{
"post": {
"title": "Single character RPG games with in-depth character building",
"selftext": "So, I'm having this itch to play an RPG which I can build my character anyway I want, or have multiple different choices to build it up - like multiclassing etc, but only controls my own character. \nI've played Elder Scrolls games, and love it. I've played a lots of CRPGs like Pathfinder, Dragon's Age, D:OS2. \n\n\nI'm basically looking for a game with just 1 character that I build like Skyrim, but have in depth build options like Pathfinder games, but I don't like the whole \"party management\" stuff. Path of Exile seems up my alley, but apparently, it's more of a dungeon crawler/looter than an RPG. \n\n\nI'm totally fine with turn based combat, and my PC isn't strong enough to run Elden Ring XD",
"url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg_gamers/comments/11uw22r/single_character_rpg_games_with_indepth_character/"
},
"comments": [
{
"body": "I've been there, looking for the same things. I ended up settling for ARPGs in that regard, they correspond to everything you asked for.\n\nBut, well, they don't have any of the narrative gravitas that CRPGs have.\n\nI will list some games, I hope that some of them are new to you. These correspond to what you ask.\n\nVampire The Masquerade Bloodlines\nOutward\nOuter Worlds\nErannort Chronicles (No, really)\nGedonia\nNioh 2\nCyberpunk 2077\nSoulsborne games\nDivine Divinity\nThe first Deus Ex\nSystem Shock 2\nRemnant From The Ashes\nGrim Dawn\nVampyr\nWarhammer 40k Inquisitor Martyr\nOutriders\nDungeons and Dragons Online\nBound by Flame\nDragon's Dogma\nElex/Risen/Gothic (not deep, but... trust me on this, you are going to enjoy making character growth choices in these)\nCode Vein\nHellpoint\nFable Anniversary\nAge of Decadence\n\nFrom the top of my head. Some are complete outliers, forcing the definition you asked for to some extremes, but many of them may be for you, I would recommend you to check on them.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "There are definitely ones that pique my interest. Will check them out. Thanks for the recommendation."
},
{
"body": "I’ll give you an upvote, but please use commas in the future"
},
{
"body": "Hey how would you rate Warhammer 40k inquisition Marty amongst these? How does it compare to grim dawn for example? I heard that game had loot problems but it's on a sale now so I'm considering buying it.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "It depends on what you're looking for and how much you like 40k. It's basically the only high-profile sci-fi arpg, taking into consideration that Cygnus is still in EA. Story and immersion-wise it can be nice. Gameplay wise is not as deep as Grim Dawn, not as balanced as Grim Dawn either, but manages to give enough build variety to allow player expression. Animations can be, at times, clunky, but it's serviceable to the eyes.\n\nIt's the kind of game you should only go to when you have run out of alternatives. Everything is meh, all the way through, it's the embodiment of a 5'5/10. \n\nI would recommend Wolcen over it, as it has, at least, one department where it stands out, its gamefeel. And right now a new whole chapter dropped. \n\nIf you are looking for ARPGs i would recommend Chronicon before.\n\nAnd give Superfuse and Ghostlore a follow both of them are trying to adapt the customization of PoE's system to a less GaaS experience. Both are early access, but they are shaping up to be something nice.\n\nAh, and if you enjoyed Grim Dawn, Titan Quest is from the same developers and still has updates and expansions.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "First of all, thank you for the detailed answer. I really appreciate it.\n\nI love Warhammer that's why i was looking for an excuse to buy it. Also i played all the others like grim dawn, titan quest(on Android), path of exile, wolcen etc. But i won't buy it probably. There are better Warhammer games out there.\n\nThanks again."
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "I like ARPGs as well, finishing up cyberpunk 2077. Liked the overall game, could go either way on the setting. Any ideas for what to play next?"
}
]
},
{
"body": "Underrail",
"replies": [
{
"body": "I really want to like underrail as a fallout 1-2 kid. I bounced off of it, but maybe i was just overthinking things. \n\nIs it the kind of game where I need to immediately know where my build is going or do I have room to kinda mess around? Any advice? Sorry I know I’m hijacking the post lol",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Not who you replied too but,\n\nUnless you are playing on easy there is not much room to fuck around with your build, and even then its very limited. Have an idea of what you want to be/do when you create your character and assign your abilities, skills and perks accordingly. I beat the game on the normal difficulty and there is definitely room to not be optimal. A poorly assigned perk or ability point here or there is not gonna ruin the entire build.\n\nThe Underrail wiki has a character builder tool that you can use to plan out your build in advance. You can even get a link to your build and share it with r/underrail to get some feedback on it. Those guys know the game inside and out.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Great to know! Thank you so much :) gonna give it another go."
