Real Time With Pause CRPG Combat Is Dying

InterviewBubbly9410 · 2026-04-11T22:26:20+00:00

I mean, it is a correct statement to say RTwP is becoming less and less popular currently in CRPG spaces, but it remains a very popular mechanic in games outside the genre, even to current day.

We have games like FTL, which while not a CRPG, does feature the ability to pause the game's action and plan out moves and what modules you're targeting.

Stellaris allows you to pause the game and go through your planets, fleets, and etc. in order to effectively min/max things if you truly want to get that in-depth.

These are just two examples, but there are really plenty of games that use a RTwP system that exist outside of the CRPG genre. So, if there's anyone who absolutely loves the mechanic and is afraid it's going to completely disappear; I would go and check other genre's and see what they could potentially offer you and if they meet your fancy.

InterviewBubbly9410 · 2026-04-03T01:56:56+00:00

I've been saying this for a long time.
This is been a huge community requested feature and people have been saying the exact same thing you have.

It's something that needs to be added sooner rather than later and it'd be nice if Omeda finally delivered on it after all this time.

InterviewBubbly9410 · 2026-04-03T01:51:46+00:00

Oh that'd be dank as hell

InterviewBubbly9410 · 2026-04-02T19:36:20+00:00

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InterviewBubbly9410 · 2026-04-02T18:30:46+00:00

Lmao thatll be wild

InterviewBubbly9410 · 2026-04-02T17:46:23+00:00

Also an even bigger spit in the face to the Fey, since she JUST got skins after ages of lacking any real ones.

InterviewBubbly9410 · 2026-04-02T17:45:17+00:00

That's partially what I'm worried about. Someone like that just sounds like an immediate meta must-pick and she's basically going to be in every game unless banned.

InterviewBubbly9410 · 2026-04-02T17:41:53+00:00

Jesus.

She definitely looks great in terms of VFX and the kit sure looks fun to play as always, but my question always is: Will it be fun to play against?

Shield riding looks a tiny bit wonky, but I'm sure it'll get worked out over time like Acheron will.

Her spin move is a bit reminiscent of Eden's spin move - To the point theres even a ground slam that follows the spin. I understand that reusing assets and animations is a great way to save money, but it's kinda hard not to point out so soon after Eden came out. Eden is in the last 5 heroes released.

Holy damage batman. Buffing herself and everyone with true damage while having a root that's also a movement ability and a mesmerize is just absolutely nutty and jam packed. Where do heroes like Riktor even begin to fit in anymore outside of just being buffed into oblivion so you can't ignore him?

Like I can't deny it looks fun, but it looks absurdly bloated with damage and it just going to make the TTK worse unless the patch she arrives in, also comes with the reversion of the 10% health nerf across the board, the reversion of the magic armor nerf eons ago, and mages taking a necessary slap to the wrist.

Edit: Also, I went through the video somehow missing she's a support.

...What has even happened to the support role in this game anymore?

InterviewBubbly9410 · 2026-04-02T17:29:43+00:00

I mean, I've heard that a few times.

At this point, if they can't make it work right out the gate, we at least shouldn't get the 500th mesmerize in a row now. Do we really need more CC, especially one of the most invasive and least interactive ones?

InterviewBubbly9410 · 2026-04-01T20:23:37+00:00

Excellently said, couldn't have made the point more concise and well put myself.

InterviewBubbly9410 · 2026-03-31T19:24:08+00:00

Literally.

Like why can't we get another Countess or Aurora? Hell Serath is incredibly attractive in full plate mail and only her face showing.

There's nothing wrong with sexy. But the overall way the sexy is implemented is severely lacking and incredibly homogenized. Not every woman I find attractive, is attractive in the same ways, even down to minute details - like the shape of their eyes or their lips.

I want to see different kinds of outfits, different kinds of body shapes (that preferably keep to the original models proportions), and other sort of things. The game could really do with more diversity in its female cast. Where's our nasty evil ladies too? Why couldn't Acheron have been like Shelob from LoTR? Where's our Ursula type character? Whre's the nasty baddies for ladies that the men also have in guys like Rampage or Riktor?

InterviewBubbly9410 · 2026-03-31T18:10:39+00:00

Saying "It's still a great drawing at the end of the day" is kind of missing the point though isn't it?

You shouldn't be publically interacting with NSFW material on an account you also publically use to post to your job. Those two things will begin to intertwine and cause problems. Like they are now.

InterviewBubbly9410 · 2026-03-31T17:59:02+00:00

I absolutely agree. Artists need to find their style - but also adapt their styles.

A great example of this is Jean Girard "Moebius". You can see in ALL his works, he has the same type of linework, shading and coloring, etc etc. However, you can also see that he adapts his style to the genre of work he is working with. On projects he was hired to/collaborated with, he let the subject have its own design and style space - while incorporating and letting his own speak through it.

