GameBanshee Forums

I occasionally make this kind of thread when I'm trying to find something and I just don't know where to look.

First off, I generally prefer non-mainstream games. Most of the time I'll probably already know about it if it's a well-known title, but if you really think it fits the criteria then feel free to post it. Another problem with mainstream games is that they're generally lacking in depth, which I find important in my games.

Right now I'm looking for a game with:

-Varied Skills (combat and otherwise)
-Skill Leveling (getting better at skills, preferably through using them)
-Exploration (preferably open world, but some amount of exploration is good)
-Varied loot (I loathe standardized item systems where things just get one level better again and again)
-Varied playstyles (though maybe varied skills/loot covers that)

I've been told many times to check out the early Fallout games, but for some reason I lose focus playing Fallout 1. It doesn't feel very interesting, honestly.

Since you didn't mention a specific kind of game play, I'd recommend the first Pirates of the Caribbean game (partly because few seem to have played it). Don't worry, it has little to do with the film (aside from having the black pearl as a downright nasty boss). Skills are varied enough, some improve how your ship handles, some melee combat some ranged etc. Some abilities can change the game quite a bit (like being able to turn your ship 180 degrees on a dime, or instantly reload your cannons etc). Loot isn't that varied, though there are some gems, also the ships are quite different, you can win the game with a nimble corvette or a hulking battleship or anything between.
While the land/boarding combat isn't great, the sea battles are fantastic (fighting a fleet of battleships in a storm close to reefs is something you'll remember, and probably never experience in another game). Also it's open world with a lot of ocean and different island settlements, with the occasional pirate lair and ancient temple thrown in.

If you like tactical, real time RPGs I'd also check out UFO Afterlight, a game where you try to survive as a small colony on Mars after earth went south. Loot is researched and produced instead of found, but it's a lot of it and quite varied (anything from Gatling guns to radars to rapid fire grenade launchers to area of effect shotguns to mind control devices etc), skills are varied and important, and since it uses a classless system, you can essentially make the "perfect" squad to match your play style (in my case, a blitzkrieg set up with grenade launchers and warp cannons, with snipers as secondary weapons). It uses a strategic and tactical map, and while it does reuse them, enemy placement and objectives are randomized.

Interesting answers, I think I'll try to check those out.

If you try Afterlight, you should look around for some mods, especially item mods, wish I still had the links, but you should be able to find some yourself.