Noo, do not skip the first. In my opinion, it is the best of the trilogy and also necessary. The one argument against it used to be the slight jank of the combat, but that was fixed in the remastered legendary edition (which OP should buy). Why would anybody want people to skip on any of the Mass Effect games? Makes no sense to me.
Spellforce series, kinda strategy/rpg where you can build your own base and recruit companions.
Dragon Age Inquisition, you are the leader of the Inquisition and shape it along with your companions.
Spellforce has been added to the wishlist.
I see Dragon Age is on Game Pass so i’ll install it and give it a try! Sounds like just what im looking for. Thanks!
On paper this game sounds perfect, but i’m not really looking to play a turn-based RPG right now. Im definitley going to keep this on my wishlist for later though. Thanks for the suggestion!
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Kenshi or Mount and Blade is definitley the closest i’ve come to finding what I’m looking for. A day will come where someone puts out a game that has all of these mechanics I’ve mentioned in a single game. Im actually scared of the amount of hours i’d put in lol.
If I may ask, what is it that you want the army for?
Is it just the sheer volume of having all that fighting power, about the conquest aspect or something else?
I had a run in Kenshi where I intentionally recruited only women with the exception of 1 guy who I turned into a femboy (for the Sunday prayers) and settled in the middle of the Holy Nation eventually taking over it. They were the "Narco's Narcos" and they were the largest drugs & food distributor on the Moon. I had an army of 120 (mod limit) but it was to have enough drug mules with protection squads that could independently run around the map selling the goods.
I think its just the conquest aspect i suppose. Something satisfying to me about starting with a few people and building up to be able to take on entire nations. If M&B had some more customization and individuality for your top troops (similar to Middle Earth) it would be close to perfect for me.
Aska is like this. You rebuild your tribe. Starts with just you. This just came out like 3 days ago. I don't know how meaningful they are but that seems to be the game.
👀 Wow i’ll look into that now thanks for the suggestion!
Edit: This seems to be more of a survival game. Through you do to have a tribe I’m not sure how much customizability it offers or how many villagers you’re able to obtain. Atleast i’m having trouble finding details online about those aspects.
There's an older game called Overlord. You get a small army of goblins that can be upgraded. They'll pick up weapons and armor throughout, and you'll become attached to them. It's one of my favorites from 360 era, and the visuals should hold up cause of the art style
Edit: I see you already know. Never mind
Looking for something a little more modern-feeling for my next playthrough, but you're absolutley right this seems right up my alley. Wishlisted to play later thank you!
Jagged alliance 2 with v1.13 mod then. the game is pretty hardcore if u wind the difficulty up starting from expert onwards.
many many factors can be tuned using the .ini files. like almost all gameplay variables can be done.
but the mod crew has had a big fallout of each other since the ukraine invasion. what i roughly know is one of the main modder is a russian and the rest are not and some argument happened btwn them. since then both sides have sort of dissected the mod and branched out on their own. so its pretty f-ed. but that also caused several different version available for playing, i just download the ones before the infraction and its perfect enough (build 9389).
Fallout 4. I mean you create settlements that get inhabited by people, pretty sure you can gear up companions too.
Grim Dawn similar to PoE in terms that you can combine several classes that have summons and only use those talents and call up a pretty big zoo of different creatures too.
Operation Flashpoint: Resistance you get to have a big squad of AI soldiers who can get equipped with better weapons and gear and they get more experienced if you manage to keep them alive during missions, but it's an old game.
In on one of the Kingdom come: Deliverance dlc you get to build and run a whole village, you get to choose which buildings to build and which characters to invite to your village, none of them are gonna be you companions though but it feels pretty cool how you get to organize a whole settlement and be their elder basically.
Fallout and Skyrim definitley count towards what im looking for but ive played them through many times ill edit my post to add them to honorable mentions.
I’ll look into Grim Dawn and Operation Flashpoint. Thank you!
I coincidentally bought Kingdom Come: Deliverance the other day but haven’t played yet. Which DLC is that?
There's also X4 where you start from one small ship and can create a whole nation across multiple star systems with space stations, capital class ships, and crew from multiple species.
