I’ve always been a sucker for RPG games. When I’m feeling down I tend to play Final Fantasy 8 or Final Fantasy 10, they’re like my comfort games.

I’ve had a hard time finding joy in modern RPG games, they all feel very grindy and seem to have an uninteresting plot. I’m looking for something that sparks joy, so I don’t have look for some ridiculous challenge like Khimari only run in FF10 or something.

Things that spark joy:

• Being able to play on Steam Deck or at least stream from my (linux) desktop
• Decent graphics, though pixel art is ok
• Voice acting
• No random encounters
• Good plot
• Good combat

Things that do not spark joy:

• Too much grinding
• DnD mechanics
• Mandatory online requirement

Games that I really enjoyed:

• Final Fantasy 7 through 10
• Final Fantasy 5
• Dragon Quest XI
• Xenoblade Chronicles 1/2
• South Park games
• Stardew Valley

Games that I did not enjoy:

• Elden Ring - I guess I just don’t have the mental patience for souls games anymore.
• Final Fantasy X-2 - great combat mechanics, horrendous plot
• “Modern” Final Fantasy games
• Divinity: Original Sin 2, Disco Elysium - feels too much like DnD
• Hogwarts Legacy - It felt amazing at first but then got super repetitive
• Persona 5 Royal - The game severely overstayed its welcome, very bloated, very repetitive dialog (the characters tell you the same information multiple times)
• I am Setsuna - The plot resembled Final Fantasy 10 way too much, felt like I had already played that game. Didn’t finish
• Kingdom Hearts - Severe motion sickness
• Octopath Traveler - The plot felt extremely disconnected, random encounters were annoying, I got stuck due to an underleveled party and didn’t have the patience to grind it up

Thanks in advance!