RPG News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

The news that Xbox was going to buy Bethesda caught me by surprise. And not just because of the sheer size of the $7.5bn acquisition.

So much has happened since its release, it feels like Tears of the Kingdom has been around for years. Truth is the newest Zelda game isn't even a year old, not quite anyway. Tears of the Kingdom will turn one this weekend and to mark the occasion, BlackMilk has added an official range inspired by the game to its already expansive The Legend of Zelda collection. The line includes everything from t-shirts to leggings, and it's all available now ahead of the game's first anniversary.

A recent update for procgen whodunnit sim Shadows of Doubt added "Sharpshooter Assassins" with high-powered rifles to the game's glowering alternate-1980s cities, with players having to work out the killer's vantage point by deducing a bullet's trajectory, before proceeding to a secondary crime scene to search for a murder weapon and witnesses. The prospect of snipers certainly adds menace to the game's forensic sandboxing. The trouble is, the shooters aren't always as sharp as they could be.

Publisher Armor Games Studios and developer AN Productions have announced Designated Demigod, a turn-based combo RPG coming to PC via Steam. A release date was not announced.

Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, the next entry in the series of beloved dating sims with rpgs crudely affixed with Blu Tack to their walls, is set to arrive by the end of March next year. That’s according to an updated product slate released as part of a recent quarterly earnings report, as spotted by VGC and given the Jeff Grubb seal of approval.

Apple's first big event of 2024 has come and gone, showcasing a new iPad Pro and the powerful Apple M4 chip. While the latest technology throws up plenty of possibilities, though, running Baldur's Gate 3 on said new Apple goodies isn't one of them. 

Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is reporting releasing before March 31, 2025.

Move Interactive has dropped a fresh RPG title based on the popular Power Rangers series. Power Rangers: All-Stars is now up for grabs on both Android and iOS in South Korea. Prepped with 3D, this game brings in every last one of the series’ heroes.

While fans eagerly await some kind of news on Bioware's upcoming , the game's release window may have finally been confirmed. The highly-anticipated RPG, which was announced all the way back in 2018, has largely been missing from action over the last six years as the developer has yet to offer any substantial updates on the title and its production. Bioware may still be keeping quiet when it comes to sharing details on the project, but publisher EA may have suggested that an official reveal could be coming very soon.

Excessively brilliant fantasy RPG Wildermyth is getting a new DLC pack which both embraces the fad for adding roguelike modes to games, and tugs against it in the shape of what the developers are calling "our most extensively written campaign, by far". The pack is called Omenroad, and if nothing else, it's an opportunity to remind you that if you like campfire stories and witty webcomic storytelling and haven't played Wildermyth then you should get that seen to immediately.

Vampire shooter Redfall was to receive an offline mode via update this very month before Microsoft staked creators Arkane Austin, according to a report. To spell it out, the cancellation of the offline functionality means that Redfall will now be officially playable for only as long as Microsoft run the servers. Another win for videogame preservation!

You know what will really set off your soft furnishings and put further strain on your relationship when you're already worried your girlfriend is more angry about you leaving crumbs around the toaster than she would be if all were well? A 10-foot-tall statue of a video game character to cram in the corner of your living room! To celebrate the impending release of massive gloomy RPG DLC Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree, Bamco are running a competition for players to edit together a cool trailer. Best trailer overall wins Big Messmer - the lad in the header image up there. I'm sure he'll make a great home for many happy spiders and their cobwebs.

If new 2.3 Leaks are to be believed, it seems like the game’s best team comp is getting another buff as HoYoverse doubles down on one gameplay mechanic. Currently, the turn-based RPG is in the early stages of Version 2.2, an anticipated patch that brings forth the final missions in the main Penacony storyline – there will likely be more content related to the Planet of Festivities in the future, though the central questline is complete. The release of Robin and Boothill in 2.2 is also noteworthy, as both are deemed as strong characters.

After a month or so of testing, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's offiical mod tools REDkit will launch on May 21st. It'll make it easier for players to make new quests, items, weapons and so on for the nearly nine-year-old RPG.

Haegin’s collectible RPG Demian Saga: Chrono Pirates just dropped their latest update. The highlight of this update is the debut of a new hero and a bunch of other new stuff like new chapters. Who’s the new hero? Well, he’s a robot-riding racoon. Yep, Demian Saga’s new SSR Hero Ratchet is a special one with teleporting abilities. Keep reading to find out everything about him!

