Second attempt to post this, because the first one somehow got the wrong link attached.
I just picked up $270 worth of classic, isometric RPGs for chump change thanks to Humble Bundle. Believe it or not I'm 33 years old and have never actually played any of these before.
So I'm wondering where I should start. It doesn't look like there's much story between the games of different titles, but they do seem to share a universe? Should I just fire up the oldest one and play them in release order, or would one of the later games be a more accessible entry point for someone new to the genre?
I appreciate any input on my dilemma!
1 Comments
Apeman42@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 3y
The Baldur's Gate games, Planescape Torment, and Icewind Dale are connected in that they're Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition licensed games running on the same Infinity Engine. Neverwinter Nights is also DnD, but on a different engine, and using 3rd Edition rules.
Pathfinder is a successor to DnD by a different company. It has a lot of the same core rules and monsters, but nothing is shared in terms of the settings/worlds.
Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 are the only games in the bundle with a direct story connection. There may be references to the same places/gods/historical events in some of the DnD ones, but I think that's all.
I'd personally start with Baldur's Gate 1 into 2. I think it's a great into to the genre, and the story's pretty good.
Planescape Torment is played almost exclusively for the story, but I think it's best played after BG so you're familiar with basic mechanics when you do need them as well as maybe having a little backround into what things like "planes" are if you're not already familiar.
Icewind Dale is almost completely the inverse of Planescape. The story is minimal, it's all about building a party of characters for crunchy AD&D combat simulation.
Neverwinter Nights is a little more in the middle. The main game's story isn't super strong, but some of the DLC is considered very good. This one also allows for playing user-made campaigns and connecting to "persistent worlds" as a sort of pseudo-MMO type of play. This one is also unique in that you only have 1-2 characters in most modules (stories), because it was meant to be more multiplayer.
Pathfinder is the newest and shiniest one. Technically it's the sequel to "Pathfinder: Kingmaker", but you don't have to have played that one. I actually don't know much about it myself, as I'm still playing Kingmaker, but my impression from Kingmaker is it's going to be one of the more user-friendly ones.
Pathfinder is, AFAIK, the only one in the bundle with a true turn-based mode. All the others are "real-time with pause" (RTwP), meaning you can stop the action at any time to issue new orders, otherwise characters will act according to their AI combat script when unpaused and without an order. You can set various conditions under which the game will auto-pause for you to consider your actions or give new orders, like "party saw a new enemy" or "finished casting a spell". If you prefer using it, RTwP is also available in Pathfinder.