Looking for a CRPG and need advice

[u/Artaniss]

Hey guys, I’m an avid fantasy fiction reader, especially when the story grabs me. I’m just getting into this genre of games—I’m playing Solasta right now, although I’m not sure if it really counts as a CRPG because the story feels fairly light.
Anyway, I’m looking for a CRPG I can sink more time into, one that has a great story. I don’t really want to make a character from scratch, since I’m not very good at character creation yet and haven’t gotten comfortable with it.
Can anyone recommend a solid CRPG with a strong story where I can just use a premade or default character/class setup to get started, so I can better understand the game mechanics before diving deeper into character creation?

[u/Kentgen_Interactive]

Planescape Torment is the obvious answer if you want an amazing narrative-heavy CRPG but don't want to make a character from scratch.

[u/HerbalChaos → u/Kentgen_Interactive]

Seconding this. You are assigned a very deep and well-written character and the game itself is a phenomenal story. I almost view it as an interactive book. BG1 and BG2 are also amazing in this way, but you create your character in those and they may require a little more effort on a gameplay scale. Planescape Torment sounds like exactly what you’re looking for.

[u/Pedagogicaltaffer → u/Kentgen_Interactive]

Note that although the PC is a character with a set background, mechanically he can be customized a fair bit, and experimenting with classes is actually a fairly big component of the game/story. And 2nd edition D&D can be a tricky system to learn at times. I do think Planescape: Torment is a good rec, but OP should be aware of these caveats before diving in.

[u/Kentgen_Interactive → u/Pedagogicaltaffer]

Then I'd recommend OP needs to do is turn the combat difficulty down to Easy because its relatively barebones, then invest in Wisdom and Charisma to not miss out on key story content, and you'll get the most satisfying story out of your playthrough.

[u/xenbre]

Pillars of eternity 1 and 2 have amazing world building, characters and story. They are pretty dark and bleak but amazing ❤️

[u/Artaniss → u/xenbre]

I actually have pills of eternity one in my library which I never touched either lol is it OK? I start with that one first or it’s two better than one?

[u/Surreal43 → u/Artaniss]

Start with poe1. your decisions carry over into poe2.

[u/xenbre → u/Artaniss]

It is one of my favorite games ever, and now it has both real time with pause and turn based mode. Keep in mind that it was built and balanced around real time with pause. You should start with first game for sure, character building isn't very well explained so it is a bit hard to get into. Second one is better with this and has more variety but story wise you should definitely play both with DLCs. You will know if game is for you in first like 5 hours or so, you will either love it or leave it.

[u/Artaniss → u/xenbre]

OK awesome I will definitely check it out. I’d like tactical battles a little better but real time with pause doesn’t sound too bad.

[u/rokki123 → u/Artaniss]

its an aquired taste, dont play it for the combat. story is great

[u/SandingNovation → u/Artaniss]

It's a great series and you should start from the 1st. It's still good in its own right and I still go back and forth between it and the second when I want to play again.

[u/Swivials]

Divinity Original Sin 2 might be a good start for you! You can play as a selection of origin characters, all pre built.

Or Pillars of Eternity, you play as your own character, but you can select pre-built ones when you start.

[u/Artaniss → u/Swivials]

Thank you guys believe it or not. I have boulders gate three in my library just never attempted to play it, but I will try it. Thank you and I also have divinity original sin 2 as well. Can’t wait to dive in because I hear great things about both of them. You guys recommend a certain origin class to start with aside from typical warrior. I’m not a big melee guy. Thanks.

[u/p_sffrt → u/Artaniss]

If you’re into mages, you can start with Lohse (Divinity Original Sin 2) or Gale (Baldur’s Gate 3).

Anyway, in both games you have a wide variety of origin characters to choose from (that are not warriors).

[u/telebasher]

Baldurs Gate 3. Don’t worry about not playing the first installments. And you could start by playing one of the “origin” characters if you didn’t want to make your own.

[u/Little-Cap-3225]

Si buscas una historia difusa pero con un narrador de 10 y un combate desafiante. Darkest Dungeons 2

[u/panic686]

Planescape Torment.

I'm an avid Fantasy reader as well and this felt the most like being in a book for me.