A little while back we were graced by 25-minutes of Metaphor: ReFantazio footage, from which I gleaned some chunks of info. Honestly, a new press release doesn't unveil a whole lot of hotness we didn't catch a glimpse of before, but it does give us a better idea of how the battle system works in Atlus's upcoming JRPG.

Publisher ATLUS and developer Studio Zero have released new information and screenshots for Metaphor: ReFantazio introducing the game’s “Fast & Squad” battle system, dungeons, party and archetypes formation, followers, gauntlet runner, places, facilities, and more.

THQ Nordic has announced Gothic Classic Khorinis Saga for Switch. It includes both Gothic Classic and Gothic II Complete Classic, both of which are currently available for Switch. It will launch on June 27 for $39.99 / €39.99 / £34.99 as a retail-exclusive title.

Xbox Game Pass subscribers are reportedly in for a treat as a fantastic Soulslike RPG may soon make its debut on the platform. As a part of its promise to consumers, Microsoft goes to great lengths to ensure that its service is always stocked with dozens upon dozens of games old and new and during the quieter months of the industry, it's often a good idea to provide users an opportunity to play any games they may have missed. Given the amount of excellent games released in 2023, it makes sense that folks may have slept on this RPG.

Play any RPG from the past 40 years and you'll come across XP. It's the universal abbreviation of experience points that has become so ingrained in the gaming lexicon that it even broke the barrier and became widely understood beyond the medium. As it turns out, we have Baldur's Gate 3 principal narrative designer Lawrence Schick to thank.

It's no secret that is littered with junk for players to pick up and horde if they so desire but a new mod has now made collecting everything significantly less annoying. Bethesda's RPG has a reputation for including all kinds of miscellaneous props to make their worlds feel more alive and authentic and the developer's most recent game did this better than any of its previous titles. Given the amount of useless objects strewn about, the game's inventory system isn't helpful when it comes to organizing everything.

After a bit of a bumpy landing on PC, it looks like No Rest for the Wicked is finally finding its feet. The early access action-RPG launched with notable performance problems that developers Moon Studios promised they’d address, starting with several hotfixes over the last few weeks that managed to claw back some frames. The game’s first big patch goes a step further, seemingly boosting the game’s performance to a degree that its minimum and recommended hardware specs have been lowered as a result.

After the backlash and subsequent U-turn on Helldivers 2 requiring players to link their Steam account to a PlayStation Network account, the next PlayStation flagship headed to PC has sought to reassure players that you won’t need a PSN account to play its single-player campaign. Multiplayer’s a different case, though.

Mobile idle RPG AFK Arena was launched in June 2018. So, the game is gearing up for its 5th anniversary celebrations. But that’s not the only occasion they’re celebrating. The game just hit a whopping 100 million players. Talk about a mega win!

Veteran RPG developers have weighed in on how Baldur's Gate 3 has (or hasn't) affected how they approach their own games.

I have some scoop about a new RPG that you’ll love if you’re into urban fantasy tales, and have a penchant for prose. Or if you love werewolves for that matter. Kyle Marquis’s latest interactive novel, Werewolf: The Apocalypse – The Book of Hungry Names, is out on Android.

Forgotten Gems is a regular column about notable games that have moved out of the public eye and may not be easily accessible anymore. To see all the other games I've covered so far, be sure to check out the 11 previous issues of Forgotten Gems in our Columns section.

Arguably Cyberpunk 2077's most famous date scene - the underwater scuba dive with tech wizard Judy Alvarez - was made with smoke and mirrors, according to one lead developer. 

When creating Cyberpunk 2077's vast open world of Night City, it turns out that developer CD Projekt Red was faced with a "significant challenge" when it came to "adjusting to the scale and characteristics of American settings," simply because most of the team is European. 

The already controversial decision to add the anti-cheat tool used in shooter Valorant to League of Legends has seemingly caused developers Riot Games even more of a headache. The studio have issued a lengthy assurance that - at least as far as they know - the new anti-cheat software isn’t causing players’ hardware to end up bricked, despite various reports of major issues after its introduction.

Almost a decade after it set crowdfunding records on Kickstarter, and five years after its release, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night’s developers have announced the final free update for the Castlevania: Symphony of the Night successor.

Fans tickled by Prime Video's series are in luck because the subscription service is offering the first chapter in the modern saga for all its users to play at no extra charge. Following the show's successful premiere on the streaming platform, the entire post-apocalyptic RPG franchise has been reinvigorated as veterans return to their favorite moments and newcomers seek out what inspired the story of Lucy MacLean. While the first two games may not be included in the most recent Amazon Prime Gaming drop, the third installment is actually the perfect place to start.

