Upcoming RPGs Built Entirely Around Consequences

As a gamer, I’ve always loved RPGs because of the choices they let you make and how those choices actually matter. It’s awesome to create your own character and then see how your decisions affect the story, other characters, and even the whole game world. For me, the best part isn’t just what happens, but thinking through why I made a certain choice and how it played out. Talking about those moments with other players is super fun, too – it’s like reliving an epic, personal adventure.

The heyday of classic role-playing games (RPGs) feels like a distant memory. Today, many RPGs prioritize quantity over quality, making games that truly focus on player choice and meaningful consequences stand out. The massive success of Baldur’s Gate 3 is a prime example – its popularity is largely due to the developers’ commitment to the fundamental elements of what makes an RPG great. While another game of this caliber might be a ways off, there are still plenty of promising RPGs on the horizon that aim to deliver deep, branching narratives where your choices – and even your mistakes – shape your unique story.

Clockwork Revolution

Explore the True Butterfly Effect

Role-playing games that involve time travel are great for showing how decisions impact the future, letting players quickly see if they’ve made the right ones. Clockwork Revolution looks set to be one of these games, offering a steampunk adventure in a large, explorable city where your choices will have consequences across different time periods.

From the creators of beloved genre games like InXile Entertainment comes Clockwork Revolution, a game where you change the past to build a better future. The developers want players to experience a real “butterfly effect” – even small choices can have huge impacts on the city and its people. The big question now is just how much freedom players will have with time travel, and if they’ll be able to go back and correct decisions that don’t turn out well.

Exodus

Experience the Flow of Time on a Cosmic Scale

For years, sci-fi RPG fans have been eagerly awaiting Exodus from Archetype Entertainment, and it’s now nearing release. The game focuses on the vastness of time, letting players revisit planets decades after their first visit, much like the feeling in the movie Interstellar (they even cast Matthew McConaughey!). Players will see how planets have changed – whether they’ve flourished or declined – and meet familiar characters who have aged as time has passed.

It’s still uncertain how well the game will work in reality, but Exodus promises a level of choice and consequence never before seen, where your decisions truly shape events across multiple planets. With its impressive scope, detailed backstory, and a convincing game world, combined with the exciting prospect of commanding a spaceship and crew, fans can’t wait for Exodus to be released.

Zero Parades: For Dead Spies

High-Stakes Espionage World of Constant Pressure

The new RPG from the creators of Disco Elysium is generating a lot of excitement, despite the fact that key people involved in the original game – including Robert Kurvitz, Aleksander Rostov, and Helen Hindpere – have since left the studio, ZA/UM. Called Zero Parades: For Dead Spies, it promises a compelling espionage story with a strong psychological element, all delivered with the same distinctive art style and complex RPG gameplay that made Disco Elysium so popular. This kind of game is uncommon these days, making it particularly intriguing.

Zero Parades offers a sprawling city brimming with secrets and a complex power struggle, populated by memorable characters and challenging quests. It’s a role-playing game where failure is much more common than success. Players take on the role of Hershel Wilk, a troubled operative burdened by past mistakes. The game stands out due to its emphasis on meaningful choices – every decision impacts not only relationships with other characters but also Hershel’s mental state. The core question is whether players can cope with the relentless pressure and the unpredictable consequences of their actions.

The Witcher 4

An Ambitious RPG Trilogy Is Upon Us

CD Projekt Red, the studio behind the acclaimed RPGs known for player choice and impactful stories, is poised to push boundaries again with The Witcher 4. By making Ciri the main character, they have even more creative freedom than before. This allows them to move beyond the established books, explore fresh narrative paths, and develop a compelling cast of original characters alongside her.

CD Projekt Red (CDPR) has announced plans to create a new Witcher trilogy, with the goal of releasing the games relatively close together, all built on the same technology. This could allow choices and their consequences to continue across all three games, creating a more personalized story driven by player decisions and moral challenges. However, it’s important to remember that everything shown so far is just a technical demonstration, and the first game, The Witcher 4, isn’t expected to be released until 2027 at the earliest.

Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy

Tyranny Fans, Your Prayers Have Been Heard

Following the successful launch of Warhammer 40k: Rogue Trader, Owlcat Games is now setting its sights on Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy. Much like they did with the Pathfinder RPGs, Owlcat plans to make player decisions and their resulting consequences even more impactful in Dark Heresy, further expanding on the immersive and well-realized world they’ve already created.

In the role-playing game Dark Heresy, players become Inquisitorial acolytes, investigating complex mysteries and uncovering secret plots. This setup is similar to the game Tyranny, which is known for its story where choices have significant, world-altering consequences. The developers of Dark Heresy promise that players’ decisions will truly matter in a grim world where justice is rare, as they navigate the internal struggles of the Inquisition and determine just how far they’ll go to serve the will of the God-Emperor.

Gothic 1 Remake

A Compact World Where Every Decision Carries Weight

Gothic 1 Remake is a modern update of the beloved classic RPG, aiming to capture everything fans loved about the original game created by Piranha Bytes. Despite its relatively small size and limited number of characters, the original Gothic succeeded in creating a truly immersive world that felt alive, with realistic interactions and meaningful choices.

Beyond simply being a more compact and detailed world, Gothic benefits from giving players real choices. You can align with one of three main factions in the Valley of Mines – the Old Camp, New Camp, or Swamp Camp – effectively offering three distinct ways to play through the story. Hopefully, Gothic 1 Remake will honor the original game’s strengths while updating it for modern audiences in meaningful ways.

The Blood of Dawnwalker

Players Are Invited to Construct Their Own Story

RPG fans are eagerly anticipating The Blood of Dawnwalker, which looks set to be a truly innovative game. Unlike most RPGs, it won’t have a typical main storyline. Players can immediately head for the ending if they choose, or spend time leveling up and completing a small number of significant side quests before time runs out.

The game’s story works in a way that completing tasks moves time forward. This means players have to carefully decide which goals to focus on, because they can’t possibly complete everything. If executed well, this system could make The Blood of Dawnwalker a game you’ll want to play again and again, constantly highlighting how reactive the world is and the real impact of your decisions.

2025-12-10 04:06