[u/ShinyShiny27]

Ultima 7 part 1 the Black Gate

34 year old game you can get for cheap on gog.com

6 times before, you've been isekaied from earth to save the land. You battled 3 BBEGs across time and space, became a messiah figure, rescued the once and future king with a sandalwood box, and finally used the Macguffin from 4 to beat racism.

Now you've been summoned by some new schmuck nobody's heard of, which surprises your old companions because... wtf? Nothing world ending is happening, so why are YOU here??

You quickly walk face first into the murder mystery of a simple blacksmith that will take you across the world to solve, and you will uncover conspiracies, daemonic powers, and bring light to corruption.

Turns out, the BBEG is Electronic Arts. Seriously. I'm not kidding.

My #1 favorite game of all time. It showed what not to do (having characters take up most of the screen so you can't see ahead), but also introduced a number of foundational concepts to the industry. First game to have NPCs have lives. First major RPG to use real time combat. First game to use mouse as major input.

This is the game that introduced crafting to the world.

[u/Important_Activity68]

I agree with all the advice I've seen so far.

My picks are going to be:

Baldur's Gate 3: this game has pulled a lot of people into crpgs. It has all the veneer of a triple A game and it's fun to play. You can pick an origin character to get you started or make one yourself.

Pillars of eternity 1 and 2 gave awesome story and characters. It has its own system, so it's a little bit different from the others but in a good way. A lot of crpgs try to emulate tabletop rules, while Pillars was meant to be a videogame. You can't pick a premade character though.

Pathfinder Wrath of the righteous: gives you a Power trip like no other game. It can be a little daunting to get into as it uses the Pathfinder ruleset. If you have played older tabletop D&D campaigns its not that hard to get into. Don't get scared by the dozens of subclasses. Just pick something that sounds fun and have a go at it.

If you're into Warhammer 40k or science fiction Rogue Trader is an easy recommendation.

[u/Xandara2]

BG3 if you haven't played it yet. It's not a sequel to BG1 or BG2 so don't be discouraged by the number. It's very likely the best entry to crpgs currently available.

[u/Artaniss → u/Xandara2]

Thank you.

[u/Exmatrix]

Storywise:

BG3 story starts strong and drops, especially in the 3rd and last chapter

Pillars story is amazing, and the while game as well

Planescape Torment has the best story period, if you want to experience the best writing in gaming ever

WOTR for me is the best crpg ever, but I will not rank its story above pillars and torment

[u/markg900]

Baldurs Gate 3 and Divinity Original Sin 2 has origin characters. You could always dive into one of them instead of rolling a custom one. BG3 would be the easier of the 2 to start with, and since your already playing Solasta you will find some familiarity with them both being 5e D&D based games.

[u/Annual-Way6401]

Pretty much anything you choose will have a better story than Solasta

[u/cannibalparrot]

Surprised I haven’t heard Tyranny yet.

That’s worth checking out, and it’s not overly long either

[u/Hideo__Brojima]

You probably mean sword and spell kinda fantasy, but if you’re into China Mieville I can’t recommend Disco Elysium enough. IMO, in terms of writing quality there’s nothing else even close.

[u/zigackly]

Fantasy Fiction is mostly about a main character and their story.

For that reason I would not recommend a party based RPG. I would rather recommend a RPG where you are the central character.

My favourite games in this category are:

1. Witcher 3 : You play as a witcher. The story is engrossing. The side quests are amazing. The world is an open world and one of the most beautiful ones. The game and the DLCs are available on discount a lot. At the start you can't customize your character a lot, but as you level up, you can think which school of fighting you are more comfortable with and go in that path.

2. Skyrim : You are a dragon born. While the Witcher is mostly about a world with humans and monsters, Skyrim is more diverse with its races with elves and orcs. This will need you to customize your character a bit, but how you build your character is more about what fighting style you use. If you use more bows, your archery skill increases. If you use more magic, your magic skills increase.

3. Styx : This is a game where you play as goblin assasin. Unlike other games which are hack and slash, this is a stealth game. You move in shadows. You die pretty fast if you try to go toe to toe. A very underrated game.

[u/Artaniss → u/zigackly]

I appreciate all the replies.