Games Like Baldur's Gate 3 for Your Next CRPG Obsession

Baldur's Gate 3 from Larian Studios set a new bar for what CRPGs could achieve. The reactivity to player choices, the companion characters with genuine personalities, the tactical turn-based combat, the sheer scale across three acts each the size of most full games — Larian built something that proves AAA-budget CRPGs are absolutely commercially viable when the design commits fully.

If you've beaten BG3 with multiple party compositions, romance arcs, and endings — and you need your next deep RPG fix — here's what delivers.

The Larian Library

Divinity: Original Sin 2 is Larian's previous masterwork. The systemic interactions between elemental damage types, the tactical combat that rewards creative problem-solving, and the party-based structure laid the groundwork for BG3. Divinity 2 is often cited as even better for pure tactical combat depth, and the Game Master mode lets you run custom tabletop-style campaigns.

Divinity: Original Sin (Enhanced Edition) is the first game and still excellent. Rougher in places than its sequel but with its own charm.

The Classic CRPGs

Pillars of Eternity and Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire from Obsidian are real-time-with-pause CRPGs that honor the Infinity Engine tradition (Baldur's Gate, Planescape: Torment). The writing is dense and political, the world is genuinely unique, and the combat rewards tactical party composition.

Tyranny also from Obsidian puts you on the side of the conquerors rather than the resistance. The moral complexity makes it one of the most interesting RPG premises in years.

Disco Elysium from ZA/UM has no combat at all but the deepest dialogue system ever put in an RPG. Your skills are voices in your head, your failures are as interesting as your successes, and it's widely considered the best-written game ever made.

Planescape: Torment (Enhanced Edition) is the 1999 RPG that Chris Avellone wrote about identity, mortality, and change. Mechanically aged but narratively unmatched.

Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition and Baldur's Gate II Enhanced Edition are the classic Bioware RPGs that BG3 is a sequel to. Very different mechanically (real-time with pause, older D&D rules) but establish the story world.

Icewind Dale Enhanced Edition and Icewind Dale II are combat-focused CRPGs from the same era. Less narrative focus, more dungeon crawling.

The D&D Video Games

Solasta: Crown of the Magister is the most faithful D&D 5e adaptation. Smaller budget than BG3 but mechanically rigorous — spells work exactly as they do in tabletop.

Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition is the early-2000s D&D RPG with extensive modding support. The persistent worlds community is still active, essentially offering free MMO-style D&D experiences.

Neverwinter Nights 2 and its Mask of the Betrayer expansion are often considered better written than the original, especially the expansion.

Temple of Elemental Evil is a cult-classic turn-based D&D 3.5 adaptation from the early 2000s. Dated but genuinely faithful to tabletop D&D.

Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen and other recent D&D video games have been less successful but offer additional forays into the Forgotten Realms.

The Modern CRPGs

Pathfinder: Kingmaker and Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous from Owlcat Games use the Pathfinder tabletop system (a D&D derivative). These games are massive, dense, and genuinely difficult. Wrath of the Righteous especially has some of the best high-level RPG content ever made.

Rogue Trader also from Owlcat brings CRPG depth to the Warhammer 40K universe. The grim sci-fi setting and the party-based void captain gameplay are distinctive.

Expeditions: Rome is a tactical RPG in Caesar-era Rome with strategic campaign management between missions.

Wasteland 3 from inXile is the post-apocalyptic CRPG that honors the Fallout 1/2 tradition. Choice-heavy, tactically complex, darkly funny.

Encased is a Fallout-inspired CRPG set in a mysterious dome. Rougher around the edges than bigger releases but with interesting ideas.

The Tactical RPG Adjacents

Triangle Strategy is Square Enix's tactical RPG with multiple branching narratives. The morality system through party voting creates emergent choices.

Unicorn Overlord from Vanillaware is a tactical RPG with auto-battling squad combat and gorgeous hand-drawn art.

Tactics Ogre: Reborn is the remaster of one of the greatest tactical RPGs ever made. The law-chaos-neutral branching narrative and tactical grid combat have aged beautifully.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (PSP/mobile) remains one of the greatest tactical RPGs ever made and has a cult following decades after release.

XCOM 2 with War of the Chosen is tactical squad combat at its most polished. Not an RPG in the traditional sense but scratches similar tactical itches.

The Narrative-Heavy RPGs

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt tells focused story across an open world. Not a CRPG but narrative-heavy action RPG with meaningful choices.

Mass Effect Legendary Edition bundles the original trilogy with modernization. Your choices ripple across three games.

Dragon Age: Origins is BioWare's fantasy response to Baldur's Gate with tactical party combat and strong companion writing.

Dragon Age: Inquisition and the upcoming Dragon Age: The Veilguard continue the series.

The Indie CRPGs

Disco Elysium is the standout (already mentioned). The indie scene has produced others worth checking.

Stellar Tactics is a space-opera CRPG in early access with starship combat and procedural worlds.

Roadwarden is a text-based RPG with minimal graphics and maximum atmospheric writing.

Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness is a classic-style CRPG from a smaller studio honoring Baldur's Gate traditions.

The Adjacent Recommendations

If you liked Baldur's Gate 3's mechanical depth more than its narrative, roguelike deckbuilders offer similar tactical decision-making at smaller scales. Granny's Gambit brings roguelike deckbuilder satisfaction to Victorian monster-fighting.

If you liked BG3's party-based adventure, the landscape of games like D&D extends beyond pure CRPGs into co-op adventures and tabletop-inspired experiences.

What we make at Choost

We're a small indie studio. Our games: Granny's Rampage — a bullet heaven where grandma grabs a minigun and fights through hell — and Granny's Gambit, a Victorian deckbuilder roguelike starring a card-slinging nan with a chip on her shoulder. Granny's Rampage is $2.99 on itch (Windows) and Google Play (Android), with the Steam launch on June 22 (also $2.99). Granny's Gambit is pay-what-you-want on itch.

Why CRPGs Are Having a Renaissance

Larian proved that massive-scale, reactivity-focused CRPGs are commercially viable at AAA scale. That success will encourage publishers to green-light similar projects, and the pipeline of CRPGs coming in the next few years is stronger than it's been in twenty. Owlcat's next project, the Avowed from Obsidian (first-person perspective but CRPG principles), and multiple announced titles from studios inspired by BG3 will all benefit from the interest Larian's success has created.

The genre rewards players who invest. These aren't games you play casually for a weekend — they're adventures you inhabit for 80-200 hours, multiple times, with different builds. That investment is exactly the appeal, and the payoff is experiences that only this genre provides.

Start with Divinity: Original Sin 2 if you want more Larian. Pillars of Eternity II if you want classic CRPG depth. Pathfinder: WOTR if you want the biggest, most mechanically complex RPG possible. Disco Elysium if you want the best writing in gaming. Whatever you choose, expect to lose months. That's the CRPG experience.