How do you feel about isometric games?

How do you feel about isometric games?

  • I like them

    Votes: 26 68.4%

  • They are okay

    Votes: 6 15.8%

  • I hate them

    Votes: 6 15.8%
  • Total voters
    38
Azureth

Azureth

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Feb 29, 2008
Messages
5,323
Seems to me they bother a lot of people yet I have never really had a problem with them, even platforming isn't that hard for me.
 
Just because a game is isometric it can still be crap or very good. It's not a deciding factor.
 
M76 said:
Just because a game is isometric it can still be crap or very good. It's not a deciding factor.
Click to expand...

Pretty much, Isometric to me is just another way of presenting a story. Some stories are better told via 1st, 3rd topdown view etc. Im not predisposed to any particular view format.
 
Love them! Ultima 7, Baldur's gate, Arcanium, Fallout, Divinity OS, etc.
Even games like Torchlight and Van Helsing were fun.
 
Is it the isometric view they dislike or the gameplay itself? I have no problem with them, and I haven't heard of any issues. Sometimes, it would make more sense to go first/third person or overhead view rather than isometric, but by itself it's not a deciding factor.
 
Indeed... just isometric view, isn't much of a deciding factor.

On that note, do you mean Isometric games, as in a view that looks down at an angle, or a real isometric game where the art is built just for that. Like FFT has isometric characters but the land is 3d.
 
Haven't played one in a long time, but I like the ones I played a lot. They tend to be rich in detail and content.
 
I like them, as long as the game is designed to take advantage of the perspective. They do give a sort of nostalgic vibe too.
 
Isometric viewpoint did kind of took a back seat for awhile when they stopped making crpg, and I guess the younger generation of gamer are not used such design, perhaps they feel constrained by not being able to freely move the camera around.

For me it's not an issue but I'm already used to it. I think they are great for turn based games.
 
Divinity Original Sin got me in a big way that like Ultima Online had me for 3 years.
If someone creates a realistic game like UO in 3-D isometric that is online with lots of players that will go over well. I think unless the crowd is so dispersed it won't.
 
Top Down games work out well because the amount of placement and information on screen translates well for the player.
 
Ultima 7 and Ultima 8 are among my favorite games of all time. There are quite a few other isometric games that I've thoroughly enjoyed over the years, but those are off the top of my head. Didn't play the Crusader games, but watched my brother beat them. I liked the Relentless games, except the control schemes were a little goofy (tankish if I remember correctly.)

Syndicate is one of the best. That reminds me I need to pick up Satellite Reign.

D/Generation was excellent, Al Qadim, Veil of Darkness... I liked the SNES Shadowrun. I know other people liked the other versions better, but for some reason the SNES one grabbed me more.

Oh, and since there's a post in another topic about this, I'll mention the modern Alien Breed trilogy.
 
Isometric views are great for real RTS games where you control many units and need a good view of the battlefield to make strategic decisions. IMO other views are much more engaging and better suited for pretty much every other genre.

Isometric views are actually kind of stupid for RPGs and MOBAs. Most games such as RPGs originally used them because hardware limitations didn't allow for realistic 3D graphics. Modern RPGs that still use isometric views only do so because they're trying to replicate older, "classic" gameplay. First person and third person views are more engaging in pretty much every way.

MOBAs use isometric views because they were birthed from RTS games that were isometric. But an isometric view is stupid for controlling one character. It leads to stupid gimmicky gameplay such as magically shooting through things to hit a target in the back, hiding in plain site because you're in magical bushes or "behind" a wall despite it being in view because what your character sees isn't what you see. Smite and a lot of newer MOBAs are using first and third person views instead.

First and third person views make way more sense for games where you control a single character.
 
I get why you'd break it down that way, but I actually love the look of hand-drawn pixel art in isometric views. Ultima VIII Pagan is an absolutely gorgeous game to this day. Yes, the angle can actually make certain aspects of play awkward if not well-handled, but I think the visual impact of some of the better ones can outweigh that to a degree. What I think would be really cool, is a low-res game ala one of the later Ultimas that is actually full 3D and can be rotated arbitrarily, but maintained that late 1990's iso feel. I think I've seen some indie games like this but can't think of them off the top of my head. FEZ is close but not isometric (to the effect I'm trying to describe...)

For RPGs I think it depends on how movement and object selection is handled as to whether it works or not.
 
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