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The 2017 RPG Discussion Thread

Kuraudo

Banned
Has there been any recent news on Kingdom Come? Last I remember hearing about it was early last year when it was unsurprisingly pushed back to 2017.
 
Had no idea XBC2 was 2017. The trailer made it look far off, for how vague it is.

That and Project Octopath Traveler were real highlights of the Switch event. Partly because BotW is too close to get any more excited over. (BotW counts as an RPG if Horizon does, imo.)
Vampyr looks inspired by BloodBorne ,but when was the last we saw it ?

Feels it'd gone missing for a long while.

Looks inspired in what way? It has absolutely nothing in common with Bloodborne, save for its Victorian-era aesthetic and horror overtones.

Agree that it's been a while since the last peek at it, though. Hope it's progressing well. (I'll admit, none of the showings have been particularly impressive. I'm currently expecting a Remember Me-tier game, aka a flawed gem.) After Life is Strange, though, they have my trust.
Has there been any recent news on Kingdom Come? Last I remember hearing about it was early last year when it was unsurprisingly pushed back to 2017.

No idea, but you've reminded me that Mount&Blade 2: Bannerlord is coming out some time... eventually. If there's any 2017 info on Bannerlord, it should totally be added to this thread.
 

Arulan

Member
For those of you who played The Age of Decadence (all of you, right?), here is an update to Iron Tower Studios' Colony Ship RPG:

Character & Inventory Systems

15414.jpg


1. Tagged Skills

The tagged skills will increase at a faster rate (let's say x1.25). INT will no longer give overall XP bonuses but define the number of tagged skills instead (up to 4 tagged skills at INT10). Thus a smart person will be able to excel in a larger number of disciplines.

2. Party-Based Mechanics used in DR

Charisma will determine the number and quality of your party members. The party size will range from 2 to 4. Experience points from quests will be split between the human party members (a droid will have its own leveling up mechanics and won't cost you any XP), thus a smaller party will be able to gain levels faster.

3. Feats & Character Levels

Your characters will gain levels using experience points from quests. When you level up, you’ll select feats, unlocking or improving your abilities. The feats will be an important aspect of character development (i.e. they won’t give you minor bonuses but help you develop your characters along specific paths: lone wolf vs squad leader, offense vs defense, gunslinger vs sprayer or gadgeteer, melee vs ranged, which will go beyond which skill to develop, etc) and make as much of a difference as the skills levels.

The skills will determine your chance of success with certain tasks and the feats will define what you can do and how you can use these skills to maximum advantage. Basically, the feats will define your character much more than your skills.

4. Skills & Learn by Using

You will not gain XP for killing, talking, sneaking, picking locks, using computers, fixing mechanical things and such. You will not increase your skills manually. Instead your skills will be increased automatically based on their use.

The main problem with a party-based, skill-based setup is that even with a 3-man party you can easily cover all skills you want to have. You’ll have a fighter/talker, fighter/thief, fighter/fixer, which is something we’d like to avoid. The ‘increase by use’ system solves this problem in the most natural and logical way possible. Your abilities reflect what you do, not how (usually arbitrary) you distribute your skill points.
It reinforces our party-based goals. If you let one of the party members do all the repair work while you concentrate on other areas, losing this party member would hit you hard and you’d have to make sure (via choices made during quests) that he/she would stay with you no matter what.
It rewards consistent gameplay. Let’s say you need to deal with a gang that stands between you and that door over there. If you kill them, everyone’s combat skills will improve a bit. If you talk your way through, only your dialogue skills will go up.

Instead of counting how many times you did something, we’ll assign a certain value (let’s call it learning points) to each activity (attacking, killing, fixing, sneaking, convincing, lying, etc). So killing a tough enemy or repairing a reactor will net you more points than killing a weakling or fixing a toaster. Basically, it will work the same way as XP but go directly toward raising the skill that did all the work.

1-10 ranks with hidden grandmaster ranks going above 10. So essentially a 1-20 system. Basically, we don’t want someone to max a skill and then have the xp go to waste, so we will allow raising the skill above 10 in the unlikely event of someone going over 10 via extreme specialization.

5. Evasion

Evasion is a DEX & PER based skill. It doesn’t give you a chance to avoid attacks like AoD Dodge but rather makes you harder to target, reducing THC against you. Each rank reduces THC by 5% up to 50% at slvl10. Against melee attacks Evasion is twice as effective (i.e. 10% THC reduction per rank).

