This thread is an official sequel to my 2014 thread.
The idea is to serve as a repository of RPGs set for the year, to allow discussion of games in the genre that don't have a thread, as well as general discussion of the genre. And, of course, to provide my renowned editorial listing in the OP. Don't tell anyone, but I heard most developer bonuses are now tied directly to Durante hype points.
Let's start with the table. Criteria for inclusion: (i) officially announced 2015 english-language release, (ii) the first english-language release of the game (no ports), (iii) doesn't look like vapourware completely, (iv) considered an RPG in the broadest possible sense by Durante (no action games with a few "RPG elements", no MMOs).
Explanation of the columns: ("?" means that either the information isn't available yet or I simply don't know, if you know any of this information please post it)
Unlike last year, I'm not going to do screenshots and a writeup for every single game in the table, simply because of time constraints. I'll restrict myself only to those I'm personally really looking forward to. If anyone else wants to do a writeup for another game (following roughly the same style in terms of images/length) I'll include it in the second post.
The Special Selection
Age of Decadence
Age of Decadence is a turn-based, isometric PC RPG in development since forever and is designed to be challenging. It's being made by a small indie team at Iron Tower Studios. It recently became available on Steam as an early-access game. It sits at 7/10 Durante hype points for RPGCodex cred and intransigence.
Atelier Shallie
The next Atelier game from the intrepid team at Gust (who continue to make increasingly fantastic console JRPGs while the rest of their industry crumbles). The Atelier games are JRPGs with a crafting/alchemy focus and an unusually (for the sub-genre) nonlinear story structure. Shallie changes up the timit-limit base gameplay featured in all Atelier games on PS3 so far, and since I'm not yet sure how I feel about that, I'm only awarding it 8/10 Durante hype points despite my undying love for the series.
Cosmic Star Heroine
Zeboyd Games' next title which was successfully crowdfunded back in 2013. This game seems to take primary inspiration from Chrono Trigger for its basic presentation/structure, with turn-based battles taking place directly on the exploration map. Will also feature a Suikoden-like base building mechanic. Last year I put this one at 5/10 hype points since it felt soo far away, but now it's much closer and has continuously looked better, so I'll increase that to 7/10.
Pillars of Eternity
Pillars of Eternity is an RPG in the best sub-genre (isometric party-based), made by a dream-team of the best people in the industry at Obsidian (Sawyer, Avellone, Cain), using the best gameplay system for this type of game (RTwP). It will be hailed as the true spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate and cement this glorious new era of CRPGs as more than just a fleeting fancy. The only problem with PoE will be that it's too good. 11/10 Durante IGN hype points and a gold star. You know what? Fuck it, PoE gets 5 images.
Serpent in the Staglands
Serpent in the Staglands was kickstarted in April last year for the paltry sum of $28058. At that time, I was still skeptical given the small goal ($10k) and only pitched in for the lowest tier. However, the updates since then have convinced me that the Whalenaught studio couple know what they are doing. Of course, being an isometric RTwP party-based game also helps, and puts this Serpent at a solid 8/10 Durante hype points.
Shadowrun: Hong Kong
Last year, I wrote this about Harebrained Studios' upcoming Dragonfall: "I think they can pull it off, but after the still somewhat recent release of the first game I'm not really dying to play another, so Dragonfall gets a moderate 7/10 Durante hype points.". Well, you know what? Fuck that. After literally just completing the Director's Cut of Dragonfall yesteraday, I can't wait to play another. If HBS manage to follow the same trajectory of improvement which was apparent going from the original Returns to Dragonfall, not even the sky is a limit. A full 10/10 Durante hype points.
Torment: Tides of Numenera
The spiritual successor to the greatest game of all time, in development at inXile entertainment. I can't wait, but I will have to, and therefore this gets haha-if-you-think-this-releases-in-2015-I-got-a-bridge-to-sell-you/10 Durante hype points.
Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
CD Projekt RED are reaching for the stars with the next-gen-as-fuck open-world Witcher 3. Witcher 2 is still one of the best looking RPG of all time, and #3 seems to follow in its footsteps at least in that regard. I rated this one at 8/10 last year, but now I'd reduce that to 7/10 Durante hype points. Not because of the "OMG downgrade" sillyness that some engage in, but because I can't shake the fear that it might be a case of quantity over quality, at least to some extent. I hope CDPR prove me wrong.
Almost There
Games which closely miss getting on the special selection train, but which I would still feel bad writing nothing about (think of these as 6/10s):
Lemons
While doing research for this thread, I found out the following which are too bad not to write about:
FAQ
Durante, have you gone soft? What's with all those high hype point ratings?
The comparatively higher ratings are because I only did writeups for games I care about a lot this year, rather than anything under the sun. If something didn't hype me for at least a 7 point equivalent it didn't make the list.
Why do you hate game X? It's not included in the table!
If it fulfills all the requirements outlined at the top (check that!), then post about it (and include the entire row for the table, or at least as much as you know). Likely I simply didn't know about the game.
The idea is to serve as a repository of RPGs set for the year, to allow discussion of games in the genre that don't have a thread, as well as general discussion of the genre. And, of course, to provide my renowned editorial listing in the OP. Don't tell anyone, but I heard most developer bonuses are now tied directly to Durante hype points.
Let's start with the table. Criteria for inclusion: (i) officially announced 2015 english-language release, (ii) the first english-language release of the game (no ports), (iii) doesn't look like vapourware completely, (iv) considered an RPG in the broadest possible sense by Durante (no action games with a few "RPG elements", no MMOs).
Code:
[b] Battle Dialogue Maps
Name Party Perspective Coop Structur Time Pos. Trees Checks World Battle Release Platform(s) URL[/b]
Age of Decadence - Isometric - Open TB Squares Yes Yes Yes - Q1 PC http://www.irontowerstudio.com
Atelier Shallie Yes 3rd Person - Open TB Rows - - Yes Yes March 13 PS3 http://www.ateliergames.eu/shallie
Avernum 2: Crystal Souls - Isometric - Open TB Squares Yes Yes Yes - January PC http://www.avernum.com/avernum2
Blackguards 2 Yes Isometric - Open TB Hexes ? ? Yes Yes January 20 PC http://www.blackguards2.com
Bloodborne - 3rd Person Yes Open Action Free - - - - March 24 PS4 http://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/bloodborne-ps4
Brandish: The Dark Revenant - Top-down - Linear RT Squares - - - - January 13 PSP http://www.brandishpsp.com
Celestian Tales: Old North Yes 2D Top Down - ? TB ? ? ? ? Yes 2015 PC http://www.ekuatorgames.com
Cosmic Star Heroine Yes 2D Top Down - Linear TB None ? - Yes - 2015 Multi http://www.zeboyd.com
Darkest Dungeon Yes 2D Side - ? TB Rows ? ? Yes - 2015 Multi http://www.darkestdungeon.com
Devil Survivor Record Breaker Yes Isometric - Linear TB Squares ? - - - 2015 3DS http://www.atlus.com/devilsurvivor2rb/
Disgaea 5 Yes Isometric - Linear TB Squares - - - Yes 2015 PS4 ?
