I remember fondly the days of playing Heroes of Might and Magic II, never played HOMM3 or anything after, but as I looked at the latest and most “recent” heroes games… they’re all rated/reviewed SO harshly. Apparently, they never gained steam like the earlier titles. RTS seems to have the same issue, tapering off. Starcraft is basically dried up and dead, and we never got another Warcraft unfortunately. Even WC3 Reforged was a total flop/disaster, people were hoping one day to get Warcraft 4. Would’ve been nice, honestly… But it never happened. as of today, I can’t find a single RTS or RPG I actually enjoy that isn’t some old ‘classic’.
What happened to these genres?
The graphics are much simpler than BG3, but Owlcat has done some fantastic work with their Pathfinder games.
Wrath of the Righteous is much more polished and expanded than Kingmaker, but they’re both great. They both have the option to play in turn-based like BG3, or real time with pause like the old BG games.
Wrath of the Righteous is hands down a better game than Baldur’s Gate 3 in every observable metric except for graphics and I will gladly die on this hill.
I’ve heard a lot of concerning things about Pathfinder being way, WAY more complex and challenging than BG3, like absurdly, crazy complex combat and game systems that I’d probably struggle with and bar me from getting really into their game.
That’s a fair assessment. There are a ridiculous number of classes and subclasses each with their own quirks. And that’s without getting into multiclassing or Wrath’s mythic path system. I’ve definitely spent 20+ minutes leveling up before.
Do you like JRPGs? Yakuza: Like a Dragon is fairly recent and has a sequel (that I haven’t gotten to play yet). The story is NOT your typical RPG fare, it’s a modern drama about an ex-gangster trying to get back on his feet after prison (it gets emotional, I cried). But the combat is a classic turn-based RPG and it’s fun, stylish, and just barely complex enough to stay engaging.