I like not just CRPG, but specifically scifi and/or post apocalyptic CRPG. I’ve replayed the first two Fallout games umpteeth times. Wasteland 2 and 3, while being tactical CRPGs rather than singular character driven ones are high on my list of great games.
But I’m looking to diversify. I know there are many Fallout-likes, but figuring out which are worth my time is difficult. So what have you?
UnderRail is always recommended but it also looks kind of impenetrable to understand.
ATOMRpg was fun at first when I tried it, but after a while my character simply couldn’t pass any speech checks and I got stuck wandering around the map in frustration.
I haven’t tried Encased. Reviews are split, with a lot of critique of the end game. I have no clue if it’s been worked on.
Colony Ship looks super interesting but I won’t buy it until it’s done.
You might want to look into Disco Elysium. It’s not exactly scifi or post apocalyptic in a traditional sense but is certainly adjacent to it if not in a subset of it. It plays similarly but is more akin to the gameplay of Planescape: Torment.
It’s at least worth checking out some reviews, descriptions, screenshots, trailers, etc. It might not be your thing but as a Fallout 1 and 2 fan it was right up my alley and is easily one of my favorite games of all time!
What about Planescape: Torment? I haven’t played it yet, but I heard a lot of good things about it.
How about the Shadowrun series?
That’s somewhat on my radar. I have constantly debated trying it out.
Shadowrun is awesome. Id start with dragonfall though rather then the first game, since the first game is a lot less fleshed out. There are also some very well done user made campaigns that add full game length stories
Is Hong Kong supposed to be played last?
They are all standalone stories. I think Hong Kong was the best one. Really felt like I bonded with my crew.
I guess you can fit the Borderlands franchise in this category? It’s post apocalyptic, an FPS and story driven. It can also get quite technical if you want to get deep into character builds. Other than that there’s Bioshock. Let me know if you’d like some lesser known games if you’ve played these already.
Classic Fallout-likes are more in the CRPG vein. Overhead view, turn based combat, dialog heavy, multiple solutions to things.
I dig Borderlands, but it’s a straight up lootershooter.
Not exactly the same but check out Kenshi. It’s also more like Wasteland than it is like FO but i can’t recommend it enough.
Post apocalyptic weird low-tech scifi sandbox.
Important to note, its completely open ended. No story. But quite a lot of stuff to do, factions to keep tabs on, settlements to build and manage, people to recruit… lots of moddability.
You’ll have to find your own purpose out there.
Oh and it’s crippling difficulty can be daunting.
I’ve played Kenshi quite a lot. I enjoyed it and might replay again, though I’m kind of after something a little more structured. Kenshi is a great “forever game” to play in small spurts though.
Geneforge 1 has most of what you’re looking for. I don’t remember if the rest of the series is post-apocalyptic or not, but the first game definitely is.