Best Modern Isometric cRPG?

[Bonfires Down]

You may choose any number of options to vote for.

Sooo I'm expecting Original Sin 2 to take this one pretty easy, but I do think Disco Elysium will put up a fight. It's definitely been a pretty impressive revival for isometric RPGs over the last decade.

Baldur's Gate III will have to wait until full release. And I decided to only include one game per franchise for the poll.

Honorable Mentions:
Age of Decadence
Shadowrun: Hong Kong
Pillars of Eternity
Original Sin
Underrail
Atom RPG
Torment: Tides of Numenera

 

[Fat4all]

aww fuck me

this is a legit hard choice

 

[Dest]

Disco Elysium fam. Disco Elysium...

 

[nin]

Disco Elysium fam. Disco Elysium...

Click to shrink...

the only corrwct answer between the connoseur

 

[Fat4all]

DE is so original, but DOS2 and W3 are fucking masterclasses

 

[Giever]

Time to get petty about the term isometric! Nah, it's Disco Elysium.

 

[texhnolyze]

Everything on the list is worth playing and considered the best. And yeah, definitely ATOM.

 

[Saucycarpdog]

I'm gonna say Divinity OS 2. While I think Pathfinder has better story and companions, Divinity has better combat and none of that kingdom managing crap.

 

[z1ggy]

All of them are incredible games, really hard to pick a few up. I would say Wasteland 3 is the one i most enjoyed.

 

[dude]

Disco Elysium is a must for anyone, not just cRPG fans.
D:OS 2 is very friendly, though personally I'm not a huge fan (the world building and tone of the game are just... Not for me.)
Pillars 2 and Kingmaker are the best "classical experience" games you can have. If you're a fan of BG2 and the likes, you'll enjoy these games.
Dragonfall is great, but somehow didn't stick with me like the rest, maybe it's because I played it a longer time ago.
Tyranny is way too underrated, but it's hard to say it's "the best" IMO - But for sure more people should play it.
Didn't play Wasteland 3 yet.

Every single game on this list is amazing and well worth a play-through though.

 

[CommodoreKong]

Lots of really great choices, but I got to go with Disco Elysium since it's easily my favorite modern RPG.

 

[SofNascimento]

Very close call between Pillars 2 and Divinity 2. I voted Original Sin right now but I might change it because I really can't decide. Pillars 2 has a weakness in its main story missions that's why I gave the edge to the other game right now... but it's very close.

Wasteland 3 is amazing, but I don't think quite in the level of those two.

Tyranny is, relatively to those, very weak. It's pacing is off and the combat is not nearly as good as Pillars 2. In fact it took me a whie to finally play the Pillars game because I thought they would be similar to Tyranny. And they are in terms of mechanics and style, but both are much better games. (as is the first Divinity Original Sin).

 

[CliveLH]

Divinity OS 2 easily. You asked for the better modern cRPG and most of that list isn't really modern to me. Divinity takes the 90's formula and bring that to the 2010's.

 

[Phinor]

Man, less than 10 years ago we could but dream of this genre coming back one day (well we did have Dragon Age: Origins which kind of fits the bill), now we have 7 game vote here where every single game is excellent. Maybe few pale in comparison to others but all excellent regardless.

 

[Taruranto]

Among those Disco Elysium.
Divinity: Original Sin 2 is decent, but it felt like a step back compared to DOS1. A lot of "no fun" systems.
Pathfinder: Kingmaker is good, but it's pure eurojack, at times it feels like a test of patience. I'd say it's a personal favorite, but it's not refined as DOS2 o Disco..
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is OK I guess. What PoE1 should have been. Sadly, the main quest is pretty short and incomplete. I guess it would work if we get another game.
Tyranny is meh.

 

[Huntersknoll]

Divinity: Original Sin 2 and Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire are tied for me.
However I have yet to play Disco Elysium but that is coming to consoles soon so then I'll play it.

 

[Deleted member 29682]

Probably have to throw my lot in with Disco and Pillars 2, since they scratch such different itches.

 

[Cocolina]

Disco Elysium is so unlike any CRPG I've ever played so I had to vote for it. Just a fantastic game no matter the genre.

