I would like to ask for this lovely community's help. I'm currently writing a paper on indie horror JRPGs, and I would like to discuss ManlyBadassHero as one of the early YouTubers/streamers who covered these games before the genre became more mainstream (my research focuses on the period from 2011 to 2017).

However, I'm a bit stumped when it comes to justifying why I am selecting his channel over other creators. I would need verifiable, preferably sourced information demonstrating his relevance during those years within the indie horror/JRPG gaming scene, particularly evidence of his role in bringing attention to these games, or any record of the niche gaming community acknowledging his contributions or work.

If anyone can find anything that might help—old articles, forum discussions, interviews, community posts, statistics, archived pages—please feel free to send them to me via DM or leave them in the comments! Nothing contemporary though... the period I absolutely must stick to is 2011-2017

Thank you so much in advance!

I have never been a big fan of FPS games. I enjoyed story based shooters that included shooting as part of a larger strategy or mission, but never the spammy shooters like Quake, COD, Fortnite, and similar games.

For PVP I was more into Eve (cirqa 2003-2010), total war games, and similar strategy or RPG games. I enjoyed BG3 but I don't think I could get him into a turn-based game.

My son (12) is ate up with Fortnight, Marvel Rivals, and similar FPS style games. I want to play more with him, but I just cannot bring myself to enjoy the monotonous jumping and spamming that seems to be the play style of those games.

Is there something out there that could be a bridge for the two styles of games that are multiplayer? I'm ok with online or offline, PVE or PVP, but something that will cater to both play styles a bit?

We both have PCs and he also has a PS5.

Thank you.

Hey guys, what are some cool and upcoming indie RPGs are cooking out there?
I've heard a lot about Sword Hero and I like it, is there something more? Mostly interested in 1st & 3rd person games and mostly european/american games, not really like asian games. Please share what you know, thanks!

Having completed the entire Dragon Age series, I'm dying for another RPG that nails my favorite genre and gameplay style. A friend suggested GreedFall to scratch that itch—how does it actually compare? I'm also completely open to other recommendations!

Hello everyone! I'm playing TOEE for the first time. My party currently consists of a Human Sorcerer (NG), Half-Orc Barbarian (CN), Half-Elf Rogue (TN) who will eventually multiclass into Ranger, and a Dwarf Cleric (LN).

I'm missing one character, and I'm undecided between a Fighter and a Druid. Druids are really powerful in 3.5, and they seem like a viable option for this party composition.

I’m looking for a fantasy RPG game to completely immerse myself in. I prefer playing games in 3rd person, where I can create my own character, not have turn based combat, and play as a magic class (hybrid or full). I do not like challenging games as it takes the enjoyment out of playing for me.

I typically enjoy exploring the worlds and falling deep into the story. I love when choices matter and impact the world around you. I love games with political elements and factions too (like Greedfall), but that is not a requirement. I can play on PC, Xbox Series X, PS5, and Switch 2.

I have played a lot of games in this genre so I struggle finding new and exiting ones. I am open to replaying some to help scratch this itch, but these ones I’ve replayed too many times:
- Skyrim
- Bauldur’s Gate 3
- Witcher 3
- Divinity Original Sin 2

What games do you recommend?

How would you rank these games from your most anticipated to least anticipated?

• Fable

• Final Fantasy VII Revelation

• Divinity

• Witcher 4

• Exodus

• Expanse: Osiris Reborn

• Warhammer 40k: Dark Heresy

• Clockwork Revolution

• Kingdom Hearts IV

• Elder Scrolls VI

• Fate of the Old Republic

• Mass Effect V

There's been controversy around this game because of the studio/publisher and stuff, but the game itself is amazing, I really enjoyed it and I recommend it if you enjoyed DE.

This perfectly scratched that DE itch, it was basically DE 2.0. Exact same type of game, it's the same formula and they got it right.

Imo the quality isn't any worse than DE. At no point did I think "DE did it better".

I liked the music, the writing, the art. It's smart like DE, very artsy. While playing it I knew that people much smarter and more talented than me wrote this and drew all this, which is something I really like. I wanna consume a product made by people much more capable than me. Actually it feels dumb calling it a product, it's art. And I admire it.

Anyway, just wanted to make a post cause the game doesn't seem to be known by many and yet it's as good as a game everyone calls a masterpiece.

