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

[KeighnMcDeath]

what the fuck does ttbomk mean? what is it with people and these gay ass acronyms

TTBOMK = To The Best Of My Knowledge


Or Bonks next big adventure in STEAM!

 

[Dadd]

Bare Mettle Entertainment is pushing the RPG game video game genre forward although it's taking a while.

 

[gurugeorge]

I'm not arguing that their fans are not in it for the LARPing. I'm saying that that hardly counts as pushing the genre forward.

It did push the genre forward in terms of the LARPing - providing better graphics, better dressup and romances is contributing to that aspect of the genre, it is advancing one aspect of the total "thing" that RPGs are. I agree better reactivity would be great (both world and npc), but they didn't concentrate on that aspect, they concentrated on other aspects, and they were very successful with it, to the extent that now Larian (who advanced world-reactivity a bit with DOS/2) have to incorporate those aspects heavily into BG3, otherwise a substantial chunk of their potential audience would feel there's something missing.

 

[Harthwain]

what the fuck does ttbomk mean? what is it with people and these gay ass acronyms

"To the best of my knowledge". You should be able to google out most of this stuff. That's what I do.

 

[anvi]

They can't even remake 20-30 year old classics, never mind push things forward.

 

[Nifft Batuff]

Well BioWare have been immensely successful. So if it's not the tactical combat they've been successful for, what was it?

Romances, obviously.

 

[RepHope]

Well the Hogwarts Legacy devs are apparently literally killing Twitter trannies with their game, so they’re bringing incline to the industry and civilization as a whole.

 

[CanadianCorndog]

RPGs are generally made by people who are more interested in storytelling or bigger but more of the same. They don't really want to innovate in new roles or play or games. They will ask for custom tools, like stuff that makes branching dialogues easier, but you won't see new structures or ways to interact because they are already pretty much doing what they want which is storytelling.
There's occasionally small innovations or baby steps in a new direction by small developers (Choice of Games visual novels does some things differently) but big changes will require an individual to really step out of the box.

 

[0sacred]

I'm not arguing that their fans are not in it for the LARPing. I'm saying that that hardly counts as pushing the genre forward.

It did push the genre forward in terms of the LARPing - providing better graphics, better dressup and romances is contributing to that aspect of the genre, it is advancing one aspect of the total "thing" that RPGs are. I agree better reactivity would be great (both world and npc), but they didn't concentrate on that aspect, they concentrated on other aspects, and they were very successful with it, to the extent that now Larian (who advanced world-reactivity a bit with DOS/2) have to incorporate those aspects heavily into BG3, otherwise a substantial chunk of their potential audience would feel there's something missing.

Yeah except LARPing is not a part of any genre. People will LARP in any game and write horrid fanfiction about it.

 

[ItsChon]

Stygian Software for sure. Underrail is one of the greatest RPGs of all time, and a standalone game in the same setting is currently being worked on; expect a 2025-2026 release. ZA/UM released DE which was a great game, though who knows if they can capture the same lightning in a bottle. Iron Tower Studios released Age of Decadence which was a good RPG, though not without its flaws. We will see how Colony Ship turns out once it's fully released, but if all goes well, they are definitely bringing incline to the genre too. Outside of those three, I've heard Vagrus is a good game though I still need to try it. Not much else that really comes to mind in terms of new releases/studios.

 

[Harthwain]

Stoneshard comes to mind as probably the closest to be an RPG out of all games that I can think of.

Cyber Knights: Flashpoint sounds like an interesting idea, but it clearly needs a lot of work (at least judging by the demo).

Barotrauma may technically not be an RPG, but I think it deserves mention as it cuts it pretty damn close to the genre in my opinion. It's very much in the vein of Ostranauts, only underwater.

 

[ValeVelKal]

Ok. Thanks. It is funny MOCAGH has hardly anything either or hasn't procured a copy yet. Complete enough.... for now. I'll have to find the archived magazines talking about the game Esp Electronic Games and Casus Belli (even if French).

Enjoy - Casus Belli #17 from Q4 1983 with a bonus short review of Wizardry 1.