Do they make turn-based role-playing computer games any more?
This is gonna sound very strange, but hear me out: the game you want is a real-time D&D game called Baldur’s Gate 2. Now, with all your emphasis on no freaking real-time, why on earth would I recommend that? Because you can set pauses at a bunch of different triggers, including ‘end of round’. (you can also pause freely with the space bar.) So you can play it just like a turn-based game; you set it to pause at the start of combat and on every round. Each round, you issue orders, or don’t do anything with characters that are just supposed to keep on hand-to-hand fighting. In exchange for accepting a tiny, tiny bit of real-time — but real time with no reflexes required, mind — you get an absolutely OUTSTANDING pair of games. They are classic, second edition D&D, and the story is intricate and HUGE. The basic game is about seventy hours to play through completely if you do all the subquests and stuff, forty or so if you power on through the main storyline. And then the expansion, Shadow
I was going to suggest the Baldur’s Gate games, but since others already have, I’ll mention Icewind Dale, which is very similar — not technically turn-based, but you can pause at the beginning of combat and issue orders. IMO, the best, however, are Wizardry VI, VII, and 8. If pressed, I would probably still consider Bane of the Cosmic Forge to be my favorite — I’ve played it countless times since it first came out in ’90 and still enjoy it today — but Crusaders of the Dark Savant/Wizardry Gold and Wiz8 are pretty damned good.
