The Great CRPG struggle

 Infinity or Divinity?

It's safe to say that I've fallen into a bit of a genre landslide of late, something I tend to do every now and then and absolutely the reason why I haven't gone back to my Xcom challenge of late. (I'm looking at this like training, okay? I know that doesn't make sense but neither did the stupid challenge anyway.) Ever since I started played Tyranny and Pillars of Eternity back at the end of 2020, I've had this itch at the back of my neck for more goodness of, what I'm learning to be, the CRPG variety. Now CRPG, for the uninitiated, means 'Classic Role Playing Game', and it's typically used to refer to those RPGs where stats, classes and choices are very much an important factor of the world, as usually are the factors of the game being isometric with party-based strategy. Of course, having said that when I type 'CRPG' into Google the search engine chucks up Skyrim on the results page, which is wrong. Skyrim has neither a party system, classes or stats. Not any Elder Scrolls game really fits into that mould. Think, instead, of classic Fallout and you'll be closer on the mark.

CRPGs are perhaps some of the most lauded and venerated role playing games that there are, born in a time before every game started throwing a basic progression levelling system into their game and calling it an 'RPG system'. (No Ubisoft, you can't join the club.) They go back to the days of gaming royalty, back to Baldur's Gate, a game that I've actually only recently started playing for the very first time. (Feel free to rip me apart all you want, veterans, at least I've got around to it eventually.) And I've found myself totally in love with the genre these past few months, to the point of obsession. Coinciding nicely with my recent interest in D&D, CRPGs are starting to line up my library to the point where I'm actually growing worried that I'm going to run out of them, because despite their notorious length, their number isn't inexhaustible. I'm already got the Shadowrun games, the old-school Fallouts, Wasteland 1 & 2, Divinity Original Sin 1 and 2, Pillars of Eternity 1 and Deadfire, Planescape Torment and Tide of Numenera, Tyranny, Baldur's Gate 1 & 2, Icewind Dale and Pathfinder Kingmaker as well as many others I'm sure I'm forgetting. (I know about Solasta too, but I'm undecided on if I want to pull the trigger) That's pretty much all the big ones, I'm going to have to start scrapping the barrel unless I work off this obsession soon.

But I find myself in plenty of company in the meanwhile because plenty of gamers flock to these sorts of games and will continue to in the future for their shared love of challenging but rewarding RPG titles. Yet, even within that shared love there lies a little derision and division among the ranks, and this wasn't something that I'd become aware of until I was swept up with and was actively following Baldur's Gate 3. You see, BG3 isn't being developed by the same team as 1 and 2 (obviously, those games were years ago, that team has moved on entirely) but by Larian, creators of Divinity. This is all well and good for they totally created a masterpiece in Divinity Original Sin 2 and if anyone has the scope and ambition to take Baldur's Gate 3 and turn it into the most high-quality production CRPG of all time, it's Larian. (And they seem well on the way to doing just that.) But in doing so Larian took their style of CRPG and transported it onto Baldur's Gate, rather than using what is known as the 'Infinity' style, which has caused a little derision amidst fans.

'Infinity' is in reference to the engine used for Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, thus games that take after the style of gameplay those titles made popular are typically referred to under that moniker. (Even though I doubt modern CRPGs are running around with a two decade old engine in the trunk.) Essentially the difference, and thus the friction, is thus: Infinity CRPGs feature large parties, usually 6 members, and have full action gameplay to them, whilst Divinity and it's like are turn-based affairs and are thus generally slower paced. Despite sharing the same overall genre, this division splits hearts and minds down the middle and even sparked some genuine anger towards Larian for their decision away from what Baldur's Gate originally stood for. As one who has had a chance to dabble a lot in both, I have love for both side and thus I want to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of both.

For the Infinity style we're talking game like Pillars of Eternity, Tyranny and the original Baldur's Gate titles, and the gameplay to be expected is real-time and dynamic. But don't think that with the 'real time' some strategy is lost, these games come with a pause button so that you stop everything and give individual orders because of how overwhelming some fights can be. This style works well with letting the player at large fights without clogging things down too much, managing huge parties, and really embodying that sense of the powerful party of adventures who can steam roll over tribes of Gnolls that try to get in their way. Although on the flipside this style of gameplay tends to mostly lose all tactics in positioning besides the utterly basic, micromanaging party members can feel like babysitting when fights get hairy and not everybody is doing what you want and encounter planning rarely feels like it gets even a fraction of the attention that the other half of this genre does.  

The Divinity style encompasses games like Wasteland, Shadowrun and, of course, Original Sin, and it caters to turn-based combat with initiative orders and infinite thinking down time between every action. Tactical planning is at the heart of every encounter, and typically placing everyone in the exact right position can be the difference between putting up a good fight and being steamrolled. Spells and abilities only even factor in after positioning. These games can be hardcore like that. This style works great for games with a plethora of skills and items to use for each encounter because you have plenty of time to consider and weigh up the benefits each time it's your go. Also, some of the encounter planning can be really indepth and factor in how each encounter can be uniquely challenging. (at least for the best of this genre's offerings) However, this style of CRPG can go from slow to tortuous depending on how many enemies and allies are involved in the fight. (Fallout 1 has this one fight between two large factions where you'll literally be sitting a full minute between every turn.) Additionally, it's not really worth the time of having those small enemies clumps chucked at you in order to make you feel good as you crush them, and so you don't get throwaway stomp fodder like you do in Infinity style games.

Picking a preference between these two styles is as subjective as it gets, because in my opinion they both have their charm and their place in the CRPG field. Yet if you hung me over a spit and forced me to pick I'd ultimately land with the Divinity style of game simply because I cherish both the time to really 'solve' each and every encounter like a puzzle master (see my Hitman coverage for explanation on why I adore that) and Original Sin demonstrated what a masterpiece experience it can be to have an entire game full of thoughtful encounter placements, I never felt tuned off by the amount of fights I was having and honestly felt excited for the next. Additionally, my love for this genre coincided with my recent interest in D&D, and if we're talking about the style of CRPG that most closely replicates that tabletop goodness than it has to be Divinity style, no competition. 

Of course there are no right answers in a debate like this, and I'd wager fans will continue to fight over and debate the pros and cons for as long as CRPGs are being made, though as long as neither side is totally dismissive of the other I think it all makes for healthy discourse for a great genre of games. I've always felt that Roleplaying needs that hard edge of tough which really makes the player break things down to the basics in order to squeeze out a victory, and that's something both types of CRPG manage with gusto. May the industry never run out of this new golden age of CRPGs for the foreseeable future, as I still feel like we're missing some decent modern Sci-fi offerings. (I can just imagine the opportunities there.)