Funnily enough, I have all these games. Still as a person in my (very) late fifties, I really appreciate games that rely on knowledge rather than reflexes. I can still learn... I don't have quick motor skills.
i'm starting to feel that way now where i just don't want to be bothered to be on the edge of my seat just to enjoy myself, oddly enough i do play games that usually require quick motor skills but somehow i manage to eliminate most of the need for quick accurate reactions by simply trying to know pre-emptively what's gonna happen so it's more about timing. kinda like learning a song and just going through the motion. but yeah it gets tiresome and that's where just being able to play a game at your own pace is so very nice.
One personal point I'd like to add is, that a game like say Divity 2 or Pillars2 offer great posibilites for role playing setups, basically your own house rules. My most fun run in Divinty 2 was an all Undead party. Or a character who will only use one type of weapon, or going with a smaller party again for roleplaying reasons etc. The easier games offer you much more options here to still finish the game with a setup the Devs wouldn't have considered in their balancing.
I used 4 characters in wasteland 3 because 6 seemed like a headache. Would say it made the game easier but the smaller party just made it so I had to spend less equipment on my team.
It's DOS 2, not just Divinity, the latter one was an action-rpg from 2012 where you played as the least Dragon Knight sixty years after Divine Lucian has fucked EVERYTHING up.
nothing in dos2 cheesed the game more than necro/physical crit build with bloodstorms ,lohse single handedly killed most enemies with bloodstorm ,even doctor was cheesed by this you did not even need to move let alone teleport lol although obviously you won't get to bloodstorm until mid game and this was done by regular 4man not 2man cheese mode
Two words - 'Terrain Transmutation'. Gotta be on of the most overlooked spells in Div 2 but I cheesed more of act 2 and 3 just teleporting lava onto people. Made Tactician pretty easy tbh but got damn do I love that game. Oh, and The Doctor was nuts.
@@3toadbroth I played DOS1 with epic encounters even though it looked like it was better first few hours ,later on it was just plain downgrade from original
Recently my struggle with cRPGs isn't the difficulty per se, it's more of build paralysis. I'm constantly torn between doing what's *fun* and min-maxing. I suppose those would be the two wolves inside me haha
yeah it's kind of a thing but i think it stems from the fear of thinking that your character or party is gonna suck ass or that you can't finish the game because you are too ill-prepared. which is why i constantly challenge myself with bad builds and see how much unoptimized things i can get away with because a big part of the fun for me is to come up with solutions to problems than simply min-maxing, it also forces me to engage more with the in-game mechanics and use consumable items more and all of those usually neglected things. however i don't really bother with going above normal or "classic" difficulty because i'm just messing about atleast the initial playthrough because it takes time to figure out the systems and mechanics and how difficult the game is on a base level, but the better i get at it the higher the difficulty or the more unoptimized i get. pick the "wrong" route for example that would make things more difficult because it is the road less traveled and is a more interesting choice because of it. and sometimes i do play badly unintentionally because i simply didn't know better, like i didn't know there was "health" potions in PoE1 so i completely relied on the priest to heal all the way up to the last boss, and that made for a very interesting playthrough by itself.
Found your channel a couple weeks ago, loving your content. Sooo many of these games sit in my backlog without trying them, after watching your vids I definitely want to give them a shot.
One thing that is interesting with DOS2 is how larian specifically add cheese tactics into their games. Other developers would eradicate it from their games but if you pay attention to their games and how they talk about them (noticed it with BG3's dev logs too) they add the cheese tactics in and then let you as a player decide if you want to utilize them.
Yeah, that because only real gamer play any type of rpg game that going take 50+ hours to beat, and we won't use them too after we finish are 1st playthrough
@@jameswhearry1 what's tough about me? I just pointed out a condescending statement you made that was just not true.... but if that sounded tough to you maybe you're just soft🤷🏾♂️
@@557punisher my statement wasn't. I said nothing about having interests in a game. I said real gamers won't use cheats to win in a rpg.. before beating the game. Any gamer can play a long play through, your statement don't make sense. Just because you use a cheese in a game, won't make u beat the game any faster. You would've been better off, saying any gamer that has real interest in the game would play a honest new game.
I agree for the most part. The only one I'd push back a little bit on would be Divinity 2, because here it felt like 'knowing the system' was incorporating 'knowing what's going to happen'. For a lot of the fights, the first time you encounter them can put you in a very disadvatagous situation. For instance the fight you can run into soon after escaping the prison where you are just walking along and a fight spawns in where your party is completely surrounded and on low ground. Now I can clear that fight pretty easy because I know when it's going to happen and where the enemies will be, and I can position my party in advantageous positions and trigger the encounter either with a high survivability character or one that can reposition easily... but that's not system knowledge, that's game/story/plot knowledge, whatever you want to call it, and for many of those unexpected triggered fights that spawn in, I had to reload saves and approach the fight anew with that knowledge of how the fight would start, the position of the enemies, the skills they use, etc. Compare that to Wasteland 3 where, as long as the character builds were solid, I could pretty much steamroll just about every fight. Pillars of Eternity II has an interesting element system wise, which is how dexterity value changes based on whether you are using RTwP or Turn-Based mode.
The BG series got harder as I got older. When I played it as a teenager, I knew the system inside and out and the game was a cakewalk. I tried replaying it a year or two ago and found it quite a bit harder since I had forgotten many of the quirks and intricacies of the system.
My good computer broke down a few months ago (the one with a good video card). I had to buy a inexpensive lap top. So I can only play older game, and I am now playing BG1EE and agree with you. I first played it when it first came out in 1998 so I have also gotten older too I am 64. It has gotten harder, but still loving it.
It did for me too, but only because I got way less okay with cheese. When I played that as a teenager I was totally okay with exploiting it (i.e., casting dozens of cloudkill spells just outside the fog of war to kill tough bosses/mages, etc.). Now I want to play everything "legitimately."
I dunno, I played Throne of Bhaal back when it came out, and I have always thought of that game as very challenging. I think it's challenging now, and it used to be back in the day. I realize that I'm probably a worse than most people though, despite decades of experience *ahem*.
One thing to mind is that the enhanced edition on BG1 (and IWD1) can be a lot easier than the standard as you get the class kits. many of them are just OP for BG1
Agree with this list. I struggled with Divinity 2 the first run because it didn’t quite work the way I expected. But once I wrapped my head around a few things it’s a walk in the park.
I’d also like to throw in Pillars of Eternity 1 and Tyranny in there! IMO the games do a good job explaining the mechanics of these wonderful adventures. Also yes I did a “he said what!” When you mentioned BG1 lol
Shadowrun: Returns is my go-to example I'd use for somebody wanting to get into RPGs. Simple systems that get introduced as you play, with the more complicated stuff typically held back. A good yet simple story. An interesting world with both tech & magic. And it's got some really good visuals & music for an indie, AA title. It's only real flaw is the amount of text without voice-over. (And some bugs.) I've heard folks complain about that even in Returns, but I'd argue that's a personal preference in RPGs anyway.
@@fitzviandraduivenab2790 I can recommend Hare-Brained Schemes other game, Battletech. It's a bit love or hate, but it's one of the most unique takes on a strategy title I've played in recent years. One of the best, well, Battletech games of all time, too. You'll either play it for an hour and quit in disgust for a refund, or be enraptured for 100+ hours. So I'd call it a pretty safe game to try out at least.
I agree with you assessment. I had problems with DOS2 and POE2DF, but after playing some hours, restarting with new characters, learning the ropes... the mechanics got very familiar and from then on I just could play. It is practically the same with tabletop-rpgs, since if you study them carefully and begin playing, you get better eventually. The learning curve is very fair, rough start, but once it clicks, very easy.
