In my last article, I highlighted some of the promising indie and AA platformers and Metroidvanias coming out this year. Today, I’m going to focus on RPGs set to release in 2020, and there are so many of them that it will be the first two-part article in the series.
Be it a first-person action-RPG, or a turn-based tactical experience inspired by tabletop games, hopefully you’ll find a few games on this list that catch your attention.
Here are 15 RPGs to look forward to in 2020:
The Black Masses
Developer: Brilliant Game Studios
Platform: Windows PC
The Black Masses is a first-person action-RPG set in a fantasy world during a zombie apocalypse. The game’s big hook is the sheer number of zombies you can encounter at once. The game uses a crowd system based on Ultimate Epic Battle Simulator, and players can fight the zombies head-on, or escape to the rooftops with a parkour system.
The Black Masses is targeting a Q1 2020 release date.
Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord
Developer: TaleWorlds Entertainment
Platform: Windows PC
Another upcoming action-RPG with huge hordes of enemies is Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord. This highly anticipated sequel to the popular medieval sandbox RPG series is set to finally come out soon, albeit in Early Access. Players will once again be able to travel across a war-torn kingdom as they amass an army of followers and earn glory on the fields of battle.
Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord is targeting a March 2020 release date.
System Shock
Developer: Nightdive Studios
Platforms: Windows PC, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
The System Shock remake has had a rocky development cycle, with the game being temporarily put on hiatus in early 2018 to reassess the project. Originally meant to just be a remake with modern graphics and presentation, System Shock is now set to be a massive reimagining of the 1994 classic.
System Shock doesn’t currently have a release date.
The Falconeer
Publisher: Wired Productions
Developer: Tomas Sala
Platform: Windows PC
The Falconeer is an open world, third-person action-RPG where you get to ride on the back of a gigantic falcon. Explore the bleak world of The Great Ursee and engage in aerial dogfights against flying battleships, rival falconeers from enemy factions, and massive airborne predators.
The Falconeer doesn’t currently have a release date.
Wasteland 3
Publisher: Deep Silver
Developer: inXile Entertainment
Platforms: Windows PC, Linux, Mac, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Wasteland 3 might not really qualify as an indie game anymore following Microsoft’s acquisition of inXile Entertainment halfway through development, but its still one of our most anticipated releases of 2020 here at Niche Gamer.
After the events of Wasteland 2, you are sent to the frigid wastes of Colorado. The Patriarch has promised aid to Arizona if you can help him end a civil war between his bitter and power-hungry children, but there’s even more going on in Colorado that he failed to mention.
Wasteland 3 will be released on May 18th, 2020.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2
Publisher: Paradox Interactive
Developer: Hardsuit Labs
Platforms: Windows PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Another upcoming RPG that sits in the AA budget tier is the highly anticipated sequel to 2007’s cult classic vampire adventure.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 will allow players to explore a modern Seattle, where rival vampire factions fight over the lucrative blood trade in the dark underbelly of the city. Immerse yourself in this hidden world as a newly sired vampire, and choose your allies and enemies wisely.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 doesn’t currently have a release date.
Maneater
Developer: Tripwire Interactive
Platform: Windows PC
Become a bloodthirsty predator of a different kind in Maneater, an open world shark RPG. Terrorize the Gulf Coast as a giant bull shark looking for revenge. Feed on increasingly difficult prey to evolve new attributes and abilities while evading cunning shark hunters.
Maneater doesn’t currently have a release date.
Eternal Radiance
Developer: Visualnoveler
Platforms: Windows PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4
If playing as apex predators out for blood makes you squeamish, then maybe you would rather play a comfy anime RPG.
In Eternal Radiance, you play as Celeste, a squire that wishes to prove herself worthy of becoming a knight by capturing a thief running from the Ashen Order. Fight monsters, complete quests, and form a stronger bond with your friends Ruby and Valana through optional conversation scenes.
Eternal Radiance is targeting an April 2020 release date.
