Vapourware What is the list of Developers actually pushing the RPG Genre Forward?

[Jaesun]

Who is this? Last time I check it was Black Isle Studios with Fallout. Where are the Developers who are actually trying to push this genre forward? Does this exit yet? Has this changed? Where are they. Tell me.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Almost Human pushed the real-time blobber subgenre forward with Legend of Grimrock I (2012) & II (2014), but then they became bored with it and rather than pursue another CRPG subgenre, such as Underworld-likes, effectively disbanded, with part of the team eventually working on a subpar tactics game masquerading as an RPG.

Capcom released an excellent action RPG with Dragon's Dogma (2012/2013), waited four years to port it to PC, and then waited another six years to begin work on a sequel.

Iron Tower Studio pushed the Fallout-like / C&C-focused subgenre forward with Age of Decadence (2015), and its untitled colony ship game will probably be released a mere eight years later.

Ska Studios released 2D action RPG Salt & Sanctuary (2016), then spent six years on their next game only to turn it into an Epic exclusive (for one year, anyway)

Cleve Blakemore (Golden Era Games) astonished the Codex and the world by finally releasing turn-based blobber Grimoire: Heralds of the Winged Exemplar (2017), and his next game is expected to take a mere decade to develop.

Warhorse Studios demonstrated the commercial viability of an Open World RPG in a strictly historical setting with Kingdom Come: Deliverance (2018), and it was promptly sold to a much larger company, with no news of the supposed sequel to this game.


There have been a number of good tactics games with RPG elements released in the last three years, so it appears that tactics is indeed the new RPG:

Spoiler

Troubleshooter: Abandoned Children (2020), Dungeon of Naheulbeuk (2020), and Urtuk: The Desolation (2021), among others.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Larian, reactivity.

 

[Nano]

Holy fuck, Jaesun is back.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Holy fuck, Jaesun is back.

Yea I went on a quest to rescue him, keep up.

 

[lukaszek]

bethesda, whether it was right direction is debatable

 

[ValeVelKal]

Almost Human pushed the real-time blobber subgenre forward with Legend of Grimrock I (2012) & II (2014), but then they became bored with it and rather than pursue another CRPG subgenre, such as Underworld-likes, effectively disbanded, with part of the team eventually working on a subpar tactics game masquerading as an RPG.

Capcom released an excellent action RPG with Dragon's Dogma (2012/2013), waited four years to port it to PC, and then waited another six years to begin work on a sequel.

Iron Tower Studio pushed the Fallout-like / C&C-focused subgenre forward with Age of Decadence (2015), and its untitled colony ship game will probably be released a mere eight years later.

Ska Studios released 2D action RPG Salt & Sanctuary (2016), then spent six years on their next game only to turn it into an Epic exclusive (for one year, anyway)

Cleve Blakemore (Golden Era Games) astonished the Codex and the world by finally releasing turn-based blobber Grimoire: Heralds of the Winged Exemplar (2017), and his next game is expected to take a mere decade to develop.

Warhorse Studios demonstrated the commercial viability of an Open World RPG in a strictly historical setting with Kingdom Come: Deliverance (2018), and it was promptly sold to a much larger company, with no news of the supposed sequel to this game.

Retro-RPGs like Legend of Grimrock, Age of Decadence, Atom RPG (which you don't mention) or Grimoire are not pushing the genre forward, whether they are good or not.
As much as I like Kingdom Come: Deliverance, I see it as a one-off (design dead-end?) thing for various reasons. There has not been other "hyper realistic" RPG announced to my knowledge. Similarly, A Legionary's Life was great, but design dead-end.

The genre has been pushed in three new directions (whether you like it or not) :
- Narrative / non-combat : Disco Elysium, The Life & Suffering of Sir Brante, even Eastshade though at this point it is way more a walking simulator than a RPG,
- Roguelite Action RPG : Dark Souls / Elden Ring and Salt & Sanctuary which you mention. Even Ghost of aTale, not punishing at all, is clearly Dark Souls inspired.
- Exploration RPGs, not sure there is a better name. Games where you manage long term resource like a strategy-game but are actually playing individual characters and fight in tactical combat (The Banner Saga, the 2/3 Expeditions or even Renowned Explorers)

The rest (Witcher 3, etc) are fine-tuning of the previous direction taken by RPGs : Open-world.

