Tolkein-esque roguelike that meets some of these criteria...

[Soft]

Let me start by apologizing for making another recommendation thread...

I'm a long time D&D player and RPG gamer. I've also played several MUDs. What I'm looking for in a roguelike:

• Secrets, secret areas
• Puzzles, quests that require more than just murder
• Interesting high-fantasy setting
• Deep character development
• Tactical combat (I'm sure most have this)
• Unique / one-of-a-kind items or weapons ("artifacts")
• A story / main quest, an ending

Now I know this is asking a lot, and that there likely isn't any roguelike that fully meets all these criteria. I'd love to recapture the magic and atmosphere of epic AD&D 2.0 modules or games like Ultima 7: The Black Gate. I love Tolkein's world with its history and legends, dark secrets, ancient powers, and epic artifact items.

The descriptions I've heard of Nethack gameplay appeal to me a lot, but I realize it's less Tolkein-esque. Is there a version of Angband (or Moria or something) that leans more towards Nethack in its puzzles and inventive playstyle? It would also be cool to have NPCs and/or an overworld - which I realize many dungeon roguelikes don't have.

Some games I've seen that I'm not all that interested in are Incursion and Sil. I've played ToME but wouldn't say it fits these criteria.

I've heard of ADOM but never really hear it compared outright to Nethack or Angband. Is it a less deep experience?

Some games that have caught my attention in my research are DCSS, IVAN, UnAngband, and Umoria. I'm sure there are other variants of Angband that I don't know about. ZAngband sounds kind of cool, but I know it's not Tolkein-based. Though it kind of sounds like I might enjoy the gameplay of Nethack significantly more than Angband... I'm sure I'll give many of these a chance in the future, but today is my day off and I really want to dive in!

[jim]

You're more or less describing ADOM. People talk smack about it because the developer is a bit... idiosyncratic these days, but it's one of the all-time greats. Maybe even the greatest. It has all of the items you've mentioned in spades.

It does stem from an older era, so it can be difficult to master without spoilers.

[Krice]

You're more or less describing ADOM.

I think it's a trick question. You know those mud people are bit crazy sometimes.

[jim]

Can someone call a taxi for Krice?

[Tzan]

I think he meant MUD people, not mud people.

Krice is a taxi !

[Krice]

I think he meant MUD people, not mud people.

That's what I said, mud players. Or MUD, but I feel like wasting my time pressing shift while writing. For them there is no regular computer game that can beat muds. Also, no computer based RPG can be as good as real D&D.

[AgingMinotaur]

ADOM is definitely worth checking out. Try the current free version first to see if you like it. Other than that, you've mentioned a lot of the usual suspects in your original post. You may add Elona to your list. It's a pretty wacky, Japanese take on something ADOM-inspired. Among newer Roguelikes with immersive worlds, one could mention Shadow of the Wyrm and The Temple Of Torment.

Bear in mind that the genre is typically very hack'n'slash-minded, so games with lots of puzzles and non-violent solutions are not very common. Also, I don't know exactly what you mean by "tactical combat". Practically all Roguelikes feature combat on a grid, but a lot of them have pretty shallow tactics where you end up trading blows a lot of the time. The later years have seen more games try to amend this, but typically with a more abstract/narrow scope than huge games like ADOM and Nethack. There was a short game called PrincessRL, made for the 7 Day RL jam, which has pretty sweet tactical combat. For interesting tactics, there are also some modern, puzzley games like Hoplite and HyperRogue.

As always,
Minotauros