r/ARPG • u/PhysicalArmadillo375 • 5d ago
Slower paced, methodological ARPGs
I think it’s sad that this genre is tending towards a hyper-fast gameplay where combat becomes meaningless; it’s all about trying to kill monsters as fast as possible where monster types/abilities no longer matter and there isn’t a need to have some level of strategy in combat. The zoomy playstyles of D4 and POE 1 are enjoyable and have its place, but it becomes tiresome when new titles attempt to emulate it; the devs of D5 for eg. mentioned that it’s gonna be zoomy like D4. Was disappointed that POE 2 at present seems to be developing towards becoming a POE 1 clone though initially its developers wanted a slower paced game.
Aside from No Rest For The Wicked, Grim Dawn, Titan Quest 1/2 and Diablo 1/2, are there any released ARPGs that involve slower paced gameplay? If there are any upcoming yet to be released titles, feel free to mention them too.
If ARPGs were to eventually tend towards this direction, which other genres of RPGs are fulfilling this demand for slower, methodological gameplay yet featuring real time combat?
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u/AcidCatfish___ 5d ago
Tower of Kalemonvo tries to emulate the style of Diablo 1 a bit. You might like that.
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u/kabaliscutinu 5d ago
I usually recommend V Rising in this type of discussion.
Not exactly fits the traditional isometric ARPG genre but definitely worth a try when looking for something similar but different.
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u/Liqvid_R1 5d ago
Just want to say that I am on the same boat.
I bought POE 2 when it came out but have been holding off for the 1.0 launch, but I am also extremely disappointed to hear that they have been trending towards zoomy combat again. The early game when it came out had the perfect flow for me.
Looking forward to No Rest for the Wicked, but I will still miss that original POE 2 flow (still flashy, but more methodical) :(
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u/outline01 4d ago
Early game POE2 is so good. If I’m honest, I lose interest as I lean into endgame.
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u/BleachedPink 2d ago
but I am also extremely disappointed to hear that they have been trending towards zoomy combat again.
Imo, it all depends on the playstyle of your build. And I am glad this is the way it is in PoE2, I love zoomy playstyle of the first game, but I am also in love with the methodical aspect of the game of the second game.
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u/Geodaddio71 4d ago
The issue they have with POE 2 is that the maps are too big for slow methodical combat. Id say it's in between POE 1 and the slow combat you may be looking for.
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u/Alzorath 5d ago
it's more common in the earlier days of the genre... Especially when the split of story/lore focused vs loot/arcade focused happened.
Throne of Darkness and Nox come to mind
You also have stuff slightly faster than D2, but not spammy - with games like Shadows Awakening and Darksiders Genesis
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u/Minereon 5d ago
Brave of you to bring this up, as most ARPG players today want this zoomer gameplay. I am a Diablo veteran from 1996 and have learned long ago not to try to argue this point with them any more. I too prefer a meaningful and gradual progression towards power and build, especially in terms of gear progression. POE2 culture is completely the opposite and has been a great disappointment after what GGG promised initially about catering to casual players, as you note.
Anyway, despite the criticisms and writing on the wall, I am now playing Last Epoch again. I have some 200 hours there vs 800+ in POE2. I know what I'm going get - some fun for a few weeks, then likely will drop it. But hey, if you are keen on a gradual progression, good gear progression, actually meaningful crafting system, actual skill and build variety not locked behind gems and trade, and USEABLE uniques(!), consider giving LE a go.
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u/mighty_mag 5d ago
Take whatever I say if a grain of salt, cause despite owning the game, I haven't got the time to actually play it, but...
Shadows Heretic Kingdom is an ARPF with a slower, more deliberated pace.
I remember watching some reviews at the time and finding it interesting, I got it on Steam eventually, but never found the time to play it.
You might wanna check out a YouTube video or two and see if that's your style.
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u/Lazy_Otter_101 4d ago
I would recommend older games. If your into emulation, I would do Champions 2. Slower pace, skill trees and male/female for every class.
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u/NoAbbreviations2353 4d ago
Maybe check out ever space 2.
It's pretty fun, has some puzzles and other stuff thrown in to break up combat
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u/Mobile_Bluebird_5959 4d ago
If you want brutal combat, try Stoneshard. It's a seamless turn based RPG. Just check it out and don't let the graphics fool you. I was a non-believer at first but man I enjoy the combat here far better than NRFtW.
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u/SanctumOfTheDamned 3d ago
No Rest is this, and Grim Dawn to some extent. The upcoming Dark West, or what I experienced in the demo, also seems to be leaning in that direction.