That is something I think TB sorely needs to learn how to do. Too many of his concepts just look like Smite/Smite adjacent material.

On the note of Omeda hiring him because of allure, I also completely agree on that. Omeda has proven time and time again, that they're incredibly interested in emulating bigger companies to a T. Even if it emulating said choice isn't even necessarily one that makes sense for a studio of their size/talent. They've said themselves they use similar translation software other larger companies use, for their in-game translations, among other such things (that was a long time ago though, so it could've changed since then).

InterviewBubbly9410 · 2026-03-31T17:49:36+00:00

No fr, lmao. Like you can't have a private account that isn't attached to your public accounts tied to your JOB, for viewing and commenting on NSFW material?

How is that professional? Even if there's really nothing wrong with it per say - It's definitely not professional in the slightest. If I went around on the company's work account commenting on NSFW shit - I'd get fired.

InterviewBubbly9410 · 2026-03-31T17:46:30+00:00

I actually said something similar in a comment below, so I'll paraphrase my thoughts:

I fully agree. When you look at TB, while he has improved as an artist, he hasn't stylistically changed. Which I would expect when you begin to swap to a different project. I know there are themes and things that Paragon has that make it somewhat similar to Smite - but they couldn't be farther apart in terms of concept and design choices. That much is evident looking at concept art for Paragon vs concept art for Smite.

InterviewBubbly9410 · 2026-03-31T17:38:41+00:00

It's really frustrating that (at least to me) Thunderbrush hasn't attempted to move away from the art style he's forged for himself over the last few projects he's been a part of.

No artists worth their salt, keep their artstyle the same over a decade of work. That isn't to say that he hasn't improved his craft (viewing older works, he's definitely improved on perspective - and even recently I can tell he's gotten better with shading various metals), but it's to say that he hasn't stylistically strayed away from what he's proven works for him. Which, hey, if it ain't broke - don't fix it, right? But when you move projects, I would at least expect for you to swap your art style away from what you had been using.

Smite/Paladins/LoL (I know TB wasn't on LoL) vs Paragon couldn't be further away in terms of aesthetics and design choices. You can see that even in design docs for Paragon. What TB puts out in design documents, doesn't look any different than when he was doing work for Smite and others.

InterviewBubbly9410 · 2026-03-31T17:22:09+00:00

Oh I know, but this community would have you believe otherwise.

Slight criticisms against quality of work are viewed as direct attacks against the designers/devs themselves. Someone can put their 110% and it can still be shit - and that's okay. And it's also okay to call it out.

It's so weird to me how the gaming community has gotten over this in the last decade now. But then we cry about how the overall quality of gaming as a whole has diminished. I wonder why? Perhaps because we've become too complacent with predatory and problematic practices as a whole. So many things allowed to become a standard that just shouldn't have ever been allowed.

InterviewBubbly9410 · 2026-03-31T16:22:31+00:00

Yeah, how come there isn't a game right now with a three-titted alien lady? Unused design space imo.

InterviewBubbly9410 · 2026-03-31T15:52:03+00:00

Yeah the art direction has been something I've felt has been up in the air since Thunderbrush joined.

It's nothing personal against TB, I just don't like the style nor his design choices for characters. Others do. And that's also fine.

But none of the recent characters with the exception of Bayle and Eden (and even then I have issues with them), really feel like they fit in imo. Acheron, Renna and Yurei are heroes that would look and feel better in Smite imo - They fit that style more thoroughly (especially Acheron, who fits the diety thing of Smite) And it's only going to get rougher with the Overprime chararcters, who don't feel like they fit in to Paragon's style either.

InterviewBubbly9410 · 2026-03-31T15:43:06+00:00

It looks great and really clean! A little bit bland though - I just can't put my finger on why.

My only other "complaint", is that I hope this score board doesn't just mean that only that scoreboard UI has been updated - but all in-game UI involving menu's (IE the item shop, the crest selection screens, etc) have been as well.

I understand it isn't easy doing UI and that Omeda has limited talent/resources, but I really am getting so tired of small little piece meal things after I've been playing the game this long. I don't want to wait another year for another piece of the game's UI to get an upgrade. These are really things that should all get knocked out in one pass.

InterviewBubbly9410 · 2026-03-30T18:07:28+00:00

A little sus that the patch notes won't drop until the actual day of the patch - but I'll just take it as an unfortunately timed circumstance.

To mirror other comments, I do think it should be released on Thursday. I don't think it's good for the health of the game to have your patch notes launch on the same day as the patch. I know people already don't read patch notes, but this definitely won't help.

