 pm Someone should really do an HOMM III remaster. Or at least move it into the HOMMIV interface/graphics/music. I much preferred the look and feel of IV over III, but the gameplay of III (although I also enjoyed IV).

Ubisoft did a remarkably half-assed one a couple years back, HOMM3 HD Edition. Marginally better graphics, but doesn't include any of the expansions and they took out the random map generator. About what one expects from Ubi, given the way they've treated this series since taking it over.

Side note: I find it hilarious that one of the fly-through quotes featured in the trailer is an unattributed "Ooooooh shit son! I need this!" (11 seconds into the first trailer video on Steam). Why on earth would you include that?

Steam could really use a big customization update . Ive seen others suggesting icons and emojis to tag things with and some wanting a way to view stuff. I was just shown a feature I didn't know of about placing games in a unliked so to speak area.

What Id like is to take my games list and arrange it by date purchased or date released or something. I can sort by recent but that just shows by when I played it. One by date bought would be very handy.