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

Vaporum – a steampunk Grimrock

Legends of Grimrok had many copycats, but most of them did not have much success. Of all these obscure productions, Vaporum certainly deserves more attention.

The game can be described, in some simplification, as a steampunk Legends of Grimrock. This is no reason for shame for the authors, as the idea was implemented perfectly, both in terms of atmosphere and gameplay mechanics. The world has a dense atmosphere, and the graphics are very detailed.

During the game, we climb up the subsequent floors of a mechanical tower, gradually learning the history of this place and its creators. The plot seems quite extensive and intriguing, but the campaign was designed so that the story can be almost completely ignored if someone prefers pure gameplay.

So the game should suit all tastes. We have some well implemented solutions typical of this kind of games, such as the first-person perspective, a leapfrog navigation system, real-time combat, numerous logic puzzles, and the ability to turn only by 90 degrees.

In several key aspects, however, Vaporum departs from the standard of the genre. We control only one character, not a whole team. On top of that, instead of being based on the classic XP system, the character development is done through modifying and improving their combat suits, on which we can also install numerous useful gadgets.

Vaporum understands perfectly well what the cornerstone of an old-school dungeon crawler is, and at the same time adds to this a handful of interesting ideas rarely seen in steampunk RPGs, all presented in modern graphics. All of this makes it more than just a simple clone, and we heartly recommend the title to fans of the genre.