6. Stats:

STR – carry weight, melee damage bonus, min requirements for heavy (two-handed) weapons like plasma canons.
DEX – determines AP (Dex + 2) and combat sequence; same as in DR
CON – determines HP (CON x 5)+10, number of implants, and resistance to poison, knockdowns, criticals and other harmful effects while in combat. The goal is to make toughness more than just hit points as +5 hit points don’t really make much difference. So the focus should be on resisting harmful effects. Implants: 1 at CON4, 2 at CON5, 3 at CON6, 4 at CON7, 5 at CON8, 6 at CON9, 7 at CON10
PER – THC modifier for all weapons, reduces the effect of flashbang and smoke grenades.
INT – determines the number of tagged skills: 1 at INT4, 2 at INT6, 3 at INT8 , 4 at INT10. Reduces Brainwave Disruptor effects.
CHA – determines the party size, 1 follower at CHA5, 2 at CHA7, 3 at CHA9; max party size is 4

7. Implants

In most cases the implants won't give you direct bonuses (cellular regeneration and subdermal armor are the only combat implants) but will assist with "gated content", either allowing to bypass stat checks or unlocking extra content in the first place (like interfacing with the ship's systems via a bridge officer's datajack). Basically, the implants are closer to what we did in AoD than to Shadowrun, in case anyone's wondering.

8. Reputation

General reputation will be checked in dialogues, but it will also give the players a better idea of what they missed via low ranks. Personal beliefs will be shaped by your decisions and checked in dialogues. We’ll start the game with 10 "old-school" questions which will both introduce the setting and define your character a little bit (the starting values).

[...]
 

Sinatar

Official GAF Bottom Feeder
For those of you who played The Age of Decadence (all of you, right?), here is an update to Iron Tower Studios' Colony Ship RPG:

FYI Age of Decadence took 11 years to make, now I don't expect Colony Ship to take that long but it's definitely not hitting this year.
 

Arulan

Member
FYI Age of Decadence took 11 years to make, now I don't expect Colony Ship to take that long but it's definitely not hitting this year.

Of course, they only just entered implementation.

I've always considered these threads a place for RPG-GAF to discuss RPGs in general, in addition to the yearly releases, if that's what you're referring to.
 

Opa-Pa

Member
As if this year wasn't already remarkable for RPGs, NoA is claiming Xenoblade 2 will make it this year too... Damn, that would make me get a Switch pretty much instantly. It sure comes off as a surprise, but I don't think it's that far fetched, I mean, we don't know when development started so maybe it'll happen.

Either way, its existence is a megaton for me.
 

Labadal

Member
I have started with tags. Will do more later. I think that I will skip descriptions and trailers. If I do those, I would need a third post to fit everything. I already split up the first post because I was close to the character limit.

There are 86 games mentioned so far, excluding expansions. If 50 of the games release, it will still have been a nice year for rpg enthusiasts.

Feel free to suggest tags for games or descriptions for that matter.

I am also thinking about removing the official webpage row of all games and making the game title clickable instead.
 
Thanks for this. A bunch of things in this Thread I knew I was going to pick up (Mass Effect, Divinity: OS2) But there are some things I'll have to keep an eye on, like Nights of Azure.
 

Mephala

Member
A nice update!

I don't know if the questions you asked before are a concern but I don't think you should split the list. In all fairness the bigger RPGs will likely get some steam from their own threads or news updates already. No need to play favourites here.

I wouldn't include Monster Hunter as an RPG for this thread. If I get some time I'll write some more blurbs for various games.
 

Humdinger

Member
Wow, great list and thread, thank you. What a year. Persona, Yakuza, Kingdom Hearts, Horizon Zero Dawn, Torment, Mass Effect, Kingdom Come, Ni No Kuni 2, Vampyr... Lots to look forward to. Thanks for compiling this.
 
I keep thinking I've got my head around how many RPGs I'll be playing this year, and then a list like this reminds me of a few more. Where will I find the time?
 
Lot of interesting looking games. I love how creative people can get when they're not forced into the high budget mindset.

Now let's raise 5 mil for a new Darklands.
 

ChrisDM

Member
This is a fantastic thread. Thank you so much for putting the time into making it awesome!

Side note: good shit that Yakuza 0 and Persona 5 is 10/10 hype. :D
 
I do not believe for a second that Summon Night 6 is making that February timeframe. We've heard nothing about it since they extended the preorder period for the LE (which we only heard about the LE then, still nothing on the game itself) and the standard version has yet to show up on any online retailer.
 

Arulan

Member
Lot of interesting looking games. I love how creative people can get when they're not forced into the high budget mindset.