Lords of the Fallen, last year's action RPG from developer Hexworks, is said to be coming to Xbox Game Pass later this month.

Star Wars: The Old Republic's ongoing development switched last year from creators BioWare to Broadsword, with promise that the 13-year-old MMO would continue to receive new story content and improvements.

On the one hand, you've got to deal with interdimensional horrors of various flavours, such as multiple-storey cryptids and squishy skinless wolves; on the other, invading squads of Combiney soldiers. Fortunately, you've got a big fat Ivy League brain stuffed with knowledge of killer gadgets, base construction, subterranean farming and battlefield medicine. My increasing phobia for survival games notwithstanding, I think this looks and sounds like a hoot - and it's out now in early access. Here's the launch trailer.

Delicious in Dungeon, one of our favorite anime of the year so far, is based on an acclaimed manga created by Ryōko Kui in 2014 — but as the mangaka tells it, the origins of the concept date back even further.

Starfield will have a big year as the space RPG approaches its first anniversary. Beyond the massive May update, Bethesda Game Studios previously confirmed it is working on a DLC titled Shattered Space. Though details on the paid expansion are slim, Bethesda seemingly confirmed it focuses on the House Va'ruun.

A new gameplay trailer for Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter has dropped, and those who are already familiar with the first game will be happy to know that it looks great. This is one of those sequels that's more about evolution than revolution — but we're not complaining when Tails of Iron got so much right to begin with.

As reported by Chinese outlet Campfire Camp, spotted by GamesRadar, and machine translated by Ian Games of the Ian Games Network, and then delivered fresh to your eyeballs by me, Nic Reuben of Reuben Paper Shotgun dot com, Elden Ring expansion Shadow Of The Erdtree will be the only DLC released for the world stomping rpg game. That’s according to FromSoftware's sadistic DM and notable swamp troll Hidetaka Miyazaka, although it doesn’t sound like he’s trolling this time.

The official release date trailer of Athenian Rhapsody, uploaded on YouTube, is a hilarious farce. It centers on our wide-eyed hero, who discovers that Athenian Rhapsody is about to launch after a dubious snack while out on a nature stroll! A creepy-smiled mushroom who can’t wait to reveal the release date but ends up clogging the toilet instead.

Todd Howard says Starfield's criticism is "perfectly understandable" as the RPG is a "different experience" to Bethesda's other games. 

Bethesda has only just properly unveiled Starfield's May update, and the studio is already teasing what's next - including a proper land vehicle.

Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC will be the RPG's only expansion, but developer FromSoftware isn't ruling out other full games in The Lands Between.

Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC apparently has no definitive ending, and won't impact the plot of the main game.

I don't tend to do a lot of videogame discount posts because I have a mortal fear of enriching my backlog, but when I see the entire Mass Effect trilogy and all of its expansions for around the price of a slightly more aristocratic sandwich, I am compelled to share. The Legendary Edition of BioWare's ravishing sci-fi RPG series is 90% off on Steam until 13th May. That translates to 6€, $6 or £5 for all three main games and 40 DLC packs, plus bells and whistles such as 4K Ultra HD and beefed-up character models. If you haven't played a Mass Effect game before, this is a pretty good place to start.

There’s a hot new RPG on Android, and it’s called Royal Revolt: A Trader’s Tale. This new game is now up for grabs on Android. If the name rings a bell, that’s because it’s based on the hit IP Royal Revolt. Yes, it’s developed by Upright Games who also created Royal Revolt II and Olympus Rising.

Starfield’s biggest update since the Bethesda space game came out last year (remember that?) is arriving in a couple of weeks - with its Steam beta already live now, if you’re interested in poking around. The chunky patch finally tidies up the game’s oft-complained about surface maps to make them easier to navigate, as well as introducing new difficulty options, a decoration mode for the inside of ships and a bunch of other tweaks and fixes.

Nexon is dropping a nice collab for tactical RPG players. It’s Blue Archive x A Certain Scientific Railgun T, the popular beloved anime series. The crossover is happening till May 14th. So, get ready for some serious action and a whole new story to dive into!

While they ponder which developers should face the difficult task of following up one of the most acclaimed games in a long time by making a sequel by Baldur's Gate 3, the makers of Dungeons & Dragons are also putting their own money into making video games themselves. Over a billion dollars of their own money, in fact.

