As we roll into a year that’s already jam-packed with exciting new games, here are our 5 most anticipated RPGs for 2023 (that we know of so far).
The next hardware generation has hit its stride, and the road map ahead for 2023 is already dotted with some major titles like Tears of the Kingdom, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, and Hades II. But it’s also going to be a great year for RPG fans—a feast of new adventures to sink our teeth into awaits, alongside a good share of remasters and ports to tide us over between main courses.
Without further ado, here are our choices for the most anticipated RPGs of 2023:
Honourable Mentions
Okay, there’s some further ado. We’re looking at RPGs with more tangible release dates—either confirmed launch windows or actual dates. Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is likely to arrive in 2023, and would have handily earned a spot on this list if we had seen something more substantial out of it yet; similarly Witchbrook has our attention, but only a “coming soon” window to hope on.
5) Octopath Traveler II
The original Octopath Traveler was one of the Switch’s first original hits in this genre, making its follow-up one of our most anticipated RPGs of the year. Like the original, Octopath Traveler II presents eight new heroes from different walks of life and allows you to experience their individual tales as you see fit (more or less). Everything that made the first game so charming appears to be back bigger and better, and party members will actually interact this time, unfolding new parts of the overarching narrative.
Octopath Traveler II launches February 24, 2023, exclusively on Nintendo Switch.
4) Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes
The name of our second anticipated RPG of 2023 may be new, but it’s the inheritor of a rich lineage. Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes was spearheaded by Suikoden veterans Yoshitaka Murayama and Junko Kawano, and features other former staff like creator Yoshitaka Murayama. It harkens back to the genre’s golden age at the turn of the century in aesthetics and combat, including traditional turn-based combat accented by AI skills. And, like Suikoden, Eiyuden Chronicle “intends to have a roster of over 100 unique characters.”
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes‘ release date is somewhat nebulous right now, at one time slated for the end of January, or in mid-March—but it will arrive on PC, Sony, and Microsoft shores. Conversely, if the new game doesn’t do it for you, HD remasters of Suikoden and Suikoden II are also due out sometime this year.
3) Starfield
Bethesda has done high fantasy with The Elder Scrolls and post-apocalyptic Earth with the Fallout series, but for the first time in over 25 years they’re making a new IP: Starfield. This highly anticipated RPG was originally meant to be in our hands by now, before being bumped out of November 2022—but has been in development since Fallout 4 launched in 2015.
Set in the year 2330, Starfield will allow players to create the character of their dreams and venture beyond our solar system as a member of Constellation, an intergalactic mining company. But since this is “Skyrim in space,” according to director Todd Howard, the story will pull the playable character into a conflict between two rival factions, and surely much more.
Starfield is the most uncertain release of this list; we only know it will launch after Redfall, which itself is speculated for a spring release. When it does arrive, it will be on Xbox Series X and Windows PC.
2) Baldur’s Gate 3
Some of you may have already experienced a good chunk of Baldur’s Gate 3 over its last two years in open beta, but nonetheless its full release is one of the most anticipated RPGs of 2023 as the successor to both the Baldur’s Gate games and tabletop RPG setting, and the Divinity: Original Sin games by developer Larian Studios.
Baldur’s Gate 3 digitizes the engine of Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition and allows you to play alone or cooperatively with up to three friends, exploring the Forgotten Realms and staving off an invasion by creepy Mind Flayers. Only the first act has been available to date, and that alone offers 20-30 hours of gameplay; with 11 playable classes and a broad cast of fleshed out companions (including romance options), the full version promises to be one of the most content-rich games of the year.
Baldur’s Gate 3 will launch properly when its closed beta ends in August, only on PC.
1) Final Fantasy XVI
One of video games’ founding fathers for RPGs returns with a new main series entry when Final Fantasy XVI arrives this summer. It’s been six years since the last numbered Final Fantasy game (and it proved divisive among fans of the genre at that) but the sixteenth is under the stewardship of Naoki Yoshida, who not only revived Final Fantasy XIV but helped it become the biggest MMORPG in the world.
Players will assume the role of Clive Rosfield, a young prince whose life is thrown into turmoil when his homeland is attacked and his younger brother apparently killed. The game will span long periods as he pursues revenge, wrestles with summoned beasts, and gets caught up in a resource war. Final Fantasy hasn’t looked quite this intense or high fantasy-inspired since the PS2 era, and looks poised to be a real GOTY contender.
Final Fantasy XVI will launch June 22, 2023, exclusively on the PS5.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, of course; we’ll certainly see many other RPGs announced within the year, and there are even more blockbusters with RPG elements to enjoy as well. Whichever game you’re most hyped for, RPG fans have a veritable buffet of options to choose from this year.