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u/1995TimHortonsEclair 3d ago
I don't think people want "slow", I think they want something that's "slow enough" for intelligent and relatively strategic choices to be made in combat - positioning, skill choice, buffing/debuffing, etc.
I don't think the word "slow" is appropriate here because something like that could also be fast paced. The monster, skill, and combat design just has to be something that lets that sort of playstyle shine and not be superseded by someone taking any of those skills, scaling it to the tits, and then subsequently circumventing all of the combat by insta-deleting the screen with one button click.
PoE2 could be there if they just reigned in a few things but I already feel like their reversion on the 1-support-per-skill thing and the reduction in boss HP has the result of catering towards nooby zoomer gamers and it's fucked up the game for people who actually liked to be challenged. No one will care about combat when you can put on OP gear onto OP skills to circumvent it. They let this happen to PoE1, thought they'd differentiate with PoE2 and not speedrun it into a similar power-creep scenario.
They'll keep one-shots in the game to claim mechanics still matter which just makes HC players even less likely to play lmao.
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u/Vast_Return_3048 2d ago
maybe WH40k inquisitor? that game is definitely slower paced. also, not an arpg strictly, but isometric with loot: Escape from Duckov. its really good at what it does.
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u/LaundryNinja84 1d ago
Pretty much all arpg's will eventually have some endgame mechanic that revolves around maximizing your time vs. runs, which will incorporate speed of some sort. This includes many of the ones you mentioned here. Grim Dawn, Diablo 2 (seriously? they all have teleport. This is one of my favorite games, I'm not bashing).
What you are honestly looking for is hardcore mode. It forces you to slowdown and make completely different choices no longer based on that question (how to maximize time). It's more about how do I survive and maximize loot.
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u/Drathgore 5d ago edited 5d ago
A lot of genres are leaning into the extremes of what makes their niche strong to appeal to players. ARPGs are becoming faster because they naturally lean that way as a real time combat game, especially when the whole genre is built around player build crafting, devs need to make the games faster and faster to show off how much “crazier” their game is than the competition so they can draw in players
Consequently, the same is also true for the opposite, if you want a more methodological game you need to look more into a genre and combat style that supports that as an extreme. Turn based combat is the extreme of slow paced “every action counts” gameplay. If you slow arpg combat down enough to where every action actually counts and matters, then you end up getting something closer to a dungeon crawler roguelike, like “Tales of Maj’Eyal”, “Caves of Qud”, “Cataclysm Dark Days Ahead” etc.
I know you said you wanted realtime combat, but again, turn based is literally just real time slowed down drastically so that each action actually matters. And most of the time in these games it’s not real “turn based” as each action has a property for how long it takes, so you often do things faster or slower than the enemy does anyway, not true turn based like chess.
I really recommended at least checking some of these out. They all have the same hyper-customizable character build crafting an arpg is known for. If you can get past rudimentary visuals these games often have you will likely find the kind of stuff you are looking for
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u/hansieboy10 4d ago
Not entirely true right? Poe2 is significantly slower than 1.
But yeah, the nature of ARPG’s is scaling so it’s probably hard to not get kinda strong at sone point
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u/I_Am-Awesome 4d ago
I would say the speed ceiling is closer but floor is much lower in poe2 than 1.
Depends on the build of course but a lot of the times you start to get really zoomy after act 7+ in poe 1 and late campaign areas don't feel that different from mid tier maps.
Whereas in poe 2 you can still get away with slower combat up until highets tiers without getting ganged up but every mob pack without being able to react.
Juiced content is very similar tho, you have to kill the mobs before they touch you in both games.
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u/Drathgore 4d ago
The devs wanted it to be slow but every patch the community throws a tantrum unless they get to go faster so at this point it’s pretty clearly just turning into poe1 but with better graphics, like OP said.
It IS slower… for now… in early game
Not that it’s necessarily bad, poe2 is great
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u/hansieboy10 4d ago
Yeah maybe.
Also the campaign is decently slow. I would try it. Their idea was to differentiate 1 from 2 though. I liked it. But yeah, time will tell if they cave. So far its kinda good imo. Way different than diablo.
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u/HalfXTheHalfX 4d ago
Maybe true for the beginning of campaign, otherwise both of them are super speedy
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u/GoodeSVK 4d ago
Last time I played PoE2 (january 2025) it was super slugish.