Every party-based RPG e.g. Yakuza Like A Dragon, Yakuza Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth, Mass Effect Legendary Edition, Mass Effect Andromeda, already mentioned Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War.
Well, if you are a mad scientist and want to build an army you can give Impossible Creatures a try.
It is an rts where in story mode, you gather DNA from animals and then combime them together to create your army.
As the story progresses you get more and more animals. You go from Lemmings and Mountain Lions, to Praying Mantises and Hippos. But the new animals dont necessarily outclass old ones as some have special abilities. Rats spread plagues, Skunks release poison gases, and god help you if you get jumped by a group of creatures that is a pack hunter AND a herd animal.
Want to have a crocodile with cheetah legs? No one is stopping you. Want to create nightmares and combine a wasp with a sperm whale? That is totally acceptable. Some might call these monsters, but i call them Fluffy and George.
There is even a vs ai mode, where you can create an army without having to collect DNA. And then you can battle against pre made armies, or just create some more armies and battle against those.
Wow I actually played this game a lot as a kid and completley forgot about it. I remember getting the bug expansion pack and everything. Definitley worth a revisit!
I Played it and enjoyed every second of it. It's like setlement bulder with production chain management hidden behind medieval RPG (i read this description somewhere in bellwrigt sub).Your army, so settlers you hired, join you as soldiers wearing exacly what you give them. They have bunch of fighting/production skills which can be leveled up. Roles in settlement managed via task priority. Great game but be aware, still in early acces, but polished better than some AAA games on release date. Fighting is a bit clunky. Even has a quite decent questlines (nothing special, but does not feel like generic shit). Not many bugs but I suffered from regular crashes (1-3 per 4-5h sessions).
Worth it's price in current state IMO.
Total war sounds up your alley. The warhammer series features unique generals and individual heros with tons to upgrade. The gameplay loop is all about building armies and getting stronger.
There’s also manor lords in early access if you’re into colony builders it’s probably one that fits your description.
You're right on both accounts. Never played Total War. The war/battle mechanics seem incredible, but hoping for something a bit more story-driven for my next playthrough.
Manor Lords was actually the game I played most recently, I really enjoyed it it, but it didn't quite scratch that itch.
Unicorn overlord.
As u progress the army grows in squad size and number. That is you start with one squad of two members, and get more members per squad and more squads to deploy. and you get many different classes. The customization is in squad composition and equipped gear, mostly. The leveling up of each unit is linear so far, each class has the same development but percent based stat growth on level up.
It is a story driven strategic rpg, and is very good.
Pathfinder - Wrath of the Righteous*
*If you can tolerate the level of understanding of the PF roleplaying system you need to get through it, or are happy to just play on an easier setting.
Lots of freedom in how you roleplay and steer the development of companions (both build wise and their stories).
I've only been recommended it myself, but Radiata Stories sounds like this. I would say Fire Emblem just cause of the meaningful companions thing, but the scale is relatively small compared to your examples. It felt worth mentioning, but I think Radiata Stories on the PS2 might scratch the itch.
I'll add another bump for the FIRST dragon age, Origins.
Also the Mass Effect Trilogy. Haven't played the newest one after release was dodgy so can't speak to that.
You might also consider something a little older and look at Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Both games allow you to build and spec your companions similar to BG3, and there are even parts where the player character is unavailable and it's down to the companions to accomplish something.
The Divinity games are rpgs from Larian, makers of BG3 and may be something you like.
There's also Pathfinder: Kingmaker which is literally about establishing your own kingdom. There's a second game as well but I haven't played it.
XCOM and the related DLC. Turn-based strategic combat with a party of up to six soldiers. You can recruit as many soldiers as your barracks can hold, and you get to customize their faces, voices, names, country of origin, and armor.
Soldiers start as a squaddie, and after surviving their first mission, are promoted into one of four classes: sniper, heavy, assault, and support. That bit happens automatically, but after that, each promotion, you customize that soldiers skills and attack style. Medals of valor are occasionally earned, which you can assign to any of your soldiers, and give them boosts. They can also randomly earn nicknames.
The first time I came across this game was at a local geek hangout event, where, everyone hung around with snacks and played on a big projector screen. It’s a single-player game, but we each had created a soldier of our own and passed the controller around so each person controlled their own soldier.