Edit : Looking back, Tactical RPGs are nothing new, you can trace their origin to the Gold Box games or even Galactic Gladiators in 1982.

 

[Jaesun]

Larian, reactivity.

Yeah, I'm still hoping Sven and the team can pull off at least a decent TURN BASED D&D romp, through the D&D setting. I like Swen and his approach to RPG design.

And secondly, I am really looking forward to Vince's Colony Ship game. I really like the *idea* and setting he is going with that. And I like how Vince also approaches RPG design.

The last thing I'm still waiting for is where in the fuck is my TURN BASED Cyberpunk™ RPG? I'd also love another World of Darkness™ game, that's at least a similar vein like Redemption and Bloodlines, but I'm not going to hold my breath on that...

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Yeah, I'm still hoping Sven and the team can pull off at least a decent TURN BASED D&D romp, through the D&D setting. I like Swen and his approach to RPG design.

I put over 100 hours into the early access, and that's from when it first released.
No, it's not as excessive as it sounds -- only two playthroughs, and I didn't even do an evil one. It already had an incredible amount of content and was great.

 

[GentlemanCthulhu]

Todd Games Studios

 

[GentlemanCthulhu]

- Roguelite Action RPG : Dark Souls / Elden Ring and Salt & Sanctuary which you mention. Even Ghost of aTale, not punishing at all, is clearly Dark Souls inspired.

How are any of these games roguelites? Did you mean to say, metroidvania RPG?

 

[Tigranes]

Nobody is really pushing the genre forward in the sense that their creations (1) are of exemplary quality and (2) they are in a position to be successful and then inspire other developers to follow.

Developers whose position gives them the potential to be a leader - Larian and CD Projekt, notably - have been stuck for a while recycling their old formulas ever since their own breakout creations.

Developers who are creating something genuinely new, and/or something of genuine quality for others to follow - Styg & VD, for instance - are unfortunately not recognised and their quality does not inspire further creations.

The only recent example that sort of fits both is Disco Elysium, which presented its own distinct formula in a highly polished way, got widespread recognition as being a 'successful formula', and seems to be inspiring some copying (whether you want more DE influence or not in the genre aside).

Also, I think RPG as a genre has become a lot less cohesive. It's harder to talk about it as one genre with one dominant trend (e.g. to open world/MMO), since most genres have become pseudo-RPGified and vice versa.

 

[ValeVelKal]

- Roguelite Action RPG : Dark Souls / Elden Ring and Salt & Sanctuary which you mention. Even Ghost of aTale, not punishing at all, is clearly Dark Souls inspired.

How are any of these games roguelites? Did you mean to say, metroidvania RPG?

I mean roguelite as in "Death matters", by lack of a better term. I like "Metroidvania RPG" even more ; it is much closest to what I wanted to say.

 

[Zeriel]

Who is this? Last time I check it was Black Isle Studios with Fallout. Where are the Developers who are actually trying to push this genre forward? Does this exit yet? Has this changed? Where are they. Tell me.

To answer this question we would first have to solve "What is an RPG?" and that answer gets ever more remote with every year...

 

[Gregz]

(Disclaimer: I don't care if you think these are RPGs or not)

1) Chronicon by Subworld

Subworld is a two-person independent game studio based near Gothenburg, Sweden.
It has been run since its founding day in summer 2015 by Daniel “Squarebit” Stigsjöö. In 2021, Daniel’s fiancée Marika “Marruu” Assgård joined the team.

2) Vampire Survivors by Luca Galante, also known as poncle

3) The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet Of Chaos by Artefacts Studio

4) Monster Train by American studio Shiny Shoe

5) The Bard's Tale and Wasteland remasters by Krome Studios

6) Lords of Xulima by Numantian Games

Numantian Games is an independent video games studio founded in 2013. Although headquartered in Spain, professionals from all over the world form it.