For a typical CRPG it's probably PoE or D:OS

 

[JuniperAndSage]

Disco Elysium fam. Disco Elysium...

Click to shrink...

Yep. It's not even close.

 

[pksu]

Disco Elysium and Divinity Original Sin 2 are both brilliant games for different reasons, hard to say which one is better

 

[Tacitus]

Tyranny is great. The breadth of options available to you is amazing. The combat is what it is, but I think it's secondary here.

 

[jon bones]

I'm stoked for Switch Pro.... hopefully the Disco Elysium audio is of decent quality and DOS2 gets a Pro patch

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

All these choices are valid and at the same time none is without its own share of drawbacks and flaws.

As a "whole package" I'm going to give it to Pathfinder Kingmaker with the caveat that I despise its RTWP combat and it really shines when played in turn-based mode.

Original Sin 2 went dangerously close to modern classic but blew its chances with dreadful randomized itemization and an exceedingly steep power curve, both flaws that almost single-handedly out-weighted most of its other merits.

 

[Vault]

Disco Elysium has the best writing and story

Pathfinder Kingmaker is the best CRPG

 

[xeroborn55]

When I finished disco elysium i was slightly disappointed by certain aspects. But that game has stuck in my head like few others. One of the greatest games from the generation. I like other games on the list here but DE is easily the best.

 

[MGPanda]

Disco Elysium and it's not even close.

 

[Dennis8K]

It was between Wasteland 3 and Shadowrun: Dragonfall for me.

I think Disco Elysium falls outside the category. DISQUALIFIED.

 

[decoyplatypus]

For some reason ranking games in different subgenres is much harder for me than ranking movies or books in different genres. I don't have even a gut reaction to "which did you enjoy more--Disco Elysium or Pathfinder: Kingmaker?"* And then even among the games that are in the same subgenre, they have such a balance of strengths and weaknesses that they're really hard to pull apart. Is OS2's multiplayer better than Kingmaker's story (or OS2's itemization worse than Kingmaker's endless slog of trash mobs)? Do I value Dragonfall's all-around solidity more than Deadfire raising the bar on some features while tripping over its feet on others?

Anyway, here's my rough tier list of just the games in the poll:

A: Disco Elysium, Deadfire, Kingmaker
A-: DOS2, Shadowrun: Dragonfall
B+: Wasteland 3
B-: Tyranny

*I take it back. My gut reaction is I liked DE better.

 

[lucebuce]

I don't want to choose and you can't make me.

 

[dude]

A: Disco Elysium, Deadfire, Kingmaker
A-: DOS2, Shadowrun: Dragonfall
B+: Wasteland 3
B-: Tyranny

Click to shrink...

I fully endorse this list - With the caveat that I didn't play WL3 yet.

 

[Grue]

I haven't played either Pillars game but they're both on Game Pass now.

Should I start with the first game, or can I safely skip to 2?

 

[Alek]

I played Divinity Original Sin 2 in online co-op with 4 friends, so in that sense the others really can't compete. It was just in a league of its own because of how my party and I were able to collaborate over various combat and non-combat problems encountered in the game. It was one of the only games were I was really quite sad when it was all over, I wished we could keep going for 100 more hours.

 

[Vulcano's Assistant]

Co-Op experience adds so much it may even be a completely different experience to play DOS2 alone. Not that I care to know what that's like.

 

[dude]

I haven't played either Pillars game but they're both on Game Pass now.

Should I start with the first game, or can I safely skip to 2?

Click to shrink...

Skip to 2, no reason to play the first one when 2 exists IMO (and I relatively liked PoE 1, but Deadfire is just so much better.)

 

[RPG_Fanatic]

For writing it has to be Disco Elysium, though Tyranny is a strong second in that regard in my mind.

From the combat and exploration side of things Divinity: Original Sin 2 and Pathfinder: Kingmaker are the strongest.

 

[Enduin]

Pillars/Deadfire is my favorite of the bunch, but you can't really go wrong with any of them.

 

[Deleted member 8752]

Is it bad that I've still never played one? I've always wanted to. How are the ones recently ported to switch?