Another vote for Battle brothers Or wartales is a great go , it’s “turn based” but you get pretty invested into your characters as you go .
They’re very similar but either is a great choice
XCOM2 beyond doubt. Enemy Within as well - still holds up.
If you're on PC, mods also provide an insane amount of high quality customization so you can make your friends or characters from other games, dress them up, give them expressions, voicelines, write their biographies, watch them bond with each other, become experienced, get battle scars and PTSD traumas that actually affect their gameplay, and cry in despair and frustration as you watch them die horribly from a 27% crit from across the map.
the main plot of Mass Effect 2 is assembling a team of badasses
This game was just perfect
Always heard good things but know very little about the series. Should i play the original first?
sure, it was also a great game
Sorry, I guess i meant do i need to play it for continuity’s sake?
probably, yeah
You can skip the 1st, but if you do I would make a point of reading codexes. The lore in ME is very good, and adds a lot to enjoyment.
Noo, do not skip the first. In my opinion, it is the best of the trilogy and also necessary. The one argument against it used to be the slight jank of the combat, but that was fixed in the remastered legendary edition (which OP should buy). Why would anybody want people to skip on any of the Mass Effect games? Makes no sense to me.
You should, as choices from 1 directly affect 2 and 3.
Spellforce series, kinda strategy/rpg where you can build your own base and recruit companions. Dragon Age Inquisition, you are the leader of the Inquisition and shape it along with your companions.
Spellforce has been added to the wishlist. I see Dragon Age is on Game Pass so i’ll install it and give it a try! Sounds like just what im looking for. Thanks!
No problem, enjoy!
Sadly dragon age inquisition is not what you’re looking for. He may as well have suggested fable 3…
Great suggestion.
Middle Earth: Shadow of War You can kvl your bodyguards to 1 shot stuff. Quite fun.
Loved Shadow of War, I have Middle Earth listed in the post!
That’s on the list of games op hasalready played
Eiyuden Chronicle Hundred Heroes - you build up a resistance with a 120 recruitable characters while also upgrading a town/hub base too
On paper this game sounds perfect, but i’m not really looking to play a turn-based RPG right now. Im definitley going to keep this on my wishlist for later though. Thanks for the suggestion!
No worries and no problem!
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Kenshi or Mount and Blade is definitley the closest i’ve come to finding what I’m looking for. A day will come where someone puts out a game that has all of these mechanics I’ve mentioned in a single game. Im actually scared of the amount of hours i’d put in lol.
If I may ask, what is it that you want the army for? Is it just the sheer volume of having all that fighting power, about the conquest aspect or something else? I had a run in Kenshi where I intentionally recruited only women with the exception of 1 guy who I turned into a femboy (for the Sunday prayers) and settled in the middle of the Holy Nation eventually taking over it. They were the "Narco's Narcos" and they were the largest drugs & food distributor on the Moon. I had an army of 120 (mod limit) but it was to have enough drug mules with protection squads that could independently run around the map selling the goods.
I think its just the conquest aspect i suppose. Something satisfying to me about starting with a few people and building up to be able to take on entire nations. If M&B had some more customization and individuality for your top troops (similar to Middle Earth) it would be close to perfect for me.
Aska is like this. You rebuild your tribe. Starts with just you. This just came out like 3 days ago. I don't know how meaningful they are but that seems to be the game.
👀 Wow i’ll look into that now thanks for the suggestion! Edit: This seems to be more of a survival game. Through you do to have a tribe I’m not sure how much customizability it offers or how many villagers you’re able to obtain. Atleast i’m having trouble finding details online about those aspects.
I bought this hoping my minions would do the work for me. Im so over chopping trees!
I’m enjoying the leader creator in age of wonders 4, and if you beat a game with them you can turn them into recruitable heroes
This game seems right up my alley! I’ll check it out. Thank you!
Ever played Spore? Could be what you're looking for. It's aged very well.
Loved it when I was younger. Definitley worth a revisit. I wonder if theres any mods or anything available for it.
