Clear your calendars, RPG fans.
PlayStation, Switch, and Xbox all have huge exclusive RPGs coming out in 2023, but they’re not all the genre has in store. Some of the most exciting RPGs of the year may have flown under your radar.
Team Ninja
Team Ninja’s Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty may look a lot like the studio’s Nioh series, but it’s taking a new direction for its next supernatural action RPG.
Wo Long emphasizes its Sekiro-inspired combat, which makes carefully timed deflections a must. Like other Soulsborne games, it also lets players define their own combat style, using magic alongside traditional weapons.
Red Hook Studios
Darkest Dungeon 2 maintains its predecessor’s grim tone and emphasis on managing party member stress, along with its beautiful hand-drawn art.
It’s more than just a rehash, with an all-new environment to explore. Rather than delving deeper into the earth, this time you’re navigating a dying world in a caravan.
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is a spiritual sequel to Suikoden, headed by Junko Kawano and Yoshitaka Murayama, two of the series’ creators.
Blizzard Entertainment
More than 10 years after the last game in the series, Diablo 4 is finally launching soon, and previews say it’s worth the wait.
Blizzard Entertainment
Diablo 4 introduces a shared open world to the series, where online players can team up to battle hordes of demons together.
Necrosoft Games
Demonschool combines tactical RPG battles with the in-depth character relationships of a life sim. Its unique combat emphasizes clever positioning and building combos with allies.
Demonschool mashes 2D and 3D art together for otherworldly boss battles and aims to deliver all the spooky fun of horror movies without the jump scares.
Baldur’s Gate 3, the latest entry in one of the greatest RPG series ever, is set to end its nearly three-year Early Access period this August. Developer Larian Studios used the same model for its Divinity: Original Sin games, both massive successes in their own right.
Larian Studios
Moving to a turn-based system is a big risk for Baldur’s Gate, but early impressions say it’s a worthy sequel with an epic story and memorable characters even in its unfinished state.
There’s still a lot we don’t know about Starfield, but it may be Bethesda’s most ambitious game yet. Set in the far future with hundreds of explorable planets, it will feature the Elder Scrolls developer’s signature open-world freedom and epic story.
Bethesda Softworks
More than just a sci-fi Skyrim, Starfield will also let you build and pilot your own spaceship, making it uncharted territory for Bethesda.
Final Fantasy XVI is taking Square Enix’s beloved series in a darker direction, inspired by the political intrigue of Game of Thrones.
Square Enix
Its story follows a war involving colossal beings called Eikons and the struggle between their summoners, while its gameplay seems to lean further into fast-paced action than any Final Fantasy game before.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild set a new standard for the long-running RPG series and spawned a rare direct sequel. Early footage has raised more questions than it answered, which only makes the hype more intense.
There’s no shortage of outlandish fan theories on what we’ll see in Tears of the Kingdom — from time travel to a playable Zelda — but whatever’s in store, it looks just as gorgeous as its predecessor.