Following a report by Game Developer on the ESA’s refusal to budge during a hearing on easing copyright restrictions around academia’s remote access to legacy games, Deus Ex creator Warren Spector has written for the website on his own frustrations with, and efforts to aid, game preservation. Channeling some of the classic immersive sim resourcefulness he helped pioneer, he writes that he’s “literally dumpster dived to retrieve information other developers have simply thrown away, believing it to be worthless.”

A player-run troupe of actors will be performing an adaptation of Richard III in Fallout 76, featuring a "ghoul" in the lead role. They're partly inspired by the recent Fallout TV show, which puts a jaded cowboy ghoul in a pivotal role and has lead to an increase in players of the online multiplayer RPG. This production will likely be more faithful to the bard than to Amazon Prime. It will open with the lines: "Now is the nuclear winter of our discontent."

Rise of the Ronin may be a little shy over a month out from its release on PlayStation 5, but that isn’t stopping the action RPG's sales from outpacing its spiritual predecessors, Nioh and Nioh 2.

We’ve all heard of Persona — it’s one the undisputed kings of the RPG right now, each game pitting one unwitting school kid against an evil adult, using an army of angels and demons to achieve the insurmountable odds stacked against them. But how many people have played a Shin Megami Tensei game, the franchise from which Persona was born? We’d guess comparatively few people. Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance is the latest opportunity to change that.

Dread Delusion is a creepo-tastic open world RPG that positively reeks of King's Field and the Elder Scrolls of yore. Created by Lovely Hellplace and published by horror anthology specialists DreadXP, it's so far up my alley it's probably been mugged by some kind of hideous clockwork cutthroat - and yet somehow, I've never played the thing. I'll be rectifying that on 14th May, when Dread Delusion leaves early access.

Just when you think a game likeShin Megami Tensei V can’t get any darker, a new version comes for blood.

DreadXP  and Lovely Hellplace have announced that the classic early 2000’s inspired open world RPG Dread Delusion will be exiting early access and getting its full release on May 14th. The game has been in early access since June 2022, and has received positive feedback from the community during the early access phase.

Turn-based roguelite dungeon crawler The Land Beneath Us will launch for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Switch, and PC via Steam on May 13, publisher PID Games and developer FairPlay Studios announced.

Open-world RPG Dread Delusion will leave Early Access and launch for PC via Steam on May 14, publisher DreadXP and developer Lovely Hellplace announced.

Real-time Strategy RPG Path to Nowhere is celebrating its 1.5th anniversary with a special event. It’s called ‘Ode to Sun’ and kicks off on April 30th, that is today. With not just one but ten blazing suns threatening catastrophe, you can join forces and wield the Almighty Bow. Curious to know more? Follow along for all the details on Path to Nowhere 1.5th anniversary!

Kaizen Game Works, the studio behind the bangin' 2020 detective game Paradise Killer, has revealed its next game, and it sounds absolutely wild in a way that seems meticulously catered to my precise tastes.

Bethesda Games Studios are thinking about how they can release games more frequently while still ensuring that they have a healthy audience for years, the Elder Scrolls company's king wizard Todd Howard has remarked in an interview with Kinda Funny, from which Alice B has already scientifically extracted some titbits about forthcoming Starfield expansion Shattered Space.

According to our schedule, my pick Deathbulge: Battle Of The Bands isn't supposed to be up in the RPS Game Club until June. So why am I here telling you about it? Ollie couldn't do Sid Meier's Pirates! last month 'cos he was sick, and this month he's moving house or some other ridiculous made up thing that grown adults can no longer afford to do, so Deathbulge is stepping up to the plate. And it is kicking that plate into the outer atmosphere and playing a sick guitar riff. If you want to join in you can find Deathbulge on Steam.

Unveiled last night at the IGN x ID@Xbox Digital Showcase, Vampire Survivors has received a free new update called Laborratory (yes, with two 'r's). It includes one new character, one secret character, three weapons, one stage, and a bonus go-cart racing stage. But perhaps most importantly of all, Poncle say they'll answer the question that's been on everyone's lips: "Why is it called Santa Water?". This is something that's puzzled me since the game's inception, and therefore, I will be thrusting myself back into the game where there are, in fact, no vampires at all. I need to know.

Single-player action RPG and social simulation game hybrid Dungeons of Hinterberg will launch for Xbox Series and PC via Steam on July 18, publisher Curve Games and developer Microbird announced. It will also be available via Xbox Game Pass.

