2025 was an extraordinary year for RPG video games. An indie studio from France came out of nowhere and swept every major Game of the Year award. Obsidian returned. Capcom hit its peak. Here is what to play right now and what to watch in 2026.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 — The Game of the Year
Nothing in 2025 came close. Sandfall Interactive, a French studio, released Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and the gaming world stopped to pay attention. The premise: a mysterious figure called the Paintress paints a number at the start of each year, and everyone who has reached that age dies. You play as the 33rd Expedition, sent to stop her before she paints 32.
The combat is turn-based with real-time parry mechanics — described as Persona meets Sekiro — and it delivers on that description. The art direction is French belle époque crossed with dark surrealism. The storytelling punches well above the studio’s weight class. It won Ultimate Game of the Year at the Golden Joystick Awards, dominated the DICE nominations, and topped year-end lists at IGN, GameSpot, Game Informer, GamesRadar, Time, and Rolling Stone. It sold over 5 million units by October. An indie game. This is what happens when a smaller studio has something genuinely original to say.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 — RPG of the Year Runner-Up
Not fantasy — but an extraordinary RPG. Set in 15th-century Bohemia with a level of historical authenticity that borders on obsessive. The quest design is among the best in any RPG released in years: consequences cascade across the game world based on your decisions in ways that feel organic rather than scripted. If you want a game that trusts you to navigate moral complexity without a waypoint marker telling you what to do, this is it.
Avowed — Obsidian Returns to Fantasy
Set in the Pillars of Eternity universe, Obsidian’s Avowed puts you in the role of an envoy investigating a plague spreading across the Living Lands. The combat blends melee and spellcasting in a first-person format. The writing is characteristically strong — Obsidian’s team knows how to build morally interesting factions. Not a game-of-the-year contender in a year with Clair Obscur, but a solid, mature fantasy RPG from one of the genre’s most reliable studios.
Monster Hunter Wilds — Action RPG at Its Peak
Capcom’s Monster Hunter series at its most polished and accessible. The action RPG loop — hunt monsters, harvest parts, craft better gear, hunt bigger monsters — has never felt this smooth. The environmental storytelling around the game’s ecosystem is genuinely impressive. If you have never played Monster Hunter, Wilds is the best possible entry point.
Standout Indie RPGs of 2025
Look Outside deserves mention: a survival horror RPG set inside an apartment building after an event makes it literally impossible to look outside. Claustrophobic, creepy, and deeply atmospheric. For fans of GoblinScape’s dark fantasy aesthetic, this one will land.
What to Watch in 2026
- Fable — The long-awaited reboot. High anticipation, no confirmed release window. Could be the year’s biggest RPG if it delivers.
- The Blood of Dawnwalker — Dark fantasy action RPG. One to watch closely.
- Crimson Desert — Open world fantasy RPG from Pearl Abyss with substantial production values.
- Deltarune Chapter 5 — Toby Fox’s beloved RPG series, expected late 2026.
The Takeaway
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 proved that the most important RPG of 2025 did not come from a major publisher. The indie RPG space is producing work that AAA studios cannot match on storytelling and vision. Play it if you have not. Then come back for the 2026 list.