I still can’t get over The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Are there any games that can replace it? I want to try something newer, with better technology, but I hope they can be as rich and interesting as Skyrim.
Ok you want something as rich and interesting as skyrim, so I’m assuming open world games are your jam.
There are three games you should play.
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Red Dead Redemption 2 - it’s a Western, the world is very believable, and it makes you feel like you’re really part of it. You can follow the main story line, or you could spend your days hunting and fishing. You could travel from town to town playing every poker game you can find. You can conduct train robberies, breed horses, really, there’s just a whole lot to do.
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Cyberpunk 2077 - this is RDR2 but in a scifi dystopian future where the corpos own everything, sex is for sale on every billboard and every ad break, and the only justice is what you can achieve on your own. You’ve got a ticking time bomb in your brain and no time to fuck around. In this world where you can’t trust anyone, somehow what really matters are the friends you make along the way. (seriously)
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The Witcher 3 - from the same studio that made cyberpunk, the Witcher 3 is truly a masterpiece of storytelling. The one caveat I have for this game is that it starts hard, almost “souls-like”. But get past that first rough hour and there is an extremely rich world with a seemingly unending collection of stories to become a part of. This may be the most skyrim-like of the games listed here, but you’re in for a treat, because this is a much better game than Skyrim.
All three of these games are gonna make you feel real feelings, they’re all actually better at telling stories than Skyrim is. The Witcher 3 in particular loves to live in the grey zone, it’ll make you make ethical choices that matter, and you probably won’t like any of the possible outcomes. But this is a good thing!
I’d throw Kingdom Come in there, too
In retrospect I probably should have mentioned the horizons games as well, but I just finished with cyberpunk, so that’s been on my mind.
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Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon is on sale on Steam right now. I’ve only played through the prologue, but it seems pretty good so far.
Grab the DLC, too, or no?
Edit: TY for recco, bought :)
Yes. Is good stuff.
Looks interesting, anyone knows if it can run on Linux?
Yes, I beat it and only played in Linux.
I can give you older and with worse tech - Morrowind is better than Skyrim
morrowind storyline and world building is peak.
Add in OpenMW and Tamriel Rebuilt.
Tbh, I really need to get into Morrowind myself. I’m excited for Skywind and kinda waiting for that to come out instead, since I have a lot of projects keeping me from gaming this year
This is how you honor the sixth house and the tribe unmourned.
So is Oblivion, though in terms of “better” it belongs in the middle spot it happens to occupy numerically as well.
This might just be too obvious, but nobody’s mentioned it… Have you played the other Elder Scrolls, like the Oblivion remaster?
Kingdom Come Deliverance 1 was great.
But it’s a Medieval RPG, not fantasy. So you won’t find elves or orcs or magic.
Edit: Actually nevermind, don’t play it, it’s too strict of an RPG, not for everyone, (i.e. fighting more than 2 people can kill you easily unless you master the combat, using a bow won’t give you the center reticle, saving the game needs a specific item or you need to sleep in a bed, wearing a helmet will limit your vision to the shape of the visor, etc)
I suggested this because my Skyrim was modded to be a strict RPG as well.
Greatest game ever. I love the fighting system the limited vision etc
And the sequel is of equal quality, the combat was simplified a bit but I like both approaches.
The sheer amount of high quality narrative across both games is pretty unique. There’s very little that feels like filler busy work, which was what most of skyrim felt like for me. Especially after oblivion.
I hear great things about it, I didn’t mention KCD 2 because I didn’t play it.
All those things you added can be added to Skyrim as well via mods
Yeah that’s what I said, I suggested KCD because I was playing a modded Skyrim.
If OP wants the feel of vanilla Skyrim, then KCD is not the right choice.
got any recommendations on favorite mods from your Skyrim version?
It’s been a few years since I played it, so I don’t really remember most of them and even if I did, there’s a good chance they are outdated or are replaced by newer mods.
Skyrim is actually the last skyrim-type game to be manufactured until Bethesda announces Skyrim 2 hopefully sometime this year.
For me it was Witcher 3 and the dlc. Love that game so much…
And a new DLC is coming soon!
Red Dead Redemption 2
Witcher 3
Kingdom Come Deliverance
I was so disappointed with a Witcher game. I forget which one it was, but good god, what a bore the intro is.
The first two were super janky. 3 is one of the best video games ever made.
The first game is glacial, but I found the 2nd game moved along pretty well even from the beginning.
2 is my favourite, but I know some people bounce off of the combat hard because you’ve got to keep rhythm, not mash as well as all of the preparation you should do beforehand that can give you a better chance in the fight. For me though, that’s why I prefer it over 3.
I bounced off it a few times after getting my ass kicked in the tutorial fight, I just didn’t get the combat for awhile.
There are a lot of good recommendations in here, but if you like Skyrim that much have you considered playing a total conversion of it? Enderal: The Shards of Order Is so different that is basically a completely new game, but within the concept of Skyrim, it’s engine, and a lot of its assets. Think the change from ocarina of time to majora’s mask, but even more extreme
The witcher does a pretty good job IMO.