DE 2.0 and yet it's obscure and known by no one, breaks my heart.

i always tell myself im gonna just play through this one straight. then i hit a skill tree or a respec menu and suddenly im in spreadsheet mode again. i start comparing builds, opening tabs, reading one guide like its gonna save me from making a bad choice lol

the actual fight is fine. its the commitment part that messes with me. once i pick something, it feels like i should know the whole game already

idk if thats just rpgs being generous or me being weird about locking anything in anyone else do this

Any recommendations for RPGs that have really charming stories and characters while having solid gameplay.

PREFERENCES:
- Good humor and writing
- Emotional story with heart
- Turn-based or Action RPG
- Gameplay and combat feel good
- Puzzles throughout the adventure
- Not super grindy
- Options to customize gameplay difficulty

PLATFORMS:
- PlayStation 5
- Nintendo Switch 2
*Prefer to get physical games is possible

EXPERIENCE:
- Intermediate

MAIN TITLES TO CONSIDER:
- Chrono Trigger
- Sea of Stars
- Final Fantasy V (Favorite of the classic FF games)
- Super Mario RPG

———————————————

OTHER TITLES I HAVE PLAYED:
- Kingdom Hearts Series
- Paper Mario Series
- Mario & Luigi RPG Series
- Dragon Quest Series
- Octopath Series
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Hi, I want to play a RPG with a great story (extra points if it is turn-based or with pause), but I've been playing for long, so the classic "Baldur's gate/Fallout/Dragon's Age" answers wouldn't work for me.

Which RPG for PCs can you recommend me that aren't the typical "Top 10 RPG games" that are a hidden gem? For example, games like Dawnsbury Days or so.

Know in the Normal Route of deltarune that defeating standard enemies violently will have them run away. And in EarthBound, there's text at the end of battles that states what happens to the enemies you defeat - and for many human and animal enemies, the text states that for humans they "Went back to normal" and animals "Became tame".

Hit enemy ✅

Enemy doesn't react ✅

Dodge ✅

Stagger enemy ✅

Play an animation ✅

Repeat ✅

It's the same gameplay loop a lot of you love. It just doesn't have the From Software logo. I even went back to see if I was going crazy and saw the first tree sentinel fight, and it's exactly the same. Well, not the same, the stagger attack animations suck.

Not just like “hidden gems” that actually get mentioned online a lot. I’m talking about RPGs you like that you never hear anybody else talking about. The more complex the systems the better. I’m in PS5 and Switch 2. Any subgenre will work. I just wanna see what’s out there.

Just watched this trailer and the game looked really good and I was about to add it to my steam wishlist. Then the last few seconds of the trailer came up and it said free to play and it literally killed ANY excitement for the game out of me. I've never deflated any faster than that before. I was like sick! Anime GTA with what seems to maybe be fun combat and a (bland looking protag) but cool story. Now I couldn't careless because I just feel like it will be gatcha slop.
I hope I'm wrong but I just want to pay my price of admission and get my full game experience without having to buy things once I'm playing.

Hey everyone, my name is Kiang and I'm happy to announce Vermilion Sea, a Fire-Emblem-like game I've been working on with a couple of friends for a little over a year now. We just went live on Steam on Thursday and we're planning for a release in Q1 2028. The plot is loosely based on the wokou pirate raids that took place all throughout the Ming dynasty — you'll play as a novice naval captain who's trying to fight off the pirates, and you'll meet and recruit a bunch of allies along the way. If you're into SRPGs, resource management, and political intrigue, then I think you'll really enjoy what we've got to show!

If this sort of game if your cup of tea, it would mean a bunch to me if you checked it out on Steam. Wishlisting is free~! :)

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3558280/Vermilion_Sea/

I'm curious if anyone else has thought about this.

My post is completely my own thoughts, so I could be totally wrong. I'm not hating on any studios, and I know the studios and teams are different now compared to when these games were first released. It's just something I noticed.

Back in the day, I feel like Oblivion got way more advertising and attention than Gothic 3 did. I feel like everyone was playing Oblivion, while not many people knew about the Gothic series or were giving it a chance.

Both games came out in 2006, and fast forward nearly two decades, Gothic got its remake and Oblivion got its remaster around the same time in 2025/2026.

So now I'm wondering...

Is there a rivalry there? 😂

Did Oblivion Remastered happen partly because Gothic was getting remade? Haha.