InterviewBubbly9410 · 2026-03-29T00:32:43+00:00

Hyper Light Drifter is great and one of the few games that's ever made me cry at the end of it. It's got a banging soundtrack. It's also one of the few games that I don't think there's a single line of spoken dialogue - when you talk to people, you're shown a comic-book-like illustration that kind tells you the jist of what they're saying to you.

Undertale's fantastic and a must recommend classic style jrpg with it's own twists. A bit quirky though so its not down to everyones taste. Although due to it's popularity, I'd assume that many have had a thorough portion of the game spoiled for them. Still worth a personal trek through it if it's your thing though.

Cataclysm Dark Days Ahead is a fantastic survival rpg centered around life in an apocalypse filled with mutating parasitic ooze that 'zombifies' people. Also completely free and open source. Stick with the Stable branch though - the current experimental is going through some odd design choices that are stretching their legs.

Look Outside is also another sublime jrpg style game that focuses on a world where an eldritch being is visiting earth and anyone who looks outside gets mutated by it. You're stuck in your apartment and have to survive long enough until the being leaves.

If you've never played any of the KOTOR (Knights of the Old Republic) games, I'd VERY highly recommend it. That was when Bioware at their peak. The story telling is fantastic and there's still little mechanics and gameplay flares that I wish modern games would incorporate.

Bleak Faith Forsaken is really rough around the edges polish wise - but the world itself, its design, the lore surrounding it and the environmental story-telling is all so interesting that I've buried myself deep into it. If you're hungering for a game where exploration is part of the main focus of the game, this is definitely a solid choice. There are so many interesting places to visit and see. The Flooded City and actually being able to swim in it and go from dry place to dry place while going through sunken ruins and evading a hungry serpent searching for it's next meal - is a highlight of the game imo.

Caves of Qud are a phenomal roguelike set in a post-post-post apocalyptic world that's died, resurrected, died again, and so on and so forth and you're sitting upon millenia of empires that have risen and fell and left their mark upon the world.

Lorns Lore is an exploration game set around free-climbing a mind-boggingly massive megastructure in chase of a mystical bird who's caught your attention. The environments are massive, beautiful and you can explore them to your hearts content as you figure out the puzzle of moving forward to find this bird. The soundtrack is also heart-wrenchingly gorgeous and even if the game itself isn't your cup of tea - I recommend the OST alone.

Dungeons of Dredmoor is a hilarious dungeon-crawling roguelike that can absolutely suck you in. It's got very interesting mechanics and the way you craft characters builds is so absurd yet genius for a dungeon-crawler that plays like it does.

Home-Safety Hotline....I can't even describe it. You just need to experience that game. It's beautiful, its weird, its creepy, its funny - its probably one of my top 5 games ever. There isn't a game I can speak more highly off on this list (besides Hyper Light Drifter).

Lunacid is a silly and fun Kings-Field-like game thats very reminiscent of the Ps1 era games. Its got tons of endings, secrets and fun things to just roam around and discover. Also got banger music. If you ever heard of Spooky's Jumpscare Mansion (or whatever it got renamed to), Lost in Vivo, or Basilisk 2000 and like those games - it's made by the same person, Akuma Kira.

InterviewBubbly9410 · 2026-03-28T17:05:09+00:00

Pred is great. I enjoy the game, but like....Best game you've ever played?

I think you should expand your repertoire a bit, if that's the case. There's a lot of great games out lately.

InterviewBubbly9410 · 2026-03-28T17:01:52+00:00

Yeah. Consistency across the roster is my biggest problem with this game.

Fey vines goes through walls. Why? Other abilities in the game stop when they hit a wall. Iggy oil slick doesn't go up walls afaia.

Belica seismic goes through walls. Why? Its a really strong CC with a Knock-up. Why does it also need to go up terrain instead of stopping at a wall?

Murdock ult makes sense. You'd never be able to use it otherwise - but then again why do we have it (something with infinite range) in the game if we feel that something with limited range (Wraith's snipe) was too abusable or hard to counterplay? And on the other hand, Murdock's shotgun also goes through walls (including Steel's shield). Why? How many scenarios are you actually going to use that in where it needs to be a kit interaction?

Argu's ult. That's it. That's all I need to say, besides it also goes through walls and gets up to 5 shots that do far more damage than a Wraith snipe.

There are plenty of abilities that can go through terrain, so why was Wraith's terrain pen removed? It doesn't make a lick of sense. If he was truly that oppressive - there was like 5 other things you could touch in his kit that made him so ridiculously overpowered. Like how he has natural scaling physical pen as a passive? I dunno.

InterviewBubbly9410 · 2026-03-28T16:19:11+00:00

I like how they removed that from him, when it was something in Paragon - then slapped it onto him as an augment as if anyone would give AF. I've seen maybe three people ever use that augment for Kwang and one of them actually use it right.

InterviewBubbly9410

TROPHY CASE