}
]
},
{
"body": "You can fuck around with builds a lot, but before you actually play, the other guy sent you the external builder, and that's it, just dig around the forums and Underrail sub, learn the mechanics a bit, theorycraft and try the build out (there're as much synergies and tactics as in Pathfinder or even more, but the game is much more rurthless). Imho the most fun builds are different kinds of psionics builds, you have the most variety of stuff to do, and if you build well, it makes the game easy compared to other builds",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Very cool! Thank you so much."
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "Excellent game. A bit impenetrable at first, but well worth learning"
},
{
"body": "Thanks for the recommendation. Will check it out :>"
}
]
},
{
"body": "Arcanum.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "This game is crying out for a remake or remaster. It's a fantastic game that's basically unplayable by today's UI and QoL standards.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "There are Arcanum mods which fall short on being a remaster but are still more playable and less buggy than the original game"
},
{
"body": "this is too true"
},
{
"body": "Is it? I played it a few months ago and I've played significantly worse. It shouldn't be a problem if you read the manual.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "It's not about not knowing how to play, it's about that play being more trouble than it's worth. Managing inventory is just one example where QoL improvements have left this game in the dust."
}
]
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "Kingdom Come: Deliverance",
"replies": [
{
"body": "If their PC can't run Elden Ring, it'll probably struggle to run Kingdom Come.",
"replies": [
{
"body": ">Arcanum\n\nThat's just not true Elden ring's minimum GPU requirement is a GTX 1060 3GB, Kingdom Comes minimum GPU requirement is a GTX 660, very big difference between both cards."
}
]
},
{
"body": "I found this game difficult to get into. Any tips?",
"replies": [
{
"body": "The game has some pacing issues. First it can feel too hard and after a while it feels too easy. It's been some time since I played it and even if I loved it, I really don't remember it that well. \n\nMaybe someone else in here can you give you better tips than me."
},
{
"body": "Pretend it's all real. What would you do in the situation?"
},
{
"body": "I'm with you. I found it extremely long-winded and cumbersome.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Even the first fist fight over the blacksmith materials seemed too hard and clunky",
"replies": [
{
"body": "[deleted]",
"replies": [
{
"body": "I find the clunkiness pretty on point given you’re not a fighter in game. As you progress the player gets better and the skills and stuff actually makes it too easy later imo (unless you’re fighting more than a couple soldiers… in which case you’re not really supposed to win most of the time anyway). It’s pretty much the same as mount and blade and I love the combat in both."
}
]
}
]
}
]
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "Someone else sort of recommended it, but I highly recommend all the Deus Ex games, especially if you liked Elder Scrolls. As long as you are open minded enough to play in a more sci-fi setting. They are super good. It is okay if you can't go back to the original games if you want to start at Human Revolution and Mankind Divided because of graphics - you don't have to play the first one to understand the second 2. I still haven't gone back to play the first one because I have a really hard time with graphics from that era, but I definitely want to. The games are also super on sale right now. \n\n\nThere is also my favorite game to recommend of all time - Dragons Dogma. Especially if you like action games, this is a must play. It has sort of limited build options, but you basically have a job system and can switch your characters class at any time. It is super fun, and is really the only game aside from from software games that really let you build a character while having great action, but it is definitely more about specializing and multi-classing. You do have to manage another character through the pawn system, but they are played by AI and are also super unique. This game is just hands down a must play, and it's on sale for like 5 bucks right now.\n\nThose are some of my favorite games of all time. Honestly the hack and slash ARPGs (like you brought up PoE) are really well known for their super indepth character trees and builds. So if you really want hardcore build gameplay, you should probably consider them with diablo and grim dawn and stuff like that. But if you want more traditional Western RPG with story stuff where you aren't just clicking around everywhere, definitely start with the games I recommended. Also, the witcher series is really good and let's you build out your character, but I hate recommending it because of how well known it is. I would be surprised if you havne't already considered playing it. It's worth the hype though.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Lately I've been getting a lot of DD shorts on my YouTube feed, and I'm super intrigued about it. Will definitely check it out. \n\n\nYeah, I've already played Witcher 3. Not 100%, but finished all story content including DLC XD"
}
]
},
{