Honestly why don't you have 1 million subscribers already man.. I found your channel maybe about a year and a half ago and ever since then I've had a pretty dedicated watcher. Do you have basically completely turned me on to the CRPG genre and I am so happy to have found your channel because that made such an impact on my gaming life. Anyway just wanted to comment because usually never do that and say that your channel is amazing and I really look forward to watching your videos for a long time to come!
Funny seeing Deadfire, but you're right. I've been struggling with solo runs on Potd and constantly think to myself just how insanely easy it would be with just *one* extra party member, let alone four.
I'm playing Deadfire through for my second time, this time on PoTD with upscaling (but still with a full party), and I'm finding it to be challenging enough. I mean, it's clearly not as difficult as some CRPGs on their highest difficulties, but I'm not finding it to be cakewalk by any means. (Conversely, PoTD without scaling does become pretty easy as soon as you out-level the enemies even a little).
God, Wasteland 2 was so hard, I was so nervous going into 3, then by midgame the challenge slowly ebbed to nothing. Also BG1 is super easy, until you go to that expansion content with the werewolves and especially the pig demon.
played Wasteland 3 first and Wasteland 2 is so much harder to deal with. Not just combat-wise...storytelling, character building, skill checks, quests, everything just seems much improved in 3. Not to mention the friendlies were just so much fun. We are struggling to finish 2 and not enjoying it nearly as much.
I think DOS2 has a reputation of being really hard because it's one of the only CRPGs in recent years that's managed to attract a playerbase beyond those that typically play CRPGs. It can be tricky if you don't cheese it but it's super easy to cheese and the ruleset is very easy to learn. DOS1's a lot harder to me, I dunno if that's because of the game's jankiness or lack of balance or just because I'm so used to the second one
strongly disagree as I am a long time crpg player, and find dos2 unplayable. both because of the horrible horrible horrible camera, and the complete unbalance of the game. also the lack of all that balanced these issues, in the previous game dos1, like humour.
Might and Magic VIII. Bows can make a lot of fights trivial, you can recruit dragons into your party very early on and there's a quest you can complete fairly early into the game that allows you to recruit a massively over-leveled dark elf.
Another factor leading into BG being easy now is that BG EE includes the kits from BG2. And Gaider has said the game was never balanced for the kit classes. Many of which provide immunity to debuffs that terrorize the player, especially in the early game. Play a Cavalier, you're immune to fear. Everything casts fear in the early game. Which means by the time the wizard gets to casting his second spell, he's had his head caved in by the Cavalier's immune sword. Similarly, undead hunters, immune to paralysis and level drain. Ghouls and Ghasts are two of the most scary enemies in the early game...normally. The undead hunter can virtually solo them.
Or a barbarian who can be immune to all this at the same time under barbaric rage, on top of being pretty tanky and strong… yep just a full team of dual wielding barbs you throw on Sarevok to shred him into 10 second even in Legacy of Bhaal difficulty
My favorite use of summons in BG1 is to swarm the final boss with mobs and then cast entangle. HE isn't effected but he needs to deal with the monsters before he can safely swing at you... and the whole time at least one party member with a composite bow has been peppering him. Usually its my dude Kivan.
@@Jonaleth sometimes yeah but none of the boss team are as much of a threat as the big man himself and its not too unlikely that you wipe them all before he's taken serious damage due to his high level, AC, and immunity to magic damage. And if the mage is hit with entangle they are really easy to take down before he throws a wrench in your plans. ...honestly that fight is so hard the first time you run it it'll take a few tries to get what works best
I think some of the cases can be described or categorised as "easy to min/max" which, once the player takes the deliberate choice, become easy games due to this. I don't want to say the Divinity (...) 2 was the hardest game ever but we did not do any of those things and just built characters that were good in their niche and even then not all battles were super-challenging, but at least some of the harder ones.
Saying knowledge rather than skill is such a good way to describe many RPGs. I quite struggled with Pathfinder; WotR but it would have been trivial if i had studied the systems extensively. That's just knowing things :P
One wrinkle about BG1 that makes me dissent a bit from calling it easy: there is a certain randomness in the D&D system concerning whether you, and your enemies, will succeed or fail at saving throws. Early in BG1, some fights can just be instant TPKs if your characters fail their saves against a horror spell, for instance. Like, if you miss your initial attacks against the guy who tries to kill you on the steps of the Friendly Arm Inn, you might as well reload, because he sets off his horror spell and proceeds to pummel you with missiles until you die.
I would agree with BG1 being on the list. That was the first CRPG I beat my head against the wall figuring out but once it clicked, it propped me up for all the other CRPGs I played after. I even bought old rule books to browse through for a better understanding of ADnD rules.
PoE 2 has become infamous for being a joke in terms of difficulty. I would also add Disco Elysium on the list as an honorary mention. Now, I am very interested to see what games end up on the “other” list. My money is on Underrail.
BG1 one on this list surprised me. The enhanced edition for sure makes sense on this list. I think that there are a few too many fights early in the game in the original that are 100% rng or cheese required that are a pain even if you know what you are doing. I probably would have had Neverwinter Nights 1 instead, but I did play a lot of BG1 when it was released as a kid so it was hard for me then.
My order of priority when building a character/team : 1. Roleplay/theme 2. "Fun" factor (ie. find a playstyle that I enjoy) 3. Min-maxing So I still find some "easy" games difficult because I try to do things my way as much as I can. I think judging by the amount of save-scumming needed to progress in a game I agree Shadowrun is the easiest of the bunch. Divinity 2 and Encased would come next. Now I'm more a White Wolf guy than a Wizards Of The Coast dude so I remember having a hard time with Baldur's Gate 2 and both Icewind Dale titles, I tried and tried but never finished them. There was always a point I got stuck on some battle gauntlet, not impossible to go through per say, but requiring too much planning ahead and getting lucky during fights to make it a chore. I really get bored by door-monster-treasure design. Often in CRPGs there's too much separation, like you spend hours going around a city hub doing errands then spend hours in a dungeon. When I think about it urban settings alleviate this a bit, intertwining fights, puzzles and story is easier and the game flows better as a result. But you see it more in immersive sims and action-RPGs than CRPGs. Again Shadowrun does a great job with this, Dragonfall in particular.
DOS2 was my first CRPG, explorer mode was tough when I first started so I thought the game is difficult, but after beating the game twice, tactician was a cake walk. Relentless onslaught obliterates anyone, you can be low HP before the fight and use forced exchange, use living on the edge etc. and most of all you can kill one enemy, run, repeat. Although the fight after you learn of the aeteran and the one with the demon who possesses your party members are still highly difficult on tactician.
I play DOS2 on Tactician as lone wolf with 2 characters. I should make my MC a human once but I enjoy the one-on-one interactions with only 2 of the preset characters. Lone wolf can also make the game relatively easy if you set up the characters for it, but you can force the difficulty by fudging the skills a bit. Fane is the best, regardless.
I am old school and I agree with you on Baldur's Gate 1 difficulty. It doesn't have any of the instant death that Baldur's Gate 2 has, and I think the difficulty is the 2nd edition rules themselves and learning where to go.
@@MortismalGaming I think you should given you 100% the game (so you have more in-depth knowledges) plus I think your viewer (including me) will like your opinions, tips, & some obscure fun facts for the game mechanics.
My good computer broke down a few months ago (the one with a good video card). I had to buy a inexpensive lap top. So I can only play older game, and I am now playing BG1EE. I played BG when it first came out back in 1998, and still loving it today.
Very much agree on BG1. I’m a complete newbie and once I took a good amount of time understanding the systems, everything else was relatively straightforward
You should have a list of games that are short yet fun. For the player who doesn't have a lot of free time but still want to 100% a game while having fun.
