Enter a world full of adventure in these great open world RPGs.
11. Kingdom Come: Deliverance
AKA: All in a Knight’s Work. (Get it?) Live your life as if it were the Dark Ages all over again, exploring 16km2 of medieval landscape, going on quests, developing skills, and building up your reputation to become the very best (or very worst) you want to be. With realistic opportunities such as hunting, sieges and fighting duels, there’s no end to the activities with which you can fill your days and knights (okay, I’ll stop now).
A strong highlight of Kingdom Come is the utter freedom to do whatever you like. And sure, you might be saying, “hey, it’s open world, so isn’t that the same for any game of this genre”? But the answer is no. It’s not. Because the difference with Kingdom Come is the quests.
Not only can the main quest be put off till whenever you feel like doing it (or never, as in the case of some more laissez-faire players), but the quests themselves do not have a single set way to be completed. You can use your weapon, your wits, or even occasionally a bit of charm and a sly hand. The choice is all yours.
Unfortunately, when it comes to conversation there’s pretty much no choice, as skipping through dialogue is dangerous to both your character and the world it inhabits. This might frustrate some more impatient players, but they’re sure to be placated later on by how much you can ruin NPCs lives. Everyone’s a winner. Except NPCs.
10. Grim Dawn
Blessed with otherworldly powers, you must use your superior strength and power to battle the outsiders who threaten the territories and lives of your people.
A more serious take on the standard action RPG, Grim Dawn pulls you into its interlacing web of consequential decisions and story development, with every move you make affecting the world as a whole.
With combinations of classes, an abundance of skills and the ability to join NPC factions, it offers a unique playthrough experience with complex twists and turns. But the true star of this game is the story. As your character progresses throughout the game, you’ll be faced with many tough choices that can affect not only your own character, but the lives of other characters you encounter, and the world as a whole.
If all that is a bit too much for you, remember that you don’t have to go it alone, as multiplayer mode is also available, and if you really get worried, feel free to mod your game so the experience is to your liking.
9. Shroud of the Avatar- Forsaken Virtues
From the creator of the original Ultima Online, a new RPG foe has been born. Behold, the might Shroud of the Avatar, a five-part miniseries of games centered around “ethical paradoxes”. So expect some tough choices and a whole lot of skill-grinding.
Whether you choose to play with friends, with everyone, or all on your own, the time you invest in Shroud of the Avatar is sure to be repaid, with endless opportunities to explore, craft and create. Each player can build their own home in the world, and grow it from a rickety excuse for shelter to a bustling business or small citadel, where you and your guild can exist and cooperate.
Instead of having to quest and grind in dungeons for the best loot, the system in SoA means that the best items are crafted by players of high skill. Griefing is reduced by consensual PvP and no classes- instead, strength is decided by the skills you learn in-game. So get studying, because you’re going to need it.
8. The Bard’s Tale IV
Build your party with this classic, yet dynamic, single-player RPG.
First of all, we’re going to be honest; this game is beautiful. Built with the Unreal Engine 4, with smooth, vibrant graphics, and possibly one of the most calming soundtracks ever, artistically, the Bard’s Tale IV is beyond repute.
Secondly, we have to make you aware that it is a dungeon crawler. And something of a puzzler. So if you’re not into either of those particular genres, you might find it a little difficult to get into. But hold up, okay? Give it a chance.
For one thing, you can recruit NPCs for your party. Which you might see as somewhat standard for the genre, but each NPC has talent, and personality. Some might be a great fit for your team. Others might cause a little more trouble than they’re worth. It’s all down to you. Which leads to our next point: the world will be affected by who is in your team.
Whether that means another NPC might have a different reaction to you, a puzzle may be harder to solve, or a new battle is caused, we have yet to discover. But ultimately, the quests aren’t necessarily linear. Your aims and rewards are extremely subject to change.
Finally, that awesome soundtrack we mentioned? You might want to keep an ear out for that, because the melody actually influences the in-game world. Just in case you needed a heads-up.