"body": "You seems to have already did the best that fit with your criteria. \n\nMaybe try Pillars of Eternity, but it has party management (for me, a lot less inconveniant as any other crpg tho). \n\nAnd yes Path of Exile has nothing to do with solo rpg, this is a Diablo like game. This is juste a complex game with a huge talent tree, a ton of different loot, mobs etc. But the gameplay is just about progressing Map by Map while the npcs tell you about the story (which is great imo), and then you are in late game and you just farm over and over to have the best build.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "I've played it for 20ish hours or so, and the super massive talent tree and skill combinations are just there to be a waste, because just a few prominent builds are viable for the end-game and messing around with builds/choosing wrong talent is basically a one way ticket to rerolling the character.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "I play the game a lot and would say that this is incorrect.\n\n> messing around with builds/choosing wrong talent is basically a one way ticket to rerolling the character.\n\nOnce you have learned the game's mechanics, you can beat the campaign easily even with skillpoints that don't contribute to your build at all, using almost any skill. In endgame it is rather easy to get orbs of regret, except in ruthless mode.\n\n> just a few prominent builds are viable for the end-game\n\nThis is a commonly held belief because a polished build is of course amazing compared to what a beginner makes on the fly. However, there are a lot of extremely viable builds to discover and trying to perfect a build of your own is very rewarding.\n\nBuild guides are good if you are looking for the elusive all-round build that can level fast, do maps fast and kill bosses. It is important to note that there are builds that are a lot faster than those but incapable of bossing and builds that literally can't be killed by bosses but \"only\" oneshot packs of monsters at a time. I tend to enjoy the specialized builds much more.\n\nThen there is the economy balancing builds. GGG makes sure that all powerful gear is rare. Because of that, playing a popular build costs tens of divine orbs. On the other hand, obscure builds can be made for next to nothing, so they can be potentially more powerful given the same budget. Or you can play SSF and/or Ruthless and just make a build with what you get.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Thanks. I'll try to be more open minded about it when I play it again in the future."
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "+ you Can not really play the character you want, since some builds need to have their spells / weapons upgrated as Hell to start being viable, and that cost a lot lot lot of money (literraly a currency used between players that you Can farm). So you play pretty much a closed selection of builds unless you have the currencies to make your own viable late game"
}
]
},
{
"body": "NWN:EE"
},
{
"body": "Caves of Qud",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Thanks. I'll check it out.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "The default setting is effectively a roguelike so if you don't want to lose your character on death make sure at character creation to choose either the Roleplay or get the semi-official Campfire Checkpoint workshop mod and use that. Roleplay mode lets you set save points at town, the campfire effectively lets you set a save point anywhere outside of combat when you setup a campfire to cook.\n\nIt also has this really neat mode called Wander mode in which instead of being a standard RPG murder-hobo you play the game effectively as a diplomat. Most enemies are not hostile to you and you don't gain experience by killing, you gain it by exploring and gaining reputation among the factions. To my knowledge all of the game's quests are also possible to finish in this mode."
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "Oh Dragons Dogma. P"
},
{
"body": "Kingdoms of Amalur Rereckoning",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Played through this game so many times, the way you build your character is fantastic."
}
]
},
{
"body": "Divine Divinity"
},
{
"body": "If you have Skyrim on PC, you should download Enderal. I just finished it after 50ish hours. Plays very similar to Skyrim but the world and story are so much better.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "best of all its FREE if you already have Skyrim. It almost seems like a crime that such a high quality game would be free"
},
{
"body": "Oh is it a mod or something?",
"replies": [
{
"body": "It's a total conversion mod, so it uses assets from the engine but is an entirely different game set in a different world. It's not related to the Elder Scrolls franchise at all except using the assets and engine.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "OH cheers. I'll have to try it out."
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "Would definitely try it. Watched the beginning 30ish minutes of CohhCarnage playing it few years ago, and was thinking how cool it is - which is basically a brand new game just using Skyrim as an engine."
}
]
},
{
"body": "Check out Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura. You have one main character. You may recruit a number of NPCs to your party based on your Charisma but they are optional and if you do recruit them they level themselves up unless you mod the game to let you do it. You will need the fan patch at the very least and there are some other quality of life patches you may want.\n\nAlso check out Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines. This really is 100% solo. No companions. Lots of flexibility for building your PC. Requires the fan patch.\n\nCheck out Alpha Protocol if you can find it for sale somewhere."
