Try [Cosmic Star Heroine](https://store.steampowered.com/app/256460). It's party based but you won't have to manage inventory much.

Man, without party management ? hard...
Technomancer ? one character to manage only but combats are real time.
Grandia 2 ? Turn based Rpg with very simple inventory management and few characters.
Dragon Quest 8 ? Since you played the first, 4 characters at most and very simple inventory management.
Persona series ? Almost no inventory, multiple characters, you manage your creature team.
Fallout ? One character if you want, inventory management is simple.
Alundra ? More Zelda like.
Secret of mana ? Real time, turn based hybrid.
Parasite eve ? One protagonist simple inventory management.
And my favourites, even if it doesn't fit your request : Xenogears, Final Fantasy type-0 HD, FF 13 series ( Loved the 3rd it could fit your request, 1 character almost no equipement ).

Hope i Helped.

Can't really help you with this, but I'll "try". First thing, it is quite unusual to have a PC RPG game, turn-based *and* supporting gamepad. I could see an action-RPG using a gamepad, but not really a turn-based one.

Here's a few little ideas, anyway:
- Maybe a game which is more of a walking simulator, exploration, adventure game e.g. Firewatch, Stanley Parable, Gone Home
- Survival / Horror / Adventure Games like Conarium, Tacoma, Penumbra, Soma, Amnesia
- Maybe consider what is available on Console (and Windows) and then play through Proton (console games are built for gamepads).

DOS 2, like many of the oldschool real-time-with-pause games but not DOS 1, [can reportedly be completed with a single character](https://steamcommunity.com/app/435150/discussions/0/3223871682621638955/) (DOS has a minimum party size of 2). And unlike most of the old-school RTwP games, it has controller support, so you could try that. Oh wait, they didn't port that one? I guess you can keep an eye on ProtonDB then, there seems to be hope.

[Ash of Gods](https://store.steampowered.com/app/691690/Ash_of_Gods_Redemption/) is a turn-based game and I've been able to finish it mostly solo (there are a couple fights where you are forced to take others with you, but there is very little inventory management involved and you could even go without items if you wanted). That still means you will control three different characters because the story is told from three perspectives, but successively, not concurrently. Controller support is supposed to be added to Steam when the game releases on consoles this winter and [they say](https://steamcommunity.com/app/691690/discussions/0/1750106661702167218/) the game was designed with controller support in mind from the start.

yeah, you need MMOs, well good luck finding one on linux lol...
Maybe shroud of the avatar, project gorgon or albion online.
For single player NWN:EE and .... dam you bethesda! Bring over skyrim ffs...

May I suggest King's Bounty: The Dark Side? I'm liking it a lot and it works like a charm using SteamPlay/Proton!

wow, great suggestions! I guess I can clarify a bit....The game doesnt have to be turn based, I've really enjoyed arpg's like diablo and torchlight, im just looking for something that is less skill based....I've tried to play zelda BOtW, and cant get into it because its mostly a dying simulator for me, same thing with shadows of mordor. Real time combat is fine, as long as it isnt twitch based, the combat in games like diablo and pillars of eternity/NWN are fine. I'm also not opposed to inventory management, its just that I like to focus on one character and in a party based game, I've forced to worry about multiple characters....I really enjoyed WoW years ago, but due to time constraints, I am not considering an MMO....what I loved about it was the discovery/adventure and combat that didnt require reflexes. I realize most games that im looking for are keyboard and mouse, thats why im trying to find something I could play through my steam link....I have torchlight 2, but it doesnt really work with a gamepad (at least when I tried it). Divinity intrigued me, but it looked like it worked best with a party, I considered witcher 3 through steam play (witcher 2 with the difficulty set low was alright), but I have three young kids, so....I've tried moonlighter which I should like, but I just cant seem to get into, and victor vran should be what im looking for, but is meh the right way to describe it? I've played through pyre and bastion, they were good, but not really a world I can get lost in for 100's of hours. I might consider skyrim through steam play, but I felt like the combat in oblivion was broken even though I played a lot of it until the demon gates got old. I was more just wondering if there was something on steam that I was missing...sort of a retro turn based rpg.

I stumbled upon tangledeep, a game I had noticed before, but it came up again. Would this sort of fit the bill? It looks turn-based-ish, and from what I can tell from the screenshots, it looks like I only control one character. I cant really find any reviews on it though, and it doesnt look like the sort of game that has that sense of adventure that im looking for...but im not going to get everything I want.

I also tried out the demo to kingdoms of amalur reckoning...I really liked the combat, and it felt like an MMO, which I liked....but the quests in the demo all felt like fetch quests, so im not sure if it has staying power or not.

Kingdoms of Amalur is mostly fetch/kill quests and linear dungeons, yeah. Fun enough for a single playthrough if you like the combat and don't mind running back and forth between exclamation marks and monsters, and maybe a little more fooling around trying out different classes or weapons, but every time I give it another shot I get bored quickly. The story was serviceable but not noteworthy, and I'm fairly easy to please in that regard. Not much leeway for something like an evil playthrough either, since they just send an infinite number of OP guards after you if you get caught killing an NPC, and I don't remember the story reacting to your choices in any meaningful manner.

It's pretty and the action is fun for a while if you don't make it too easy, but that's about it.

Hmm, this request is very specific, the closest I can think of is Victor Vran. It's an ARPG with full controller play, it actually plays better with controller than with kb+mouse, has little inventory management and is very fun to play.
Can also recommend it in coop play, tons of fun.