7) Erannorth Reborn by Spyridon Thalassinos

8) Swords and Sorcery - Underworld by Charles-cgr

9) Caster of Magic by Seravy

10) Daggerfall Unity by Interkarma

11) OpenXcom by these 5 guys

12) Fictorum by Scraping Bottom Games ( <- ahead of its time)

 

[curry]

The RPG genre is dead. Seriously when was the last good RPG released?

 

[Machocruz]

The only way it goes forward is towards better and better emulation of tabletop's possibilities and intricacies. Making a slightly better blobber or influencing copycats is not that.

 

[POOPERSCOOPER]

Jaesun, just tell me what RPG I should play. You are the only one I trust with RPGs and my butthole.

 

[Harthwain]

I mean roguelite as in "Death matters", by lack of a better term. I like "Metroidvania RPG" even more ; it is much closest to what I wanted to say.

I wouldn't say "Death matters" in any Dark Souls game. Quite to the contrary. The main challenge is getting past the roadblock, but this is merely the matter of "gitting gud" and you can try as many times as you like. In roguelites and roguelikes death often means death and you have to start from the scratch (with some bonuses, in case of roguelites).

 

[luj1]

Kenshi
Brigand

 

[Bigg Boss]

Yeah, I'm still hoping Sven and the team can pull off at least a decent TURN BASED D&D romp, through the D&D setting. I like Swen and his approach to RPG design.

I put over 100 hours into the early access, and that's from when it first released.
No, it's not as excessive as it sounds -- only two playthroughs, and I didn't even do an evil one. It already had an incredible amount of content and was great.

Oh I see. You just play EVERYTHING worth playing including Bethesda games. I am calling for a truce Rusty. I will no longer shout from the rooftops about Fallout 76. Good day sir.

 

[Darth Canoli]

Easy.
What needs to be improved the most in cRPG?
We have already had Great settings (not many but still), good stories, interesting companions sometimes, great quest design (Dark Sun, PRelude to Darkness, Fallout, Arcanum, PST) .

As we know, emergent gameplay doesn't work with cRPG, dumbing down the systems doesn't work either.
So what is required to move forward?
Better Combat!
How many otherwise great games are plagued by mediocre to terrible combat? Way too many.

HeroicFantasyGames and Iron Towers are paving the way toward greatness with the Knights of the Chalice series and Dungeon Rats + Colony Ship.

 

[Mortmal]

Not only them , tactical adventures made solasta it's the most faithfull 5E adapatation ever. Larian clearly for world reactivity and first real AAA budget for a rpg since forever. Kenshi by lo-fi games was mentioned before and is massively underrated here.One could say blue bottle games is pushing the genre too, i like what i am seeing in ostranauts although it's still a very long way to go.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

How is Elden ring a metroidvania? Is metroidvania tossed around like a sack of potatoes for everything?

I always remember seeing Galactic Gladiators in the SSI catalogs but never shelves. I probably should have ordered it with a money order as a kid in the mail but I was kept on a short leash when it came to money (maybe cash from a paper route birthday/christmas money or recycling bottles & cans... i really had no concept of what a money order was or a check).

I only wanted the game because of cover art.

And the sequel

Didn't have an appleII or atari 8 bit in the house. At that age.. i owned nothing but could use once in a blue moon the vic or c64 or maybe the coleco or fairchild.

https://web.archive.org/web/20060315041723/http://www.well.com/conf/future/galglad.htm

Basic Manuals

Games need their own entry practically but very niche. Naturally SSI catalog is locked down unless you know where to look. Having a bit of trouble finding ref cards.

 

[Shadenuat]

Developers who are creating something genuinely new, and/or something of genuine quality for others to follow - Styg & VD, for instance - are unfortunately not recognised and their quality does not inspire further creations.

The only recent example that sort of fits both is Disco Elysium

Ima afraid aod and disco just showed us that putting all roleplaying into branching dialogue produces something of a not-game.