 

[Budi]

Disco Elysium is the only one I've finished multiple times and it does stand out more than any of the others, as great as those also are. Though I haven't yet played Divinity OS2, the first one honestly didn't quite grab me. But by all accounts, the sequel is a great improvement to already great game.

 

[Enduin]

Is it bad that I've still never played one? I've always wanted to. How are the ones recently ported to switch?

Click to shrink...

Pillars 1/2 sadly aren't the best ports mostly with regards to load times, which is an issue on all platforms, but some don't mind it as much as others. DOS:2 is apparently quite solid.

Wasteland 2 isn't really worth it, most of the old Infinity Engine games like BG, Icewind Dale and Torment are all pretty solid.

Disco Elysium should be arriving to Switch later this year.

 

[Kenzodielocke]

Disco Elysium, because it doesn't have combat.

 

[Massicot]

I honestly look at the list in the OP and think man, you can't really go wrong. But I'm biased. What a great selection of games. Pathfinder is a bit less polished than the others but ostensibly more ambitious. I haven't played Shadowrun though.

If I had to pick, gun to my head, it would be Divinity: Original Sin 2.

 

[Taruranto]

All these choices are valid and at the same time none is without its own share of drawbacks and flaws.

As a "whole package" I'm going to give it to Pathfinder Kingmaker with the caveat that I despise its RTWP combat and it really shines when played in turn-based mode.

Original Sin 2 went dangerously close to modern classic but blew its chances with dreadful randomized itemization and an exceedingly steep power curve, both flaws that almost single-handedly out-weighted most of its other merits.

Click to shrink...

My problem with Kingmaker's combat is that toward the end you spend more time pre-buffing than in the actual fight. The ending segment in particular, I just enabled gode mod and called it a day.

DOS2 on other hand made me afraid to level up. Having to change your whole equipment every 2 levels because of the stat bloat was insane.

 

[admataY]

I am one of the crazy few who think Pillars 2 : deadfire is one of the all time greatest cRPG's , and I believe times will prove us crazy few right .

 

[HeavenlyOne]

aww fuck me

this is a legit hard choice

Click to shrink...

What a time to be alive.

 

[Darkstorne]

Tyranny is great. The breadth of options available to you is amazing. The combat is what it is, but I think it's secondary here.

Click to shrink...

Yep, and worth it for the amazing story setup. You're working for an evil god king conquering the known world. It was a really refreshing experience. Short game (relatively, for the genre) but it means it doesn't really outstay its welcome.

 

[Concrete1337]

I am one of the crazy few who think Pillars 2 : deadfire is one of the all time greatest cRPG's , and I believe times will prove us crazy few right .

Click to shrink...

Deadfire is one of the best games I've played. I love it to death. Due to life I haven't played it as much as 1 but between the two I have like 400 hours. I love the series a lot. Rtwp is GOAT, especially with those Beauty POE backgrounds.

For a bit pathfinder maybe took the cake. But that game lost marks when it decided to never end. But it was also some amazing stuff for the first 3/4's of it.

 

[Tacitus]

Yep, and worth it for the amazing story setup. You're working for an evil god king conquering the known world. It was a really refreshing experience. Short game (relatively, for the genre) but it means it doesn't really outstay its welcome.

Click to shrink...

Excuse you, Lord Kyros *has* conquered the known world once the prologue is over. And now it's up to you to dispense justice as you see fit in her (his? Kyros is both the mother and the father to their empire) latest acquisition.
The way you can use (or abuse if you want) the ambiguity of Kyros' law is excellent. I love such wordplay.

 

[Mr.Deadshot]

Pillars 1+2+All DLC, nothing else comes close IMHO.

 

[dude]

I am one of the crazy few who think Pillars 2 : deadfire is one of the all time greatest cRPG's , and I believe times will prove us crazy few right .

Click to shrink...

100% agree. I think it's going to be remembered as an absolute classic. People kept complaining about the main story not being good (and they're right, although I love the conclusion of it) that they miss how absolutely amazing the journey is - One of the best implementations of open world in a cRPG.

 

[Goldenroad]

For me it's Wasteland 3 or Disco Elysium. It's really a toss up. I'm still trying to get into D:OS 2, but I feel like it just keeps pushing back against me like those other two games don't.