This is one of your better videos, Mortym! Another cRPG where the challenge is mastering the system but the combat is easy is Troubleshooter: Abandoned Children. Metagaming the system is helping me progress faster. Can you please produce a video about how you "learn" or research some of these systems? What specific resources do you use? I want to learn anything I can about your 100% approach to help with eventually completing more of the games in my library. A fair number of your other subscribers and members are looking to do the same. Thank you for all you do, Sir!
Great video, I always breeze through BG1 and BG2 because I know exactly what I am doing, but I ended up not having fun in Divinity 2 because the system never clicked with me. I would like to see some dedicated videos explaining a particular cRPG game system if you are up for it.
Hey Mortim, there is a series of RPGs that have been a major part of my childhood and I wonder if you ever checked them out? One of them is getting an updated remake, too. I'm talking about the Gothic series.
One thing I have a slight issue with is the domination of variants of D&D rules. I started with the Dark Eye system and moved on to try multiple others. One Favourite was MERP, which is a compact version of RoleMaster taylored to Middle Earth as Pen&Paper. Yes, I know it is more than 30 years old (but D&D is even older). The key mechanics I thought could be improved are the THAC0 system, but especially before they invented the Sorcerer I hated the magic class being forced to pick and memorize spells before combat and then forget them kind of until memorizing again. Ludicrous. And more a min-maxing system than other systems allowing a wider range of character developments to be powerful enough to stand a chance in high level campaigns. Anyway, grateful to D&D to allow for a big selection of cRPGs nevertheless thanks to its popularity. Although more SciFi settings would have been cool. I still remember not only the SW KotOR series loosely based on D&D, but even the late Buck Roger's cRPG... I kinda dislike the notion that you can beat the system rather than beat the NPC enemy, but as long as it's not an exploit, it is part of the game in a way.
I would actually agree with him, BG1 was incredibly hard my first 5 times or so trying it. I didn't know much about dnd and my low level mage protagonist was getting one shot by just about everything, gibberlings and wolves in the first map, gibberlings and ogre in the 2nd map, first assassin, every single thing between FAI and nashkel, 2nd assassin etc. But as I get older and now I know dnd rules, most things don't scare me or provide much of a threat to me. There are still some boss fights that are challenging but overall it's a much easier game once the knowledge gap is gone and that's without cheesing. With cheese strategies it becomes even easier
I'd say the lack of modern default features you'd find in a crpg would be more of a hindrance for newer players. I imagine someone who is used to AoE spells having an indicator showing exactly where the AoE will hit might have some trouble aiming fireballs in BG1. But in some aspects the AI is very weak and exploitable as well. I remember always cheesing the Ettun you can find in one of the first maps by running around in a circle with the bhaalspawn while shooting it with Imoen. You can even trap Drizzt and kill him, thats how silly the AI is.
BG1 is a game where u get boots of speed and just kite everyone with a composite lowbow +1. Only Dulag's Tower is challenging imo. Of course you can also play with SCS mod on LoB difficulty, but then like Mortismal says it boils down to summoning spam.
Baldur's Gate is so easy you can solo the entire game with most classes. On the other hand in BG2 you need certain abilities like Wish-resting and some immunities, otherwise you will have a hard time.
I love AD&D because it was my first experience with TTRPG's and CRPG's, but yeah, it's so clunky and outdated, it really hurts trying to defend how much fun I had playing it :')
I also thought (and commented) that BG1 was too easy. Like I just have stockpiles of potions, wands, scrolls, and gems. I'm not sure how even, as it's essentially the first crpg I've played.
Mort your killing me with the deadfire inclusion lol. i forgot where i first found out about that game but i bought it because a bunch of reviewers were singing its praises. i load it up and as soon as i get to the first fight in the ship literally at the beginning i was confused as all hell lol. ive tried real time (which felt like utter chaos), ive tried turn based (which turns each fight into a ten minute plus slog), but the mechanics of that game just continue to elude me to the point where i kept dying all the time and reloading and just ended up rage uninstalling lol. i think the furthest ive gotten was finding and unlocking the mage dude as a companion before i rage quit the game on the last run through. do you have any videos breaking down the mechanics and systems of that game and maybe some suggestions or guides on how to setup the combat ai in the editor? i REALLY want to like deadfire but as it stands right now, its just much more complex and in depth of a game than i am used to and the load times on ps4 are infuriatingly long even without all of the dying lol.
You can just search for the Deadfire AI setups and you should see some stuff come up, Pillars uses its own unique system so there isn't much out of game to point you too that isnt just youtube videos. I personally don't have much on the mechanics of it, but a quick search could yield you some results.
Ah man you need to pick it up. In my opinion it's the most fun crpg. WotR has gotten close to it but it's still tops in my opinion (tb, I don't do rtwp). It's just as brilliant as wrath without that garbage crusade mini game and you get your abilities every fight and just constantly let's you do what you built to do. (Definitely pump the difficulty some though)
I've tried the first two Baldur's Gate games but couldn't get into them at all. I wanted to love them and found a lot about them initially very attractive: the character creation, the lore, the dialogue, etc. But the combat system, micromanagement, and inventory system was utterly overwehlming for me last time I attempted it and I quickly gave up on it. I've considered giving them another try on Story Mode now that I have more experience with RTWP games and all so that I can have a better understanding of the lore prior to BG3 coming out, but I may just end up watching videos instead lol.
nowadays i still can't tell which is my favorite if DOS2 or POE2, is insane, i have 1k hours on both... i would love to say POE2 but still... i still wanna play more of DOS2
@@cartergreen2309 i'm sorry do u mean the "armor and the magic armor system" or the armor system and something about the magic system of dos2? BTW if so! (cuz i think the same about that) there is an interesting mod that change that system: "Divinity Unleashed" make the armor value in term of defence, like, magic and psysichal defence, so armor won't save from CC anymore (like DOS1
@@AtreyusNinja I can see why that would be confusing what I said lol I mean the armor system and the magic system. I don't like the source points and how few you have and how you get them back. And then you understood what I don't like about the armor system. I might have to check those mods. Like I said dos2 would probably be the best game of all time imo if those things were changed
Baldurs Gate 1 - if you have 2 or more decent archers with magical arrows it is super easy. I don’t even use bows on fighter characters because it trivializes every encounter.
As far as easy (and fun) cRPGs to mention, the two South Park titles would make my list. Maybe you didn't include them because the others in the list are more "serious" titles. Maybe it's because of the nature of the turn based combat in them, as they show kind of chess-board-like battle field in their turn based system (i.e. organized in rows and columns), rather than a free-movement kind of grid. I don't think I'll ever be fully aware of all the distinct sub-genres, with the several available classical and action Role Playing Games' nomenclature branches... Thanks for your videos!
@@wahahabuh Oh, agreed. This list hasn't caused me to question my judgement or anything. I suppose some of these are easy enough once you get to grips with them. Great games though!
All these people here talking about DoS2 being easy when I was under the impression that is was pretty difficult for certain portions of the game. Primarily the early-mid game from what I remember. Granted, I typically don't play Crpgs in general. DoS1 and 2 I think are actually the only games of the genre I really played. Also, I think a lot of the difficulty came down to the fact that I didn't really use/know of any "cheese" strats. My builds were very "fair".
I found that the combo of the Druids entangle, lightning stun and then meteor shower from a wizard made life very easy in Pillars of eternity 2 deadfire. The only thing I've come across thar broken in a game is the Shotgun class in Gears tactics equipped with the best grenade perks
I've been playing cRPG's since before BG1 came out. I'm not sure I've found any of them easy without taking it down to the very lowest difficulty level.
