Baldur’s Gate 3 is a huge hit on Steam and GOG. The game excites hundreds of thousands of players, but we often read here on MeinMMO: the turn-based system kills the interest of many potential fans. That’s why we present to you here 5 alternative games for people who like Baldur’s Gate 3, but don’t want to play turn-based combat.
What’s going on with Baldur’s Gate 3?
- On August 3, Baldur’s Gate 3 was released for PC and surpassed the developers’ expectations by more than 7 times.
- The game is a classic role-playing game (also: Computer Role-Playing Game, or short: CRPG) and is based on the rules of Dungeons & Dragons with all its peculiarities.
- You build a character from one of 12 classes and 11 races and experience an adventure. What annoys some, however, is that the combat is turn-based.
What kind of games are these? Turns belong to D&D because some activities with pen and paper can’t be solved any other way. But on PC or console, it could be.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is currently the game everyone is talking about and one of the biggest hits of 2023. With our alternatives here, we present to you 5 games that capture the spirit of role-playing games like Baldur’s Gate, but can do without turns.
This means: instead of always taking a turn and finishing your round, everything happens more or less simultaneously. The play style remains very similar to that of Baldur’s Gate 3.
1. Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous
Pathfinder is based on the ruleset of the same name, which itself is already a derivative of Dungeons & Dragons. You will find the greatest similarity to Baldur’s Gate among all our mentioned alternatives.
Wrath of the Righteous is the second part from the studio Owlcat and was released in 2021 as the RPG hit of the year. The game is one of the best RPGs on Steam and in the GameStar test Wrath of the Righteous received a strong rating of 91.
You start the game as an adventurer with little memory and become stronger on your journey, gaining legendary powers and discovering who and what you actually are – and what your destiny is.
Pathfinder is significantly more complex than Baldur’s Gate with many more classes, an additional travel system, and time pressure in the missions. Expect several hours before you really find your way around. You can play in real-time or in turns.
2. Dragon Age: Origins
Origins is the first part of the famous Dragon Age series and for our editor Benedict Grothaus one of the best games of all time. The fantasy epic revolves around the fictional world of Thedas, and you fight there as a Warden against “the evil” – broadly speaking.
Compared to Baldur’s Gate, fewer classes are available to you, but romances and personal development are at least equally central.
For all interested, Dragon Age also has a series on Netflix:
The first part of the series, Origins, follows an isometric perspective like Baldur’s Gate 3. Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition are more stylistically oriented towards fantasy games like Witcher or Skyrim.
Dragon Age: Origins does not have a true turn-based mode, only real-time. However, you can pause it optionally to plan turns if you wish.
3. Pillars of Eternity
Pillars of Eternity relies, like Baldur’s Gate 3, on a more complex combination of races and classes. You control a small group through tasks, adventures, and dungeons in search of an answer to what the gods actually have a problem with.
The game comes from the studio Obsidian, which became famous for the Fallout series. Accordingly, the style and humor strongly resemble the early Fallout titles. In 2018, a second part of the series was released, which received a rating of 90 from GamePro.
The studio is currently working on Avowed, a new RPG in the same universe, which is set to be released in 2024.
- Pillars of Eternity on Steam
- Pillars of Eternity in the PS Store
- Pillars of Eternity in the Xbox Store
- Pillars of Eternity in the Nintendo eStore
4. Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen
Fancy dragons? Then you should check out Dragon’s Dogma, even if the beginning may seem a bit daunting: a dragon steals your heart, which doesn’t kill you but transforms you.
As a kind of undead (under another name), you gather people to defeat the dragon and thus stop the apocalypse. Just something you have to do on a Friday afternoon.
What makes Dragon’s Dogma so special is the pawn system. You can “train” your companions and make them available to other players via an online function. Conversely, you can also borrow pawns from others.
The series has evolved over the years. With Dragon’s Dogma Online there was an MMORPG that fans are currently reviving and Dragon’s Dogma 2 is currently in development.
- Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen on Steam
- Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen in the Xbox Store
- Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen in the PS Store
5. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
As a little alternative to the fantasy games in this series, we present to you one of the older Star Wars games. Knights of the Old Republic is one of the first RPGs in the SW universe.
Behind Star Wars: KotOR is BioWare, one of the most well-known RPG studios. Although only 3 classes are available to you, you continue to develop your character over the entire game.
You decide whether you want to stand 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, either directly or with pauses.
For fans of the series: in the sequel KotOR 2, you can even build your own lightsaber from parts. The Old Republic also exists as an MMORPG and is still successful today.
- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic on Steam
- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic in the Xbox Store
- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic in the Nintendo eShop
- A remake is set to be released for PS5, but has been postponed indefinitely
Strictly speaking, CRPGs without a turn-based system are no longer really CRPGs, but only RPGs. The genre has evolved over the years and the role-playing games with real-time combat have increasingly become action RPGs.
The most well-known representative of these “new” RPGs is Diablo. If you are now in the mood for the hype surrounding Baldur’s Gate 3 but need more action, you have access to the latest installment in the series with Diablo 4:
