I haven't played Tyranny and Disco Elysium yet, and I've played very little of Tides of Numenera. I've played through Pillars of Eternity completely, halfway through D:OS and WL2, and I've played 2 and a half of the Shadowrun trilogy.
Of these, Pillars of Eternity was the one that brought me back to the era of BG the most. It really felt like traveling back in time and experiencing it again, but in a good sense, as if I had discovered a lost title of the era, with enhanced graphics and a little more modern comfort. In that regard, I loved it. On the whole, as a game, I didn't think it was very memorable though. Despite the fun I had with exploration and combat, in the story department, it just wasn't all that creative and original to me, too much deja vu there, and this time in a bad sense. I also really disliked the dialogues with the two characters written by Chris Avellone, despite being a huge fan of PS:T, they just didn't fit in the game and were a huge distraction, and I thought the same about the backer content, which thankfully was easier to ignore though.
Wasteland 2 also brought back memories and did feel a bit like the little I've played of Fallout, and I really enjoyed the first half, but it was also a bit unremarkable and flawed, from what I remember; like, it could be incredibly nitpicky about the order in which you had to do little things and it was really hard not to screw up some quests. And later on the combat encounters got a bit tedious and repetitive. Lots of love in it, but not the best game design.
The little I have seen of Tides of Numenera was pretty disappointing, made me feel like it was put together as an homage to PS:T without the people working on it really understanding what was great about that game. (Hint: It was not the word count, but how the words were used to draw the player in.) But I think I've only played it for an hour or so, so it's probably unfair to judge it based only on that. Could be it just starts slow and rather weakly, compared to the fantastic beginning of PS:T.
The Shadowrun games were great. To me, they didn't really feel like a throwback to the age of the Infinity Engine though, they were their own thing, felt newer and more original, despite borrowing some Bioware formulas. Maybe also because the setting hadn't been overdone in CRPGs yet. I liked the first and loved the second, and the third is good, too, although for some reason I've never finished it.
In terms of most remarkable game in the genre though, I'd say that's D:OS. The storytelling is pretty much a matter of taste, the plot not all that spectacular and the writing a bit too flowery and wordy for my taste, but IMO it has the most innovative and enjoyable combat system of all and so many neat little features that make the game design feel fresher than the rest.
Post edited August 31, 2020 by Leroux