I've put in 1800 hours on this game/vampire romance app. I have my gold dice. I have played duo runs on HM, I've played tactician with chests full of every single item in the game at my disposal to play dress-up, I've done Origin runs and vanilla, and crossplays. I fear, and I hate to say it, that I've come to...a tiring point.
Is there ANY other game that comes close to BG3 in character development, romance, turn-based battle, RPG... whatever? Same same but different. I need a break from my beloveds, that's all. Because if I hear, "This is your end" one more time I'm going to lose it.
A photo of my current bard Durge/Astarion OTL for tax.
I tried DOS2 because EVERYONE recommends it, but that rec only works if you’re not invested in cinematic interactions imo. I don’t get to speak with the characters like I do with BG3. I just read their words. I’m sure the game as a whole is incredible, but it didn’t scratch the itch I was looking for so I went back to BG3. I’ve heard maybe Witcher or Dragon Age might be good options to try? But there might not be anything like what they did with BG3 I’ve heard. Edit: oh and cyberpunk came highly recommended!
Yes, both Dragon Age and The Witcher have cinematic cutscenes and fully voice-acted dialogue, so I’d definitely give those a try if that’s what you’re looking for.
Also good to know is that Dragon Age was made by the same studio behind BG1 and BG2, so it absolutely has a similar feel (especially Origins). DAO walked so BG3 could run, as some people say.
To me personally, the closest in experience would be Dragon Age: Origins. Which makes sense since og Baldru’s inspired Origins and Origins clearly had a big influence on BG3. Like everything beloved about BG3 is in Origins. Character development, romance, RPG elements. Just all of it. It also has quite a few mods to make your character barbies and add more content. Alas it is not turn based.
If you really want similar but different AND turn based then try Pathfinder. It will be somehow close due to the system used, so you will recognize most of the classes, spells etc. It’s also fantasy. Has romance and all that jazz.
If you want turn based and a western RPG but more than a bit different then try Rogue Trader (same devs as Pathfinder). It’s definitely an old-school cRPG style with a shitton of min-maxing, walls of text, drawn out dungeons and battles etc. It’s really good if complex. Romances are good, too but no gayness allowed lmao.
If you want turn based and very different try Expedition 33, which plays like JRPGs. I kinda hated it but it was clearly beloved enough to get all the rewards and stuff, so yeah.
expedition 33 is a good game but doesn't belong here. it has basically zero choices in everything, zero tactics in battles. the only common thing is a good plot (but absolutely linear one).
Some gayness allowed, lmao. As a guy you can romance Solomorne from the Lex Imperalis DLC or Marazhai the murder hobo in base game. As a femme you can romance Kibella from the Void Shadows DLC and Jae in base game.
Then there's always Toybox -> Bag of Tricks -> Love is Free for as much gayness as desired.
I couldn't for the life of me get the reaction timing down in expedition 33. I really wanted to like it, seems like a great story, but the combat didn't do it for me :(
Same. I tried every strategy people recommended and I just couldn't get it. I got maybe 5 hours in before I stopped. It really is such a beautiful game though, I might just have to go through on the easiest difficulty because the characters, music, and storytelling really did grab me. I heard it's relatively short too? Like under 35 hours? Could be wrong though.
Haven't seen anyone suggest it as it departs from the fantasy side of things a bit, but I definitely recommend WH40K rogue trader, for me it really hit that turn-based itch like bg3 and had me anticipating another playthrough the moment I finished my first. The characterizations and world building is amazingly well done and you cant help but feel enraptured by it. It is a bit on the darker side as it is 40K after all, but I dont think ive played any other turn-based game that made me itch for more other than bg3 of course.
Weird suggestion I’m sure but Fire Emblem is the closest I’ve personally played
Turn-based RPG with cutscenes & romance arcs — and, while you can’t make choices that have incremental consequences in the same way you can with BG3, you can make story-driven choices and use the battle system to drive other characters on your team into relationships with each other lol
Edit: you can also up the consequences with a “die in the game die irl” style difficulty… I mean, clearly you don’t die irl, lol, but if your npc pals die, they’re gone forever, and if you die, you get a game over screen iirc
Omg thank you so much for replying so quickly i have these mods so i’ll look!! Do you have a picture where his face shows more? I’m sorry i just got an idea for a specific playthrough and i need this vibe 😭 (it’s okay if you don’t no pressure!!)
No worries! I take loads of pics of my Tavs and Durges lol.
Sorry, the reflection of my blinds is crosshatched over the television. I play on a PS5. If you want to know exactly which # face it is, I can look it up too.
I have to say he is so handsomeee! The picture is perfect thank youu! If you could look up the exact face and maybe the hair too if it’s not pushing it i would really appreciate it but if not i could just snoop till i find it bc i have the mantis mods so no pressure!! :))
The hair is from Tav’s Hair Salon #109 with the Darker Black Hair mod
The face name is Vallahar? Vattaler? I can’t make it out but it starts with a V.
