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RPGs with non fantasy setting
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ziabice Apr 19, 2020
Hi mates!
Just started playing Pillars Of Eternity, the game is good but I find that fantasy setting veeery boring! Even reading those names filled with Y, WH, GH, and the likes seems to my italian ears like hearing someone talking with the mouth full of food.

My questions is: do exists an isometric RPG with a different setting, like cyberpunk, or pirate or modern, anything but that boring so serious fantasy? Or at least something not filled with those stupid names? Give me an hero called simply "George" or a fellow called "Ciccio Formaggio"! :)

I already played the Shadorun series games, Fallout classics, Wasteland 2.

Thanks in advance for the help!

Last edited by ziabice on 19 April 2020 at 3:26 pm UTC
damarrin Apr 19, 2020
There was a steampunk adventure called Arcanum, IDK if it's on GOG or somewhere else or not. I think it was pretty well regarded, it's from the guys who did Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines, which was 80% awesome.

Last edited by damarrin on 19 April 2020 at 4:20 pm UTC
Salvatos Apr 19, 2020
Planescape: Torment and Torment: Tides of Numenera are probably the big names that should first come to mind in the genre outside of fantasy titles. ATOM RPG is a more indie one in the vein of Wasteland. I haven’t played any of them so I can’t make a personal recommendation.

You can easily find more on Steam with a few other themes like Vikings and Westerns and modern warfare.
TobyGornow Apr 19, 2020
Off the top of my head : Hard West & UnderRail
denyasis Apr 19, 2020
Planescape : Torment is fantasy (it's based on a Dungeon and Dragons setting).

Now with that said, it's a very different setting, very non-sequitur (which has been a trend lately), so you might like it. I played it 15 years ago and it holds up as one of the best stories and writing I've ever seen.

If you're willing to bend a bit with the isometric retirement, Caves of Qud is a far future science fantasy (similar basic setting to Numenera). Its top down ASCII styled, so some imagination is required. The difficulty is on par with a traditional Roguelike, so lots of dying.

On another note. I totally agree with you on the names. Sadly, I think there is no helping the writers naming conventions.
Schattenspiegel Apr 19, 2020
Not isometric but perhaps South Park: The Stick of Truth is worth a shot if you are looking for a different setting?
ziabice Apr 20, 2020
Thank you all for the suggestions, seems that I already own all the games you mentioned...
Pangaea Apr 20, 2020
You probably know this already, but Pillars 2 is basically a pirate setting - but of course in the same universe as the first game, with the same silly names :P

I have recently started playing Pathfinder: Kingmaker, and absolutely love it. It's fantasy, though, with dwarves and elves and the like, so if that's a no-go then it's not worth trying out. It has more normal names from what I've seen so far, although not exactly "George" and "New York".

Maybe Disco Elysium could be something up your alley? I've heard it's good, but haven't played it myself.

Thorough coverage here as well, although many are old and/or fantasy:
Top 101 RPGs: https://rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=11193

Last edited by Pangaea on 20 April 2020 at 6:54 pm UTC
neocron Apr 20, 2020
FreedroidRPG is a retrofuturistic isometric RPG with some post-apocalyptic elements.
Dynamite Dec 13, 2020
Quoting: The_Aquabat
QuoteGive me an hero called simply "George" or a fellow called "Ciccio Formaggio"!

I already played the Shadorun series games, Fallout classics, Wasteland 2.
The names of ShadowRun are awesome there are several shadowrun name generators https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/shadowrun-names.php
https://rpgenerator.net/shadowrunrunners
https://www.elf-names.com/shadowrun-names.php

my personal favourite is "Justin Case". lol

Satellite Reign is sci-fi, but is not exactly RPG it's RPG and RTS I think (it's a cyberpunk game). Hard West could be also but that's turn based game really.

Also recently I played Mutant Year Zero, yeah it's fantasy, well not really it's sci-fi actually, but the thing is that, the story is nothing but boring, great story, with some dark humor. Works well with proton but you have to disable ESYNC or FSYNC. Some say it's similar to Wasteland 2, but this is more a rpg-lite, Wasteland is more like a full blown RPG. This game is turn based, has stealth elements and also map exploration.
I think it's a different style of RPG, since it doesn't try really hard to make sense, I mean the story does make sense at the end, but not in a scientific way since it's a scifi game, some stuff is over the top or illogical. It's really like a fusion of fantasy and sci-fi.

EDIT: didn't read carefully what you were looking the first time.
scaine Dec 13, 2020
Hi Dynamite, welcome to GOL! Looks like you didn't [/quote] on Aquabat's quote, so your comment looks like it's been hidden by the long-quote mechanism. Give it an edit and add that /quote tag and you should be fine.
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