The Best Obscure RPGs - 2022 Update

Table of Contents

• The Best Obscure RPGs - 2022 Update
• Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book
• Regalia: Of Men And Monarchs
• Masquerada: Songs and Shadows – a triple-A indie
• A House of Many Doors – an RPG from another dimension
• Expeditions: Viking
• Moonlighter – not-so-peaceful life of a shopkeeper
• Vaporum – a steampunk Grimrock
• Tower of Time – a heir of Baldur
• Valkyria Chronicles 4 – war in the Japanese version
• Druidstone – tactical RPG from the fathers of Grimrock series
• Octopath Traveler – a breath of fresh air in jRPG
• Sunless Skies – a train through fantasy outerspace
• Broken Lines – World War II in the form of a tactical RPG
• Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark - a worthy continuation of the Final Fantasy Tactics tradition
• Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk – there's no end to games and laughter

Regalia: Of Men And Monarchs

The enxt game comes from a Polish studio. Regalia: Of Men and Monarchs was developed in Warsaw by Pixelated Milk. It combines the solutions of the classic Japanese tactical RPGs with strong strategy elements, yielding a very interesting concoction.

The fun begins when the hero inherits the kingdom. The country, however, is in ruin, and the obligation to restore the former glory falls on our shoulders. The player must rebuild the infrastructure, jump-start the economy, pay off the debts and neutralize all threats to their government.

As befits a classic tactical RPG, we spend most of the time on exploration, improvement of skills of the heroes and, above all, fighting within the turn-based combat system. Between expeditions, we are engaged in the development of the country, creating new structures, gathering resources, improving technology and establishing diplomatic and trade relations. Both of these aspects of gameplay are closely related – the decisions made in one of these plains have clear consequences on the others.

All this was presented with a nice sense of humor. The characters are vibrant and sympathetic, the cartoonish graphics are pleasing to the eye, the game is able to make the player at least crack a smile every now and then, or even make them genuinely laugh. And the game will also suffice for quite some time, as completing the campaign should take about 30 hours.

Cosmic Star Heroine – spy RPG

Cosmic Star Heroine is an offering from Zeboyd Games Studio, a team that has become specialized in creating games inspired by old Japanese RPGs.

The previous projects of this developer, such as Cthulhu Saves the World or the third and fourth parts of Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness series were comedy games. This time, the authors hit more dramatic tones by creating a game about a secret agent of the galactic government who is betrayed by her employers.

The title is much more powerful and advanced than the previous works of Zeboyd Games. The campaign is long and has multiple threads, the mechanics are more interesting, and the graphic design is stylized for 32-bit consoles. Turn-based combat is diversified with a large set of fun and futuristic weapons and gadgets. On top of that, the authors allowed the players to manage a spy group, rescruit agents and customize the headquarters.

Cosmic Star Heroine is definitely the most ambitious game from the Polish studio, and one of the best Western releases inspired by jRPGs of recent years.