Now let's raise 5 mil for a new Darklands.

With any luck, it'll be Josh Sawyer's next project after Pillars of Eternity 2. A spiritual successor anyway.
 
Tales of Berseria
Nioh
Horizon Zero Dawn
Torment: Tides of Numenera
Mass Effect Andromeda
Persona 5
Divinity: Original Sin 2

Literally the best year for rpgs!

(Probably forgetting others too!)
 

Labadal

Member
A nice update!

I don't know if the questions you asked before are a concern but I don't think you should split the list. In all fairness the bigger RPGs will likely get some steam from their own threads or news updates already. No need to play favourites here.

I wouldn't include Monster Hunter as an RPG for this thread. If I get some time I'll write some more blurbs for various games.
I won't add Monster Hunter and no list split.

I'm really excited for this year. Lots of different settings and gameplay styles. We've got different styles of sci-fi in Mass Effect and Torment. We have games set in Japan. Games set in an post-apocalyptic world, other games embracing Japanese anime tropes. Some games rely on no fantasy at all.
I'm very excited about this year, but I don't know where I will find the time...

Edit: Tokyo Xanadu EX+ plus was announced for the West. It will come for PS4 and Steam this fall.

The Vita version will not be the EX+ version and it will release this summer. I will give each version their own entry when I update the OP.
 

Jag

Member
Spellforce 3 website lists a release date:

SpellForce 3

Developed by
Grimlore Games & THQ Nordic
Release date: 31/12/2017

Edit: I just realized they made it the last day of 2017 to keep it in the same year :(
 

StereoVsn

Member
Lot of interesting looking games. I love how creative people can get when they're not forced into the high budget mindset.

Now let's raise 5 mil for a new Darklands.
Now, that would be pretty damn amazing. One of my favorite games of that whole CRPG era. I would definitely pitch in to make this happen.

therearedozensofus.jpg.

Edit: Wait, wait, Xanadu EX+ is coming to Steam?! Where did you see that? I was planning on PS4 but will go with a PC port instead of true.

Edit 2: for some reason I am not feeling Torment. The original is one of my favorite games of all times along with BG2. However after Wasteland 2 turning out to be quite mediocre I am not certain about Torment. What I have seen and a lot of commentaries are also not giving me a lot of confidence in the release.

Between that and ME:A I am feeling a lot of disappointment is to come. At least with Yakuza 0 and P5 there is 0 chance of a miss.
 

Labadal

Member
Now, that would be pretty damn amazing. One of my favorite games of that whole CRPG era. I would definitely pitch in to make this happen.

therearedozensofus.jpg.

Edit: Wait, wait, Xanadu EX+ is coming to Steam?! Where did you see that? I was planning on PS4 but will go with a PC port instead of true.

Edit 2: for some reason I am not feeling Torment. The original is one of my favorite games of all times along with BG2. However after Wasteland 2 turning out to be quite mediocre I am not certain about Torment. What I have seen and a lot of commentaries are also not giving me a lot of confidence in the release.

Between that and ME:A I am feeling a lot of disappointment is to come. At least with Yakuza 0 and P5 there is 0 chance of a miss.

StereoVsn:
PS4 and Steam versions will be EX+, Vita, base game. I'll answer through the blog for max visibility.
 

Staf

Member
Now, that would be pretty damn amazing. One of my favorite games of that whole CRPG era. I would definitely pitch in to make this happen.

therearedozensofus.jpg.

Edit: Wait, wait, Xanadu EX+ is coming to Steam?! Where did you see that? I was planning on PS4 but will go with a PC port instead of true.

Edit 2: for some reason I am not feeling Torment. The original is one of my favorite games of all times along with BG2. However after Wasteland 2 turning out to be quite mediocre I am not certain about Torment. What I have seen and a lot of commentaries are also not giving me a lot of confidence in the release.

Between that and ME:A I am feeling a lot of disappointment is to come. At least with Yakuza 0 and P5 there is 0 chance of a miss.

Have you played Divinity: Original Sin? It's easily in my top 3 on PS4.
 

Sanctuary

Member
So many potential god-tier RPGs being released this year, even if not all of them are really going to be RPGs.
:)

I don't understand why Nier and Yakuza are RPGs and Horizon isn't. Actually I just recently found that people consider Horizon not an RPG even when devs constantly says that the game is an action RPG, but whatever.

