RPGs Without Class Systems – Investment Policy

Playing Dungeons & Dragons with close friends is incredibly liberating, whether you meet in person or online. You have complete control over creating your character – you can make them any hero or villain you imagine, defining their skills and personality. The idea of character classes, where you choose a specific skillset and role, originated with D&D. While no video game offers quite the same freedom, many console and PC games have adopted fun class systems for players to enjoy.

Games like Final Fantasy Tactics, Diablo 2, and Metaphor: ReFantazio are excellent examples of character development. While many RPGs use traditional classes, some allow players to customize their characters more freely through skill trees or equipment choices, rather than locking them into a single class. Here are a few examples to illustrate this.

The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim

Just Do It

In The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, you can create a unique character from a variety of races, including the Khajiit, who resemble cats. Unlike the previous game, The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, Skyrim doesn’t use a traditional class system. This allows players to develop their character in any direction they choose, tailoring their skills to fit how they like to play.

In this game, everything you do contributes to your character’s progress, even simply exploring the world – a feature found in previous Elder Scrolls games. If you want to play as a mage, you’ll learn spells, improve your intelligence, and develop your magical skills. The more you use spells, the more powerful they become, and this is just one way the game lets you fully customize your character’s abilities.

Fallout: New Vegas

Perks Make A Man

In Fallout: New Vegas, you can customize your character’s appearance and then assign points to their stats and initial Perks. As you gain levels, you’ll be able to improve your stats or unlock new Perks, which are a key feature of the game. These stats and Perks let you develop your character in a specific direction, allowing you to play as the type of character you prefer.

In Fallout: New Vegas, improving your Strength and unlocking perks such as Super Slam, Nerd Rage, and Piercing Strike will make your melee attacks more powerful. The game offers high replayability thanks to its different factions and the many ways you can develop your character, setting it apart from other Fallout titles.

The Outer Worlds 2

Your Foibles Are Gifts

At the beginning of The Outer Worlds 2, players have extensive options to create their character, customizing everything from appearance and backstory to stats and skills. These choices matter – NPCs will react to you differently, and you’ll unlock unique dialogue and opportunities as you explore. You can build your character to be a master hacker, a skilled fighter, or a persuasive talker, using charm and wit to overcome obstacles.

One of the most interesting features in this new game is the way your character develops based on how you play. For instance, if you frequently sneak around while crouching, you might gain a ‘Bad Knees’ flaw. This makes crouching easier, but standing up causes a noticeable sound that alerts nearby enemies. The sheer number of choices and details the developers at Obsidian Entertainment included is really impressive – they seem to have thought of everything.

Elden Ring

A Class Is More Like A Set Of Gear

Elden Ring is a role-playing game where you choose a starting class, but these classes are more about the equipment you begin with than defining your entire character. For instance, picking ‘Prophet’ gives you a good foundation if you want to play as a magic user, while ‘Bandit’ is a strong choice if you prefer using ranged weapons.

I think it’s great that Elden Ring lets you really commit to a specific playstyle if you want, but it’s also cool that you’re not locked in. Honestly, you never really know how you’re going to play until you actually get into a game and face its challenges. And with all the awesome loot you find, I’m always tempted to try out a completely different build! That’s just what I love about it as a Soulslike – it gives you choices.

Cyberpunk 2077

Stay Human, Or Go All Out

Cyberpunk 2077 lets you create very detailed characters, even customizing their appearance down to intimate details. The game offers three different starting points, which change the story but not your character’s skills or abilities. As you’d expect from a cyberpunk game, you can also enhance your character with cybernetic implants, allowing you to build a character suited to your preferred playstyle.

Players who prefer a direct, aggressive playstyle will benefit from strong awareness, accurate shooting, and a powerful selection of weapons. Those who like a more subtle approach can focus on improving their stealth and hacking abilities. It’s also perfectly viable to combine these strategies and adapt to different situations.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

The Mission Matters

Before the release of Cyberpunk 2077, Deus Ex: Human Revolution offered a similar cyberpunk experience. While not as vast as Cyberpunk 2077, it still allowed players a lot of freedom to customize their character, Adam Jensen, into the type of cyborg they wanted. Players could focus on skills like hacking or physical strength to change how they approached combat and challenges.

The game offers meaningful choices in conversations, and you can even choose to play through the entire game without killing anyone – a fantastic feature for any game. Because missions can be approached in multiple ways, Deus Ex: Human Revolution encourages players to replay it, and its relatively short length makes that even easier.

Disco Elysium

If Detective Was A Class…

I love how Disco Elysium lets you shape your detective right from the start! When you begin, you pick one of three ‘Archetypes’ – Thinker, Sensitive, or Physical – and it basically sets up your starting stats. It’s like choosing a class, but it’s super flexible. You could start as a really forceful, intimidating detective who strong-arms people for information, but you’re not locked in! As you play, you can find gear and improve different skills, letting you evolve your character into something completely different, like a brilliant, deductive mastermind. It’s awesome!

Disco Elysium is a role-playing game that lets you create a truly unique character, rather than forcing you into a specific mold, giving you a lot of freedom in how you play. The game’s story changes dramatically based on your choices, making decision-making central to the experience in this gritty, detective-style world.

Vampyr

Your Choices Matter

Vampyr offers a unique gameplay experience for vampire games of the last ten years. Players take on the role of a doctor who constantly battles their thirst for blood, as giving in harms patients while resisting weakens their vampire abilities. Choosing to stay ‘good’ and avoid feeding grants karmic rewards, but makes the player character less powerful.

However, regularly feeding on characters will help them grow stronger more quickly, unlocking different abilities and allowing players to specialize in either close-combat or magical skills. Players can also focus on keeping their victims healthy, which makes them level up and become more valuable as a food source later on. While this idea is quite dark and unsettling, it’s a compelling concept for a role-playing game, even if it’s not to everyone’s liking.

2026-01-05 08:35