Upgrading an eight-year-old game to run well on next generation hardware is a tricky job, but The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is so beloved that developer CD Projekt RED decided to make it happen, and to do it for free. Now, everything is new again, and there is every reason for veteran and new players to grab their Witcher swords and start swinging.
Roadwarden is a fascinating text-based RPG that also uses some graphics to show off its maps and a few of the finely detailed destinations that you will visit as a road warden, a lone sentinel charged with patrolling a savage and neglected corner of a dying empire.
People pretty much love dinosaurs, which is why a movie series like Jurassic Park has spawned so many sequels. But it’s rare when we get to see life from a dinosaur’s perspective. That is how the new Path of Titans MMO works, with players starting out their dinosaur characters as eggs and growing them into monstrous thunder lizards – if they survive that long.
The Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous was an epic RPG that was universally loved by players and reviewers. But the DLCs have been a bit lackluster so far. That changes with The Treasure of the Midnight Isles, depending on what kind of RPG you most enjoy.
Hard West II is a turn-based strategy game where your band of western heroes and outlaws are almost always outnumbered by bad guys, undead, demons, and everything else. And yet, Hard West II rewards those who forgo cover for run and gun battling.
This has been a very good year for role-playing games, and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 helps to further that trend. Right from the start with its wildly interesting premise to the final climatic battle, role-players will find a lot to enjoy with this adventure.
Fresh off of the high that was Fire Emblem: Three Houses, one would expect that Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes could also be a masterpiece. And the game is fun to play, but several missteps will probably keep it from ever becoming a hallmark title for the series.
Role-playing games have seen a huge resurgence in recent years, with titles like Pillars of Eternity and Pathfinder Kingmaker setting a high bar. The Waylanders does not quite reach that level, but this clever adventure gets pretty close.
Fabled Lands takes the classic adventure stories written by authors Dave Morris and Jamie Thomson and puts them into a video game where you can explore almost anywhere and role-play however you wish with no physical dice required.
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin might take longtime Final Fantasy players by surprise. It combines the deep lore of the series with the fast and frantic combat that developer Team Ninja is known for, putting them together in a really fun and exciting game.