Wow, remember Starfield? I do, just about, although any interest in it feels like a distant dream now. But not to Todd Howard! The Bethesboss had a chat with Kinda Funny and confirmed that Shattered Space, the first big DLC for the brave little space RPG that could, has a release window of "in the fall". Shattered Space adds new locations and stories and gear, and is the sort of DLC that was announced before the game came out, and you got it bundled with some of the super mega hyper awesome pre-order editions (you can still get it bundled with the Starfield Premium Edition if you want to spend an extra 30 quid).

Palworld has teased four new beasts of burden for players to corral into their open world survival crafting sweatshops. The new pals are still unnamed but they appear to be the following: karate frog, confused peacock, dopey fungus, levitating sleeve creep. Within the confines of the arms manufacturing Pokélike, such creatures make sense. You can see them struggling to eke out an existence as a close personal friend of the player in the trailer below.

Spike Chunsoft has released the first major free content update for Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island, which includes new Sacred Tree Dungeons, a Dojo Challenge, and more. A second update is due out this summer.

Let's remove the mystery from the headline. Three Mass Effect games are going for next to nothing right now on PC, and you need to jettison your modern perspective misgivings and take a chance on them. Forget the hot mess that was Mass Effect Andromeda. Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2—and, to a lesser extent, Mass Effect 3—were genre-defining RPGs. The remaster process has made 'em much easier on the optical implants. The writing, world-building, and companion NPC bonds you'll forge, meanwhile, all remain timeless.

Classic RPGs Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VII have been referenced as inspirations behind a new galaxy-spanning RPG set for release on PS5, PS4 later this year. Beyond Galaxyland, from individual developer Sam Enright, is «an all-new take on the beloved RPG adventures of old» with an active turn-based combat system, platforming, and puzzle solving from the 2.5D perspective. Check out the announcement trailer above.

Gothic fans already know the original 2001 open-world RPG is getting the remake treatment, which is expected to arrive on PS5 sometime in 2024. Publisher THQ Nordic and developer have revealed that a Collector's Edition of the game will be available, with some appropriately leather-bound goodies.

“Snack ‘n slash RPG” HANGRY will be available for Xbox One alongside its previously announced PC (Steam) version, developer Game Pill announced. A release date was not announced.

Beyond Galaxyland has been revealed by developer Sam Enright, and it is due to come out later this year. In Beyond Galaxyland, the main character is Doug, a high schooler, who is transported away from Earth moments before the planet is mysteriously destroyed, and arrives in a galactic zoo called Galaxyland.

Developer Microbird and Curve Games have confirmed that the action RPG Dungeons of Hinterberg will be available from July 18th, for PC and Xbox Series X|S. It has also been confirmed that Dungeons of Hinterberg will be available on Xbox and PC Game Pass on day one too.

Monster hunting action RPG Fera: The Sundered Tribes will be available for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series following the game’s Early Access period, which will begin for PC via Steam in Q3 2024, developer Massive Damage announced.

Dungeons of Hinterberg’s alpine mix of dungeon-crawling and relationship-tending will be upon us this summer, with the fetching cel-shaded blend of Zelda and Persona now having a fresh release date announcement for July. Before then, though, we’ll all be able to spend a couple of days socialising and monster-slaying in the Alps next month thanks to a public playtest.

If you’re holding out hope for another Ori and the Blind Forest sequel after Will of the Wisps, bad news: it’s probably going to be a while. Developers Moon Studios have said they’re all-in on Soulslike action-RPG No Rest for the Wicked, suggesting that their “magnum opus” will be their focus for up to a decade.

DanMachi – Memoria Freese, the RPG inspired by the hit anime Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? is counting down to its final days. In Japan, that is, since the rest of us already saw it shut down on February 28th, 2024.

Pre-register for Neuphoria, a brand-new strategy game on Android. This exciting game takes the famous auto-battler genre and adds some new elements. It has a deep story and requires you to think strategically!

Aftermagic is a roguelike RPG launched on April 17, 2024, gaining plenty of attention since its release. It’s a mix of strategic deck building and roguelike cave crawling.

The Escape From Tarkov developers' efforts to escape from a DLC paywall quagmire of their own quagmiring continue with an update and apology from Battlestate chief operational officer Nikita Buyanov, who says he "did not foresee" the adverse reaction to selling a new PvE mode as part of a new special edition, after telling purchasers of a previous edition they'd get "all subsequent DLC" for free.