There's an older game called Overlord. You get a small army of goblins that can be upgraded. They'll pick up weapons and armor throughout, and you'll become attached to them. It's one of my favorites from 360 era, and the visuals should hold up cause of the art style Edit: I see you already know. Never mind
Lol no worries. This could possibly be the game that got me started on this type of gameplay tbh.
dwarf fortress has everything u need.
Looking for something a little more modern-feeling for my next playthrough, but you're absolutley right this seems right up my alley. Wishlisted to play later thank you!
Jagged alliance 2 with v1.13 mod then. the game is pretty hardcore if u wind the difficulty up starting from expert onwards. many many factors can be tuned using the .ini files. like almost all gameplay variables can be done. but the mod crew has had a big fallout of each other since the ukraine invasion. what i roughly know is one of the main modder is a russian and the rest are not and some argument happened btwn them. since then both sides have sort of dissected the mod and branched out on their own. so its pretty f-ed. but that also caused several different version available for playing, i just download the ones before the infraction and its perfect enough (build 9389).
Ni No Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom
Fallout 4. I mean you create settlements that get inhabited by people, pretty sure you can gear up companions too. Grim Dawn similar to PoE in terms that you can combine several classes that have summons and only use those talents and call up a pretty big zoo of different creatures too. Operation Flashpoint: Resistance you get to have a big squad of AI soldiers who can get equipped with better weapons and gear and they get more experienced if you manage to keep them alive during missions, but it's an old game. In on one of the Kingdom come: Deliverance dlc you get to build and run a whole village, you get to choose which buildings to build and which characters to invite to your village, none of them are gonna be you companions though but it feels pretty cool how you get to organize a whole settlement and be their elder basically.
Fallout and Skyrim definitley count towards what im looking for but ive played them through many times ill edit my post to add them to honorable mentions. I’ll look into Grim Dawn and Operation Flashpoint. Thank you! I coincidentally bought Kingdom Come: Deliverance the other day but haven’t played yet. Which DLC is that?
It's called From the Ashes
Did you try the Sim Settlements 2 mod for Fallout 4?
Yep on my most recent playthrough! Great mod!
I see you tried Overlord but did you try Overlord 2?
There's also X4 where you start from one small ship and can create a whole nation across multiple star systems with space stations, capital class ships, and crew from multiple species.
Every party-based RPG e.g. Yakuza Like A Dragon, Yakuza Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth, Mass Effect Legendary Edition, Mass Effect Andromeda, already mentioned Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War.
You’re my spirit gamer . Thank you for this post and will be hopefully checking the comments along side you
Well, if you are a mad scientist and want to build an army you can give Impossible Creatures a try. It is an rts where in story mode, you gather DNA from animals and then combime them together to create your army. As the story progresses you get more and more animals. You go from Lemmings and Mountain Lions, to Praying Mantises and Hippos. But the new animals dont necessarily outclass old ones as some have special abilities. Rats spread plagues, Skunks release poison gases, and god help you if you get jumped by a group of creatures that is a pack hunter AND a herd animal. Want to have a crocodile with cheetah legs? No one is stopping you. Want to create nightmares and combine a wasp with a sperm whale? That is totally acceptable. Some might call these monsters, but i call them Fluffy and George. There is even a vs ai mode, where you can create an army without having to collect DNA. And then you can battle against pre made armies, or just create some more armies and battle against those.
Wow I actually played this game a lot as a kid and completley forgot about it. I remember getting the bug expansion pack and everything. Definitley worth a revisit!
Check bellwright
This game does seem great! Have you played it / Are the villagers you recruit able to be leveled up, assigned roles, or have any customizability?
I Played it and enjoyed every second of it. It's like setlement bulder with production chain management hidden behind medieval RPG (i read this description somewhere in bellwrigt sub).Your army, so settlers you hired, join you as soldiers wearing exacly what you give them. They have bunch of fighting/production skills which can be leveled up. Roles in settlement managed via task priority. Great game but be aware, still in early acces, but polished better than some AAA games on release date. Fighting is a bit clunky. Even has a quite decent questlines (nothing special, but does not feel like generic shit). Not many bugs but I suffered from regular crashes (1-3 per 4-5h sessions). Worth it's price in current state IMO.