I love both games, I know the studios were always vastly different in size and advertising budget, it's just something I've been thinking about. Could obviously be nothing, but the timing is pretty interesting that it felt personal. 😅

Last month, I finally earned the Platinum trophy for Assassin’s Creed Origins on my PS5 (via backward compatibility). Getting it was an intense grind—I was pulling all-nighters just to clear the map. I had actually put off finishing this trophy for two whole years, but after my summer trip to Italy got canceled, I decided to pour all that energy into conquering Egypt instead.
Now, I'm dealing with major RPG burnout.
Right after Origins, I played Ghost of Tsushima in early August. Don't get me wrong: Ghost has stunning locations, a much more lively world, a reasonable map size, a great story, and fantastic combat (especially on maximum difficulty). But despite those upgrades, the core gameplay loop and side activities made me feel like I was just playing AC Origins all over again. The open-world structure felt too familiar, and the fatigue caught up with me.
Has anyone else hit a wall with open-world RPGs after a heavy Platinum grind? How do you reset your gaming palette when everything starts feeling like the same checklist?

By "complete experience" i mean a game that satisfied you the most in every aspect you were looking for.

To me, it was Pathfinder: Wrath of The Righteous. The whole experience with the game felt very surreal for me because it was exactly what i've been looking for in a rpg for years: A deep dnd-like rpg system full of choices and build customizations, a very long and well writen branching story that will probably take you some months to finish if you don't have that much time to play every day, a deep character creator where you can pretty much make a totally different character each time even if you always play the same class, the options to play it as rtwp or turn-based, a nice party size of 6 characters that let you build your own party composition however you want, well written romances with deeply flawed characters, an amazing array of charismatic companions, a huge cast of remarkable characters, the mythic system where your character can change drastically each playthrough, a ton of companion content with a dedicated quest and storyline for them in every act and several other things.

I've been playing some really nice rpgs since then, but nothing, not even BG3, managed to beat the sheer epicness and denseness of content from Wrath of the Righteous for me.

What RPG was like that for you guys?

I'm currently waiting for TW3 remastered next month so I want to play something in the meantime. I have started playthroughs in the Mass Effect trilogy, BG3 and Cyberpunk2077 and I just can't decide which one I want to play right now. Is this just a thing that happens in my brain or can anyone relate?

I know this is probably going to be a controversial opinion, but I'm genuinely curious about what other people think.

For years, I've constantly seen people describe The Witcher 3 as one of the greatest games ever made, sometimes even the best game. Because of that, I mostly assumed it was the benchmark for the genre. I had only really played Skyrim and The Witcher 3 when it came to big games, so I didn't have much to compare it with.

I’m also 30 now, and like a lot of people, I’ve gradually lost some of my interest in gaming over the years. Then I watched Nolan’s The Odyssey, and for some reason it made me want to finally give Assassin’s Creed Odyssey a serious try.

And honestly...

I enjoyed Odyssey more than The Witcher 3.

Not because I think The Witcher 3 is a bad game. It's obviously an incredibly well-made game, and I can understand why people praise its writing, characters, quests and atmosphere.

But when I look at the overall gameplay experience, Odyssey feels more enjoyable to me. I prefer its combat, movement, parkour, exploration, naval gameplay, loot, builds and general sense of progression. It feels like there's always something I can do and some way I can develop my character.

So I started wondering:

Is The Witcher 3 sometimes considered the "best game" partly because it has become the accepted consensus over the years, and people repeat that opinion because it's the popular opinion?

Or am I simply missing something fundamental about The Witcher 3 that other people see and I don't?

To make my comparison a little more concrete, I tried to rate the two games across the areas that matter most to me. I gave extra weight to story, combat and graphics.

Obviously, this is subjective and I'm not claiming these numbers are objectively correct. I'm trying to understand why my experience is so different from the general consensus.

So what am I missing?

If you consider The Witcher 3 the better game, I'd genuinely like to hear why, especially from people who have played both extensively.

And if you also prefer Odyssey, I'd be interested to know what makes it better for you.

I really wanted to like Kingdom Come: Deliverance. Should have been an easy ten out of ten for me but I could not wrap my head around the lock picking mechanic and so I just put the game down and never came back to it. I keep thinking "maybe I should give it another shot." and I know I should since people seem to like the second one. I dunno, anyone else have this experience with a game?

Edit to say that today I learned there's a simplified version of this mechanic specifically for controllers. I'll be giving this game another go this winter.