If you’re a frugal gamer looking to wring the maximum number of hours of entertainment from every dollar spent, we might have just found you the best deal on the internet. Humble Bundle is currently offering the Isometric Immersion CRPG Pack which, for $23 (£20.31), contains 11 massive isometric RPGs and DLC packs, including the bombastic Warhammer 40k Rogue Trader, the fantasy epic Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, and the genre-redefining Disco Elysium.
Warhammer 40k Rogue Trader is the first CRPG set in the grim dark Warhammer 40,000 universe and it’s an absolute doozey. If you’re a CRPG fan foremost, it’s an excellent introduction to the universe; for existing 40k fans who want to delve deep into the universe, this is the best Warhammer 40k game for you. And the bundle also comes with two DLC that weave throughout the base game.
Your character is ripped from whatever destiny they once had to inherit the merchant empire of a spacefaring Rogue Trader, giving your character rare freedom to explore the setting. There’s an overarching mystery to uncover, decisions with lasting consequences to make, and you’ll always be building up your trade empire. All that, plus combat that is both tactical and visceral, make this a winner.
Rogue Trader, and its two DLC, are only available in the full 11 item bundle, which costs $23 (£20.31) – which is already more than a 50% saving on the base game’s MSRP. If you already own it, the $15 (£13.24) tier gets you the other nine games. The bundle is available on the Humble Games website until September 23.
The rest of this bundle is stacked. Disco Elysium is now my favorite CRPG, with a rock solid police procedural investigation at the core of a story about personal and social identity, authenticity, trauma and growth. Its weird reimagining of genre mechanics, in which your skills have their own personalities, competencies, and desires, works so much better than it sounds like it should, supported by inspired writing and a great voice cast.
Sticking with detective work there’s also Gamedec, in which you take the role of a private eye investigating mysteries in cyberpunk virtual worlds. I hadn’t heard of this before seeing it in this bundle, but it promises some innovative systems, such as open-ended investigations where you can come to your own conclusions based on the evidence; the story progresses regardless of what you choose.
The game that Disco booted out of the top spot in my personal RPG hierarchy was Planescape Torment, and while that isn’t in this bundle, its spiritual successor, Torment: Tides of Numenera, is. Tides may not hold up to the game it’s so obviously inspired by, but it’s still a very good CRPG, with the post-post-post-post-post-apocalyptic science-fantasy setting of The Ninth World packed with incredible ideas.
If you want fantasy epics, this bundle’s got fantasy epics. There’s the Game of the Year edition of Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, a sprawling adventure that will see you lead a campaign to fight back a demonic invasion.
Then there are two fantasy games I’ve not encountered before. Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness is a classic real-time-with-pause RPG in the vein of the original Baldurs Gate or Icewind Dale; its DLC expansion pack is also in the bundle. Balrum is quite different, blending survival, farming, and crafting mechanics into a traditional RPG storyline.
Lastly, there are two incredibly cool indie games here. Skald: Against the Black Priory is a tactical CRPG with Lovecraftian plot threads and a glorious Commodore 64 aesthetic, making great use of all that black screen space to sell the grungy aesthetic. Then there’s Underrail, which despite its functional graphics has the in-depth reactive storytelling of Fallout 2 and a setting similar to the Metro franchise.
It’s a feast for RPG fans. I’ve got some of the titles on here already, plus a professional obligation to use my hobby time to test unreleased games instead of playing old ones, and I’m still tempted by it. If you want to chat about your favorite CRPGs, come and say hi in the Wargamer Discord community!
Source: Wargamer