Depends on what you actually want. If it’s the first-person RPG experience, there’s a handful such as Tainted Grail and Cyberpunk 2077. If it’s using a slightly different system or closer to traditional RPG, either the Witcher or BG3 or Expedition 33.
But modding… I cannot find any other RPG that gets better if it is modded, as Skyrim – and Morrowind and Oblivion – pretty much designed to be modded.
When I played Witcher 3 I remember immediately thinking Skyrim felt extremely dated. I would play any quest in W3 again before any quest in Skyrim.
But yeah, Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon is recent and supposed to be for Skyrim fans. Haven’t played it yet.
Depends on what you like. I love Skyrim and hate the Witcher games. The thing that I hate the most about the Witcher games is that using a main character from books locks you into certain parts of the canon that kills my vibe from an RPG perspective. In particular, I don’t care about Yennefer even a little bit but any time she shows up in the story, the main character throws away all prior decisions and chases after her. I prefer RPGs that let me imagine who my character is as much as possible.
Yeah, it’s definitely not a drop-in replacement. But the Witcher 3 side quests are excellent, made the world feel alive in a way Elder Scrolls never did (to me). I think Skyrim is just so ambitious that the NPCs feel robotic in their inability to act appropriately, and it kills my immersion.
But I agree, idc about Yennifer or most of the main storyline. Basically the same for Skyrim too.
I agree with you on both points there. Skyrim NPCs are definitely a weak point and there was some good content in the side quests of the Witcher series.
But yeah, Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon is recent and supposed to be for Skyrim fans. Haven’t played it yet.
I don’t know if I’d call it that. It’s much more story-oriented than Skyrim’s “here’s a sandbox, figure things out, do stuff, oh, btw, there’s technically some quests you can do too”.
Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon
An indie game which has a lot of Skyrim vibes.
Oblivion Remastered - basically Skyrim, start here IMO.
Kingdom Come Deliverance, 1 and 2 - exacly the same as Skyrim except super realistic and historically accurate.
Dragon’s Dogma, 1 and 2 - faster paced dynamic combat with a big, vibrant world to explore, but without the finer details.
Dragon Age, Origins, 2 and 3 - More strategic combat and dialogue, less world detail.
Mount and Blade, Warband and Bannerlord - ok not that much like Skyrim but similar appeal. You go into battles with dozens of soldiers, command and fight alongside them, plenty of RPG elements and questing but is mainly a sandbox for you to figure out your own goals on your own.
Was able to get Dragons Dogma 2 from my library last week and boy is it fun. Probably 20 hours in so far and really enjoying the systems and world.
Pretty darn solid game. I’d second this recommendation for Skyrim fans.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 is fantastic and the secret ending is mind-blowing.
Oh no! Secret ending?! Now I’m really hooked.
Is this something that can be missed during a regular play through? I’d hate to spoil it searching. If you don’t mind, can you let me know if I’m safe to search “dragons dogma 2 secret ending” or is it something that happens if I complete all quests or something similar if that’s not a safe search?
Thanks friend! I put a few more hours in last night and had my first hired pawn show up again 20 levels stronger. Added them to the party again and it has been really cool how the character evolved and comments on being back with the crew. Little touches like that keep me hooked.
Nope, can’t accidentally lock yourself out of getting it. No worries there.
But you do have to put some thought into it because it is up to you to do what is needed to trigger it as opposed to getting the regular ending. All I will say is pay close attention to details during the late game
And man that’s the best feeling is seeing a pawn you hired before come through the rift again. The game is chock full of those little touches, like having people fight over you at your house after getting a few NPCs affinity maxed out.
I also heard the game is getting or has gotten a substantial update recently, so about time I give it another go around.
Thanks for the info! I’m sure I got a ways to go until late game so I can hopefully still get see it.
Sounds like I need to read up on affinity as well. I just got the house in Vernworth (after a rather messy arrest that took half my gold) awesome to hear that there’s other dynamics and systems around that.
They really have built something that feels as well engineered as a souls game without the punishing difficulty. I’m trying to ascertain weak spots on the various big monsters now. As a Monster Hunter fan, it’s cool seeing that type of mechanic in another Capcom game!
And yeah, they released a trailer at Summer Game Fest for a Dark Arisen expansion coming in October of this year. Looks pretty neat. I might be able to purchase a copy of this by then and jump in to that.
Bro affinity is major. Drastically lowers the vendor prices, they can have rare items added to the shop, and people leave you gifts at your house. Even a few quests can have different outcomes depending on the involved NPC affinities. Some quests are even locked behind having certain NPC at high affinity for the later game.
And oh hell yea! You have no idea how hyped I am to hear it’s the Dark Arisen expansion.
Holy smokes. Thanks for the heads up! I’ll do some researching tomorrow and see how bad I’ve biffed so far not knowing about that.
Thanks again!
And I’ll be excited for dark arisen with ya despite not having any context.
I’d recommend waiting for Skyblivion to release over Oblivion Remastered tbh. It’s beta might be released this year
Baldurs gate 3 is not quite the same thing, but has similar themes. You are an adventurer saving the world (most of the time) who collects an inordinate amount of items. It’s one of the only other games I have over 800 hours in.
I’ve heard of this game as well; it’s great.
