The holidays are here, and a lot of people are thinking about what gifts to buy for gamers in their lives. Fortunately, the GameTyrant gift guides are here to give you a quick selection of the very best of this year. RPGs are a pretty diverse genre, but they rely on one thing to appeal. Each gives you a chance to get lost in a whole different world. There have been so many new and exciting worlds realized this year. From sci-fi to fantasy, grim to funny, if you want a gift of a great setting and story, this is the place to start looking

Pokemon Legends Arceus

The Pokemon series is a behemoth in the gaming world, though it’s not exactly known for its innovation. For that reason, players were pleasantly surprised upon seeing some of the gameplay from Pokemon Legends Arceus. The game is set many years prior to the mainline series and places you in the far more open and dangerous lands of Hisui. In this place, pokemon are wilder and more untamed than any you’ve run into before, so are a potential threat to you as well as your own monsters.

Type: Monster-Catching RPG

Our Review: 7/10 - Read Here

Pokemon Legends: Arceus is available now for the Nintendo Switch, via the Nintendo Eshop.

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands was released as an RPG-themed spinoff of the Borderlands series. Playing any of the mainline games isn’t required to enjoy though, as the game takes place inside the world of an in-universe tabletop RPG. While it’s definitely more of an RPG than Borderlands, it still leans heavily into action, and won’t leave you bored. It also comes with the trademark anarchic humour of the series. Don’t expect Wonderlands to take itself too seriously.

Type: Shooter/RPG

Our Review: 9/10 - Read Here

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is available for Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC via Steam.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3

The latest in the Xenoblade Chronicles series was released this year and showed gamers what the Nintendo Switch was truly capable of in terms of a huge and gorgeous-looking world. Set in the land of Aionios, you are thrown into a seemingly unending war between two powerful nations. The conflict is fought by soldiers, who live out their artificial ten-year lifespan engaging in battle with their enemies and trying to fuel the cores of huge fighting constructs called Ferronis. The game itself brings action-based combat, an expansive land to explore, and a massive predicted 150-hour run time. You can expect to play this one for a while.

Type: Action-based JRPG

Our Review: 8.5/10 - Read Here

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is available now for the Nintendo Switch, and can be downloaded via the Nintendo Eshop.

Tunic

A tale of a little fox and his journeys, Tunic was one of the surprise indie hits of the year. With much of the work being completed by a single developer, this only makes it more impressive. Tunic takes notes from the early Zelda series, and maybe a bit of Dark Souls, but manages to be very much its own thing.

Tunic tells its story fairly subtly. What might look on the surface like just a cute animal game brings with it a surprising amount of depth. You are encouraged to look deeper to discover the truth, and maybe find the ending you deserve.

Type: Zelda-like RPG

Our Review: 10/10 - Read Here

Tunic is available now for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam.

Rune Factory 5

The latest in a long-running series, Rune Factory 5 gives you the chance to experience the more laid-back side of life in a fantasy world. As part of a peacekeeping organisation called SEED, you are charged with trying to keep a small village safe from rampaging monsters. Unlike most games of its kind, that doesn’t necessarily mean killing them. In fact, the monsters might help you out in your other activities. When you're not fighting, you'll be farming, or involving yourself in different aspects of village life. You can even find a potential bride or groom in the community.

Type: Simulation/Action RPG

Metacritic Score: 74/100

Rune Factory 5 is available now for Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam.

Potion Permit

A simulation RPG that might remind you of Harvest Moon or Stardew Valley, but manages to make itself unique and distinct. Potion Permit puts you in the shoes of a young chemist, moving to a remote town that are a little mistrustful of your fancy academic ways. To prove your worth, you’ll need to rebuild your dilapidated workshop, help the locals when they’re unwell, and get closer to the residents. The potion-making system is simple to pick up but deceptively clever, and the game doesn’t shy away from making its characters quirky and interesting.

Type: Simulation RPG

Our Review: 9/10 - Read Here

Potion Permit is available now for Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam.

Persona 5 Royal

An enhanced version of the JRPG masterpiece made its debut this year, and the new edition is a considerable chunk of new content to get into. Persona 5 follows the adventures of the Phantom Thieves, who are able to enter the inner psyches of others in order to steal corruption from their hearts. In this work, they stumble upon a far greater conspiracy to influence the people of Tokyo, and turn public opinion back on them. You can expect things the series is famous for, turn-based combat, balancing school life with battling monsters, and some incredibly stylish art direction.

Type: JPRG, Turn-Based

Our Review: 9.5/10 - Read Here

Persona 5 Royal is out now for Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam.

Citizen Sleeper

Inspired by TTRPGs like the original Cyberpunk, the breakout indie hit Citizen Sleeper gives you great writing and a concept to get lost in. You take the role of a Sleeper, a human consciousness converted to data and placed in an artificial body. Your body is designed to die in a short time, and you want to escape it. You have found yourself on Erlin's Eye, a ramshackle space station that exists as one of the rare places outside of corporate control. The station is chaotic and potentially dangerous, so befriending a few of the locals is crucial. Citizen Sleeper's mechanics are a breath of fresh air, using dice rolls and 'drives' as a means to determine the path forward. You pursue things that you think would matter to your character, rather than engaging in busy work.

Type: TTRPG-based.
Metacritic Score: 82/100

Citizen Sleeper is available now for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, MacOS and PC via Steam.

Horizon: Forbidden West

Second in the Horizon series, this sci-fi ARPG gives players a huge world to explore, populated by towering robot animals. You take the role of Aloy, a member of a society much closer to early humanity after a robotic apocalypse wiped out most of civilization. In her journey to try and recover the AI, GAIA that is supposed to maintain life on the ruined earth, Aloy discovers that the advanced humanity of the past might not be completely gone. Forbidden West picks up from where the last left off and offers a truly unique and interesting world that mixes high and low tech.

Type: ARPG

Our Review: 9.5/10 - Read Here

Horizon: Forbidden West is available now for Playstation 4 and Playstation 5.

Elden Ring

The list wouldn’t be complete without it. Elden Ring released early this year, is a culmination of From Software’s fantasy RPG skills poured into a huge open world. You are one of the Tarnished, sent to seek the absent Queen Marika and reforge the Elden Ring. This takes you to the beautiful and desolate Lands Between to face some of the greatest figures of its history. Elden Ring takes everything From Software is good at, environmental storytelling, thoughtful level design, and extremely satisfying combat, and ramps it up with greater ambition than before. It more than deserves the hype surrounding it.

Type: ARPG

Our Review: 9.5/10 - Read Here

Elden Ring is available now for Playstation 5, Playstation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC via Steam.

Honourable Mentions: Coming Soon!

We’re not quite at the end of the year yet, and with December and the beginning of 2023 there are a bunch of promising titles to keep an eye on in the coming months.