},
{
"body": "Dragons dofma"
},
{
"body": "A few more out there choices.\n\nCruelty Squad\n\nEye Cybermancy\n\nPrey\n\nCtrl Alt Ego\n\nNone of them are traditional rpgs but are instead immersive sims. Essentially levels are wide open and instead of classes or perks you essentially pick super powers. Prey in particular lets you go pretty wild if you pick up lots of Typhoon abilities and people are sleeping on Ctrl Alt Ego. All of them have a strong focus on narrative and let you play many different ways.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Immersive Sims check my box for rpgs. Same general feel of adventure"
}
]
},
{
"body": "Guild wars 2",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Had a blast in what little fun I can have in the free base game XD Might consider subbing in the future XD"
}
]
},
{
"body": "Total coincidence, I just finished Swords & Souls: Neverseen. I don't know if it's really what you're looking for, but it's the sequel of the Flash game about exponential growth where you play minigames to build your character and the battles are automatic. It's very short though."
},
{
"body": "You're missing out on one of the best solo rpg of all time. Save up, get a gpu and install elden ring.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "I'm saving up to buy a whole new PC and pass this laptop down to my brother. Maybe then I'll finally try Elden Ring XD"
}
]
},
{
"body": "Dark Souls",
"replies": [
{
"body": "I'm planning to try it. The only Souls-like I've played is Sekiro, and enjoyed it way too much XD. So I at least know I'll enjoy the difficulty of DS games. \n\n\nThe only question I have is, what is DS: Remastered? Is it just a prettier version of DS1? Or is it a completely new experience? \nAnd I've heard 2 is bad, and is advised to skip it. Should I play remaster then 3 straight away?",
"replies": [
{
"body": "I’d play DS3 then go down if you really like them. DS1 Remastered is a remaster of DS1 with 60 fps.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Thanks a lot.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "I recommend DS3 first because it’s a more polished game from the series. I played DS1 Remastered recently and even though it’s one of my favorite game I could feel its age. It has aged well but when compared to the newer Souls it shows its clunkiness. Meanwhile DS3 is still enjoyable and a better alternative to Elden Ring."
}
]
}
]
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "Dark Souls 3"
},
{
"body": "Did you try an MMO? FF14 or SWTOR fit your descriptions, and you can get decent fun out of them even as a solo player.\n\nThe downside is all the delayed and time-gated progression the genre is infamous for.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "I've tried FF14 and actually really enjoyed it. And I've upgraded my account from free trial, and soon after quit my job so not in a position to pay a monthly subscription yet XD Stunning myself as a ninja was fun AF XD"
}
]
},
{
"body": "Cyberpunk 2077 would probably fit that criteria... Or do you only want fantasy sword/board style rpgs? I'm also not sure what your PC can handle. Regardless, excluding the name- You can basically make V into whatever you want appearance included..\n\nGrim Dawn should fit that criteria. The game comes with multi-classing build into it. It's the same genre as path of exile, however; so it might not be your style. To be fair, ARPGs like Diablo tend to have some of the best class systems.\n\nFinal Fantasy XIV is a MMORPG where you can literally be every class in one character. There's like 20+ combat classes/Alongside the 10ish crafting classes. If you ever get bored playing mage- You could just swap out your staff for a pair of daggers to play rogue/it's upgrade Ninja.\n\nIf you don't mind having a specific appearance/identity... Witcher 3 will let you build Geralt however you want. Deus Ex Mankind divided is also a decent game with options. You are just stuck with Jensen.\n\nAssassins Creed Odyssey is not bad either. Though you are given a choice between a brother/sister. Combat wise, you are free to pick your poison. Plus, they give you some dialogue options to define your personality.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "I'm interested in Cyberpunk 2077, but I'm afraid my PC can't handle it.It can run DMC5, Sekiro, Monster Hunter:World etc on medium settings without much issues. The thing is I'm no tech savvy, so all the graphics card, CPU models, cores etc just make me more confused XD\n\nI've tried Grim Dawn, and it was great TBH, but ARPGs just tend to get boring real quick for me, so I dropped it 5ish hours in. Witcher series was amazing, but I kinda felt disappointed that the skill point system is basically, grind - get all skills. Great game tho."
}
]
},
{
"body": "Elex"
},
{
"body": "I see you willing to go underrail, so\n\nTales of Maj'Eyal\n\nCaves of Qud\n\nCogmind\n\nProject Zomboid - or free game Cataclysm CDDA",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Oohhhh, never heard of these. Will check them out. Thanks a lot :3"
}
]
},
{
"body": "Maybe Eschalion Book 1 to 3? Is quite diferent of the ones recommended here. I quite liked, but it is not for everyone."
},
{
"body": "Nioh 2 is amazing if you like ARPGS"
},
{
"body": "Kingdoms of Amalur Re-reckoning, Diablo 2 and Diablo 3."
}
]
}