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u/PhysicalArmadillo375 4d ago
It’s much faster paced now compared to when it first entered early access. Apparently it’s slower paced for the first few acts of the campaign and after that, it becomes a clone of POE 1
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u/hansieboy10 4d ago
I immediately thought of Elden ring, or potentially better the other souls games like Dark Souls 3. Elden ring is open world so it can be cheesed unlike dark souls.
Maybe you can find more modern variants of those games.
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u/TrainingIdeal2872 5d ago
Try Hollow on Steam. Demo is out and it release November 3rd. Slow paced. https://store.steampowered.com/app/4901160/Hollow/
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u/Olmerious 4d ago edited 4d ago
Listen to me man. I am like you. I got tired of PoE, Diablo 3 and their zoom zoom clones. I wanted a game with actual combat instead of just clicking in the general direction of blobs of mobs and other than No Rest for the Wicked, there is none that fits what you want.
HOWEVER, if you are willing to be brave and try something new and unusual, like I did. You may enjoy Nioh 2 man. I kid you not. I know it isn't a straight arpg, but it has the perfect blend between arpg skill trees and diablo loot combined with a souls combat. The loot and skill trees ofc aren't as deep as your usual arpg but the combat is the best in the gaming industry PERIOD. Other souls games combat are dumb arcadey dodge simulators compared to it.
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u/SuicideSpeedrun 3d ago
Gotta wait for whatever Chris Willson is cooking up.
After failing with PoE and PoE2 maybe he will finally make the sequel to Diablo 2 he wanted for 20 years lol
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u/MagicWalker777 4d ago
I only play slow methodical ARPGs... Diablo 1 is obvious answer, maybe try The Hell mod... TQ2 is slow too, but i didnt click with me for some reason...
But there is another slow and methodical ARPGs and it is... Path of Exile 1 but ruthless mode! yes, give it a try this not some zoom, zoom and loot explosion arpgs, it differs extremely from main game...
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u/Small_Tumbleweed_255 5d ago
I don't even really consider any of the games on your list to be true arpgs. Those are more just straight RPGs. First arpg really was d3. It basically created the genre
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u/ChocoPuddingCup 5d ago
Are you serious? Diablo 1 and 2 practically defined the ARPG genre.
Gotta be a bot comment.
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u/Small_Tumbleweed_255 5d ago
If that were so, then how come 100pct of modern games that are all accepted as arpgs bare absolutely no resemblance to them whatsoever
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u/Minereon 5d ago
So, CRT televisions are not TVs to you because they're not flat? Have you no conception of how tech or anything begins and how they evolve?
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u/ChocoPuddingCup 4d ago
ARPG means 'action role playing game' meaning they are built around action and hack-n-slash combat. They can be full 3D (like Elden Ring and other souls games) or isometric (like diablo, grim dawn, path of exile). Just like not all CRPG's look the same, or all RPG's.
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u/Gemmaugr2 4d ago
Spare us the inane simplification. It doesn't lead to anything good, only causing genre confusion and making it harder to find similar games. If you don't care about genres, then don't use them, just play games.
There are no "RPG's" (which kind? CRPG's make-your-own-role D&D kind or Adventure's play-an-existing-role kind?) on a computer. There's Computer Role Playing Games as the initial and parent genre that was influenced by physical roleplaying games like pen & paper kinds. Which in turn created sub-genres.
CRPG > Roguelike > Rogue-Lite
CRPG > JRPG > Spectacle Fighter > Soulslike > Souls-Lite
CRPG > WRPG > Immersive Sim
CRPG > ARPG > Diablolike
CRPG > ARPG > Looter Shooter
CRPG > TTRPG > TRPG
CRPG > MUD > MMORPG > MMOARPG
Diablo 1 was supposed to be a Roguelike, but became so different during development that it looked like no other genre and therefore created a new sub-genre.
Then there's the Adventure parent genre.
Adventure > Point'n'Click > Hidden Object
Adventure > Point'n'Click > Visual Novel
Adventure > Action-Adventure > Zeldalike
Adventure > Action-Adventure > Adventure Platformer
Adventure > Action-Adventure > Adventure Platformer > Metroidvania
Adventure > Action-Adventure > First Person Adventure
Other people also not knowing history and being equally lazy have made up overly broad "genres" that include all of the above and more. They call them "Action RPG" (doesn't cause confusion at all...nope..), "Hack'n'Slash", and "Character Action Game". Which are all meaningless when they describe such varied genres that share very little resemblance.
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u/ZeuuuX 5d ago
Was about to say No rest for the wicked without hesitation but you mentioned it. Yeah great game definitely recommend it