Are there any good games where you play as a Lovecraftian cultist/sorcerer?

I was kinda tempted by Cultist Simulator, but it looks like it might be more challenging than I'd like. Apparently you can play as a Great Old One warlock in Baldygate, which is on my list, but I'm wondering what else might be out there.

Elder Scrolls & Elden Ring

#firemoon

Bloodborne

Dungeater posted...

Bloodborne

Bloodborne looks pretty rad, but don't you fight against the eldritch horrors in that game?

IronChef_Kirby posted...

Bloodborne looks pretty rad, but don't you fight against the eldritch horrors in that game?

I mean without spoiling things too much there are many paths to take your character and multiple endings.

I came in here to suggest cultist simulator

I'm not sure if I'd call it super difficult. It's easy to die in unexpected ways your first few attempts but usually once you figure out an aspect of the gameplay that aspect will never trouble you again. Just gotta experiment with things and look for different solutions

IIRC you can go that route in Stygian. Not really a full game about it, though.

Itt
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/2/228ab1aa.png

IronChef_Kirby posted...

I was kinda tempted by Cultist Simulator, but it looks like it might be more challenging than I'd like. Apparently you can play as a Great Old One warlock in Baldygate, which is on my list, but I'm wondering what else might be out there.

Book of Hours, same devs as Cultist Simulator, is much easier.

ssjevot posted...

I mean without spoiling things too much there are many paths to take your character and multiple endings.

Understood, thank you!

kirbymuncher posted...

I came in here to suggest cultist simulator

I'm not sure if I'd call it super difficult. It's easy to die in unexpected ways your first few attempts but usually once you figure out an aspect of the gameplay that aspect will never trouble you again. Just gotta experiment with things and look for different solutions

I see. Depending on how long that learning curve takes, I might be willing to go along with that. It's just that when I've only got a limited number of hours per day to spend on a game, a game where I'm gonna spend hours just getting my ass beat is a pretty hard sell, haha. How long would you say it takes to get things figured out?

ellis123 posted...

IIRC you can go that route in Stygian. Not really a full game about it, though.

I'll check that one out, thank you!

IronChef_Kirby posted...

How long would you say it takes to get things figured out?

If you don't know what you're doing but generally know how to avoid death, a game can be beaten in around 20 hours.

ssjevot posted...

I mean without spoiling things too much there are many paths to take your character and multiple endings.

I think I know what you're alluding to as I've watched a fair bit of Bloodborne on youtube, but I always got the impression that at the end of the day you're basically just a slashyboi, and I thought it'd be fun to play something where the eldritch beasties are on my side.

Tyranthraxus posted...

Book of Hours, same devs as Cultist Simulator, is much easier.

I'll check this one out too, thank you!

IronChef_Kirby posted...

I think I know what you're alluding to as I've watched a fair bit of Bloodborne on youtube, but I always got the impression that at the end of the day you're basically just a slashyboi, and I thought it'd be fun to play something where the eldritch beasties are on my side.

Go Arcane build. You can literally summon tentacles.

IronChef_Kirby posted...

I'll check this one out too, thank you!

It's also in a Humble Bundle right now.

ssjevot posted...

Go Arcane build. You can literally summon tentacles.

Somehow I never knew this. Consider me intrigued!

Again, high-difficulty games are a hard sell for me, but for the right game, I might be willing to put up with the grind.

Fear & Hunger series, me thinks.

IronChef_Kirby posted...

How long would you say it takes to get things figured out?

It's been a long time since I played and I really don't remember + it depends a lot on your level of perceptiveness. I suspect it probably took me around 15 hours to beat the game? (there's multiple endings, by beating the game I just mean getting something that wasn't dying)

Thing is, even if you die a few times it's not so bad? Like, you start out the game as some dude, you research weird lore, find various things exploring the city, found a cult, meet some people... and probably eventually die (it's not impossible to win first playthrough but seems unlikely). But then when you start again, you're a different person, who has a different job, so the actions available to you are different, and while you eventually do all those things listed above the progession of the story is different, you probably end up founding a cult worshipping something other than last time, you have different acquaintances, etc etc. So you're not just getting beaten up with nothing to gain from it.

Personally, I think the game does a really good job making you feel like some cultist/conspiracy theorist as you accumulate more and more threads of knowledge while trying to figure out how they all come together. for example it's not even clear how you win the game at all until a decent ways in. but because of this style I'd caution away from directly looking up too much stuff since a lot of tthe game is about the discovery. Oh, and the writing, the game's also about the writing just being extremely satisfying to read on a moment-to-moment basis
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/2/26bce16e.png
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/2/2305f935.jpg
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/b/b2fe7a5b.jpg

I wish they'd make more lovecraftian shit. Underwater was good, call of cthulu was fun and inventive, we need some more eldritch horror in our media.

I'd love a disaster movie like deep impact or don't look up, but about Dagon or something arriving and driving the planet mad.

kirbymuncher posted...

for example it's not even clear how you win the game at all until a decent ways in.

That's because what the game defines as a win is itself vague.

HannibalBarca3 posted...

Fear & Hunger series, me thinks.

I looked this up just now and I assume you're referring to the Dark Priest class?

kirbymuncher posted...
Snip

You make a very good case for the game. Maybe I'll try this one out after all.

ClayGuida posted...

I wish they'd make more lovecraftian shit. Underwater was good, call of cthulu was fun and inventive, we need some more eldritch horror in our media.

I'd love a disaster movie like deep impact or don't look up, but about Dagon or something arriving and driving the planet mad.

I would like that too, though I imagine part of the challenge is that it's hard to do justice to cosmic horror in video games or movies. It's so much more than just tentacles and eyeballs, but it's hard to depict something that's more or less defined by being beyond our comprehension.