I got all 5 of them, played bg1 loooong time ago, i dont remember well but you are right about DOS 2. At my first run, its too hard to handle at fort joy especially but at my second run on tactics diff., its easy to beat all of them. Not started shadowrun and poe2 yet but after this video, when i start, i will play on hard mode
For me it would be Fallout1 - overall difficulty combined with short (for RPGs standards, at least) playthrough and not being overwhelmed by the content. Interface might be clunky but you don't need manual for it which was a thing in RPGs back then. Personal pick - Wizards&Warriors. Until you encounter Amazoni Mantrap or need to grind shells to buy equipement for underwater level. Overall a team with 2 casters and 3 warriors is pure overkill. And you can grind by boosting spawn ratio in the Options.
I would definitely agree about D:OS2 and Baldur's Gate. These were the first two CRPG type games I played in fact. I was actually pretty surprised to see people describe D:OS2 as difficult. To be fair, I died quite a lot at the very beginning because it does start you off with very little defense, but once you get into it then it becomes very easy, to the point that I was actually finding combat a little tedious in the last third or so as I could just use the same few tricks in most fights. Baldur's Gate I honestly just muddled through for the most part. Although I read up on the system (I remember the era when you had to actually read an instruction manual to play a game so I was used to this), the game doesn't give you much feedback, or at least not in a very helpful way, so a lot of the time I was just trying stuff and seeing if it worked, and I made it through the game that way.
I found BG2+ToB easy I managed to solo the game as a monk cause I hated having to wait for my party members and at the time I was a teen so I didn't understand the mechanics that well, I only struggled against magic immune enemies and the Dragon at the elven city
yeah me too. I first played BG2 as a thirteen year old, on core rules (or however the heck was that difficulty called). with only a basic understanding of English language, with four fighters and my main character as a Wizard Slayer (which objectively is one of the worst kits in the game). I don't think I truly understood what THAC0 meant until like my third play through, and didn't really grasp the various magical counters and counter-counters back then. Still finished it and don't really recall it posing any challenge. Now, Might and Magic VII... That game for my 13 years old ass was TOUGH. Not because the game is objectively hard mind you, but because of how utterly terrified I was of those ghosts in dwarf lands, of medusas in the mines and other things. That was one of my first 3D games I've played, and it was quite an experience.
deadfire and its DLC is like that dog and werewolf monster meme. the base game is the smiling dumb looking golden retriever the DLCs are are the wolf monsters thing. at the very least it is so because i am using deadly deadfire mod which increase the stats and level scaling of enemies even more.
First thing i thought of when he said divinity original sin 2 is easy is the mission where you are supposed to save the guy on the wooden tower and within five minutes EVERY THING is in flames!
With respect, I think the best word to describe these is Exploitable: they contain exploits that, if known and used, can break the difficulty. They aren't Easy, but they do have simple ways to bypass the challenge of gameplay. I would never called BG1 or DOS2 easy, because they have complex systems that are far more in depth than the Dragon Age, Mass Effect, or Diablo games, but they are simple to exploit.
I hear you but I disagree, for instance in BG1 knowing that Elven Archers are the single best damage across the game isn't really an exploit, and neither is just spamming summons. DOS2 is more debatable as a lot of the 'exploits' were made, anticipated, and explicitly designed to be used.
I had an easier time with DOS I than DOS II. I just happened to stumble onto how insanely good summons are in the first one. All you spend to cast a summon is the action point cost that turn and the summon itself is almost as good as one of your party members. And you don't really have to commit much to changing a character's build to let them summon.
@@MortismalGaming I felt like I at least had to spend a lot of resources levelling to get the really good summons in DOS II. Like the gremlin-thing you get in early DOS II dies pretty quickly (the champion form later on slaps though). In DOS I, that spider summon you can get in character creation can carry you for a while.
Summoning aside. I think if you just pick regular classes and builds in Baldur's Gate 1 it's not super easy, because you can wander into a forest and get jumped by ogres in very early level, and you have very small chance of living or surviving. But yeah the game also isn't hard, thanks for the video
I'll be the first to admit Pillars 2 is an easy game. I died a few times and had to reload but i immediately was able to reload and correct within 1 or two tries. Which is great for someone learning. The amount of critical thinking and research to deal with a new kind of encounter was minimal. I've died more in the first to acts of wotr than in pillars
I have to say all the Shadowrun games seem to be super easy. I never really felt challenged. There is frustration but it comes from things such as being locked out of buying the monowhip until you almost completed the game.
Funnily enough, I have all these games. Still as a person in my (very) late fifties, I really appreciate games that rely on knowledge rather than reflexes. I can still learn... I don't have quick motor skills.
i'm starting to feel that way now where i just don't want to be bothered to be on the edge of my seat just to enjoy myself, oddly enough i do play games that usually require quick motor skills but somehow i manage to eliminate most of the need for quick accurate reactions by simply trying to know pre-emptively what's gonna happen so it's more about timing.
kinda like learning a song and just going through the motion. but yeah it gets tiresome and that's where just being able to play a game at your own pace is so very nice.
One personal point I'd like to add is, that a game like say Divity 2 or Pillars2 offer great posibilites for role playing setups, basically your own house rules. My most fun run in Divinty 2 was an all Undead party. Or a character who will only use one type of weapon, or going with a smaller party again for roleplaying reasons etc. The easier games offer you much more options here to still finish the game with a setup the Devs wouldn't have considered in their balancing.
I used 4 characters in wasteland 3 because 6 seemed like a headache. Would say it made the game easier but the smaller party just made it so I had to spend less equipment on my team.
The scope of role playing in DOS2 is one of my favourite things about it
divinity 2 has a large difficulty disparity between classic and tactician 🥺🥺🥺 had to redo a playthrough when i spend an hour fighting crocodile
It's DOS 2, not just Divinity, the latter one was an action-rpg from 2012 where you played as the least Dragon Knight sixty years after Divine Lucian has fucked EVERYTHING up.
Divinity 2's combat system boils down to one simple thing: "How much can you cheese the teleport abilities." Still, a pretty good game
Pretty good? 🤔 gasp 😆
That and chain stuns, still love it though lol
nothing in dos2 cheesed the game more than necro/physical crit build with bloodstorms ,lohse single handedly killed most enemies with bloodstorm ,even doctor was cheesed by this
you did not even need to move let alone teleport lol although obviously you won't get to bloodstorm until mid game
and this was done by regular 4man not 2man cheese mode
Two words - 'Terrain Transmutation'. Gotta be on of the most overlooked spells in Div 2 but I cheesed more of act 2 and 3 just teleporting lava onto people. Made Tactician pretty easy tbh but got damn do I love that game. Oh, and The Doctor was nuts.
@@3toadbroth I played DOS1 with epic encounters even though it looked like it was better first few hours ,later on it was just plain downgrade from original
Recently my struggle with cRPGs isn't the difficulty per se, it's more of build paralysis. I'm constantly torn between doing what's *fun* and min-maxing. I suppose those would be the two wolves inside me haha
This is a real issue with modern, larian-fanboyistic, crpgs. they confuse rpg with min max simulator.
Always do what's most fun.
yeah it's kind of a thing but i think it stems from the fear of thinking that your character or party is gonna suck ass or that you can't finish the game because you are too ill-prepared.
which is why i constantly challenge myself with bad builds and see how much unoptimized things i can get away with because a big part of the fun for me is to come up with solutions to problems than simply min-maxing, it also forces me to engage more with the in-game mechanics and use consumable items more and all of those usually neglected things.
however i don't really bother with going above normal or "classic" difficulty because i'm just messing about atleast the initial playthrough because it takes time to figure out the systems and mechanics and how difficult the game is on a base level, but the better i get at it the higher the difficulty or the more unoptimized i get.
pick the "wrong" route for example that would make things more difficult because it is the road less traveled and is a more interesting choice because of it.
and sometimes i do play badly unintentionally because i simply didn't know better, like i didn't know there was "health" potions in PoE1 so i completely relied on the priest to heal all the way up to the last boss, and that made for a very interesting playthrough by itself.