7. Albion Online
Want to become a mighty warrior, protecting your lands and guild from invasion by monsters or (even worse) other players? Great! Want to become a daring thief or brigand, building your reputation? Go ahead! Want to become a farmer, feeding the army? Uh, yeah, sure! You can do that too! Want to become a delivery boy? Or a diplomat? Or a- Okay. This is getting ridiculous now. But you get the picture.
With Albion Online, you can literally be whoever you want to be. Instead of classes, the clothing and equipment you don determines your trade. And there’s a lot to choose from. But don’t expect clothing to make up for skills.
The world relies very heavily on player trade and skilled labor. So if you really want to flourish, you’ll want to specialize. And we really mean specialize. Find your niche. You see that crack in the market there? That need for a specific type of enchanted dragon hide bracer? [Note: Not confirmed as in-game item] Squeeze yourself in there. That’s right. Tighter. Tighterrrr… There. You got it. Now become the best at that.
Of course, if you’d rather be on the front line, you can always become a warrior instead. Join a guild and fight other guilds for- wait, actual territory? That’s right folks, winning battles for your guild allows you to expand, like the parasitic Romans of your time, right into the land that was previously theirs.
It’s all very realistic. Including the housing: build and furnish your own home, away from the sweat and stink of the cities, and rejoice in the fact that the furniture you own isn’t just for show; it’s giving buffs to your character too. [Now if my manga collection did that, how much better would the world be?]
6. Torment: Tides of Numenera
Explore the Ninth World as the “Last Castoff”, an amnesiac humanoid power receptacle who was left to die for unknown reasons, that don’t ever appear to be answered. And just so you know, combat is not the main focus of this game. So if you’re looking for hack and slash, skip ahead to Umbra. This is not your game.
You start off with your unknown protagonist, for which you get to choose only a gender (and probably a name, although that hasn’t been explicitly stated), before being thrust out into the cold, terrifying world. From now on, your personality and skills will be decided by the decisions you make out in the “real [game] world”. Very much like life.
Through these decisions and interactions with NPCs and the world in general, you can develop into one of three standard character classes, Warrior, Mage or Rogue, although in-game they are referred to as “Glaive”, “Nano” and “Jack” respectively. These can be customized further still with other adjectives (e.g. “Tough”), which will affect your character's skills and abilities.
And continuing in this vein of taking standard game mechanics and shifting them slightly to make them more confusing, ToN will use “Tides” instead of the usual alignment style, which are… Somewhat complicated.
But basically, having types of Tides is a way to display the way in which you’ve lived; not necessarily whether you were good or evil, but your general… Way. And this Way (your “Legacy”), when occurring in conjunction with the use of certain items (language getting technical in order to avoid spoilers, sorry), gives you different rewards. And that’s the end, I promise.
Tl;dr: It looks like a pretty good game. Check it out.
5. Tales of Beseria
Follow Velvet, a woman in the grip of strong emotion and an even stronger left hand, in a cold world full of only logic and reason (and a small child who refuses to leave her side, even though she’s ridiculously dangerous to be around), as she attempts to put the world to rights.
Before you say “but this game is being released in Japan on the PS3/PS4, not on PC or in the UK”, we are here to tell you that Tales of Beseria has a Western Windows release scheduled for shortly after it’s Japanese console one. You’re welcome.
Explore Midgand, a land discovering the perils of climate change, while discovering more about your character’s backstory and the clingy weaponized child that will follow you around and eventually become a friend for the troubled protagonist. Discover the full potential of your creepy demon hand, and how it can be used to reverse the change that is endangering the inhabitants of Midgand.
Because change is always bad. And you must never, ever learn to accept it.
And apparently, so are emotions.
In the meanwhile, enjoy the bright, 3D anime-style graphics and absolutely brilliant voice-acting. Whether or not the latter will be continued in the Western release, we have yet to discover.
4. InSomnia
A grungy, retro-futuristic look at humanity in seclusion. Explore an ancient, semi-derelict space station containing the survivors of a planetary war. Experience their restrictive doctrine, the perils and desperation of the slums and the secrets of the station’s past.
Navigate the treacherous warren that is the bowels of the space station, encountering friend and foe alike. The beings that surround you have been trapped here for so long, that some of them may no longer be entirely sane. And that’s just the human creatures… Be careful going around corners, because you will never know when the next beast appears, ready to strike.
