Ever since I was a kid I have wanted a Pokémon game with real-time action combat that approximates the fight scenes in the anime, not only incorporating movement and dodging but also counter-moves like using fire attacks to nullify Razor Leaves.
I should add that it isn’t perfect, it’s early access so expect some weirdness albeit a whole lot less than you’d think.
My favourite, for example: if you’re hiding behind cover make sure it is THICK, else a body part might clip through the model making it able to be shot. Mostly happens when prone making legs and feet stick out.
Have you heard of The Longing? It doesn’t tick all your boxes but it is definitely a long term game that has you make slow, real-time progress while the real time clock of 400 days is ticking down. Not really management sim progress though.
On the more managy side, I’ve had some fun with Factory Idle. Essentially mini-Factorio as an idle game.
I don’t think it’s fair to call it a cult classic just yet since the game is rather recent, but eventually i think Kenshi. It’s a really fun game although very grindy and i’m not even sure which genre it belongs to. Also it’s very moddable to fit even more to your preferences. It’s been quite a while since i played it, but i’ll share a little story: I started the game for the first time and i wanted to make a “waifu squad” consisting of only women so i did. Worked my ass of mining copper and selling it in order to hire more ladies. Eventually my two ladies started to build a base near where i was mining copper and then one day, the “prayer day” (or whatever it was called) came and an army of crusaders came to spread the word of god. The bishop asked my main lady if there was any men in this settlement and of course i answered no there is none. To them it was blasphemy to not have any men in a settlement and the army slaughter my two ladies like it was nothing. Too bad i lost this save since i’ve gotten a new PC because i would’ve wanted to go on with my vengeance story, but maybe i’ll fire it up again.
I don’t know if Gothic 1 and 2 qualify as true cult classics or not, but clunky controls and interface aside, these are two of the best games I have played in my life. Gothic 2 especially. The games offer an atmosphere like nothing I’ve ever played. The soundtrack, themes, and overall color pallete provide this rich and stirring ambience that always manages to make me feel as though I’m exploring an ancient pine forest on a dark, rainy day. See for yourself.
You can feel the spirit of the entire franchise contained within the first two minutes of that audio track, perfectly encapsulated. It was an entire world apart and years ahead of its time. If it resonates with you, then these games are absolutely worth the initial difficulty of figuring out those ridiculous keyboard controls. But if you’re really struggling with them, just read up on the Gothic 1 storyline and then skip straight to Gothic 2. It picks up right where the first leaves off. You won’t miss a tremendous amount, and the controls and gameplay are infinitely improved. However, sticking G1 out long enough to figure out what you’re doing will make G2 far more rewarding when you reunite with various characters and revisit previously explored areas.
A studio is remaking Gothic 1, but everything I’ve seen of it so far is about as faithful to Gothic 1 as The Dark Tower movie was to the books. They’ve massacred it. So stick with the originals.
To latch on to this: the first Elex, a game by the same studio as the Gothic series, is, despite the average reception by critics, THE definition of a flawed masterpiece! So many things to criticize (too difficult early in the game, bad cut scenes, flawed combat) but the main focus of the game, the open world filled with tons of monster and people to interact with, is just great! I loved how exploration is encouraged and rewarded, how there are meaningful desicions and characters that can be killed off. The world is huge and all though the general atmosphere is post apocalyptic, the developer somehow managed to fit a middle age type fraction and a science fiction type (Clerics) fraction in to the game. Also smaller groups you can’t join.
Elex has a very special place in my gamer heart and all though I can’t flat out recommend it to everyone I would say if you have a soft spot for open world games that do not play like the average Ubi game and don’t hold your hand the whole time, I say: check it out, it’s pretty cheap in most places!
The Age of Decadence is CRPG set in a post-apocalypse ish, in which an analogue to the Roman Empire ruled most of the world until the collapse of civilisation, now it’s mostly city states struggling to survive and reclaim the old magitek of the empire.
Underrail: Life on earth’s surface has been made inhospitable ages ago, and the remains of humanity now live in the metro system called underrail and the caverns around it.
Both are isometric, turn based games that focus on combat and exploration. And they are hard. Builds are incredibly important, almost min maxing but they have a wide range of viable builds, especially the first one where you can play the entire game without fighting a single battle, all through alternative solutions and skill checks.
Have you played Colony Ship, by the same devs as Age of Decadence? I’ve been keeping an eye on it for a while and looks to be real close to its 1.0 release, but I’ve not heard or read a lot about it.
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