2022 was something of a rollercoaster for RPGs — we’ve seen the dizzying majesty of Elden Ring, the soberingly dystopian, capitalism-first stylings of Diablo Immortal, and Weird West’s very distinct brand of… well, weird. But as we wind the year to a close, we’re looking to 2023’s horizon for a glimmer of what mechanically dense time vacuum of an RPG we’ll be sinking our lives into. We wondered the same about horror games. We wondered the same about games in general, as well. We do a lot of wondering, here at DualShockers.
But we wonder so you can read, dear friend. We’ve asked around the office to see which upcoming RPGs have drawn the eyes of our lovely editorial staff, and they occasionally grunted, groaned, or engaged in a furious bout of interpretive dance in response. If you’re wondering who the dancer was, it was Robert. Quite a doozy to translate, but I think we got it right. Anyways, feast your eyes upon our most anticipated RPGs for 2023!
Starfield
By Damien Lykins
I absolutely adore Bethesda’s distinct catalog of open-world RPGs toe to tip, sure as sure. But I feel like I’m forever chasing that sense of wild-eyed wonder that hit me when I booted into Morrowind for the first time as a teenager, and every iteration of Fallout or The Elder Scrolls has diminishing returns on that front. I love them, of course, but whether it’s the formula wearing thin or the rose-tinted glasses, the “awe” factor just isn’t showing through like it once did. But Starfield, in all of its lofty ambition, feels like it might just do the trick.
Now that optimism’s tempered by some… fairly prudent caution, to say the very least of it. Bethesda’s always delivered on scope, but even for the go-to open-world juggernaut of the gaming industry, what Starfield’s promising is truly massive in proportion. “Hundreds of systems” and “thousands of planets” feels like it threatens Bethesda’s ‘lived-in’ environmental design and all but necessitates asset regurgitation, or worse — vast expanses of soulless emptiness. Of course, father Todd’s outlined that procedural generation has always played a part in their design philosophy (recently too, via IGN), but Starfield’s immense scope feels like it may end up using that as more of a crutch than a design element. Still, a man can dream, so I choose to dream. Wait, did I just get through two paragraphs of content concerning an upcoming Bethesda title with nary a mention of bugs and broken mechanics? Ah well, insert obligatory joke about them actually being features. Can’t wait to see the Spaceship Armor™ DLC, end transmission.
Baldur’s Gate 3
By Robert Zak
It’d be weird for my most anticipated RPG to not also be my most anticipated game of 2023, wouldn’t it? So here I am having to come up with a couple of paragraphs designed to skirt around self-plagiarism checks and not sound just like what I’ve already written.
Baldur’s Gate is great, Divinity is great, and seeing the immense progress studio Larian has made between its two Original Sin games makes me believe they could be onto something quite special here. The sheer amount of playfulness and freedom in both combat and world interactions feels like both a throwback and successor o those great late 90s RPGs that were more inspired by tabletop RPGs rather than the more action-oriented open-world stuff we’ve been getting more recently. That’ll be even more the case with Baldur’s Gate 3, which will be based off of the D&D 5e ruleset.
Oh, and there’ll be bards and giant badgers, so that’s nice.
Hogwarts Legacy
By CJ Kuzdal
Hogwarts Legacy is shaping up to be a pretty solid title. While there is a lot of controversy surrounding this game, I’m really looking forward to an original story set in the Harry Potter universe, and having the ability to explore Hogwarts to my heart’s desire sounds incredibly enticing.
I’m a sucker for games with a morality mechanic, and while many RPGs have them, Hogwarts Legacy’s seems to be decently fleshed out and expansive. I have some reservations about the game and don’t want to get my hopes up too high, but I think there’s some great potential.
Lies Of P
By Jeff Brooks
This action RPG first grabbed my attention when it was announced back in May 2021, but it wasn’t until Gamescom earlier this year, with the release of its gameplay trailer, that it became a title I can’t wait to get my hands on. A twisted retelling of Pinocchio, Lies of P looks to be taking heavy inspiration from Bloodborne to provide a dark Soulslike journey through a mysterious steampunk city.
The enemy and boss designs are incredible, and the combat looks fast, frenetic, and oh-so-satisfying. While plenty of Soulslikes tend to fall short of capturing the odd mixture of combat, exploration, and art design that FromSoft has mastered, Lies of P looks like it has the makings of an incredible experience.
GTA San Andreas VR
By Chris Harding
Now hold on. Wait a minute. Hear. Me. Out. GTA San Andreas is an RPG, and providing it isn’t radically changed when it gets a VR release (expected in 2023) then it’ll remain an RPG. You can get fat. You can get thin. You can get fat again. You can change your clothes to appease the homies in the hood. You can work out at the gym to learn a few new melee moves to put those busta Ballas in their place. My point is that GTA San Andreas is as much an RPG as any other game on this list, and if it gets edited out by those heathens above me, you’ll find my rant on Twitter.
I’ve obviously played through San Andreas before – a few times, actually – but the big appeal comes with the possibilities that lie within VR, and I can’t wait to lift some virtual weights, get virtual ripped, and of course, have Big Smoke shout “all you had to do was follow the damn train, CJ!” into my actual ear, and I’m all for it.
