Isometric RPGs That Took Big Risks That Paid Off

Creating a video game is a huge undertaking. This remains true whether a game is being made by a solo developer tinkering on a passion project, or is part of a huge AAA studio endeavor to create massive open worlds and intricate, finely tuned gacha systems that operate like clockwork. Money dispensing clockwork. It seems like, just as the technology to develop games becomes more advanced, so too do the standards for games grow higher—alongside their budgets.

Related

12 JRPGs That Were Ahead Of Their Time

The JRPG genre is known for its trademark style and combat systems, but these games were ahead of their time in some incredible ways.

As such, even as creating a game might become easier—or at least more streamlined—for developers, there is still an immense amount of time, energy, and risk that is involved with the creation of a video game. Isometric RPGs are no strangers to this risk, with modern titles often relying on fan backing due to the genre’s more niche appeal, and games coded in the trenches of early 90s CRPG software often struggling to break even for developers even if they were well-crafted products. These isometric titles in particular not only risked themselves or the companies attached to them during the development process, but came out on the other side of this process as huge successes.

7

Disco Elysium

A Smash Hit, But With Risky Gameplay

Released

October 15, 2019

ESRB

M For Mature 17+ due to Blood, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs, Violence

This is one of those monumental titles that redefines the landscape of video games. However, unlike other games that have made this kind of impact in recent years, like Stardew Valley or Fortnite, Disco Elysium has spawned almost no imitators because of how focused and novel this kind of game is. That said, if done improperly, the very thing that makes this game so unique could have been its downfall.

The near-complete lack of combat in a CRPG-style game is a huge risk to implement in a genre that often bases itself on combat between narrative story beats. While RPGs in this sub-genre are often philosophical, the decision of Disco Elysium devs ZAUM to remove any instance of combat as a core part of its gameplay was a huge risk in this industry.

6

Pillars Of Eternity

Obsidan Took A Risk With A Crowd-Funded Game

Released

March 26, 2015

ESRB

M For Mature 17+ due to Blood, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Violence

Obsidian Entertainment, as a developer, has been responsible for some of the greatest RPGs of all time. Knights of the Old Republic 2 is one of the few Star Wars titles to take the binary clash between the light and dark side of the Force and turn it into something unique. Fallout: New Vegas is considered by many to be the undisputed peak of the 3D Fallout games. In both these instances, however, the end result of Obsidian’s work was compromised by brutal crunch times and publisher demands.

Related

8 Obsidian Entertainment Games With The Best Strategic Combat, Ranked

These Obsidian Entertainment games offer the most strategic combat mechanics, making playing them enjoyable.

The prospect of being free from such things and being able to make a game with crowdsourced funds must have been incredibly enticing to Obsidian—but crowdfunded games come with a long list of risks. If Obsidian failed to gain enough funds to make their game, or couldn’t meet all their goals with the funds provided, it would have been a PR disaster. Luckily, instead of this, players got one of the best CRPGs in the modern age in Pillars of Eternity.

5

Torment: Tides Of Numenera

Continuing Planescape’s Legacy Was A Huge Risk

Systems

Released

February 28, 2017

ESRB

M For Mature 17+ // Blood, Language, Sexual Themes, Violence

Much like Pillars of Eternity, Torment: Tides of Numenera was a crowdfunded isometric RPG looking to bring back that spark of creativity and ingenuity from CRPGs of years past. However, the inherent risk with this title was even greater than Obsidian’s gambit with PoE. InXile are seasoned, talented developers, but they hadn’t received the same kind of recognition and attention that Oblivion had. Beyond this, this title was setting itself up to maintain an incredibly high standard.

Related

8 Best RPGs For Fire Builds

The destructive power of fire awaits in these RPGs.

Considered the pinnacle of CRPGs during the height of their popularity and production, Planescape: Torment is one of those titles that can very uncontroversially be called one of the best games of all time. Tides of Numenera labeling itself as a spiritual successor to this masterwork was sure to set backer standards high well before its release, and yet it still managed to come out on top.

4

Fallout 1

A Drop Of Post-Apocalypse In The Sea Of Fantasy

Released

October 10, 1997

ESRB

m

Classic RPGs don’t get much better than the original Fallout, which is still lauded today as one of the funniest and most insightful titles on the shelves. While more modern Fallout titles have taken up the mantra that “nukes are really fun actually, and should be used indiscriminately,” Fallout in its original conception put the horrors of the post-apocalyptic world on full display.

However, this harrowing message of an irradiated future was coming out at a time when fantasy titles were all the rage. Without a pre-established IP to rely on, Fallout was at high risk of being overlooked in favor of the more mainstream fantasy titles. Instead, it became one of gaming’s benchmark post-apocalyptic franchises.

3

Baldur’s Gate 3

A Game Of This Size Was Always Going To Be A Risk

Systems

Released

August 3, 2023

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence

The road to a full release for Baldur’s Gate 3 was a long and winding one, with hype that built up over years of beta releases. The sheer ambition of a game that shoots for this size and scale already presents an incredible risk when it comes to actually sticking the landing.

There is a parallel universe where Baldur’s Gate 3 wasn’t able to meet its goals, or found trouble with its fans through certain mehcanics (failing checks, permanently losing companions, etc.), and video essayists across the world would be able to make a tidy living examining what went wrong. Thankfully, this is not that world. Baldur’s Gate 3 somehow exceeded expectations and became an instant classic RPG that will be extremely difficult to top.

2

Warhammer 40k: Rogue Trader

A Highly Ambitious Title For Many Reasons

Systems

Released

December 7, 2023

ESRB

T Due To Blood, Suggestive Themes, Use of Drugs and Alcohol, Violence

Few franchises can claim to have the same level of in-depth, labyrinthine, and utterly expansive lore as the Warhammer universe can. Bringing the Black Library’s content into a classically styled isometric RPG is risky enough, but trying to faithfully meld CRPG mechanics with the mechanics of the board game that shares same name could have gone horribly wrong.

Perhaps one of the most impressive aspects of Warhammer 40k: Rogue Trader is how its developers didn’t alienate audiences who were unfamiliar with the lore. Anyone looking for a dark space fantasy title, whether they’re Warhammer enthusiasts or not, will be pleased to hear this game more than hits the mark.

1

Tunic

An Ingenious Idea That Could’ve Gone Wrong

Released

March 16, 2022

ESRB

e

The central feature of Tunic is quite different from its peers and more than a little meta, and there’s a chance that, if implemented improperly, it could have made this game fall flat.

The game starts off incredibly small-scale, and the manual that explains everything to do in this title must be manually restored, piece-by-piece, as players continue exploring. This includes the game manual itself, as well as the ability to decipher the language it is written in. This kind of obtuse gameplay mechanic could easily alienate players; instead, it made Tunic an indie darling.

More

8 Best Top-Down Action JRPGs, Ranked

It’s less common to run into a top-down Action JRPG these days, but in their heyday, this genre featured some excellent and often overlooked games.