Fextralife's Top 20 RPGs of 2017
Dec. 30, 2016Release Date: TBAPlatform: PS4, Xbox One, PC (Rumored)Developer: BungiePublisher: Activision
Shattered: Tale of the Forgotten Kingis an action/platformer with RPG elements, set in a dark universe from creator Redlock Studio for consoles and PC. The way you play will affect the ending you get and how your character progresses naturally. In Shattered, you will play as the Wanderer seeking lost memories and knowledge from a missing King. The game features a unique blend of 2D platforming and 3D boss battles. The art style alone has us already captivated.
Coming to PS4 and PC,Eitr, an isometric endeavor in the Soulslike genre from developer Eneme and publisher Devolver Digital combines the top down perspective of Diablo with the crushing station to station combat of Dark Souls and wraps it all in some retro pixel art design. Inspired by Nordic myths, the heroine, known to this point as the Shield Maiden must unravel the mystery of what afflicts the tree of life and her people. She will make use ofweaponsand equipment to defeat her foes while using the game’sbonfiremechanic to rest and improve. Souls fans of games likeSalt and Sanctuarywill find a lot to love here.
We got our first look at Piranha Bytes and THQ Nordic’s Sci-fi/Fantasy hybrid gameElexduring last E3 and were impressed with the game’s open world third person gameplay. The upcoming RPG for consoles and PC features a unique blend of futuristic technology and magic and promises a vast open world with dynamicquestingthat reacts to player choices, including the killing of quest givingNPCs. The various factions of the world are struggling for control of a world devastated by a meteor that also brought with it a powerful substance desired by many for its life altering properties.
Part Monster Hunter, part Souls series,Dauntlessis an upcoming free to play RPG on PC that takes place on a series of floating islands called theShattered Isles. Players will work together to take down powerfulenemiescalled behemoths, and harvest these fallen beasts to improved their weapons and armor in crafting. The game’s developer Phoenix Labs is comprised of former Blizzard and Riot members and the game has us all excited to get a chance at some challenging cooperative beast hunting.
MMOs are great at letting players skip around doing a million things that developers give.Camelot Unchainedfrom City State Entertainment takes this further and lets players build the world they play in, and then defend it from destruction at the hands of other playerfactions. The empowerment doesn’t stop there, with dedicated crafterclassesdetermining the breadth of the economy, andabilitycustomization options that allow players to fine tune their setups like never before. Topping it all off, the PvP focused faction MMO will allow for massive battles involving hundreds of combatants at once. We pay attention anytime a game hints at tweaking convention, and this game is firmly on our radar.
A boy and his dragon. What else is there to say? In actuality the upcoming Xbox One and PC gameScaleboundis looking to take the partner AI feature to a new level with a fully interactive dragon companion that can be issued commands, ridden and even taken direct control of. The bond between both is severe, if you die the dragon dies and vice versa. Beyond this, the game is a full RPG experience fromNier: Automatadeveloper Platinum Games. Players will have a diverse arsenal ofweaponsandskillsto choose from and the game will feature 4 playercoopso your friends can bring their dragons along for the ride which is a big reason why we’re looking forward to the game.
High speed action RPGNier: Automatais the sequel to the cult hit Nier and is coming to the PS4 and PC. Square Enix and Bayonetta developer Platinum Games are looking to take the game to a new level, ramping up the velocity and style of this game that is a spin-off of the Drakengard series. The game is set in the middle of a proxy war between machines created by otherworldly invaders and what remains of humanity. The stories mainplayable charactersare machines themselves, named2B,9S, and the obsolete prototypeA2. The game will feature the popular weapon stories from the first game which give narrative background to theweaponsplayers will be wielding. Supportive machines calledPODswill accompany the players and allow them to perform various actions in combat and traversal. We’re attracted to the game’s speed and beautiful world design and are looking forward to reading every weapon story we can get our hands on.
Release Date: TBAPlatform: PS4Developer: CapcomPublisher: Capcom
Oh where, oh where have you goneDeep Down. Originally revealed during the last gen, thisDragon’s Dogmameets Dark Souls free to play from Capcom has descended into development hell. It’s been 2 years since we’ve seen any new footage or communication on its development. With the trademark expiring in February, we’ll soon learn one way or another whether this promising RPG will ever see the light of day. Initial looks at this console game promised deep dungeon diving, with beefy combat and itemization. If this game does see the light of day, expect it to shoot up towards the top of our list.
Mecha Souls anyone?Lords of the Fallendeveloper Deck13 has taken their formula and graphical prowess to the sci-fi genre inThe Surge, coming to consoles and PC. In a futuristic world devastated by the effects of climate change, it’s up to you to make sense of what went wrong at the preeminent technology corporation in the world. The game features an industrial heft as you will square off against armoredfoes, severing their limbs and using them for your own ends and augmenting yourarmorandabilities. We loved our hands on time with the game, finding combat gratifying and responsive and the game to be visually stunning.
Divinity Original Sin 2is the PC sequel to the sleeper hitDivinity Original Sinfrom Larian Studios. Not content to simply deliver a safe sequel, the developer has gone back to the drawing board, redesigning stats andattributesas well as adding tons of brand new features such asmultiplayer, dungeon master mode, and dynamic backgrounds andoriginstories. What remains are the classic CRPG mechanics and brilliant storytelling that made the first game such a hit. The game is in early access right now on PC with Act I available for testing and feedback. We couldn’t get enough of the first one, and expect nothing different from this second installment.
