GlobalESportNews editorial team spied 5 exciting role-playing games at gamescom.

There weren’t many new role-playing games to see at gamescom this time. We have nevertheless found exciting wish list candidates “

The gamescom 2023 was not necessarily a sprawling role-playing game festival. But we still discovered a handful of really exciting new titles! In this article, you’ll read which upcoming RPGs we’re personally most excited about.

Are you looking for really secret insider tips? Then also check out our overview of the Indie Arena here!

Sengoku Dynasty

(Developer: Superkami – Release Date: August 10, 2023 (Early Access) – Release Platform: PC)

The fact that I’m a big Japan fan should be known to some readers here by now. So I’m all the more pleased that Sengoku Dynasty, a game that covers one of my favorite eras in Japanese history, has recently been released: the Sengoku Jidai!

Japan is a divided country at this time. Power-hungry provincial princes fight in a bloody civil war to seize sole rule. And it is precisely in this confused epoch that you enter Sengoku Dynasty – not as a noble samurai warrior, however, but as a simple peasant who has fled from the war.

Far from the battlefields, in the single-player campaign you’ll have to set out to live a simple life and establish a dynasty. You’ll build your own settlement, harvest resources and improve your character. Thus, Sengoku Dynasty is much more than a simple role-playing game. The game also brings in aspects of survival, construction and life simulation, fulfilling your ultimate dream of living in the Japanese Middle Ages.

Small tip: If you want to send massive armies into battle as a samurai warlord, the strategy game Total War: Shogun 2 is highly recommended.

First Dwarf

Dwarves are the coolest fantasy people. Thought so even in Tolkien’s works and I still stand behind that opinion, by my magnificent beard (you’ll just have to imagine it now, thanks). 

With a dwarf in the lead role, a role-playing game already has good cards with me. If a developer studio then throws an exciting story, a few dragons and a world to explore into the magical blender, it’s a shiny ticket to my wishlist. First Dwarf looks like straightforward, colorful fun.

I experience the story of Dwarf Tru, who is desperately searching for a way to save Dwarfdom. To do so, he explores broken worlds in his upgradeable mech, collecting stuff, building bases, and uncovering the secret of his own family in the process.

It probably won’t be my game of the year, but a nice little pastime for in between – there will be a time when I’m done with Baldur’s Gate 3, after all. Maybe.

Crimson Desert

Oha, don’t even blink! When the new trailer for Crimson Desert hit during Opening Night Live, it just threatened to bludgeon you with the fireworks of gameplay. From fierce sword fights, massive archery, to magical storms that shred houses, to incredibly natural looking horseback riding animations, the longer the inclined viewer looks for details, the more they will find. This medieval fantasy sandbox looks like it’s overflowing with activities and possibilities to get in the enemies’ way.

And even away from the cracking battles, the locomotion options such as ballooning or the parkour options are already successful options to cover the distances to fancy vistas across the breathtaking open world.

If I had to name games that popped into my head when I saw what I saw, a mix of awesome would come up: Read Dead Redemption, the recent Zelda spin-offs, Kingdom Come: Deliverance and Dragons Dogma. If what’s presented in the trailer ultimately matures sensibly into a game whose individual set pieces expertly intertwine, Crimson Desert could be a truly wild action-adventure RPG ride that appeals to a wide variety of tastes and preferences.

However, the South Korean developers have to be careful not to drift into arbitrariness when piling up all these ideas, which are also graphically brilliantly staged. The ingredients are diverse and seem to be bursting with quality, but a successful feast is not guaranteed even with the best ingredients – it just has to fit to be delicious.

Black Myth: Wukong

Actually, I’m not a fan of Soulslikes at all and even steered clear of hits like Sekiro or Nioh. Nevertheless, the debut trailer for Black Myth: Wukong already surprised me a lot three years ago.

As if out of nowhere, there was suddenly a mix of buttery smooth animations, fascinatingly beautiful locations and a refreshingly different fantasy setting without orcs or elves. And all that in a quality that reminds me of God of War or Horizon. Can this be real?

Since 2020, I’ve been wondering if the Chinese developers can deliver what the video footage from Black Myth: Wukong promised back then. It’s still not a hundred percent clear, but what I saw at gamescom 2023 makes me feel confident.

The boss fights look just as spectacular in the real gameplay footage from Cologne as they do in the trailer. The landscapes are simply magical thanks to Unreal Engine 5, from dense autumn forests to icy mountain peaks. And the combat system feels even deeper than I thought, thanks to the sophisticated mix of skills, weapons and various fighting styles. Even as a hard Souls skeptic, I’m rubbing my hands together in anticipation.

Persona 3 Reload

(Developer: Atlus – Release Date: February 2, 2024 – Release Platform: PC, Playstation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Playstation 4, Xbox One)

There are some games that you just know are going to stick with you forever. The original release of Persona 3 in 2008 was one of those for me. Although Persona fans and those who want to become one can experience the game via the Xbox Game Pass, I can’t understand why they chose the portable edition, which was originally released for the PSP and has to make some technical compromises.

Accordingly, I’m looking forward like a little kid to the announced remake: Persona 3 Reload lets the admittedly not optimally aged game shine in new splendor. The graphical upgrade shown in trailers will be just as necessary as individual gameplay mechanics that are no longer up to date.

However, the wonderfully functioning mix of turn-based role-playing game and life sim is just as hard to shake as the story, which provides unique answers to the question of the meaning of life, death and everything beyond that. The tear gland works reflexively on it anyway, when the first bars of the ending song “Memories of You” play.