@@bobxbaker Yeah, for my entire complete first playthrough of Pillars I never used healing potions
@@somerandomrpgenthusiast8451 it was confusing how they labled them wasn't it?
Found your channel a couple weeks ago, loving your content. Sooo many of these games sit in my backlog without trying them, after watching your vids I definitely want to give them a shot.
One thing that is interesting with DOS2 is how larian specifically add cheese tactics into their games. Other developers would eradicate it from their games but if you pay attention to their games and how they talk about them (noticed it with BG3's dev logs too) they add the cheese tactics in and then let you as a player decide if you want to utilize them.
Yeah, that because only real gamer play any type of rpg game that going take 50+ hours to beat, and we won't use them too after we finish are 1st playthrough
@@jameswhearry1 not only real gamers dick only gamers with an interest in the genre and long play throughs
@@557punisher ooooh, ok tough guy
@@jameswhearry1 what's tough about me? I just pointed out a condescending statement you made that was just not true.... but if that sounded tough to you maybe you're just soft🤷🏾♂️
@@557punisher my statement wasn't. I said nothing about having interests in a game. I said real gamers won't use cheats to win in a rpg.. before beating the game. Any gamer can play a long play through, your statement don't make sense. Just because you use a cheese in a game, won't make u beat the game any faster. You would've been better off, saying any gamer that has real interest in the game would play a honest new game.
I agree for the most part. The only one I'd push back a little bit on would be Divinity 2, because here it felt like 'knowing the system' was incorporating 'knowing what's going to happen'. For a lot of the fights, the first time you encounter them can put you in a very disadvatagous situation. For instance the fight you can run into soon after escaping the prison where you are just walking along and a fight spawns in where your party is completely surrounded and on low ground. Now I can clear that fight pretty easy because I know when it's going to happen and where the enemies will be, and I can position my party in advantageous positions and trigger the encounter either with a high survivability character or one that can reposition easily... but that's not system knowledge, that's game/story/plot knowledge, whatever you want to call it, and for many of those unexpected triggered fights that spawn in, I had to reload saves and approach the fight anew with that knowledge of how the fight would start, the position of the enemies, the skills they use, etc.
Compare that to Wasteland 3 where, as long as the character builds were solid, I could pretty much steamroll just about every fight.
Pillars of Eternity II has an interesting element system wise, which is how dexterity value changes based on whether you are using RTwP or Turn-Based mode.
DOS2 you mean. Divinity 2 is a different game.
The BG series got harder as I got older. When I played it as a teenager, I knew the system inside and out and the game was a cakewalk. I tried replaying it a year or two ago and found it quite a bit harder since I had forgotten many of the quirks and intricacies of the system.
My good computer broke down a few months ago (the one with a good video card). I had to buy a inexpensive lap top. So I can only play older game, and I am now playing BG1EE and agree with you. I first played it when it first came out in 1998 so I have also gotten older too I am 64. It has gotten harder, but still loving it.
Returning to old crpg games after not playing them many years, made me realize how unforgiving and brutal they were.
It did for me too, but only because I got way less okay with cheese. When I played that as a teenager I was totally okay with exploiting it (i.e., casting dozens of cloudkill spells just outside the fog of war to kill tough bosses/mages, etc.). Now I want to play everything "legitimately."
I dunno, I played Throne of Bhaal back when it came out, and I have always thought of that game as very challenging. I think it's challenging now, and it used to be back in the day. I realize that I'm probably a worse than most people though, despite decades of experience *ahem*.
One thing to mind is that the enhanced edition on BG1 (and IWD1) can be a lot easier than the standard as you get the class kits. many of them are just OP for BG1
Agree with this list. I struggled with Divinity 2 the first run because it didn’t quite work the way I expected. But once I wrapped my head around a few things it’s a walk in the park.
Depends on where that park is lol
Cheese that teleport! :D
@@Ryudoz26 What kinda mods would you recommend?
lmao how is it a good list. Once I finished the game the game is easy
@@Ryudoz26 lol i was making fun of the phrase "walk in the park"
I’d also like to throw in Pillars of Eternity 1 and Tyranny in there! IMO the games do a good job explaining the mechanics of these wonderful adventures. Also yes I did a “he said what!” When you mentioned BG1 lol
Shadowrun: Returns is my go-to example I'd use for somebody wanting to get into RPGs.
Simple systems that get introduced as you play, with the more complicated stuff typically held back. A good yet simple story. An interesting world with both tech & magic. And it's got some really good visuals & music for an indie, AA title.
It's only real flaw is the amount of text without voice-over. (And some bugs.) I've heard folks complain about that even in Returns, but I'd argue that's a personal preference in RPGs anyway.
Man i really want more Shadowrun games. I recently finished Hong Kong and left wanting for more.
@@fitzviandraduivenab2790 I can recommend Hare-Brained Schemes other game, Battletech.
It's a bit love or hate, but it's one of the most unique takes on a strategy title I've played in recent years. One of the best, well, Battletech games of all time, too.
You'll either play it for an hour and quit in disgust for a refund, or be enraptured for 100+ hours. So I'd call it a pretty safe game to try out at least.
I agree with you assessment. I had problems with DOS2 and POE2DF, but after playing some hours, restarting with new characters, learning the ropes... the mechanics got very familiar and from then on I just could play. It is practically the same with tabletop-rpgs, since if you study them carefully and begin playing, you get better eventually. The learning curve is very fair, rough start, but once it clicks, very easy.
Honestly why don't you have 1 million subscribers already man.. I found your channel maybe about a year and a half ago and ever since then I've had a pretty dedicated watcher. Do you have basically completely turned me on to the CRPG genre and I am so happy to have found your channel because that made such an impact on my gaming life. Anyway just wanted to comment because usually never do that and say that your channel is amazing and I really look forward to watching your videos for a long time to come!
Funny seeing Deadfire, but you're right. I've been struggling with solo runs on Potd and constantly think to myself just how insanely easy it would be with just *one* extra party member, let alone four.
I'm playing Deadfire through for my second time, this time on PoTD with upscaling (but still with a full party), and I'm finding it to be challenging enough. I mean, it's clearly not as difficult as some CRPGs on their highest difficulties, but I'm not finding it to be cakewalk by any means. (Conversely, PoTD without scaling does become pretty easy as soon as you out-level the enemies even a little).
@@simonvasvary4847 There's a significant amount of cheese required for solo runs. I suspect it's impossible to solo potd with turn based mode on.
God, Wasteland 2 was so hard, I was so nervous going into 3, then by midgame the challenge slowly ebbed to nothing. Also BG1 is super easy, until you go to that expansion content with the werewolves and especially the pig demon.
The only hard thing for me in Wasteland 2 was to keep Vargas up in the end
played Wasteland 3 first and Wasteland 2 is so much harder to deal with. Not just combat-wise...storytelling, character building, skill checks, quests, everything just seems much improved in 3. Not to mention the friendlies were just so much fun. We are struggling to finish 2 and not enjoying it nearly as much.
@@Ceares for sure. party builds in 2 took so much more work to get right. in three it's pretty easy to cover everything and still steamroll combat.
I think DOS2 has a reputation of being really hard because it's one of the only CRPGs in recent years that's managed to attract a playerbase beyond those that typically play CRPGs. It can be tricky if you don't cheese it but it's super easy to cheese and the ruleset is very easy to learn. DOS1's a lot harder to me, I dunno if that's because of the game's jankiness or lack of balance or just because I'm so used to the second one
strongly disagree as I am a long time crpg player, and find dos2 unplayable. both because of the horrible horrible horrible camera, and the complete unbalance of the game. also the lack of all that balanced these issues, in the previous game dos1, like humour.
