Top indie RPGs to give a try

Credit: Kenming Wang - Flickr

Role-playing games are a massive sub-genre of the gaming industry. And the names of the best action RPGs are familiar to all gamers out there. From The Witcher to Monster Hunter and Diablo, triple-A franchises have stamped their imprints on gaming as a whole. But there is more to role-playing games than their action-packed flagship blockbusters. As a matter of fact, small-budget studios have often come up with equally compelling takes on the genre. So, let’s take a look at some laudable indie games shaking up the RPG formula.

Undertale

Released in 2015, Undertale became an instant hit against all odds. Critics praised the game’s unconventional and innovative combat system. Meanwhile, this one-of-a-kind RPG quickly garnered a cult following among gamers for its refreshing tone. Serviced by endearing retro pixelated graphics, Undertale puts players in the shoes of a child trapped in an underground realm of monsters banished from the earth. This lost human must, therefore, find his way back to the surface.

Yet the monsters crawling underground are very much intent on standing in their way, leaving players to kill off every creature on their path or to avoid fighting through persuasion. In fact, you may even befriend the bosses throughout this humorous story big on colourful characters. And this masterfully-written adventure is the work of one single developer, Toby Fox, who crafted every last detail down to the game’s cohesive soundtrack.

Stardew Valley

Much like Undertale, Stardew Valley was single-handedly developed by one man. And Eric Barone delivered an all-around perfect farming sim meets RPG. Inspired by series like Harvest Moon, Stardew Valley elevates the formula to give players even more content to indulge in. Leaving their empty office job, the player character is given free rein to rejuvenate the old farm plot of their late grandfather in rural Pelican Town.

Of course, harvesting crops and caring for animals are on the agenda. But this casual game boasts an array of activities across a wide map to explore, from foraging to fishing and making friends with townsfolk. Several side missions, and even quite a few Easter eggs and hidden minigames, also spice up the experience. Yet if you’ve already spent hours improving your farm, there’s good news in the air as Eric Barone is working on a new vibey indie gem titled Haunted Chocolatier.

Hades

An intoxicating roguelike dungeon crawler, Hades is one of the most intense RPGs of the past years. Developed by Supergiant Games, this hack-and-slash adventure embarks players across Tartarus alongside Prince Zagreus. Son of Hades, Zagreus tries to elude his father to escape the underworld and join his mother. But every failure means starting back from the beginning. Although notoriously difficult to beat, thus, Hades is still tons of fun.

This mythology-infused title full of glorious heroes and deities also plays straight to the love for ancient Greece in the gaming medium. From God of War to Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Spartan: Total Warrior, the Greek pantheon has been a consistent source of inspiration. Even machine slots have drawn on famed Olympians. On platforms like VegasSlotsOnline, gamblers may find pokies like Amaya’s Battle for Olympus and Toptrend Gaming’s Zeus vs Hades. Many more mythology-themed slots are just a click away for free. But gamers up for a bigger prize can always switch to real money progressive jackpot games. And all slots are mobile-friendly for players to give them a shot on the go.

Disco Elysium

A critically-acclaimed indie hit, Disco Elysium has achieved a staggering Metascore of 97 on Metacritic. This game published by ZA/UM is not your standard action RPG, though. Mingling elements of role-playing and murder mystery storytelling, this text-heavy entry features no combat per se. Instead, players must navigate a clever system of dialogue trees and skill checks to dig out the truth.

In this finely crafted role-playing drama, the player character is assigned with investigating the apparent lynching of an unidentified hanged victim. But as he wakes up dizzy from a hangover, this jaded detective also suffers from memory loss on top of a drinking problem. Fighting out his inner demons, the amnesiac protagonist must still get to the bottom of this mysterious criminal case. The choices the player makes all but affect how the story plays out, adding as many stakes as twists to this battle of wits. And with gorgeous oil painting art aesthetics and an eerie soundtrack to boot, Disco Elysium makes for an unforgettable gaming experience.