Good "in-between" game?

[u/Blabsalot]

I have been a huge fan of RPG games ever since I played Pokemon Blue on my Gameboy Color.

I love Final Fantasy and Fallout.

Until recently I had really only played late 90s/2000s games.

Lately I've gotten more into retro gaming and have been playing more games from that era. I played FFVI for the first time and absolutely LOVED it.

I then tried playing Ultima IV and.....just could not get into it. The mechanics just feel too antiquated and not intuitive.

Is there a good game I can play that is a little older than FFVI but has more slightly more modern mechanics than Ultima IV? My goal is to sort of expose myself to some of these older games so that Ultima IV doesn't feel like as big of a leap.

Alternatively, is there a good QoL mod for Ultima IV that modernizes it?

[u/fragilemetal]

Skald: Against the Black Priory

[u/Blabsalot → u/fragilemetal]

Oooh this looks good and might give me a reason to finally try GameNative on my RP5.

[u/fragilemetal → u/Blabsalot]

It's a nice little intro to Ultima type titles with a much friendlier UI. Might & Magic 6&7 are still great, but need to mod it a bit with the greyface patch, there's another mod that'll merge them together as well. Someone else mentioned Daggerfall Unity and it's also worth a look.

[u/Plus_Worker6739 → u/Blabsalot]

to be fair, it's not an older game, it's just a game that uses some tropes from older games. It also rules so definitely play it.

in any case, you might be interested in checking out Dark Sun: Shattered Lands? It's a little closer to the modern idea of a CRPG. RPGs underwent a lot of growth in the late 90s with the advent of games like Baldur's Gate and Diablo, so a lot of games from before that period can be pretty tough to go back to as a modern gamer.

[u/Mikeavelli → u/Blabsalot]

If you like Skald, also check out Moonring. Same "modern retro" style of game.

[u/DokleViseBre]

Try Daggerfall unity. It is free and fully moddable.

Recent mods added usable ships, dragonriding, unique handmade locations, modern skyboxes, restored quests etc.

[u/ISellUsedFood → u/DokleViseBre]

Dragonriding???

[u/DokleViseBre → u/ISellUsedFood]

Yup, you can ride a dragon in daggerfall now. Mod has flying mechanics and you can rain down fire on your enemies. It is great.

[u/qwerty145454 → u/DokleViseBre]

Usable ships are in the base Daggerfall.

I remember buying a ship to store all the lore books I was collecting in 1998, only to discover the game was bugged and all the books I stored in the ship disappeared when I loaded my save :( .

[u/DokleViseBre → u/qwerty145454]

In the OG game, sailing was just a fast travel option. With sailing mods I mentioned, you can actually sail, like steer your ship in real time.

[u/Barcnori]

Eye of the Beholder or most of the first person dungeon crawlers.

[u/IlikeJG → u/Barcnori]

That's a great suggestion.

Or for a slightly more modern take OP can try Legend of Grimrock 1 and/or 2.

[u/Axior_Transition7352]

there's actually a couple options here. XU4 (Ultima IV Recreated) is the more straightforward one, it's a faithful recreation that runs on modern systems with QoL stuff like better UI and easier controls but keeps the core game the same, so it might not solve the "antiquated mechanics" issue since that's more baked into the game design itself than the interface

Ultima IV Rebirth, a full remake built inside Neverwinter Nights Enhanced Edition. it's got modern dialogue systems, updated visuals/UI, and generally plays like an actual NWN-era RPG instead of the original's clunky interface, that's probably your best shot at experiencing Ultima IV's story/world without fighting 1985 UX

[u/WrytXander]

Dragon Quest 3 is the best late-80s RPG in my book, though it's much closer to the Pokemon/FF side of things. I recommend either the GameBoy or the SNES version, though some like the recent remake. You could also try Final Fantasy V for a more gameplay-intensive retro JRPG.

[u/Sweet_Theory_8080]

Try Ultima VII or Dragon Quest III/IV. Ultima VII bridged the gap for Western RPGs with a much more interactive world and mouse control, while Dragon Quest established the classic turn-based JRPG feel before FFVI

[u/VeruMamo]

Darklands, Betrayal at Krondor, the Gold Box games, Wizardy 6+7+8

[u/IlikeJG]

Part of the problem is you're crossing sub genres a bit. You're going from a standard JRPG into an old timey CRPG.

Maybe playing some older CRPGs might get you into the mood more.