From Fell Seal Devs Comes a Battle Brothers-Inspired Open World Tactics RPG
It almost wholly flew under my radar, which is surprising given it’s exactly the kind of game I love and have been into lately. You probably remember Fell Seal: Arbiter’s Mark, one of the closest things to Final Fantasy Tactics we’ve seen in recent years. Well, the indie developer 6 Eyes Studio, creators of that gem, seems to be working on something even more ambitious—Pathbreakers: Roaming Blades. This new title takes inspiration from “mercenary simulator” strategy games like Battle Brothers, Wartales, or The Iron Oath.
A Gritty Medieval World With a Fantasy Twist
In Pathbreakers, much like any respectable RPG in this genre, you’ll be leading a group of mercenaries through a medieval world—specifically the island of Stormtossed—on the hunt for opportunities, quests, exploration, and trade. You’ll start by choosing an origin story from the available options or crafting your own customized backstory, which will significantly influence your journey.
Just like in Battle Brothers, the combat system in Pathbreakers is tactical and takes place on hex-based maps. However, the game introduces a fantasy twist that sets it apart. Alongside your classic medieval arsenal, you can wield powerful magic and use abilities like invisibility, among many others. These skills are tied to eight base classes, which can eventually evolve into more advanced roles, giving a lot of room for strategic depth and character customization.
Origins, Procedurally Generated Maps and Dungeon Crawling
The world of Pathbreakers is procedurally generated, promising a fresh experience with every new campaign. You’ll find yourself exploring a world filled with towns, dungeons, and hidden secrets, while constantly making choices that affect your mercenary company’s reputation across three primary paths: Mercenary, Trader, and Explorer. Each path brings different opportunities—whether it’s high-stakes contracts, lucrative trade routes, or special commissions.
This approach means that your decisions aren’t just about winning battles—they shape how you interact with the world. For example, if you’re leaning into the Trader path, you might find yourself making alliances with certain factions, securing rare resources, or cornering the market on exotic goods. Meanwhile, a focus on exploration could open up dangerous but rewarding expeditions. And if you stick to the classic Mercenary route, expect challenging contracts and a chance to build a crew of hardened fighters, each with their own unique story arc.
The game also includes dungeon crawling, where you guide a small squad through dangerous dungeons filled with traps, enemies, and limited resources like oil for light. The last thing to highlight is the full support for modding. In fact, it features a map editor, spell editor, and mod-friendly file formats to allow players to create new content easily.
Pathbreakers: Roaming Blades is expected to be released in Early Access sometime in 2025 and then fully released on PC via Steam in 2026. Below are some screens, an overview, and a trailer.
More Info
Pathbreakers: Roaming Blades is a turn-based tactical RPG in which you lead a company of mercenaries through the harsh lands of the Stormtossed Isle. Select one of many origin stories, or create your own, and make your mark through the world.
Hire your crew, train, and outfit them. How will your company operate? Will you favor the traditional mercenary life, grab contracts and slowly build up your reputation? Will you instead focus on the lucrative trading opportunities to be found on the Isle? Or perhaps you’ll don the mantle of a consummate explorer, discover and chart the numerous dungeons and secrets throughout.
Then again, why not a mix of it all? One thing is for certain, though: it’ll be a dangerous and bloody journey, and you’d better prepare your company for it, and prepare well.
The world of Pathbreakers: Roaming Blades consists of a procedurally generated world map, teeming with enemies, dungeons, towns and secrets to discover. Assemble your company and roam the lands, looking for opportunities, fortune, and bloody combat. Maintaining a mercenary company isn’t cheap, so you’ll have to earn some coin on the way.
Contracts, trading, looting, discovering and pilfering will all serve you well on that front. Battles are a big part of the gameplay and take place on a tactical hex grid, in turn-based mode. Deploy up to 8 units, each with their own class and skill tree, and engage a variety of enemies intent on seeing your crew lie face down in the dirt.
Dungeon exploration is another major component in Pathbreakers. Select a small elite force from your crew and delve into a dungeon. Once inside, you’ll face traps, hidden paths, vicious enemies and your ever dwindling oil reserves, as you explore the darkness, hoping for treasures and renown.
- Build your own CompanyAssemble and customize your roster from a selection of 8 classes, each branching to 2 different advanced classes and with their own skill tree. Mercenaries start with background traits and can learn new ones, adding an extra layer of customization.
- Multiple Company pathsYour company can amass reputation on 3 different fronts: Mercenary, Trader and Explorer. A high reputation grants new opportunities tied to its field. More contracts, trading options, and special commissions become available to those who have proven themselves.
- Never quite the sameThe campaign’s open world, dungeons, and most battle maps are procedurally generated, making each new game a different experience. Nothing is ever quite the same and it will keep you on your toes.
- Multiple origin storiesSelect one of many origin stories, or create your own. Each origin character has their own custom plot and story events, with different strengths and weaknesses and different goals and objectives.
- Interesting enemies and tough encountersThe game features a large cast of enemies, ranging from opposing mercenaries to a multitude of unique monstrous creatures. Enemies have access to their own classes and abilities and understanding them will be a key difference between victory and a shallow grave.
- Dynamic eventsContracts and story events have multiple resolutions and branching outcomes, never being quite the same from playthrough to playthrough. You’ll face some hard choices that will influence how your company is perceived.
- ModdingPathbreakers has been designed to be modder friendly. The game features Workshop support, a map editor, a spell editor, and data files relying on easy-to-edit-and-understand json files, which facilitates adding classes, skills, and new languages.
