The RPG Wallet Killer returns with fantasy empire building, card battles, monster collecting, and a few very persuasive reasons to reconsider your backlog.
The odd thing about RPG sales is that the price goes down whilst the time commitment remains absolutely unchanged. We’ve never let that stop us before, and this week’s selection is another six reasons to keep on making the most optimistic assumptions about our free time. The latest edition of my RPG Wallet Killer is a great collection, featuring 6 Top-Tier Turn-Based RPGs.
Strategy takes the lead with Age of Wonders 4, giving you a full civilization to build. Triumph Studios are blending 4X civilization management with turn-based tactical combat so you can create your faction from a range of physical forms, cultures and magical affinities. That identity is going to evolve as you go through Tomes of Magic which unlock a whole host of abilities and transformations that can completely change your people and your armies.
There’s a lot to think about in between the battles (city expansion, diplomacy, etc.), and the customizable realms and the return of the Pantheon rulers provide a real incentive to go back in with a different approach. Maybe your next civilization will have a more sensible foreign policy. The base game is currently $19.99 (down from $49.99, 60% off) until 18th November. For those who enjoy building a faction as much as they do commanding it in battle, this is a very attractive way into the series; they just released a new DLC also.
After you’ve managed an empire, it would seem that taking charge of a small expedition would be a relatively straightforward affair. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 would seem to contradict that notion. It’s an RPG that sees a group of adventurers attempting to break the Paintress’s cycle of death, set in a wonderfully surreal world that is very much inspired by Belle Époque France.
The combat is a mix of turn-based decision-making and actual combat where you can dodge, parry, perform timed attacks, and aim freely at enemy weak points. You have to plan your party and your builds as well as execute them. There’s a great deal of scope for equipment, skills and character synergy. It’s a very interesting game if you’re the type of player who likes to plan out their party and still wants a combat system that rewards you for learning the enemy attack patterns. Steam currently has the standard edition at $39.99 rather than $49.99 (20% off) until November 12th.
Two full adventures for $14.99 makes the Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster one of the more attractive packages around. It’s Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean and Baten Kaitos Origins, both of which see you traversing floating continents as a spirit bound to the characters. The combat is all about Magnus cards, which contain equipment, items, and various powers. You can combine cards and have a very quick card select to give the fights their own feel.
The remasters also come with a number of useful features including autosave, adjustable game speed and the ability to turn off encounters, plus the usual visual and menu updates. It’s a great package if you’re after a different kind of party combat following on from the more timing/reaction focused approach of Clair Obscur. The package is 70% off its normal $49.99 price and that offer is only available until today (November 10th).
Psaro has a very particular problem in Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince (the curse prevents him from being able to attack monsters directly). The whole point of the game really is in recruiting monsters to do the fighting for you.
There are over 500 monsters to collect and a synthesis system whereby you can combine two monsters to create a new offspring. The fun is in constantly tweaking your party and trying out all the different combinations you can get. The seasons will change the monsters and the routes you can take across Nadiria.
The Steam version also includes The Mole Hole, Coach Joe’s Dungeon Gym and Treasure Trunks DLC from the console version so this package is a bit more substantial. At $7.99 (down from $39.99, 80% off until 18th November) it’s the cheapest of the bunch. If you’re the type of person who gets distracted by party optimization, then that’s probably a recommendation and a scheduling problem.
If the sheer scale of the Trails series has you just about hovering over the wishlist button, then Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is a very good place to start. The remake follows Estelle Bright and her adopted brother Joshua as junior bracers, with their early days as members of the guild slowly seeing them get drawn into a conspiracy which is going to threaten the Liberl Kingdom.
There’s a real emphasis on the world and the supporting cast, with the interactions of the NPCs changing as the story goes on. You get updated visuals and both English and Japanese voice acting, as well as a combat system that supports both turn-based and real-time action. It’s a very good option for those who want an adventure that’s character-driven and who like to go back and check in with the people they meet.
The standard edition is $29.99 (half of its normal $59.99 price) until 16th November. “1st Chapter” is, of course, doing nothing to put anyone’s mind at rest in terms of their future backlog.
Monster collecting comes in to close the selection with a trip across the worlds and through time. Digimon Story Time Stranger (Media.Vision) sees the player sent eight years into the past following a catastrophe, with the whole thing built around the mystery of the human world and the Digital World: Iliad.
There are more than 450 Digimon to collect, extensive customization, and turn-based battles to keep you playing with your team. The offer here is the Deluxe Edition at $59.99 rather than $99.99 (40% off, ends today, 10th November).
That edition includes the base game, the season pass (3 additional Digimon and episode packs), the Golden Moai farm item and the Cyber Sleuth costume set. It’s the most expensive of the options in this list but the extra episodes in the season pass do make the edition worthwhile for those who intend to spend a lot of time with the cast and creatures.