Well, Bioware always said the Mass Effect series was a shooter/RPG hybrid, yet a bunch of people on the internet insist on saying that only the first game was ever an "RPG" (just because the combat was so forgettable). Mass Effect 3 is still a shooter/RPG hybrid, but with a much larger slant on the shooting aspect than ever before. Horizon is being called an Action RPG by GG, yet they've even noted how the RPG elements will be very light. Well that could make it any number of genres then with how every other genre anymore has "RPG elements", but aren't actually RPGs at all. Is crafting or "upgrades" all it takes anymore to make something an RPG? Narrative? If so, is Tomb Raider an RPG? Is TLOU an RPG? Is Super Mario Brothers an RPG, since I have a choice to hit start or not, and I can also "upgrade" my character with power ups?
 

Ivory Samoan

Gold Member
Tales of Berseria
Nioh
Horizon Zero Dawn
Torment: Tides of Numenera
Mass Effect Andromeda
Persona 5
Divinity: Original Sin 2

Literally the best year for rpgs!

(Probably forgetting others too!)

Every one of those looks amazing to me too...normally I'm only down for 1-2 RPGs a year, this year looks very different, a smorgasbord of delights.
 

Freeman76

Member
Holy shit what a year!!!! I hope Divinity 2 gets a PS4 port, the first one is a classic. Tides on Numeria is new to me, could be a day one.

Mea already ordered

Yakuza already ordered

Horizon waiting for more impressions

And theres loads of potential bangers on that list too

Shit my wallet will take a proper beating this year
 

Freeman76

Member
Have you played Divinity: Original Sin? It's easily in my top 3 on PS4.

Agreed. I completed on PC and somehow enjoyed it more playing again on ps4. A rare gem that makes you think, read and experiment to get the most from it.
 
I feel spoiled for choice by the number of RPGs this year.
Yakuza 0 and Persona 5 are already on the dock for me. Many of these I know next to nothing about though.

Now I know many here have a fairly... generous definition of what a RPG is, but Nioh? I've got it pre-ordered, but I've never heard anything that made me think it was a RPG, even an ARPG.
 

Staf

Member
Agreed. I completed on PC and somehow enjoyed it more playing again on ps4. A rare gem that makes you think, read and experiment to get the most from it.

My GF rarely play games. We played it from start to finish co-op and she loved it. She really loved throwing oil barrels + fireball combos lol.
 

Sanctuary

Member
Now I know many here have a fairly... generous definition of what a RPG is, but Nioh? I've got it pre-ordered, but I've never heard anything that made me think it was a RPG, even an ARPG.

If Yakuza is an RPG, then so is Nioh, since their "RPG elements" are so similar.

Neither make me think RPG in any way, but they both still look amazing.

Pretty recent write up about seemingly everything being labeled RPGs anymore: What's in a Name?
 

Ricker

Member
Great job on the OP...I completly forgot that Torment: Tides of Numenera was coming to consoles as well,thats great.
 

Mihos

Gold Member
Star Control : Origins looks like it may be out 3rd or 4th quarter this year. Should be something more official at GDC.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Yakuza 0 10/10 Labadal Hype Points
PS4: January 24 (WW)
Action, story heavy, side quests, single character, multiple protagonists, third person
Japanese Demo available

Tales of Berseria 7/10 Labadal Hype Points
PC: January 27 (WW)
Action, party based, anime, female protagonist, third person
PS4 January 24 (US), January 27 (EU)
Demo available

Horizon: Zero Dawn
PS4: Febraury 28 (NA), March 1 (PAL)
Action, third person, exploration, post apocalyptic

Mass Effect: Andromeda 4/10 Labadal Hype Points
PC, PS4, XB1: March 21 (NA), March 24 (EU)

Persona 5 10/10 Labadal Hype Points
PS4: April 4 (WW)

Dragon Quest XI 10/10 labadal Hype Points
PS4, 3DS, Switch

Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age 9/10 Hype Points
PS4: TBA 2017 (WW)

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd 8/10 Labadal Hype Points
PC: TBA

Ni No Kuni II: REVENANT KINGDOM 9/10 Labadal Hype Points
PS4: TBA 2017

South Park: The Fractured But Whole
PC, PS4. XB1: Q1 2017 (WW)

Yakuza Kiwami 8/10 Labadal Hype Points
PS4: Summer

All of these are 100% guaranteed purchases for me, and these are just one genre. 2017 will be an expensive year lol.
 
If Yakuza is an RPG, then so is Nioh, since their "RPG elements" are so similar.

Neither make me think RPG in any way, but they both still look amazing.

Pretty recent write up about seemingly everything being labeled RPGs anymore: What's in a Name?