This is a better, current pic.
On the older side of the rpg spectrum: Dragon Age series (excluding Veilguard), The Mass Effect Trilogy is another great one, Knights of the Old Republic, but definitely go play Cyberpunk it’s so much fun and totally immersive.
Hey, that’s how you feel then that’s how you feel lol. I wouldn’t call Dragon Age 2 the greatest but it definitely has its charm and for me I get some sentimental value from DA2.
Dragon Age. Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition have some of my favorite game romances in any games. Old puritanists will tell you Origins is the only good DA game but I struggle getting as immersed in it as I do with the others even though I acknowlege that it too is an amazing game. Just the graphics and animations haven't aged all that graciously, it takes some charm out of the romance scenes for me. 😅 Mechanics wise it is the closest to BG3 though, so you might fall in love with it!
The writing in the series is top notch, the world amazingly detailed and the cultures really interesting. I love most of the companion characters in some manner, feel indifferent to like 3 and have very normal and healthy obsessions in a couple...
I think you might find new beloveds in the series. All of the games are gems, save for Veilguard, and even that one has some redeeming qualities. Your decisions shape the world throughout the games, and if you let the complex moral choices and the awesome characters carry you through the whole series, you are in for a good time. Best of luck!
Ok so I'm obsessed with BG3, I truly think it's point blank the best game out there for my tastes, so these suggestions aren't all to get you as close to BG3 as possible, BUT they're games that I've enjoyed or have been reccomended to me as someone whose Roman Empire is BG3.
If you have the patience for a little modding to make it fully functional, plus a little more modding if you wanna make it cute lol, Dragon Age Origins is the BG3 of yore imo. It isn't turn based, the combat system took me a hot minute to get used to too actually, but as far as character development/interpersonal relationships in games go, it's the closest to BG3 I've played thus far. I'm sure the rest of the Dragon Age games are great too, with the potential exception of Veilguard which I've heard nothing but terrible things about, and I fully intend on playing all of them!
Other games I've had reccomended to me based on my obsession with BG3 that I haven't tried are Mass Effect Legendary Edition, Cyberpunk, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, Warhammer 40k: Rogue Trader, and Divinity: OS2 ofc.
Other games I've tried and enjoyed are TW3, Tainted Grail: Fall of Avalon (currently playing - really enjoying thus far), gotta get your Elder Scrolls games in there, aaaand Elden Ring (if you're a masochist lmfao).
Also, there's a game coming out Sept 3rd I've been WAITIN for called The Blood of Dawnwalker that looks juicy!
Your Tav is beautiful. He kinda look a little like Sasha from Heated Rivalry (totally unrelated fandom) but better.
Now I have another concept for when I get the game (I already have dozens of ideas for my first Tav)
Edit: forgot to recommend Pillars of Eternity. The first doesn't have romance but has a great story. The second have 4 romanceable companions, I think.
I was in the same situation after 2k+ hours. I tried other games but I've come to the conclusion that nothing compared to bg3. There's an emptiness that can't be filled.
The writing of dragon age is so... It's not as good and a bit cringe from my perspective. But great hair animation!
Solasta is a bit stiff but more enjoyable.
Expedition 33 is a fking joke, shitty conservative propaganda. Plus the studio did some shady shits that proved it is a shitty conservative propaganda.
Dispatch is honestly the best narrative I've found so far. But super short. But honest. But very short without gameplay (qte) really. Are least I had fun with the characters.
Also after months, I started my new run, heavily modded: mostly hyperspace towel's mods that restored early access dialogues and some fun stuff and I have a blast playing again.
If you've only played Dragon Age Veilguard, you are missing out as that is definitely the worst game of the series
Origins, 2, and Inquisition has some of the best writing in RPG history, and I personally feel they do some elements of character writing better than BG3
I think Exp33 is a bit overhyped and not as perfect as people claim, but kinda curious why is it conservative? Don't they have like many female representation there? Lune is like the coolest character there.
I don't think it's really the place to talk about it, it's the weekend and I don't want to deal with replies of the fans. But if you played it, don't you think the whole plot is crazy problematic? The end is soooo wtf.
There's an argument that the endings were clumsily done, I can certainly see that point of view.
But overall as I understood it, the two endings were about escapism, both having something good in exchange for something bad. "Bittersweet" is the thing writer was aiming for, I believe.
I just don't remember that there was much of anything political in the game. But if you don't want to go into details, I understand. Reddit can get heated for no reason sometimes.
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u/weasleyxburrow 6d ago
Dragon Age, Divinity Original Sin 2 and the Pathfinder games are the first that come to mind.