@@JohnArktor keep us posted please
This channel deserves way more views. Keep up the great videos.🙏
Crazy content upload rate, bruv! Good shit. Your work flow must be on some optimal shit.
Might and Magic VIII. Bows can make a lot of fights trivial, you can recruit dragons into your party very early on and there's a quest you can complete fairly early into the game that allows you to recruit a massively over-leveled dark elf.
Fallout 1 with a sniper/crit build turns you into a walking death machine.
Another factor leading into BG being easy now is that BG EE includes the kits from BG2. And Gaider has said the game was never balanced for the kit classes. Many of which provide immunity to debuffs that terrorize the player, especially in the early game. Play a Cavalier, you're immune to fear. Everything casts fear in the early game. Which means by the time the wizard gets to casting his second spell, he's had his head caved in by the Cavalier's immune sword. Similarly, undead hunters, immune to paralysis and level drain. Ghouls and Ghasts are two of the most scary enemies in the early game...normally. The undead hunter can virtually solo them.
Or a barbarian who can be immune to all this at the same time under barbaric rage, on top of being pretty tanky and strong… yep just a full team of dual wielding barbs you throw on Sarevok to shred him into 10 second even in Legacy of Bhaal difficulty
My favorite use of summons in BG1 is to swarm the final boss with mobs and then cast entangle. HE isn't effected but he needs to deal with the monsters before he can safely swing at you... and the whole time at least one party member with a composite bow has been peppering him. Usually its my dude Kivan.
The boss has a mage with him, doesnt he just fireball them?
@@Jonaleth sometimes yeah but none of the boss team are as much of a threat as the big man himself and its not too unlikely that you wipe them all before he's taken serious damage due to his high level, AC, and immunity to magic damage. And if the mage is hit with entangle they are really easy to take down before he throws a wrench in your plans. ...honestly that fight is so hard the first time you run it it'll take a few tries to get what works best
I think some of the cases can be described or categorised as "easy to min/max" which, once the player takes the deliberate choice, become easy games due to this.
I don't want to say the Divinity (...) 2 was the hardest game ever but we did not do any of those things and just built characters that were good in their niche and even then not all battles were super-challenging, but at least some of the harder ones.
Like I said, easy/hard is all pretty subjective and you're welcome to interpret it however floats your boat
Saying knowledge rather than skill is such a good way to describe many RPGs. I quite struggled with Pathfinder; WotR but it would have been trivial if i had studied the systems extensively. That's just knowing things :P
One wrinkle about BG1 that makes me dissent a bit from calling it easy: there is a certain randomness in the D&D system concerning whether you, and your enemies, will succeed or fail at saving throws. Early in BG1, some fights can just be instant TPKs if your characters fail their saves against a horror spell, for instance. Like, if you miss your initial attacks against the guy who tries to kill you on the steps of the Friendly Arm Inn, you might as well reload, because he sets off his horror spell and proceeds to pummel you with missiles until you die.
I would agree with BG1 being on the list. That was the first CRPG I beat my head against the wall figuring out but once it clicked, it propped me up for all the other CRPGs I played after. I even bought old rule books to browse through for a better understanding of ADnD rules.
PoE 2 has become infamous for being a joke in terms of difficulty. I would also add Disco Elysium on the list as an honorary mention.
Now, I am very interested to see what games end up on the “other” list. My money is on Underrail.
BG1 one on this list surprised me. The enhanced edition for sure makes sense on this list. I think that there are a few too many fights early in the game in the original that are 100% rng or cheese required that are a pain even if you know what you are doing. I probably would have had Neverwinter Nights 1 instead, but I did play a lot of BG1 when it was released as a kid so it was hard for me then.
My order of priority when building a character/team :
1. Roleplay/theme
2. "Fun" factor (ie. find a playstyle that I enjoy)
3. Min-maxing
So I still find some "easy" games difficult because I try to do things my way as much as I can.
I think judging by the amount of save-scumming needed to progress in a game I agree Shadowrun is the easiest of the bunch. Divinity 2 and Encased would come next.
Now I'm more a White Wolf guy than a Wizards Of The Coast dude so I remember having a hard time with Baldur's Gate 2 and both Icewind Dale titles, I tried and tried but never finished them. There was always a point I got stuck on some battle gauntlet, not impossible to go through per say, but requiring too much planning ahead and getting lucky during fights to make it a chore. I really get bored by door-monster-treasure design. Often in CRPGs there's too much separation, like you spend hours going around a city hub doing errands then spend hours in a dungeon. When I think about it urban settings alleviate this a bit, intertwining fights, puzzles and story is easier and the game flows better as a result. But you see it more in immersive sims and action-RPGs than CRPGs. Again Shadowrun does a great job with this, Dragonfall in particular.
Cool little video. Didn't know you had a BG1 guide video, I'll need to check that out because I want to play BG1.
I dropped BG1 three times because I was getting my ass handed to me in the neshkel mines. I tried leveling on my forth try and it became a cakewalk
your intro music is amazing,
DOS2 was my first CRPG, explorer mode was tough when I first started so I thought the game is difficult, but after beating the game twice, tactician was a cake walk. Relentless onslaught obliterates anyone, you can be low HP before the fight and use forced exchange, use living on the edge etc. and most of all you can kill one enemy, run, repeat. Although the fight after you learn of the aeteran and the one with the demon who possesses your party members are still highly difficult on tactician.
Yes!! Shadowrun series was a joy to play through. I specially loved all the improvements in Dragonfall. Cant come back to "Returns" anymore... Ironic!
The interface is the worst I've seen in an RPG, I gave up in less than an hour. No keyboard shortcuts, nothing.
I know I'm a noob with these kinda games. Divinity original 1 and 2 kicked my butt. i've probably got a lot to learn
this video must be for people who are extremely well acquainted with cRPGs because DoS2 fucked me up far more than I care to admit.
Difficulty of learning a system is also quite subjective matter
I play DOS2 on Tactician as lone wolf with 2 characters. I should make my MC a human once but I enjoy the one-on-one interactions with only 2 of the preset characters. Lone wolf can also make the game relatively easy if you set up the characters for it, but you can force the difficulty by fudging the skills a bit. Fane is the best, regardless.
I am old school and I agree with you on Baldur's Gate 1 difficulty. It doesn't have any of the instant death that Baldur's Gate 2 has, and I think the difficulty is the 2nd edition rules themselves and learning where to go.
oh ye,oh yeah, all of my favourite toys too👍✨😎
Hey Mortismal, will you consider doing a beginner or comprehensive guide for DOS2?
I recently started the game and it's confusing as heck....
Potentially, I've made a million videos about it, but they are all quite old
@@MortismalGaming I think you should given you 100% the game (so you have more in-depth knowledges) plus I think your viewer (including me) will like your opinions, tips, & some obscure fun facts for the game mechanics.
My good computer broke down a few months ago (the one with a good video card). I had to buy a inexpensive lap top. So I can only play older game, and I am now playing BG1EE. I played BG when it first came out back in 1998, and still loving it today.
I feel the OC of NWN deserves a spot. Fallout Tactics as well.
Very much agree on BG1. I’m a complete newbie and once I took a good amount of time understanding the systems, everything else was relatively straightforward
You should have a list of games that are short yet fun. For the player who doesn't have a lot of free time but still want to 100% a game while having fun.
Pretty sure I made one, take a look at the list video playlist
This is one of your better videos, Mortym! Another cRPG where the challenge is mastering the system but the combat is easy is Troubleshooter: Abandoned Children. Metagaming the system is helping me progress faster. Can you please produce a video about how you "learn" or research some of these systems? What specific resources do you use? I want to learn anything I can about your 100% approach to help with eventually completing more of the games in my library. A fair number of your other subscribers and members are looking to do the same. Thank you for all you do, Sir!