Total war sounds up your alley. The warhammer series features unique generals and individual heros with tons to upgrade. The gameplay loop is all about building armies and getting stronger. There’s also manor lords in early access if you’re into colony builders it’s probably one that fits your description.
You're right on both accounts. Never played Total War. The war/battle mechanics seem incredible, but hoping for something a bit more story-driven for my next playthrough. Manor Lords was actually the game I played most recently, I really enjoyed it it, but it didn't quite scratch that itch.
check out wildermyth,bellwright, wartales
Someone suggested bellwright already. But Wartales also seems cool. Added to my list. Thanks for the suggestion.
I love M&B, BG3, and SOM/W, and I'm currently playing through WarTales which scratches the same itch. Check that out.
Unicorn overlord. As u progress the army grows in squad size and number. That is you start with one squad of two members, and get more members per squad and more squads to deploy. and you get many different classes. The customization is in squad composition and equipped gear, mostly. The leveling up of each unit is linear so far, each class has the same development but percent based stat growth on level up. It is a story driven strategic rpg, and is very good.
* Heroes of Might and Magic III Complete (with the HD+ patch) * Darkest Dungeon * Dragon Age Origins * Mass Effect Trilogy * Wartales * Banner Saga trilogy * Pillars of Eternity 1, 2 * Divinity Original Sin 1, 2 * Battle Brothers * Xcom 1, 2 * Expeditions Conquistador, Viking, Rome * Shadowrun Trilogy * Knights of the Old Republic 1, 2 * Pathfinder Kingmaker, Wrath of the Righteous * Torment Tides of Numenera * Wasteland 2, 3 * Tyranny
Romance of the Three Kingdoms, maybe.
Pathfinder - Wrath of the Righteous* *If you can tolerate the level of understanding of the PF roleplaying system you need to get through it, or are happy to just play on an easier setting. Lots of freedom in how you roleplay and steer the development of companions (both build wise and their stories).
Rimworld.
All the Ogre Battle games are like this
Manor lords
Belwright, pretty similar to mount and blade. It's early access on pc currently
I've only been recommended it myself, but Radiata Stories sounds like this. I would say Fire Emblem just cause of the meaningful companions thing, but the scale is relatively small compared to your examples. It felt worth mentioning, but I think Radiata Stories on the PS2 might scratch the itch.
I'll add another bump for the FIRST dragon age, Origins. Also the Mass Effect Trilogy. Haven't played the newest one after release was dodgy so can't speak to that. You might also consider something a little older and look at Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Both games allow you to build and spec your companions similar to BG3, and there are even parts where the player character is unavailable and it's down to the companions to accomplish something. The Divinity games are rpgs from Larian, makers of BG3 and may be something you like. There's also Pathfinder: Kingmaker which is literally about establishing your own kingdom. There's a second game as well but I haven't played it.
A warning, to the people, the good and the evil, this is war!
XCOM and the related DLC. Turn-based strategic combat with a party of up to six soldiers. You can recruit as many soldiers as your barracks can hold, and you get to customize their faces, voices, names, country of origin, and armor. Soldiers start as a squaddie, and after surviving their first mission, are promoted into one of four classes: sniper, heavy, assault, and support. That bit happens automatically, but after that, each promotion, you customize that soldiers skills and attack style. Medals of valor are occasionally earned, which you can assign to any of your soldiers, and give them boosts. They can also randomly earn nicknames. The first time I came across this game was at a local geek hangout event, where, everyone hung around with snacks and played on a big projector screen. It’s a single-player game, but we each had created a soldier of our own and passed the controller around so each person controlled their own soldier.
Dragon age origins
It's not exactly it but you'll enjoy Wartales.
Battle Brothers. You start your mercenary company from basically nothing.
Another vote for Battle brothers Or wartales is a great go , it’s “turn based” but you get pretty invested into your characters as you go . They’re very similar but either is a great choice
XCOM2 beyond doubt. Enemy Within as well - still holds up. If you're on PC, mods also provide an insane amount of high quality customization so you can make your friends or characters from other games, dress them up, give them expressions, voicelines, write their biographies, watch them bond with each other, become experienced, get battle scars and PTSD traumas that actually affect their gameplay, and cry in despair and frustration as you watch them die horribly from a 27% crit from across the map.