As an RPG fan, I’m always hoping that I’ll find something great to play in a new year. In 2024, that game was… well, the same one as in 2023. I finished Baldur’s Gate 3 this year, and wrapping up Act 3 confirmed that Larian has created one of the best RPGs of all time.
But the rest of the year… eh. Metaphor: ReFantazio is stellar, but I haven’t been able to devote much time to it. I had a pretty decent time with Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, but was frustrated by its stop-and-start, linear-then-open-world rinse and repeat structure. Dragon Age: The Veilguard has fun combat, but fails at the role-playing part of the role-playing game equation.
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The last year left me hungry for something that scratched that Baldur’s Gate 3 itch again, to the extent that I went back to an older CRPG, Obsidian’s Tyranny, over Christmas. And thanks to Obsidian I’ll be enjoying great RPGs far beyond the holiday break.
Avowed And The Outer Worlds 2 Put Obsidian In Pole Position
That’s because the acclaimed RPG developer is set to release two big games in the new year. We’ve known that Avowed would be launching in 2025 since its delay in August, but at The Game Awards, we learned that The Outer Worlds 2 is also going to arrive in 2025. As a big fan of Obsidian’s style of RPG, the studio pulling a Spielberg ’93 is fantastic news.
Don’t take this comparison too seriously. Neither Avowed or The Outer Worlds 2 is Schindler’s List. They’re both Jurassic Park.
Avowed looks especially good. Previews for the game show expressive and colorful combat, interesting and well-voiced side characters, cool dialogue that springs from your role-playing choices, and compelling exploration driven by environmental puzzles. I enjoyed Pentiment (and Grounded, though I didn’t play much), but it’s great to see Obsidian marshaling its Xbox resources in service of a big, choice-driven RPG.
The Outer Worlds 2 will be a fun conclusion to the one-two punch. I loved the first game, but you could see cut corners in some areas, like the wealthy planet Byzantium, where many buildings were inaccessible. I’m hoping The Outer Worlds 2 has more of the sci-fi comedy and weighty choices that made the first game work, but with more depth and polish. That seems to be exactly what the recent trailer was promising, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it.
A Cornucopia Of RPG Fun
Like Avowed, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is set to arrive in early 2025. The first game was a breakout hit back in 2018, charming players with its well-considered world, deep mechanics, and heaping helping of jank. The second game seems to be doubling down on everything that made the first game work, and I’m stoked to check it out.
Xbox’s heavy investment in RPGs begins to pay off in 2025 because, in addition to Obsidian’s games, Playground Games’ Fable is also set to launch. I only ever played a bit of the original Xbox game, so I’m not sure what to expect from this reboot. I’m hoping that, like the old games, it places a big emphasis on player freedom. But even if it’s more straightforward, I’m excited to see if the full game’s humor is on par with the very funny (and very British) trailers.
There are some less crunchy heavy-hitters that are also set to make contact in 2025. Assassin’s Creed Shadows looks like fun and like Valhalla, Odyssey, and Origins, will give you a degree of freedom to shape your characters. Monster Hunter Wilds is doubling down on story, which may finally take the RPG-adjacent series into full-on RPG territory.
There are some cool indie releases on the horizon, too. Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector, Pathologic 3, Chernobylite 2: Extraction Zone, Death Trash (full release), Deltarune Chapters 3 and 4, Mewgenics, and Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault are all set to hit in 2025.
And finally, excitingly or ominously, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 may finally arrive in 2025. That’s the current release window but, as someone who has expected the long-awaited sequel to come out every year this decade, I’m not holding my breath. Still, if developer The Chinese Room (who made 2024’s standout Still Wakes the Deep) can deliver something even half as moody, atmospheric, and unusual as the first game, it will be a worthy supplement to an already stacked year.
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There’s No Right Time To Start Metaphor: ReFantazio
It’s better to approach a long RPG like a TV show than like a movie.