Im curious on what you think of Sword Coast Legends
Great video, I always breeze through BG1 and BG2 because I know exactly what I am doing, but I ended up not having fun in Divinity 2 because the system never clicked with me. I would like to see some dedicated videos explaining a particular cRPG game system if you are up for it.
I have videos on just about everything there is to do with DOS2, some are a bit old though.
Hey Mortim, there is a series of RPGs that have been a major part of my childhood and I wonder if you ever checked them out? One of them is getting an updated remake, too. I'm talking about the Gothic series.
Not yet, but I will eventually
One thing I have a slight issue with is the domination of variants of D&D rules. I started with the Dark Eye system and moved on to try multiple others. One Favourite was MERP, which is a compact version of RoleMaster taylored to Middle Earth as Pen&Paper. Yes, I know it is more than 30 years old (but D&D is even older).
The key mechanics I thought could be improved are the THAC0 system, but especially before they invented the Sorcerer I hated the magic class being forced to pick and memorize spells before combat and then forget them kind of until memorizing again. Ludicrous. And more a min-maxing system than other systems allowing a wider range of character developments to be powerful enough to stand a chance in high level campaigns.
Anyway, grateful to D&D to allow for a big selection of cRPGs nevertheless thanks to its popularity. Although more SciFi settings would have been cool. I still remember not only the SW KotOR series loosely based on D&D, but even the late Buck Roger's cRPG...
I kinda dislike the notion that you can beat the system rather than beat the NPC enemy, but as long as it's not an exploit, it is part of the game in a way.
PS: This is one reason I fell in love with VtM Bloodlines so much... I hope they manage to get No. 2 done in great mint condition.
The baldurs gate 1 tutorial scared me off, is planescape easier cause I wanna play that one and I know it's more story focused
eh; I wouldn't put bg1 in an easy list; the dnd system it's based on is notoriously hard to get to grips with.
If you abuse Mutamin's Garden 90% of the game becomes almost trivial, at least until you get to Baldur's Gate city and try Durlag's Tower.
I would actually agree with him, BG1 was incredibly hard my first 5 times or so trying it. I didn't know much about dnd and my low level mage protagonist was getting one shot by just about everything, gibberlings and wolves in the first map, gibberlings and ogre in the 2nd map, first assassin, every single thing between FAI and nashkel, 2nd assassin etc. But as I get older and now I know dnd rules, most things don't scare me or provide much of a threat to me. There are still some boss fights that are challenging but overall it's a much easier game once the knowledge gap is gone and that's without cheesing. With cheese strategies it becomes even easier
@@mikeg5039 that's not difficulty though
I'd say the lack of modern default features you'd find in a crpg would be more of a hindrance for newer players. I imagine someone who is used to AoE spells having an indicator showing exactly where the AoE will hit might have some trouble aiming fireballs in BG1. But in some aspects the AI is very weak and exploitable as well. I remember always cheesing the Ettun you can find in one of the first maps by running around in a circle with the bhaalspawn while shooting it with Imoen. You can even trap Drizzt and kill him, thats how silly the AI is.
BG1 is a game where u get boots of speed and just kite everyone with a composite lowbow +1. Only Dulag's Tower is challenging imo. Of course you can also play with SCS mod on LoB difficulty, but then like Mortismal says it boils down to summoning spam.
Looking for the best one with the less possible dialogues / cutscenes. Any recommendation ?
Baldur's Gate is so easy you can solo the entire game with most classes. On the other hand in BG2 you need certain abilities like Wish-resting and some immunities, otherwise you will have a hard time.
I love AD&D because it was my first experience with TTRPG's and CRPG's, but yeah, it's so clunky and outdated, it really hurts trying to defend how much fun I had playing it :')
I also thought (and commented) that BG1 was too easy. Like I just have stockpiles of potions, wands, scrolls, and gems. I'm not sure how even, as it's essentially the first crpg I've played.
You should try baldurs gate with scs mod. It makes it wayyy harder, but also more interesting
Mort your killing me with the deadfire inclusion lol. i forgot where i first found out about that game but i bought it because a bunch of reviewers were singing its praises. i load it up and as soon as i get to the first fight in the ship literally at the beginning i was confused as all hell lol. ive tried real time (which felt like utter chaos), ive tried turn based (which turns each fight into a ten minute plus slog), but the mechanics of that game just continue to elude me to the point where i kept dying all the time and reloading and just ended up rage uninstalling lol. i think the furthest ive gotten was finding and unlocking the mage dude as a companion before i rage quit the game on the last run through. do you have any videos breaking down the mechanics and systems of that game and maybe some suggestions or guides on how to setup the combat ai in the editor? i REALLY want to like deadfire but as it stands right now, its just much more complex and in depth of a game than i am used to and the load times on ps4 are infuriatingly long even without all of the dying lol.
You can just search for the Deadfire AI setups and you should see some stuff come up, Pillars uses its own unique system so there isn't much out of game to point you too that isnt just youtube videos. I personally don't have much on the mechanics of it, but a quick search could yield you some results.
the first geneforge game is another older crpg that is fairly easy
I've played a bit of most of these but haven't committed to finishing them yet. POE 2 is still in my steam wishlist tho
Ah man you need to pick it up. In my opinion it's the most fun crpg. WotR has gotten close to it but it's still tops in my opinion (tb, I don't do rtwp). It's just as brilliant as wrath without that garbage crusade mini game and you get your abilities every fight and just constantly let's you do what you built to do. (Definitely pump the difficulty some though)
Jesus...I played BG1 in uni.....I feel ancient right now
Me listening to the first part: So I shouldn't take a dip into scaled fist?
I've tried the first two Baldur's Gate games but couldn't get into them at all. I wanted to love them and found a lot about them initially very attractive: the character creation, the lore, the dialogue, etc. But the combat system, micromanagement, and inventory system was utterly overwehlming for me last time I attempted it and I quickly gave up on it. I've considered giving them another try on Story Mode now that I have more experience with RTWP games and all so that I can have a better understanding of the lore prior to BG3 coming out, but I may just end up watching videos instead lol.
nowadays i still can't tell which is my favorite if DOS2 or POE2, is insane, i have 1k hours on both... i would love to say POE2 but still... i still wanna play more of DOS2
Totally understand. For me it's POE2 because I hate Divinity's armor and magic system but if that was changed it would be the best game of all time
Love them both!
@@cartergreen2309 i'm sorry do u mean the "armor and the magic armor system" or the armor system and something about the magic system of dos2?
BTW if so! (cuz i think the same about that) there is an interesting mod that change that system: "Divinity Unleashed" make the armor value in term of defence, like, magic and psysichal defence, so armor won't save from CC anymore (like DOS1
@@AtreyusNinja I can see why that would be confusing what I said lol I mean the armor system and the magic system. I don't like the source points and how few you have and how you get them back. And then you understood what I don't like about the armor system. I might have to check those mods. Like I said dos2 would probably be the best game of all time imo if those things were changed
@@cartergreen2309 yes i can totally understand that, and i think the same about both armor and the special points
Baldurs Gate 1 - if you have 2 or more decent archers with magical arrows it is super easy. I don’t even use bows on fighter characters because it trivializes every encounter.
My LoB party was like 4 Archers lol
As far as easy (and fun) cRPGs to mention, the two South Park titles would make my list.
Maybe you didn't include them because the others in the list are more "serious" titles.
Maybe it's because of the nature of the turn based combat in them, as they show kind of chess-board-like battle field in their turn based system (i.e. organized in rows and columns), rather than a free-movement kind of grid.
I don't think I'll ever be fully aware of all the distinct sub-genres, with the several available classical and action Role Playing Games' nomenclature branches...
Thanks for your videos!