Vampyris a new Action RPG from Dontnod Entertainment of Life is Strange fame for the current gen consoles and PC. Set in the Spanish Flue ravaged London of 1918, you take on the role of,Dr. Jonathan Reid, a recently turned Vampire, who wrestles with his desire to kill and his commitment as a doctor to heal. You will make use of vampiricabilitiesandweaponsas you stalk your victims and those who hunt you. Your decisions will affect the quality of life for the neighborhoods of London as well as your own. The more you feed the more powerful you become, but the city will devolve further. If you do no harm, the city will begin to heal, but you will be significantly weaker. The game is just dripping with mood and weighty emotions, and its detective type feel has us keeping an eye on this as a sleeper hit of the year.
Absolver, an online combat RPG on PS4 and PC from developer SloClap and publisher Devolver Digital takes hand to hand combat to a new level, with a customizablecombat deckthat allows players to personalize their martial arts style. Further augmenting this areitems, skills and a limited arsenal ofweapons. Players can take on the role of mentor and teach acolytes new moves. Their Playstation Experience trailer nearly stole the show as the game’s distinctive art style and disciplined approach give it a unique hipness and attitude. Our hands on time with the game during E3 left us impressed. It’s very likely the hours will without notice as we spar with friends, refining our styles and learning the subtleties of the game’s fighting mechanics.
Kingdom Come Deliverancefrom Warhorse Studios is taking the mantra of realism and meaningful choice to a whole new level as everything in the game is being designed to have the weight of reality behind every decision. You will be playing through a seminal point in Bohemian history, a smaller part in a larger stale. Yourweaponsdo damage in real ways, must be maintained and repaired and the same goes for armor.NPCswill all have daily routines and can be dramatically impacted based on how you choose to interact with them. Quests can be tackled in a diverse amount of ways, limited to your imagination. All of this takes place in a historically accurate reproduction of this period of history, including the landscape and buildings all the way down to the paintings and books that are presented. Just the concept alone of playing history has us thrilled to experience it, and we haven’t even touched on the great gameplay. Console and PC players have a truly unique experience to look forward to this year.
Sony’s upcomingHorizon Zero Dawnfrom Killzone Developer Guerrilla Games is shaping up to be the next big banner franchise from Sony’s first party lineup. The game is Guerrilla’s first foray into the RPG genre and what it lacks in deep RPG mechanics, it will make up for in fast paced hunting of some massive machineenemies. Set in primitive a world that has mysteriously moved on from its technologically advanced past, the story follows main characterAloy’sjourney to understand her past and the mysteries of the dinosaur like machines that roam the beautiful landscapes. It will feature plenty ofquesting, exploration opportunities as well as big gamehuntsandmounts. We’ve yet to leave a demonstration of the game with our jaws closed and are expecting this game to visually blow us away when it drops.
Release Date: TBAPlatform: PS4, Xbox One, PCDeveloper: CD Projekt RedPublisher: CD Projekt Red
Torment: Tides of Numenerafrom inXile Entertainment builds off of the celebrated tabletop setting of Numenera and original Planescape Torment and sends players to the Ninth World, an earth one billion years into the future. In that time, civilizations have risen and fallen, and all that has remained are remnants of technology called Numenera. You play as the Changing God, an immortal being who has survived the ages, who will answer the question, “What does one life matter?” The game is Wasteland series developer inXile’s further effort to revitalize the CRPG genre, bringing old school mechanics, deep worldbuilding, focused storytelling and meaningful choices back to players on consoles and PC. Their old school approach mixed with modern storytelling has us and their tremendous amount of backers enthused. Our interview with inXile during Gamescom further reinforced the quality we can expect from Torment.
Playstation exclusiveNiohfrom Ninja Gaiden developer Team Ninja merges the conventions of Dark Souls with the Ninja Gaiden sensibilities that were the true hipster difficulty experiences, long before Souls was a thing. Set in a rich cultural period in Japan’s history the game fictionalizes the story ofWilliam Adams, the first Western samurai. Resurrected from development hell, this Onimusha inpsired game will pit William against otherworldly yokai across a diverse landscape of stages and missions. Players will master the moveset of theirweaponsandskillsincombat, as they read and react to the game’s brutal challenge. A unique take on multiplayer will allow players to summonrevenants, the specters of fallen players who can be challenged for some high end loot. We went nuts for this during the Alpha and Beta demos and found ourselves jonesing for it when they expired.
The events of the BioWare’s and EA’s original Mass Effect trilogy explored humanity’s struggle for recognition in a Milky Way Galaxy full of diverse alien races.Mass Effect Andromedawill now jettison console and PC players 600 years into the future, all the way to the distant Andromeda Galaxy asHumans,Turians,AsariandSalariansunite to search for a new home for the species of the Milky Way. The game will feature brand new worlds and races to encounter in a new ship, theTempest. Jetpacks, a landroving vehicle called theNomadand newcombatdesigns will add fresh dynamics to gameplay and traversal. Newweaponsandpowersand the removal of classes will give the game a brand new feel. We’ll also meet a brand new cast ofcharactersto grow attached to, revile and developromanceswith. We can’t wait to see what new directions the series will go in, as we get another go in a series we’ve been invested in for a decade.
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Emergence
Editor at Fextralife. I look for the substantial in gaming and I try to connect video games to the emotions and stories they elicit. I love all things culture and history and have an odd fondness for the planet Jupiter. I think my dogs are pretty awesome too.
Really? ME:A? From the writers of EA who have consistently failed in delivering the “RPG” aspect of the RPG franchise? I am going to sit here in awe (and woe) as people defend the the game in the same vein as they did with DA:I and the cognitive dissonance as they point out “Whoah graphics are great!” whereas the entire story will be wrought with utter nonsense. RIP Bioware… ye sold yer soul.
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