I don't have a suggestion that perfectly fits your bill. But have you tried streets of rogue? It is a rogue lite, but I had a lot of fun, and it has old style graphics
this post was submitted on 18 Jun 2023
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I've also heard great things about Crosscode. I haven't started it yet (mainly because I'm worried about what it will do to my already flagging productivity), but from what I've heard about it, it sounds like it'd fit the bill quite well!
I really enjoyed Death's Door, which is frequently compared with Tunic. That might be one to check out!
You might also be interested in Supergiant's older games: Bastion and Transistor. They're the team behind Hades, but those older games don't have the same rogue-like elements that Hades does. (They also both have absolutely phenomenal soundtracks by Daren Korb!)
You might also like Divine Divinity (the 21 year old predecessor to the popular Divinity: Original Sin).
Pulled the trigger on Crosscode! I'll put the others on my list. Thanks!
lmao me too actually, since posting this I decided to give it a go this past weekend. Not very far in yet, but I'm really enjoying it so far!
Youβve played Soul Blazer, Illusion of Gaia, and Terranigma, right?
I suggest trying the various Ys games. Ys I & II use classic top-down view but with a distinctive "bump combat" system that, in the modern "Chronicles +" release, is really perfected to make a very smooth and surprisingly fast-paced experience. Older versions of Ys I and II also work similarly, albeit with less polish.
Some of the other older Ys games may also fit the bill, but they've been replaced in the official Ys canon by their remakes, of which I'd suggest a trilogy of games that run on the same engine -- Ys VI: the Ark of Napishtim, Ys: the Oath in Felghana (the remake of Ys III), and Ys Origin (a prequel to the whole series). These are technically in 3D but they play in sorta pseudo-2D to some extent because you have a fixed angle isometric perspective most of the time.
By the way, all the Ys games are currently on sale in the GOG Summer Sale.
Also, you didn't mention Super Mario RPG, so I kinda need to mention it. :P Also, in a similar vein, if you don't mind the separation between action battle arenas and non-action overworld/dungeon navigation, try Tales of Phantasia, as well as the Summon Night: Swordcraft Story games.
Got Ys 1 and 2 while they're in sale! Thanks for the tip. I've looked at them before but didn't pull the trigger.
You're welcome!
Not 16 bit, but certainly looks pretty... Disco Elysium - I have heard great things about this game
The closest I have played for link to the past feel was Blossom Tales. Short but sweet!
I don't think Disco Elysium would count as action RPG, though. A good game, nonetheless!
Give Nox a try if you'd like a game with good isometric dungeon crawling. It's on GOG.
$1.37 on GOG? Yes please π
Hope I am not too late but if you havent seen it yet maybe Eastward would be worth a try. I recently played through it and enjoyed it a lot. Its quite story heavy I would say almost being like an interactive movie so gameplay is a bit on the weaker side, but nevertheless there are some nice environmental puzzles that have to be solved by combining the abilities of the two different characters that you control, there is an entire small 2D RPG game inside as a minigame and honestly the soundtrack is quite a banger.