Fans of role-playing adventures will remember the year 2023 for a long time. After all, during this time, many cool projects were released, including the game industry’s main anomaly. In this material, we tell you regarding the ten best RPGs of the outgoing year.
Baldur’s Gate 3
As involved as Vitaly Klimenko, Slotamia’s editor-in-chief, narrates in his review blogs regarding games and casinos, probably no one else can. However, we also decided to start our rating with the most interesting novelty of 2023, Baldur’s Gate 3, in an attempt to interest you. Sven Vincke and Larian studio did something incredible, turning a party RPG based on Dungeons & Dragons into a real AAA-level blockbuster. It’s a truly massive RPG that impresses with its depth of development, attention to detail, level of staging, and plenty of interesting situations. Six years of work have resulted in a complex gameplay with diverse and interconnected mechanics, opening up a huge scope for experimentation. There are charismatic characters, interesting dialogs, and non-linear missions. Baldur’s Gate 3 came closest to the title of a perfect game. That’s why you want to play it once more and once more to see all the endings.
Sea of Stars
Sea of Stars was lost in the stream of powerful releases, which turned out to be rich in the past year. But even so, Sabotage Studio’s creation managed to impress gamers and gain loyal fans, regarding as fast as the number of fans of club themed slots is growing now. The developers were inspired by classic JRPGs – Chrono Trigger, for example – which makes the game feel like a “hello from the past.” “First of all, we should mention the charming visual style. There is a very beautiful and colorful pixel art, drawn with great attention to detail. The main characters, Valerie and Zale, will have to explore a diverse world, find secrets, travel on ships, solve simple puzzles, and do sidequests. The turn-based combat system is based on identifying the enemy’s strengths and weaknesses. And all this takes place to an equally marvelous soundtrack.
Jagged Alliance 3
The return of the Jagged Alliance series from years of oblivion turned out to be worthy. The developers kept the classic formula of the past parts and, at the same time, updated it with new ideas. In addition to high-quality pictures and a user-friendly interface, this tactical RPG has found a place for deeply developed battles. As well as twenty years ago, players need to gather a group of mercenaries and capture important points on the map. The battles unfold in turn-based mode, while the exploration of the terrain takes place in real-time. The main thing is to hide fighters behind cover and watch the movements of enemies. Serious narration is diluted with jokes and interesting dialog. You can also find a lot of references to famous movies like “Mad Max.”
Starfield
It’s silly to argue with the fact that Starfield has quite a few problems. Most of the quests turned out to be uninteresting and banal; thousands of planets are boring to explore, the interface is confusing and awkward, and bugs and constant loading screens ruin immersion. Numerous jokes regarding how the game is regarding to reveal itself, you just have to wait, flooded the Internet. At the same time, Todd Howard managed to transfer all the advantages of Skyrim into the space setting. The storylines of the factions are exciting and easily fascinate for dozens of hours. Many tasks can be completed in several ways, and their outcome depends on the character’s skills and decisions. Besides, this is the rare case when repeated playthrough really gives you a new experience. Starfield is also a very beautiful game, which often simply shows marvelous scenery.
Final Fantasy XVI
Final Fantasy XVI successfully combines the already familiar virtues of the franchise and unexpected innovations. Despite the fact that the relaunch lost many JRPG elements and made a bias towards action, FF XVI still provides a huge scope for role-playing in a setting reminiscent of the fantasy Middle Ages. The game has a dark story atypical of the series, with unexpected twists and turns and well-defined characters. The familiar party combat system has been replaced by spectacular and dynamic battles. The character progression, which affects the strength and abilities of the character, remained in place. It turned out to be a large-scale adventure with a great number of perfectly staged cut-scenes, captivating seriously and for a long time.
Octopath Traveler 2
Octopath Traveler 2 is a charming JRPG, made with an obvious retro look. The developers left the gameplay basis of the first part, fixed rare bugs and diluted everything with fresh mechanics. As a result, behind the external old-fashionedness hides a modern and well-thought-out role-playing adventure. Characters turned out to be charismatic and memorable, and turn-based combat is characterized by high complexity because players have to consider many factors. Graphics are made in HD-2D style, where flat pixel art is combined with beautiful effects. Together with mesmerizing music, all this creates a unique atmosphere of leisurely and warm journey. And for those who are always in a hurry, they added the ability to speed up the speed of battle by two times.
Wartales
Literally every element in Wartales says that the team didn’t have enough money to realize everything they had planned. However, this does not prevent the game from sucking you in for dozens of hours. The title constantly generates different stories and pushes to actively use all the mechanics. Because of this, each new playthrough will turn out different, which leaves a huge scope for replayability.
Players will have to manage a group of mercenaries and take care of their squad. You will have to explore the open world, recruit new companions, buy equipment, get food, and distribute skills. Hard decisions will have to be made as the trials progress. And even the dirty and dying Middle Ages are made so attractive and atmospheric that you even want to visit it.
Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores
The Horizon dilogy itself was very beautiful and technologically advanced, but the add-on took the picture quality to a new level. If you want to see what the PlayStation 5 is capable of, just launch Burning Shores and admire the gorgeous landscapes, high-quality animations, and fantastic detailing of everything and everything. The gameplay is also in order, which entertains you 100 percent. Here are the same spectacular and intense battles with giant mech-animals and exciting exploration of the terrain. Also, the DLC added a new region and a lot of enemies, weapons, and skills in each branch of pumping. The only drawback of the project lies in the weak plot, but it is here just to lay the foundation for the third part.
Diablo 4
The grand return of the Diablo series was not done without scandals. Blizzard’s terrible reputation in recent years is largely to blame. But at the same time, the game itself was more than successful because, by the fourth part, the developers had brought the gameplay to perfection. True, for this purpose, it was necessary to “forget” regarding the three and build on the second part. Exploring a large open world consisting of separate locations is a pleasure. Levels are filled with a bunch of interesting things, from settlements and chests to bosses and online events. As for the heroes, there are several classes to choose from, each with different abilities and passing styles. And where can we go without perfectly staged videos? Lilith turned out to be a great villain, and you won’t get tired of crushing enemies even following several dozens of hours.
Lies of P
The game adaptation of the Pinocchio fairy tale turned out to be just like the source material – dark and intriguing. Round 8 Studio team copied From Software’s soul slice formula and crossed it with role-playing elements. The result is the wildly atmospheric Lies of P, which is also much friendlier to newcomers. Gamers need to explore levels in a gothic style, fight with enemies, and level up. Dynamic combat system with a focus on parrying diluted with unique chips. For example, the protagonist can modify his mechanical arm into a flamethrower, and different weapon parts can be easily combined with each other. Textured opponents cause a lot of trouble – especially bosses fights with which take place in several phases.
