Bethesda have been dumbing down their RPG's for ages. I actually prefer more stats and levelling options. But I think the two games to get the balance right are Dungeon Master and Wizardry 8. Oblivion was the last Bethesda to have the balance right - Skyrim dumbed it down a lot as did Fallout 76.
I don't play for the stories, I skip most dialogue and rarely read the lore. Sounds like you would prefer the Fable series? Did you ever play text adventures?
See I didn't mind having a narrative oriented game when playing Infocom and Melbourne House Text Adventures - like reading a book, you create the images in your mind anyway. But for RPG's I prefer creating a character to free roam. I think the last RPG I played that I got into the narrative was Mass Effect.
Bethesda have been dumbing down their RPG's for ages. I actually prefer more stats and levelling options. But I think the two games to get the balance right are Dungeon Master and Wizardry 8. Oblivion was the last Bethesda to have the balance right - Skyrim dumbed it down a lot as did Fallout 76.
I don't play for the stories, I skip most dialogue and rarely read the lore. Sounds like you would prefer the Fable series? Did you ever play text adventures?
See I didn't mind having a narrative oriented game when playing Infocom and Melbourne House Text Adventures - like reading a book, you create the images in your mind anyway. But for RPG's I prefer creating a character to free roam. I think the last RPG I played that I got into the narrative was Mass Effect.