What kinds of games might you recommend with deep worldbuilding and interaction that aren’t RPGs?
I like worldbuilding and stories, and I like when they’re mixed with the interactivity of games, so RPGs seem like they should be a natural fit. Problem is, I dislike the stat-heavy, grindy progression of many RPGs.
I enjoy point & click adventures and visual novels but they’re often more limited in their interactions. What kinds of game might I be missing combining the two?
What do you qualify as an RPG?
I would assume you mean something like Ultima or Wizardry? How about Yakuza or Shenmue? Legend of Zelda Fire Emblem?
For VNs I would recommend YUNO (not the Switch remake, that one butchers the original art style) if it wasn’t for it being an eroge from 1996, which contains sexual content I personally don’t find particularly appealing. Its a phenomenal story without that stuff but IMO its so jarring that it can take you out of enjoying the story if you can’t look beyond the culture shock of it. Maybe if you know Japanese the SEGA Saturn port would be better, since it removed some of the sexual content AFAIK.
NieR is quite good, though it has RPG elements. Personally I liked Gestalt better, the father-daughter story was more compelling to me. Not that Replicant is bad, I just liked the father protagonist more. Automata is also quite good.
I liked Power Dolls, but you have to know Japanese to understand any of the games beyond the original. Its a strategy game like Advance Wars or Fire Emblem about mecha. Tuned Hearts also.