Etrian Mystery Dungeon Yes Top-down - Open TB Squares - - - - April 7 3DS http://www.atlus.com/etrianmd
Exanima - Isometric - Open Action Free ? ? - - 2015 PC http://www.baremettle.com
Final Fantasy Type-0 HD Yes 3rd Person - Linear Action Free - - Yes Partiall March PS4,XB1 http://finalfantasytype0.com
Frontiers - 1st Person Yes Open Action Free ? ? - - 2015 PC http://explore-frontiers.com
Grim Dawn - Isometric Yes Open Action Free - - - - 2015 PC http://www.grimdawn.com
Kingdom Come: Deliverance - 1st Person - Open Action Free Yes ? - - 2015 Multi http://www.kingdomcomerpg.com
Mount & Blade II - 3rd Person - Open Action Free ? ? ? - 2015 PC http://www.taleworlds.com/en/Games/Bannerlord
Operation Abyss: NTL Yes 1st Person - ? TB Rows ? ? Yes Yes April 14 Vita http://nisamerica.com/games/operation-abyss-new-tokyo-legacy
Persona 5 Yes 3rd Person - ? TB ? ? ? ? ? 2015 PS3,PS4 http://www.atlus.com/persona5
Pillars of Eternity Yes Isometric - Open RTwP Free Yes Yes Yes - Q1 PC http://eternity.obsidian.net
Prisonscape - 2D Top Down - Linear TB Squares Yes Yes - Partiall 2015 PC http://www.prisonscape.com
Project Phoenix Yes Isometric - ? Action Free - - ? - 2015 PC,Mobile http://projectphoenix.info
Salt and Sanctuary - 2D Side ? ? Action Free - - ? - 2015 Multi http://www.ska-studios.com/salt
Serpent in the Staglands Yes Isometric - Open RTwP Free Yes ? - - Q1 PC http://serpentinthestaglands.com
Shadowrun: Hong Kong Yes Isometric - Linear TB Squares Yes Yes - - August PC http://harebrained-schemes.com/shadowrun
Soul Saga: Episode 1 Yes Fixed Cam - Linear TB Rows - - ? Yes 2015 PC http://www.disastercake.com
StarCrawlers Yes 1st Person - ? TB None Yes Yes - - 2015 PC http://starcrawlers.com
Tales of Zestiria Yes 3rd Person Yes Linear Action Free - - Yes Yes Q2 PS3 ?
The Banner Saga 2 Yes Iso / Side - Linear TB Squares ? ? ? Yes 2015 Multi http://www.stoicstudio.com
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - 3rd Person - Open Action Free Yes - - - February 24 Multi http://thewitcher.com/witcher3
Torment: Tides of Numenera Yes Isometric - Open TB ? Yes Yes - - Q4 (lol) PC http://torment.inxile-entertainment.com
Trails in the Sky: SC Yes Iso / Fixed - Linear TB Free ? - - Yes 2015 PC,PSP ?
Underrail - Isometric - Open TB Squares Yes Yes - - 2015 PC http://www.underrail.com
Xenoblade Chronicles X Yes 3rd Person ? Open RT Free - - Yes - 2H WiiU http://xenobladex.jpExplanation of the columns: ("?" means that either the information isn't available yet or I simply don't know, if you know any of this information please post it)
- Party: Do you control an entire party of characters?
- Perspective: The main perspective the game is played from. ("Isometric" also counts 3D perspective projection from a traditional "isometric-like" camera perspective)
- Coop: Does the game support cooperative play with at least 2 players?
- Structure: Is the game more linear or open in overall structure?
- Battles:
- Time: How does time proceed during battles (TB = turn based; Action = real-time, action based; RT = real-time, command based; RTwP = real time with strategic pausing)
- Positioning: How can you position your character(s) during battle? (Squares = on a square grid; Hexes = on a hexagonal grid; Free = freely in space; Row = in different rows [usually in blobbers]; None = no significant positioning [ie some JRPGs]) - Dialogue:
- Trees: Does the game feature dialogue trees? (something more involved than just selecting between 2 answers 5 times in the game)
- Checks: Does the game use skill checks to gate dialogue options? - Separate Maps:
- World: Is there a separate "world map" interface fro traveling to different locations?
- Battle: Do battles take place on a separate screen from the rest of the game? - Release: Projected release date of the game.
- Platform: Which platform(s) will the game be released on. (Multi = more than 2, always includes PC)
- URL: URL of the official webpage
Unlike last year, I'm not going to do screenshots and a writeup for every single game in the table, simply because of time constraints. I'll restrict myself only to those I'm personally really looking forward to. If anyone else wants to do a writeup for another game (following roughly the same style in terms of images/length) I'll include it in the second post.
The Special Selection
Age of Decadence
Age of Decadence is a turn-based, isometric PC RPG in development since forever and is designed to be challenging. It's being made by a small indie team at Iron Tower Studios. It recently became available on Steam as an early-access game. It sits at 7/10 Durante hype points for RPGCodex cred and intransigence.