Haven
Developers: The Game Bakers
Platforms: Windows PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Haven is another wholesome RPG coming out this year, and follows Yu and Kay, two lovers that have escaped to a remote world. Players can control both characters at once, or play co-op with their own special someone. Explore a forgotten world on the edge of known space and fight together in a real-time combat system based on timing and predicting enemy moves.
Haven doesn’t currently have a release date.
Alaloth – Champions of The Four Kingdoms
Publisher: All in! Games
Developer: Gamera Interactive
Platforms: Windows PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Alaloth – Champions of The Four Kingdoms is an isometric action-RPG set in a grim fantasy world created in collaboration with Chris Avellone. The developers are marketing Alaloth as the first isometric RPG with Souls-like combat. There’s also both local and online co-op for up to four players.
Alaloth – Champions of The Four Kingdoms doesn’t currently have a release date.
Colony Ship: A Post-Earth Role Playing Game
Developer: Iron Tower Studio
Platform: Windows PC
Colony Ship: A Post-Earth Role Playing Game is the next RPG from the developers of The Age of Decadence.
Inspired by Heinlein’s Orphans of the Sky, Colony Ship is set on-board the Starfarer, a generation ship sent to the distant world of Proxima Centauri. Navigate the politics and web of factions on-board the Starfarer in a gloomy world where generations have come and gone without any hope of knowing what life is like under a real sky.
Colony Ship: A Post-Earth Role Playing Game is targeting a Fall 2020 release date.
Realms Beyond: Ashes of the Fallen
Developer: Ceres Games
Platform: Windows PC
Realms Beyond: Ashes of the Fallen is a traditional, party-based CRPG.
The game’s mechanics, turn-based combat, and many of its skills, feats, and abilities are based on the SRD 3.5e ruleset, licensed through Wizard of the Coast’s Open Game License program. Players will get to explore the world with a party of six characters, with seven races and eight classes to choose from and hundreds of different spells.
Realms Beyond: Ashes of the Fallen doesn’t currently have a release date.
Solasta: Crown of the Magister
Developer: Tactical Adventures
Platform: Windows PC
Another old school RPG based on a tabletop ruleset (in this case, SRD 5.1) is Solasta: Crown of the Magister.
Gather a party of four adventurers and travel into the darkest depths of the earth in search of ancient relics and artifacts. Solasta: Crown of the Magister places a big emphasis on verticality, giving the game a whole new dimension to its combat encounters that you might not expect from what otherwise looks like a fairly traditional CRPG.
Solasta: Crown of the Magister doesn’t currently have a release date.
Dark Envoy
Developer: Event Horizon
Platform: Windows PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Dark Envoy is a new tactical RPG from the developers of 2018’s Tower of Time.
Follow a nonlinear story and explore an ever-changing world in your skyship. Events in the world advance without you, and areas that were once safe can become dangerous as they change hands between different groups.
The game can be played alone or with a friend in co-op, and features a unique Player vs World mode where the second player controls the final boss and their forces in an attempt to stop the protagonists from achieving their goals.
Dark Envoy doesn’t currently have a release date.
The Waylanders
Developer: GATO STUDIO
Platform: Windows PC
Finally, we come to The Waylanders, a party-based RPG inspired by Celtic folklore and culture.
You have been untethered from time following a catastrophe during the first meeting between the Celts and the Tuatha de Danaan. The kingdom is now on the brink of destruction as the various factions and races that populate Galicia war with one another.
Losing your connection with time has also given you the ability to travel to the future, a medieval Galicia where the old ways have been replaced with Christianity. Your choices will have an impact on both timelines as you try to unravel the mysterious of what happened the day the Celts met with their gods.
The Waylanders doesn’t currently have a release date.
That’s all for our first article about some of the cool indie and AA RPGs coming out in 2020. Next time, I’ll be highlighting an additional 14 RPGs coming out later this year.
Until then, which games on this list caught your attention? Which other games are you excited about this year? Tell us more in the comments below!
