Baldur’s Gate 3 is a huge hit on Steam and GOG. The game inspires hundreds of thousands of players, but we keep reading here on MeinMMO: the turn-based system kills the interest of many potential fans. So here we present 5 alternative games for people who like Baldur’s Gate 3 but don’t like turn-based battles.
What’s going on at Baldur’s Gate 3?
What are these games? Rounds are part of D&D because some activities can’t be solved with pen and paper any other way. But that would work on a PC or console.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is the game that everyone is talking about right now and one of the biggest hits of 2023. With our alternatives here we present you 5 games that capture the spirit of such RPGs as Baldur’s Gate but do without rounds.
This means: instead of always making a move and ending your own turn, everything happens more or less simultaneously. The playing style remains largely similar to that of Baldur’s Gate 3.
Launch trailer for the role-playing game Baldur’s Gate 3
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1. Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous
Pathfinder is based on the ruleset of the same name, which itself is a derivative of Dungeons & Dragons. So here you have the closest resemblance to Baldur’s Gate of all our mentioned alternatives.
Wrath of the Righteous is the second part from Studio Owlcat and was released in 2021 as the role-playing game hit of the year. The game is one of the best role-playing games on Steam and in GameStar’s test, Wrath of the Righteous received a strong score of 91.
Starting the game as an adventurer with little memory, you’ll grow stronger as you journey, gaining Legendary powers and discovering who and what you really are – and what your destiny is.
Pathfinder is a fair bit more complex than Baldur’s Gate, with many more classes, an additional travel system, and mission time constraints. Count on several hours before you really know your way around. You can play in real time or in rounds.
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous – The trailer for the role-playing hit
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2.Dragon Age: Origins
Origins is the first part of the famous Dragon Age series and according to our editor Benedict Grothaus one of the best games ever. The fantasy epic revolves around the fictional world of Thedas and you fight there as a guard against “evil” – roughly speaking.
There are fewer classes available to you compared to Baldur’s Gate, but the focus is at least as much on romance and personal development.
For anyone interested, Dragon Age is also available as a series on Netflix:
more on the subject
If you have 3 hours, you should definitely watch Dragon Age: Absolution on Netflix
by Benedict Grothaus
The first part of the series, Origins, follows an isometric perspective like Baldur’s Gate 3. Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition are more oriented towards fantasy games like Witcher or Skyrim in style.
Dragon Age: Origins doesn’t have a real turn mode, only real time. But you can optionally pause them to plan moves, should you want to.
Dragon Age: Origins – The trailer for the role-playing classic
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3. Pillars of Eternity
Like Baldur’s Gate 3, Pillars of Eternity relies on a more complex combination of races and classes. You steer a small group through quests, adventures and dungeons in search of an answer to the gods’ real problem.
The game comes from Studio Obsidian, which has already become famous for the Fallout series. Accordingly, the style and humor are strongly reminiscent of the early Fallout parts. A second part of the series was released in 2018, which received a rating of 90 at GamePro.
The studio is currently working on Avowed, a new RPG set in the same universe, due out in 2024.
Pillars of Eternity: The trailer for the RPG
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4. Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen
Fancy dragons? Then you should check out Dragon’s Dogma, even if the beginning can seem a bit daunting: a dragon steals your heart, which doesn’t kill you but transforms you.
As a kind of undead (by another name) you then gather people to defeat the dragon and thus stop the apocalypse. What else you have to do on a Friday afternoon.
What makes Dragon’s Dogma special is the minion system. You can “train” your companions and make them available to other players via an online function. On the other hand, you can also borrow vassals from others.
The series has evolved over the years. Dragon’s Dogma Online was an MMORPG that fans are reviving and Dragon’s Dogma 2 is currently in development.
Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen – The Official Trailer
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5. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
As a small alternative to the fantasy games in this series, we present you with one of the older Star Wars games. Knights of the Old Republic is one of the first role-playing games in the SW universe.
Behind Star Wars: KotOR is BioWare, one of the most famous RPG studios ever. You only have 3 classes available, but you develop your character throughout the game.
You decide whether you want to be on the light or the dark side of the Force and can even influence your companions accordingly. The combat system works with lightsabers and blasters similar to Dragon Age directly, or with breaks.
For fans of the series: in KotOR you can even build your own lightsaber from all the individual parts. A second part has also appeared, The Old Republic is also available as an MMORPG and it is still successful today.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic – The trailer for the remake on PS5
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Strictly speaking, without a turn system, CRPGs aren’t really CRPGs anymore, just RPGs. The genre has evolved over the years, with RPGs featuring real-time combat morphing into action RPGs.
The best-known representative of these “new” RPGs is Diablo. If you are now interested in the hype surrounding Baldur’s Gate 3, but need more action, Diablo 4 is the newest part of the series:
Diablo 4 gets a lot of criticism after 1 month, but the developers are already working on solutions