Atelier Shallie
The next Atelier game from the intrepid team at Gust (who continue to make increasingly fantastic console JRPGs while the rest of their industry crumbles). The Atelier games are JRPGs with a crafting/alchemy focus and an unusually (for the sub-genre) nonlinear story structure. Shallie changes up the timit-limit base gameplay featured in all Atelier games on PS3 so far, and since I'm not yet sure how I feel about that, I'm only awarding it 8/10 Durante hype points despite my undying love for the series.
Cosmic Star Heroine
Zeboyd Games' next title which was successfully crowdfunded back in 2013. This game seems to take primary inspiration from Chrono Trigger for its basic presentation/structure, with turn-based battles taking place directly on the exploration map. Will also feature a Suikoden-like base building mechanic. Last year I put this one at 5/10 hype points since it felt soo far away, but now it's much closer and has continuously looked better, so I'll increase that to 7/10.
Pillars of Eternity
Pillars of Eternity is an RPG in the best sub-genre (isometric party-based), made by a dream-team of the best people in the industry at Obsidian (Sawyer, Avellone, Cain), using the best gameplay system for this type of game (RTwP). It will be hailed as the true spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate and cement this glorious new era of CRPGs as more than just a fleeting fancy. The only problem with PoE will be that it's too good. 11/10 Durante IGN hype points and a gold star. You know what? Fuck it, PoE gets 5 images.
Serpent in the Staglands
Serpent in the Staglands was kickstarted in April last year for the paltry sum of $28058. At that time, I was still skeptical given the small goal ($10k) and only pitched in for the lowest tier. However, the updates since then have convinced me that the Whalenaught studio couple know what they are doing. Of course, being an isometric RTwP party-based game also helps, and puts this Serpent at a solid 8/10 Durante hype points.
Shadowrun: Hong Kong
Last year, I wrote this about Harebrained Studios' upcoming Dragonfall: "I think they can pull it off, but after the still somewhat recent release of the first game I'm not really dying to play another, so Dragonfall gets a moderate 7/10 Durante hype points.". Well, you know what? Fuck that. After literally just completing the Director's Cut of Dragonfall yesteraday, I can't wait to play another. If HBS manage to follow the same trajectory of improvement which was apparent going from the original Returns to Dragonfall, not even the sky is a limit. A full 10/10 Durante hype points.
Torment: Tides of Numenera
The spiritual successor to the greatest game of all time, in development at inXile entertainment. I can't wait, but I will have to, and therefore this gets haha-if-you-think-this-releases-in-2015-I-got-a-bridge-to-sell-you/10 Durante hype points.
Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
CD Projekt RED are reaching for the stars with the next-gen-as-fuck open-world Witcher 3. Witcher 2 is still one of the best looking RPG of all time, and #3 seems to follow in its footsteps at least in that regard. I rated this one at 8/10 last year, but now I'd reduce that to 7/10 Durante hype points. Not because of the "OMG downgrade" sillyness that some engage in, but because I can't shake the fear that it might be a case of quantity over quality, at least to some extent. I hope CDPR prove me wrong.
Almost There
Games which closely miss getting on the special selection train, but which I would still feel bad writing nothing about (think of these as 6/10s):
- Grim Dawn : This still seems like the most promising upcoming Diablolike. Certainly one I'll spend many hours cooping.
- Trails in the Sky: SC : I enjoyed FC, perhaps not as much as many others, but certainly enough to be hyped for its sequel.
- Underrail : A promising indie title with a lot of depth, that would make my list if not for my strong preference for party-based games in isometric settings.
Lemons
While doing research for this thread, I found out the following which are too bad not to write about:
- Project Phoenix : Remember this one? It looks embarrassingly awful given the budget it attained on kickstarter, compared to many other games on this list made on a shoestring budget.
FAQ
Durante, have you gone soft? What's with all those high hype point ratings?
The comparatively higher ratings are because I only did writeups for games I care about a lot this year, rather than anything under the sun. If something didn't hype me for at least a 7 point equivalent it didn't make the list.
Why do you hate game X? It's not included in the table!
If it fulfills all the requirements outlined at the top (check that!), then post about it (and include the entire row for the table, or at least as much as you know). Likely I simply didn't know about the game.
