The genre of computer role-playing games has been around for many years now, many of which are tactical, classic, and turn-based. RPGs that put players in control of entire parties of characters, in particular, are especially popular. These RPGs often feature deep combat systems and lengthy narratives, and many of them feature interesting worlds to explore.
This selection focuses on newer RPGs, many of which are developed by independent teams. Many of these games feature immersive worlds that draw players in with their tangible atmospheres and unobtrusive game design.
Baldur’s Gate 3
It’s no secret that Baldur’s Gate 3 is one of the best turn-based RPGs to have released in recent years. With the high pedigree of its developers, Larian Studios, who developed Divinity: Original Sin 2, Baldur’s Gate 3 was bound to succeed. Although Baldur’s Gate 3 is packed with features that make it endlessly replayable and fun to play, it could be argued that the immersion facilitated by its rich setting and abundance of player agency brings it to the next level.
Baldur’s Gate 3 takes place in the Dungeons & Dragons universe, and so—like Rogue Trader—it has a pre-existing setting from which to draw inspiration regularly. However, Larian Studios injects its own ideas and personality at every turn, painting
Sunday Gold
This ambitious indie RPG may have bitten off more than it could chew by incorporating an occasionally brutal combat system into a gameplay loop that’s reminiscent of old-school point-and-click adventures. This light RPG puts players in control of a rag-tag group of criminals out to expose an evil mega-corporation in a dystopian future London.
This narrative and the game’s rich and futuristic noir-laden setting are arguably what make Sunday Gold so special. The atmosphere and tone created by the game’s stylish visuals, talented voice work, and creative environments make for a truly immersive RPG.
Mutant Year Zero: Road To Eden
Set in the immersive universe of the classic tabletop RPG, Mutant Year Zero, Road To Eden is an atmospheric turn-based Tactical RPG in which players travel through a post-apocalyptic world as a team of whacky mutant characters.
Mutant Year Zero: Road To Eden’s well-crafted visuals and real-time exploration perfectly bring the world to life. However, once players are seen by enemies, the game transitions into tactical, turn-based combat. This allows players to sneak around and set up ambushes using the game’s stealth mechanics, all before taking their enemies by surprise and engaging in a frantic firefight.
Colony Ship: A Post-Earth Roleplaying Game
This unique turn-based RPG takes place aboard a spaceship and features a heavy focus on dialogue and story. As such, the game is driven primarily by its narrative and requires a lot of reading. Players who don’t enjoy slower, text-heavy games are likely to have a rough time of it. However, for those who don’t mind a slow-burning experience with plenty of dialogue, Colony Ship’s immersive, massive spaceship is a joy to explore.
Although combat in Colony Ship is few and far between, the encounters that take place are deeply tactical, turn-based affairs. Colony Ship isn’t afraid to outnumber the player, and as a result combat can be fairly difficult. Often, avoiding combat is the best solution.
Stellar Tactics
This science-fiction, turn-based RPG takes place in a uniquely dark world in which a mysterious disease plagues the galaxy, slowly consuming it and effectively turning its denizens into zombies. Stellar Tactics is a relatively low-budget indie game, but it stretches the resources it has as far as it can to offer players an immersive world to explore.
In Stellar Tactics, players explore space and take on contracts as a ragtag band of mercenaries. There are a variety of ships to customize, missions to complete, and activities to engage in; mining asteroids, trading, ship-to-ship combat, and turn-based ground battles among them. Despite still being in Early Access, Stellar Tactics is an immersive and tactical RPG that’s absolutely worth a shot for fans of sci-fi sandboxes.
Shadowrun Returns
Based on the hit tabletop RPG, Shadowrun, Shadowrun Returns takes place in the iconic setting of its source material, which uniquely blends cyberpunk and fantasy themes to create a truly distinct world. Shadowrun Returns does a brilliant job of bringing Shadowrun’s iconic world to life, and exploring its immersive cyberpunk streets is a consistent joy.
Shadowrun Returns features deeply tactical turn-based combat and a classless skill system that allows for all kinds of character builds, which should satiate most RPG fans. Furthermore, the developers, Harebrained Schemes, developed two great sequels: Shadowrun: Dragonfall, and Shadowrun: Hong Kong.
Wasteland 3
Set in a frozen, post-apocalyptic Colorado, Wasteland 3 features an atmospheric, tangible setting that’s highly immersive. Wasteland 3 is a squad-based RPG that puts players in control of a squad of Rangers, featuring tactical turn-based combat and competent RPG systems.
Wasteland 3’s world is often dark, and its cold and stark visuals can be somewhat repetitive, but the developers at inXile Entertainment did a brilliant job at injecting variety into the game’s various environments. All in all, Wasteland 3’s detailed open-world, player agency, and well-written characters all work in tandem to offer players a truly immersive and extremely tactical squad-based RPG.
Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader
This recent turn-based RPG from developers Owlcat Games, the team behind Pathfinder: Wrath Of The Righteous, takes place in the iconic grim-dark universe of Warhammer: 40,000. This classic grim-dark setting is ripe with a dystopian atmosphere and rich characters, and the combination of well-written dialogue, engaging quests, and well-realized environments makes Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader a particularly immersive tactical RPG.
The richly detailed world of Warhammer 40,000 is already packed with stories, characters, and imagery, but Owlcat Games’ video game adaptation of these ideas is commendable. This is especially so when comparing Rogue Trader to other Warhammer 40,000 games; while many games set in the universe are great games, it could be argued that Rogue Trader is among the first to truly immerse players in the world.
Felvidek
This bite-sized indie JRPG features a classic turn-based battle system and takes place in 15th century Slovakia. This unique setting, coupled with its striking old-school visuals and stark, limited colour palette, makes Felvidek a distinctive and surprisingly immersive RPG.
Although Felvidek only takes a few hours to complete, the game is appropriately priced, and the short play-time makes it a refreshing palette cleanser between heavier games. Furthermore, Felvidek’s brisk length prevents its dry tone and atmosphere from becoming grating.
Sea Of Stars
This turn-based RPG features a gameplay loop and visual style that’s reminiscent of older RPGs such as Chrono Trigger, but manages to stand on its own two feet. One of Sea Of Stars’ greatest strengths is its impeccable visual style, which uses a combination of old-school pixel-art and modern, dynamic lighting to great effect.
Sea Of Stars features a classic turn-based battle system with timed attacks that require carefully placed inputs and some original ideas injected. Sea Of Stars also uses various damage types and combo attacks to add depth to its otherwise formulaic gameplay. What makes Sea Of Stars particularly immersive, though, outside of its deeply mesmerising pixel-art visuals, is its lack of random encounters and screen transitions between exploration and combat.
Conclusion
With so many RPGs on the market, it’s hard to list just a few of them. However, these games should offer players a variety of modern RPG experiences with tactical combat and immersive worlds to explore.
If there’s an immersive RPG that didn’t make it to this list, be sure to let us know on Discord, X, and on our YouTube channel.