Discover new areas to explore while battling basic needs such as hunger and tiredness, and watch your character develop before your eyes through interaction with all kinds of environments and characters.
Don’t expect your path to be laid out for you, either. Mission generation and encounters are randomly generated, so it will be up to you to decide where to go and who to talk to, in order to piece together the storyline. Just try not to die.
3. Mass Effect: Andromeda
Somewhere within the Andromeda Galaxy, your adventure awaits…
Okay, so we don’t know very much about Andromeda yet. Not very much at all. Unfortunately (for us, not them), the developers have managed to stay very tight-lipped on this one. Even more so than for Dark Souls 3 in fact.
But, we do know a certain amount. Item One: The starter character will be human, and they will not be related to the characters of previous Mass Effect games. You will have the choice of a male or female protagonist. Item Two: The return of the Mako, our favourite space-buggy. Item Three: The previous story arc is over. Done with. Finite. This isn’t Mass Effect 4, and it’s not so much a continuation of the timeline as it is an offshoot. Item Four: Yes, you can bring your friends. A multiplayer component to the game has been confirmed.
That’s pretty much all we know, guys. But if the previous Mass Effect games are anything to go by, this is definitely a game to look forward to.
2. Darks Souls 3
In this turning-point title for the Dark Souls series, you play as a shadowy hero hunting down the Lord of Cinders… And that’s pretty much all we know.
The award-winning Dark Souls series is back, and it’s darker than ever. With the new possibility of battle arts, bosses that evolve their fighting style over the course of skirmishes, and strange, fossil-worshipping undead, it’s looking like this newest edition to the series is trying to be even more creepy and painfully difficult than its predecessors. No doubt it will succeed.
While current footage shows some pretty impressive work going on, the developers are proving themselves to be very adept at keeping quiet on the details. So we would like to make a few short predictions on what we believe will be featured in the upcoming inheritor to the Dark Souls mantle.
1: There will be rats. Rats were always annoying. And they were always there. Great to level up on, not so great when you’re only a few feet away from a bonfire. Especially if they poisoned you. As a mainstay of not only Dark Souls, but almost every single RPG ever, we would like to say that rats will almost certainly be in Dark Souls 3.
2: Some kind of skeleton boss. We’ve had Gravelord Nito. We’ve had the Skeleton Lords. Now it’s time for… Something else made of bones. I’m sure it’ll be obvious when we see it. And terrifying. And it will kill us all the first time around.
Finally, 3: Praise the Sun.
1. Umbra
As an ex-officer of the Human Republic, you must escape your former allies due to the forbidden powers you have unwittingly developed. You join the secretive Templars after being hunted mercilessly by humans and creatures of the wilderness alike, and work with them to uncover the mysteries of mankind’s fall from grace.
This is not a game about skipping through beautiful flower-filled meadows. This is a game about brutally massacring large numbers of mutated creatures of the night and your former allies. In relatively attractive wide-open spaces, amongst other places. However. That’s not the reason Umbra is number one on our list.
Umbra is number one because of the sheer freedom you are given when playing. There’s no requirement to invest in the story, but even if you choose to do so, you can do so in the order you choose, at the time you choose, and opportunities will wait for you.
Random exploring and experimenting with equipment and skills are actually encouraged; rewarded with new abilities. There are no classes, you can destroy whole swathes of the world as you see fit, and the customization… Oh, the customization. You can endlessly play with the make-up of both your equipment and character, changing the cosmetic appearance and actual useful attributes of both.
The most obvious example of this is in the “Apocalyptic Form” of your character, in which items such as wings being added (to make your character look like a super-cool avenging angel, for example) will completely alter your playstyle in unique, yet integrally realistic ways.
Truly, the customization in Umbra is the star of the show, although the story itself and world creation comes pretty close. Ultimately, the game has something for everyone, however you want to play.
P.S. For anyone who was wondering, the “umbra” is the darkest part of a shadow. *the more you know*
Maybe you should also check out:
Torment: Tides of Numenera Gameplay
11 Things All Great RPGs Have In Common
The Secret World: Review and Gameplay
