Try FTL: Faster Than Light if you haven't already.
I played FTL quite a lot and enjoyed it a great deal. I can't say the game is about resources. It's pretty random, actually. Sometimes you get good loot and merchants-who-don't-sell-crap, sometimes you don't. It's a roguelike and I likke it that way.
I consider it more of a spin-off, but I've played EE first, Rage of Mages later (Rage wasn't very well known here and EE was localized and published in a very cheap series), so my perspective on it must be very different.
Can't remember the plot of EE too well, so you might be right about spin-off. Still, I always liked good old 2d more than early ugly 3d.
Wasn't there some MMO abomination too? I remember reading about it years ago, maybe it was never finished.
Yes, there WAS an MMO abomination and it was unspeakeable horror of a game. Techincally, it's still running and some people (russian prisoners, I guess) even play it. Now, let us never speak of it again.
I actually like russian games, I mean, they're bad, but also GOOD.
On that note, you've played Hammer and Sickle, haven't you?
Never tried it. Last russian RPG I played was Planet Alcatraz. After that I have sworn to preserve and protect what's left of my sanity. Meaning, never play rus rpgs again.
Well, it's hard to find a proper hobo-mode RPG even if you don't aim for any specific themes - most RPGs are and have always been about empowerment and overcoming all challenges via liberal application of grindan
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True, and I appreciate the advice. I just take it a bit personal when it comes to Skyrim - so much time spent on modding "hard Skyrim experience". Such a waste.
Speaking of hobo RPGs, there is a decent amount of such. If only my memory would serve me better. But from wht I've remembered recently:
1. Drakensang: Teh Dark Eye. It takes SO MUCH fucking time just to find/buy a mediocre SWORD, you wouldn't believe. It's not like the game is hard, it's just INCREDIBLY slow-paced. You're gonna feel hobo for a LONG time.
2. Unreal World with home rules. Ok, I know it's not a proper hobo-rpg if we speak home rules, but you need only one. One simple thing you won't even need to repeat: discard the knife. Better yet, start the game at winter in "hurt, helpless and afraid" scenario and discard the knife. I double dare you. Now you can't hunt for shit (if if you manage to kill a squirell with rocks, you can't cut it, period), you can't make bandages out of yer clothes (and those wounds HURT and slow you down), you can't chop trees and start fires to warm up. Ad all the water around you is fucking frozen. URW doesn't let you break ice with stone - you still need a knife for that. Ultra-hard home rule: do not zoom out to world map until you stumble on any settlement.
3. Demons Souls, until you git gud. It's pretty damn hard to maintain a human form id DS, unlike DkS. Either you beat a non-respawning boss and get HF till you die or you consume very rare ephemeral eyes. Also, no infinite estus here - you need grass to restore hp. Good grass is fucking rare and expensive.
4. Stranger. I may be wrong on this one, coz it's been some time since I've played it. And I can't find this shit anywhere now, neither on sale, nor on torrents. But I played it years ago and the only thing I remember about gameplay is CONSTANT fucking running from enemies and always, ALWAYS something like 5-10% hp on my healthbar. Maybe someone who played it can share some light or provide a link, I would gladly replay it.
Plus I kind of aimed low - Strife you mentioned always seemed more like proto-Deus Ex than hobo simulator and assault rifle was always my workhorse weapon in it (it just needs to be fired in short bursts, otherwise it starts shitting bullets all over the screen).
Pretty damn good game, of course, but nowhere near hobo-sim.
Maybe you're right on this. Still, playing 80% of the game with damn rifle (and having ammo issues pretty often as well) makes me feel kinda underpowered.
Hobo phase is indeed the most fun for me in any RPG. Sadly the closest i got to it was heavily moded Oblivion to hell and back(3 overhauls), with all survival needs and bunch of house rules that had a little of that feeling for a longer time. Next one would be moded Morrowind.
Gothic 2 had some of that feeling, but you probably played it already.
I am surprised you listed Brytenwalda as an example i myself didnt really feel that threatened in it. Altho i played mount and blade for quite a time now.
Yar, early Gothics and maybe even Risen 1 qualify. Can't argue with that.
As for Brytenwalda, you're trolling me. Come on. Or maybe you just never participate in combat yourself, which I can totally understand. I actually tried to replay it recently and failed in most miserable way. If Brytenwalda's not challenging, then I don't know what is.
1. All weapons break. Horses die. You may get PERMANENT statloss. If you tell me you never die, as like you never caught insta-death throwing spear in da head from random Dena pirate - I won't believe you. Of course, I act like fucking chicken too during those "healing" periods, but I on every other occasion I prefer to fight alongside others. As you know, it's INCREDIBLY hard and slow to level-up beyound lvl 40 or so in M&B. So gettin perma-statlosses often can transform you into Brandon Stark over time. You know, a legless child giving commands to others?
2. Neutrals are BADASS. Especially Dena pirates and Frankish raiders. They are not only top-notch equipped, but also extremely fast. It's hard to deal with them, coz you either need to travel (almost)alone, or have a SHITTON of units to feel safe around their turf. If not, they will outrun and pown you, or at least make some severe casualties.
3. You probably know that already, but there is NO "knight strike" in Brytenwalda or whatever that's called properly. When you make a strike with weight of teh spear while on horse. Which was insta-kill in 99,9% of ocassions in vanilla M&B. Also, there are no longbows and shit. Oh, and you can't develop "Power Shot" beyond level 4. In other words, Brittania cannot into archery. Yet.
4. Fatigue system. Can't fight for too long, or you basically drop unconsious and can't do shit. More armour = more fatigue usage. Speaking of armour, it gives SEVERE penalties to a lot of skills. Wearing heavy armour (which is chainmails) = not being able of running fast, striking strong, doing any kind of archery and ranged shit. You can also stumble and fall if going backwards, without even being fatigued. It takes more time to get up with heavy equipment on you.
5. Sieges. I won't even start on that. Sieges are HARDCORE, getting a castle is a major accomplishment in Brytenwalda.
6. Most of all, moneh. Yes, there are ways of grinding them more or less safely. Like, hunting in some regions, trading on some specific trade routes and investing in buisnesses. But:
- Hunting is tedious and boring. Besides, the game tends to dissapear from a region after prolongued constant hunting. It's good when you need a lot of food ASAP (big starving army) or when you don't have other options of getting rich.
- Factions in Brytenwalda are not very, err, stable. Today they treat you like +10, tomorrow it's -1 with no obvious reason. Suddenly, all cities of a certain faction close their gates for you. So much for a trade route. And it can happen more often than you imagine.
- Same goes for buisnesses. Got -1 relations with a faction? Have a buisness arrest in all cities of that faction. No income for you.
Brytenwalda is living in a constant threat of loosing everything after one. Single. Mistake. But I stress it again: only when you play in realistic mode. Of coz it's easy-peasy when you can load after getting a scar/losing a fight.
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