Hah, well I've never played a Yakuza game before, so maybe I won't consider it a RPG, either! But just from an outside, cursory perspective of both games, Yakuza seems like it has a much stronger vein of storytelling and character development than Nioh. But I don't really want to get into the whole "what is a RPG" debate...
 

Labadal

Member
Path of Exile coming to Xbox One in 2017.
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia for 3DS in 2017.

Will add both in my next update.
 

Arulan

Member
I'm still almost certain that Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky's project is World of Darkness related, and with this news, likely set in Vampire: The Masquerade. Paradox probably has multiple WoD projects going.
 

SaylorMan

Member
No spoilers please but I've started three big games (bad idea) and a million other smaller ones. As of the moment I can only focus on one MAAAAYBE two of these games. Can anyone give me some spoiler-free reasons on which I should be playing?

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines:
Digging the atmosphere, the 1080p mod installed. I have been feeling a little lost and aimless in my first 7 hours.

Planescape: Torment:
I've got this running with HD mods. Love the atmosphere as well! Very unique, something I've never really seen before. I've enjoyed it focus on the world so far and have heard its really good for roleplay (acting how I want to etc). I encountered a bug that stopped me from leaving the first area, but after a month I finally manage to fix it. So now the next area awaits. Think I was about 13 hours in?

Persona 4: Golden:
Man the music in this game good. I'm about 25 hours in. Not the biggest JRPG guy but thought I'd give this one a shot and I'm really enjoying it. I think the repetition is what lead to to take a break from the game. It's gameplay can be addictive and every time the game says "you don't have enough [insert here] to say this" I feel like I have purpose for the next two hours of play.

With some massive games coming up pretty soon (Zelda and Mass Effect) I'm hoping to chip away at this backlog I have. Thoughts?
 

Labadal

Member
I think you should continue with them all!

Vampire: I, too was lost on my furst run. Stick with it, though. One of my favorite games of all time.

Planescape is one of my favorite games of all time. Combat isn't the best but everything else is bloody brilliant.

P4G is a long game. It took me several months to beat it, but it was a good game. Not an all time favorite but it was a game I didn't mind playing while chilling in my bed.
 

Sinatar

Official GAF Bottom Feeder
No spoilers please but I've started three big games (bad idea) and a million other smaller ones. As of the moment I can only focus on one MAAAAYBE two of these games. Can anyone give me some spoiler-free reasons on which I should be playing?

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines:
Digging the atmosphere, the 1080p mod installed. I have been feeling a little lost and aimless in my first 7 hours.

Planescape: Torment:
I've got this running with HD mods. Love the atmosphere as well! Very unique, something I've never really seen before. I've enjoyed it focus on the world so far and have heard its really good for roleplay (acting how I want to etc). I encountered a bug that stopped me from leaving the first area, but after a month I finally manage to fix it. So now the next area awaits. Think I was about 13 hours in?

Persona 4: Golden:
Man the music in this game good. I'm about 25 hours in. Not the biggest JRPG guy but thought I'd give this one a shot and I'm really enjoying it. I think the repetition is what lead to to take a break from the game. It's gameplay can be addictive and every time the game says "you don't have enough [insert here] to say this" I feel like I have purpose for the next two hours of play.

With some massive games coming up pretty soon (Zelda and Mass Effect) I'm hoping to chip away at this backlog I have. Thoughts?

Personally I'd rank them Planescape > Vampire > Persona.
 
Keeping in mind that I haven't played Torment, I'd recommend Persona 4 waaay above Vampire. The core gameplay is sublime, and it has some great story payoffs towards the end (social links, etc). It's just super fun and polished in a way that Vampire isn't.

Although as Labadal hinted at, it's probably as long as the other two combined if you're really digging into it. Best to chip away at it over a long period and just savour it, or else dedicate your time elsewhere. Trying to marathon it will just burn you out, IMO.
 
No spoilers please but I've started three big games (bad idea) and a million other smaller ones. As of the moment I can only focus on one MAAAAYBE two of these games. Can anyone give me some spoiler-free reasons on which I should be playing?

With some massive games coming up pretty soon (Zelda and Mass Effect) I'm hoping to chip away at this backlog I have. Thoughts?

Reasons to keep playing each of them? Lets see

Planscape - has the best story in a video game ever and a great cast of characters.
Vampire - A uniques world, great writing and a lot of different ways to solve every quest. Tbh, if you finished the first area you've already played the best part of the game, but that doesn't mean the rest is not also great.

Persona 4 - can't think of anything. Maybe if you like dating sims and japanese high school melodramas?
 
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