RPGs for overthinkers

G'day, folks. I have a rather odd question for you today.

What are some good RPGs for text-book overthinkers?

You may wonder why a person who has problems with multiple-choice scenarios would even bother with RPGs. I kept trying RPG after RPG bumping into the same typical problem that extreme overthinkers do, thus never being able to finish them. But that was until i played Demon's Souls and fell in love. This is not only the greatest game i've ever played. Nor just the provider of the most rewarding feelings a video game has ever given me. It's also the only RPG i've played in which i could entirely immerse myself in the audio-visual experience. This of course because this game is completely devoid of any moral choices or decisions of any kind, barring the decisions you'll have to make to get all the PSN trophies, of course. Every step i took, every corner i rounded, every sound i heard; i was on edge every second throughout the entire experience, enjoying the practical experience alone, since i didn't have to worry about anything else. I didn't know that games could do this to me.

Now, i'm well aware of that i represent a tiny minority of gamers, but this is a real thing. There are indeed people out there who actually can't enjoy certain games because they can't stop focusing about all the moral choices and variable consequences. Let's take a game like Dragon Age. As an overthinker, this is definitely the most burdensome game i've ever come across, of any genre. As good as this game is, it's also a nightmare. Because this game is so incredibly good at making you truly care about the NPCs that every line of dialogue, every gift you give, and every quest you play with one set of party-members instead of another that an overthinker like myself after a while can't enjoy it anymore because i can't stop focusing on the exponential "What if?" 's, "What if?" 's, "What if?" 's. I worry that i'm only experiencing 10% of what the game has to offer, thus have to replay the game ten times over to find out. And there's no way the pleasure-to-burden ratio is gonna allow that for an overthinker.

I think Dragon Age is a fantastic game in every way, but i don't think i ever even got half-way through this game (and most likely never will) as i simply got overrun by all the potential varied events that would happen in the game and thus what i would experience depending on this and that.

What prompted me to ask this question is naturally because The Witcher 3 has been released. Is this a game more like Dragon Age or like Demon's Souls?

Any other extreme overthinkers out there who've got any ideas for good games?

Deus Ex is a great game for the overthinker. It and Human Revolution, though they're not technically RPGs, at least not fully.

I'm no "overthinker" but you can play the Sequels to Demon Souls and then watch the lore videos then overthink to your hearts content.....

You can also try Dragon's Dogma and see if you can make sense of its kill the dragon be the dragon cycle..... personally I just don't get it.

You can also try Bioshock 2, although I have no idea if thats your type of thing.

I might avoid TW3 - it's arguably "worse" than Dragon Age - you have tons of choices and they affect the game/story more than in DA. It's a beautiful amazing game. But it sounds like it goes in the wrong direction. Check out Bloodborne if you like Demon's Souls.

It not for overthinker but people who enjoy a mixture of short term and long term planning. It suck when they take out the level system or make a poor one because they take out the best part of the RPG.

I hate those type of pick in RPG. They are the biggest problem with most current RPG.

Dragon Age...! Agonizing game.

@wiouds: Why are story choices the worst part of modern RPGs? I would argue that's one of the most important parts of the "RP" in RPG. I would also argue that very few games actually give you many meaningful choices (so it's hard to say it's a plague of modern RPGs or something, since most fall short in that respect). Lastly, choice has, on some level, been an integral part of RPGs since classics like Baldur's Gate, so it's not really a new thing (although, again, rarely has meaningful impact on the story in most RPGs IMO)

Baldur's Gate was an excellent game. Can't profess the same for the second release; good collector's game to have though.

They use those pick as a way to get around the problem of having a system that is too shallow to allow the players to make their character's role. Some are getting to the point that you pick you class and they have the rest of the role planned out. Instead of letting you make your character role they just give you point to where they are some pick so you well like your Role playing.

I think we're arguing about story-driven vs sandbox-style. Some RPGs can fit one mold while others fit the other. But here's my take: even in sandbox-style games like Skyrim there is a story that you play out. It's pre-baked. You can make your character look however you want and wander wherever you want. But you still wind up completing the same main story as everyone else. How does one improve on this? By doing exactly what TW does: have the game's various stories branch based on your decisions. It's a great thing, IMO - you get to control the story, instead of just following it. TW3 does this - far more than most RPGs. Take DA:I or Skyrim - the choices you make have almost no effect on the plot. Just a few token things (titles people give you, etc) to give the impression that you did something to the story. In TW series your choices change events in a bigger way. Yes, in Skyrim you have total control over which side quests to even bother with (same as in TW3), but they are largely encapsulated experiences

If this still sounds shallow to you... I'd argue the story (not the overall game) in Skyrim is much more shallow, because of the fact that it's generic one-size-fits-all sandbox quests. The narrative is simple and direct and largely disregards who you chose to style your character as.

I am talking about the system that allow you to make you character('s/s') role. A story can be linear with no dialog picks and it can still be a RPG.

Off the subject of RPG, I do not care about the pick story moments in witcher. To me you can pick for kick a puppy into a pond to drown or let a man drop the puppy into a pond to drown.

Ok. Not sure I understand what you are talking about, but it isn't what I thought it was, so never mind!

@xantufrog: The real problem is that good choices and consequences inherently means locking players out of content. That's contrary to Betrhesda's philosophy of "any character can do anything they want, any time"

New Vegas had pretty good reactivity for an open world RPG too, btw.

Once in Skyrim, during the quest unbound, Hadvar was doing tapdance. I thought about the reason behind this activity and it's depth until I was exhausted. Secondly he looked like a Nord but was was shorter than my Nord character. Think deeply, is he a half imperial? So skyrim posers good trouble for overthinkers from the first time.

@xantufrog: I am talking about system that allow you to Role playing game play. Fun system where you have depth of how you affect the character(s'\'s) role in the game. Instead of getting that we get a story with moment that have picks.