Let’s take a look at some of the best PC isometric RPGs which offer turn-based combat currently in development with a planned release date set during 2022 and 2023. We can only appreciate them through images and videos for now, except for some playable demos here and there, and given the nature of this Top 10, Baldur’s Gate 3 and Colony Ship are not here, because already accessible in early access anyway a mention was the least I could do.
Although we are talking about a very popular genre in the 90s, today we are witnessing a great return of this particular Role Playing Game. Isometric RPGs are usually the most complex and pure experience a lover of the genre can take. Strong character development, huge worlds to explore, long text to read (sometimes too much..), and tactical battles. Below i listed some of the most promising PC turn-based isometric RPGs currently in development that you should follow too.
While, for those of you, who want a CRPG to play right now, here is a list of some of the best. Anyway, let’s start.
Zoria: Age of Shattering
Fantasy RPGs have some of the largest, most detailed worlds in gaming. Exploring each meticulously-crafted realm is half the fun, and Tiny Trinket Games’ Zoria: Age Of Shattering looks like it will have a particularly deep setting. Zoria has a base-building element, allowing you to train and prepare for each excursion into the unknown.
With eight character classes and several approaches for each encounter, the turn-based battles in this game will offer players endless options and replayability. Zoria is expected to launch later this year, and in the meantime a playable demo is available to try.
Wishlist Zoria: Age Of Shattering on Steam
Wishlist Zoria: Age Of Shattering on GOG
Broken Roads
Broken Roads, an RPG from Drop Bear Bytes, takes the isometric CRPG formula and brings it into a post-apocalyptic setting. Your party will explore the remains of several real-world locations throughout Australia, made even more dangerous by futuristic dangers. Broken Roads has no classes, allowing for unlimited freedom in character development.
While Broken Roads has all the browns and greys that you’d expect from a post-apocalyptic game, the devs have done a great job of making sure that the characters and locations stand out through a bright palette and hand-drawn designs. The game is planned to launch in 2022, so it shouldn’t be more than half a year before players get to try it for themselves. – Read our interview with devs.
Wishlist Broken Roads on Steam
The Way of Wrath
The Way Of Wrath puts players in the role of a tribal war chief in the early Bronze Age. A bloodthirsty army is on the way, and in ten days they will arrive. Only your leadership and the choices you make have any chance of saving your people from slaughter.
Send your people to scout, hunt, and gather supplies. They’ll need to be alive, equipped, and ready to fight when the enemy arrives. Players who like to balance risk and reward while developing emergent stories through their gameplay should have fun with The Way Of Wrath.
Wishlist The Way Of Wrath on Steam
Wishlist The Way Of Wrath on GOG
Revolution: The Spark
As its name implies, Revolution: The Spark challenges your party of adventurers to overthrow the corrupt government of a steampunk nation. You’ll need to gather rebels to your cause and take daring action against your oppressors. As with many RPGs, Revolution has a morality system – you might start out trying to make the world a better place, but if you’re not careful you could end up creating a regime just as tyrannical as the last.
The game’s environments and characters are all hand-drawn, giving the game a look that stands out. Early screenshots show everything from downtrodden slums to opulent palaces. Revolution: The Spark is expected to launch toward the end of 2022.
Wishlist Revolution: The Spark on Steam
Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader
The Warhammer 40K universe is ripe for a CRPG, and with Owlcat Games at the helm – the studio behind the excellent Pathfinder video games – Rogue Trader is in good hands. Information is still somewhat scarce, but as a Rogue Trader Charter the player’s party should have much more freedom to travel the galaxy than other citizens of the Imperium.
We can expect to see piles of iconic 40k weaponry, useful for battling the countless threats in the setting. Rogue Trader was only announced recently, so we’re unlikely to see the full version for a while… but good things come to those who wait!
Project Witchstone
Spearhead Games has made some ambitious claims with their upcoming title Project Witchstone, which purports to offer a fully-realized living fantasy world. Every NPC is unique, has a routine, owns property, and will react to the world around them. Interactions with these characters will go far beyond simply making the occasional dialogue choice; with the right push, you can frame people for crimes, sow the seeds of friendship (or enmity), or just live and let live.
No release date has yet been announced for Project Witchstone, but given the amount of sheer possibility packed into the game, it makes sense that it will be a long project. We can’t wait to hear what kinds of stories players will create when if does launch.
Wishlist Project Witchstone on Steam
Prometheus Wept
Prometheus Wept imagines a world where digital technology has been corrupted by a global virus, shattering the world order overnight. The game has turn-based battles in both the real world and the digital world as your character transfers their consciousness into dangerous, virus-infested cyberspace. There’s also crafting, moral decisions, and destructible cover, making Prometheus Wept the full package.
The game will be released “when it’s done,” so it’s unlikely we’ll see it until 2023 at the earliest. In the meantime, developer Timeslip Softworks has a neo-noir RPG called Vigilantes available.
Wishlist Prometheus Wept on Steam
Urban Strife
This zombie survival RPG shows a world where society has collapsed. Starting with a single survivor, you’ll need to build and fortify a base. More people will come to live there, meaning you’ll need to provide food, medicine, and protection for a growing population.
The combat in Urban Strife places heavy emphasis on each character’s choice of weapon. Pistols and assault rifles can quickly rack up damage with cumulative hits, while shotguns and explosives are needed to clear the hordes of zombies roaming the world. It should be released later this year. – Our interview with the devs
Wishlist Urban Strife on Steam
Cyber Knights: Flashpoint
If you like Shadowrun or Cyberpunk, then Cyber Knights: Flashpoint is right up your alley. Leading a team of elite operatives, you’ll have to pull off brazen heists in a a high-tech world of intrigue. The events of each mission can have lasting impacts on your characters, from personal traits to cybernetic limbs after a job gone wrong.
The game follows personal stories for your team as well as events in the city around them, and based on each character’s history and connections the two may intersect in unexpected ways. Sci-fi fans and RPG players in general won’t want to miss this one when it launches early next year.
Wishlist Cyber Knights Flashpoint on Steam
Hard West 2
Players who couldn’t get enough of the occult cowboy action of Hard West will be happy to know that a sequel is fast approaching. Your posse of outlaws and spell casters will rob trains, battle arcane forces, and of course have shootouts at high noon as you hunt down the devil himself in search of your stolen soul.
Hard West 2 is a game that rewards aggressive gameplay. Its Bravado system lets you replenish your Action Points by defeating enemies in sufficiently dramatic fashion. Environmental kills, explosions, and daring strategies are all a core part of the gameplay. The game is expected to launch later this year.
Now it’s time to let me know yours about these under-development Isometric RPGs of 2022-2023. Join discussions on our Discord server, the youtube channel, and directly with me on Twitter.