I'd kinda say they're more akin to jrpgs tbh. I feel you tho. They are fun and easy
Basically 5 of my favourite RPGs! I'm going to have to have my credentials re-validated.
Just because something is easy doesn't make it bad
@@wahahabuh Oh, agreed. This list hasn't caused me to question my judgement or anything. I suppose some of these are easy enough once you get to grips with them. Great games though!
All these people here talking about DoS2 being easy when I was under the impression that is was pretty difficult for certain portions of the game. Primarily the early-mid game from what I remember.
Granted, I typically don't play Crpgs in general. DoS1 and 2 I think are actually the only games of the genre I really played. Also, I think a lot of the difficulty came down to the fact that I didn't really use/know of any "cheese" strats. My builds were very "fair".
Would you say this applies to Wasteland 2 as well as 3, as I haven't yet played it?
I love Wasteland 3 & DOS2 😁
Please make a list of beginner friendly crpgs
I have, just search beginner on the channel's video page
now im interested in the hardest crpg
I found that the combo of the Druids entangle, lightning stun and then meteor shower from a wizard made life very easy in Pillars of eternity 2 deadfire.
The only thing I've come across thar broken in a game is the Shotgun class in Gears tactics equipped with the best grenade perks
Divinity being easy is an overstatement. This game can be hard
Hey Mortismal, have you ever played IceWind Dale series? It is a good CRPG game, i think that you would like it.
I've reviewed the first one, havent gotten to the second yet
@@MortismalGaming the Second, for me, is way better than the first, only because he uses the 2.5 DnD system instead of ADnD.
BG1 was so easy that I could finish it even with a Bard...
BG2 required a lot of planning with spells and equipment to face enemies like Kangaxx
Great Video Mort. Hope u are working on a video for difficult crpgs.
Made one already
@@MortismalGaming OMG, how have I missed it. will watch it now. Thanks Mort. Also is there a way to see u live playing the games?
I've been playing cRPG's since before BG1 came out. I'm not sure I've found any of them easy without taking it down to the very lowest difficulty level.
DLC for BG1 are pretty difficult though.
I got all 5 of them, played bg1 loooong time ago, i dont remember well but you are right about DOS 2. At my first run, its too hard to handle at fort joy especially but at my second run on tactics diff., its easy to beat all of them. Not started shadowrun and poe2 yet but after this video, when i start, i will play on hard mode
For me it would be Fallout1 - overall difficulty combined with short (for RPGs standards, at least) playthrough and not being overwhelmed by the content. Interface might be clunky but you don't need manual for it which was a thing in RPGs back then.
Personal pick - Wizards&Warriors. Until you encounter Amazoni Mantrap or need to grind shells to buy equipement for underwater level. Overall a team with 2 casters and 3 warriors is pure overkill. And you can grind by boosting spawn ratio in the Options.
I would definitely agree about D:OS2 and Baldur's Gate. These were the first two CRPG type games I played in fact.
I was actually pretty surprised to see people describe D:OS2 as difficult. To be fair, I died quite a lot at the very beginning because it does start you off with very little defense, but once you get into it then it becomes very easy, to the point that I was actually finding combat a little tedious in the last third or so as I could just use the same few tricks in most fights.
Baldur's Gate I honestly just muddled through for the most part. Although I read up on the system (I remember the era when you had to actually read an instruction manual to play a game so I was used to this), the game doesn't give you much feedback, or at least not in a very helpful way, so a lot of the time I was just trying stuff and seeing if it worked, and I made it through the game that way.
wow, you so cool. Now try to change game mode from easy to honor 🤓
I found BG2+ToB easy I managed to solo the game as a monk cause I hated having to wait for my party members and at the time I was a teen so I didn't understand the mechanics that well, I only struggled against magic immune enemies and the Dragon at the elven city
yeah me too. I first played BG2 as a thirteen year old, on core rules (or however the heck was that difficulty called). with only a basic understanding of English language, with four fighters and my main character as a Wizard Slayer (which objectively is one of the worst kits in the game). I don't think I truly understood what THAC0 meant until like my third play through, and didn't really grasp the various magical counters and counter-counters back then. Still finished it and don't really recall it posing any challenge.
Now, Might and Magic VII... That game for my 13 years old ass was TOUGH. Not because the game is objectively hard mind you, but because of how utterly terrified I was of those ghosts in dwarf lands, of medusas in the mines and other things. That was one of my first 3D games I've played, and it was quite an experience.
AD&D 2nd addition is making a bit of a resurgence
Shadow run returns is a great CRPG if your into min maxing but dont want to realize you messed up 10 hours in. Characters are fairly easy to optimize
Played all of these games except for PoE2. Loved them all.
deadfire and its DLC is like that dog and werewolf monster meme.
the base game is the smiling dumb looking golden retriever
the DLCs are are the wolf monsters thing.
at the very least it is so because i am using deadly deadfire mod which increase the stats and level scaling of enemies even more.
Good work 👍
SOLASTA? I am playing it right now, long battles at lvl 10 but you learn the advantages and how re-rolling works and gets pretty OK (core rules)
You 100% games? :D Do you have a POE2 game play complete?
Review, yes. Let's Play, no. Also made a bunch of other videos on the lore and story
First thing i thought of when he said divinity original sin 2 is easy is the mission where you are supposed to save the guy on the wooden tower and within five minutes EVERY THING is in flames!
You can start that fight by teleporting him into a trap away from the fight and cause the flames to never even show up
With respect, I think the best word to describe these is Exploitable: they contain exploits that, if known and used, can break the difficulty. They aren't Easy, but they do have simple ways to bypass the challenge of gameplay.
I would never called BG1 or DOS2 easy, because they have complex systems that are far more in depth than the Dragon Age, Mass Effect, or Diablo games, but they are simple to exploit.
I hear you but I disagree, for instance in BG1 knowing that Elven Archers are the single best damage across the game isn't really an exploit, and neither is just spamming summons. DOS2 is more debatable as a lot of the 'exploits' were made, anticipated, and explicitly designed to be used.
And here i am, 3 of My favorit games is on this list (^_-) DOS2, PoE2 and Wasteland 3
Oh they are still fantastic games.
Now this is my kind of video 🤣
Which exploits do you mean for Wasteland 3? I'm planning a second run to cover the dlcs, and I thought the game wasn't that easy.
Max charisma immediately and take the bookworm background and you can get like 50% extra exp from the start of the game
@@MortismalGaming thanks man! Will do
I had an easier time with DOS I than DOS II. I just happened to stumble onto how insanely good summons are in the first one. All you spend to cast a summon is the action point cost that turn and the summon itself is almost as good as one of your party members. And you don't really have to commit much to changing a character's build to let them summon.
Summoning is very overpowered in both games
@@MortismalGaming I felt like I at least had to spend a lot of resources levelling to get the really good summons in DOS II. Like the gremlin-thing you get in early DOS II dies pretty quickly (the champion form later on slaps though). In DOS I, that spider summon you can get in character creation can carry you for a while.
Summoning aside. I think if you just pick regular classes and builds in Baldur's Gate 1 it's not super easy, because you can wander into a forest and get jumped by ogres in very early level, and you have very small chance of living or surviving. But yeah the game also isn't hard, thanks for the video
I'll be the first to admit Pillars 2 is an easy game. I died a few times and had to reload but i immediately was able to reload and correct within 1 or two tries. Which is great for someone learning. The amount of critical thinking and research to deal with a new kind of encounter was minimal. I've died more in the first to acts of wotr than in pillars
I have to say all the Shadowrun games seem to be super easy.
I never really felt challenged.
There is frustration but it comes from things such as being locked out of buying the monowhip until you almost completed the game.
Heh heh I found a wand of monster summoning with 10 charges its saved my butt a few times when I got overwhelmed.