2019 is shaping up to be a great year for RPGs, in both the AAA and the indie spheres. Here's a varied spread of lots of different role-playing titles to look forward to—you're sure to find something that catches your interest.
Biomutant
- Developer: Experiment 101
- Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One
- Release: TBD 2019
Have you ever wanted to roleplay as a claymore-wielding cyborg raccoon-fox with a sick hat and a jetpack? Me neither, but now that it's been proposed, I'm strangely intrigued.
Featuring fast, fluid third-person combat, Biomutant is largely keeping its story under wraps, except to say that a mysterious plague is threatening the Tree of Life and it's up to you to do something about it—or to make everything worse.
Biomutant looks super pretty, too; you can check out a cinematic trailer here to tide you over until it releases sometime in 2019.
GreedFall
- Developer: Spiders
- Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One
- Release: TBD 2019
17th-century Europe, despite its rich history and plentiful folklore, is a setting seldom seen in games apart from standard high fantasy tales. GreedFall aims to do something about that. Part RPG, part swashbuckling adventure game, it places players in the shoes of a mercenary exploring the shores of a mystical island in search of a cure to a mysterious disease (and treasure, of course).
By all indications, GreedFall seems to be aiming for a gritty and realistic aesthetic, fully embracing the technological limitations and social mores of pre-American Europe. It's surely worth keeping an eye on as its release date draws closer.
Kingdom Hearts III
- Developer: Square-Enix
- Platforms: PS4, Xbox One
- Release: January 2019
Kingdom Hearts is one of the more weirdly numbered franchises out there; despite its name, Kingdom Hearts III is actually about the 119th game in the series. Sora, Donald, and Goofy are seasoned vets by now, ready to push back the Heartless once more.
Now that Disney owns half of all franchises ever conceived, rumors abound that we might even see Star Wars or Marvel characters this time around. Nothing's official yet, though—we'll have to wait a little longer for more info.
You can check out the official trailer here.
Rune: Ragnarok
- Developer: Human Head Studios
- Platforms: PC
- Release: TBD 2019
Vikings and Norse mythology have been done before, but Human Head Studios is looking to put a fresh spin on Rune: Ragnarok with an open-world setting featuring enormous and terrifying bosses.
Fans of Odin, mead halls, and brutal action-RPGs will surely want to keep this one on their watch lists.
Hellsign
- Developer: Ballistic Interactive
- Platforms: PC
- Release: Q4 2019 (early access open now)
"Horror-RPG" is such a great fusion of genres that it's surprising how few of them exist. Hellsign aims to fill that relative void with what looks to be a thrilling supernatural P.I. adventure. Players will initially be tasked with banishing fairly tame poltergeists, after which it will be time to buy better gear and weapons to take on more dangerous jobs.
Check out the reveal trailer, then do your best to restrain your excitement for another year until the full release around Q4 2019—or pick up the early access version now.
Dauntless
- Developer: Phoenix Labs
- Platforms: PC
- Release: TBD 2019 (open beta available now)
There are plenty of RPGs out there and a decent selection of co-op action titles, but not much on tap in the way of true co-op RPGs. Free-to-play Dauntless looks like it's drawing at least some inspiration from the Monster Hunter series, allowing up to four players to battle tons of huge beasts together.
Dauntless is in open beta now, with a full release scheduled for sometime next year.
Wasteland 3
- Developer: inXile Entertainment
- Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One
- Release: TBD 2019-ish
The first Wasteland quickly made a name for itself as a highly successful post-apocalyptic strategy RPG. The sequel upped the ante and took home PC World's "Game of the Year" award in 2014. Developer inXile is gearing up to bring us an even bigger, darker (and co-op!) adventure in Wasteland 3.
There's no trailer yet—not one that shows much, anyway. Maybe that's a deliberate ploy to build up more anticipation. Either way, watch for Wasteland 3 sometime in 2019 (probably, maybe).
Tom Clancy's The Division 2
- Developer: Massive Entertainment
- Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One
- Release: 15 March 2019
The Division blurred the lines between shooter, MMO, and RPG, and did a reasonably good job of it. To developer Massive's credit, they listened to player feedback and made consistent efforts to correct aspects of the first game their customers weren't pleased with.
Hopefully, they've held onto that flexibility and applied past experience to The Division 2. You'll have to wait until next spring for another chance to shoot terrorists and gang bangers 30,000 times each.
Code Vein
- Developer: Bandai Namco
- Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One
- Release: TBD 2019
Do you like vampires, magic, ruined cities, and hyper-fast combat? Then Code Vein might be for you. We've been promised a dark and intriguing story, as well as lots of weapons, upgrades, and abilities.
Originally scheduled for a 2018 release, it's been pushed back to a still unannounced date in 2019—hopefully that means Bandai Namco is taking extra time to get it right.
Cyberpunk 2077
- Developer: CD Projekt Red
- Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One
- Release: TBD (maybe 2019? Please?)
You didn't really think you'd get all the way through this list without seeing Cyberpunk 2077, did you? The legendary developers of the Witcher trilogy have turned their full attention toward crafting a futuristic dystopian RPG based on the hugely popular Cyberpunk 2020 tabletop system, and millions of gamers are aquiver with anticipation.
Maybe I cheated a little by including Cyberpunk 2077 in a list of games slated for 2019—but only a little. Highly unofficial whispers around the internet have suggested that a 2019 release might be possible, but CD Projekt Red hasn't firmly committed to anything more than "it will be ready when it's ready."
I, for one, am perfectly happy grudgingly willing to wait for the best Cyberpunk experience possible.
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That's it for our anticipated RPGs of 2019. Is there another RPG you're looking forward to that's not on this list? Share it in the comments below.
Published: Nov 8, 2018 08:13 pm