Choices and consequences are all but synonymous with the RPG genre, and countless fans are drawn to it precisely for that. From the ability to create and role-play as a unique character to meaningful decisions that can largely impact numerous characters, the plot direction, or even entire game worlds — RPGs are home to epic yet deeply personal adventures that players hold dear. Discussing every major turn that can play out differently and one’s reasoning behind such choices is a special kind of pleasure, too.
Big Upcoming RPGs That Focus On Player Choices
Freedom to make impactful choices with far-reaching consequences lies at the heart of these upcoming RPGs.
We are long past the golden age of RPGs, with numerous yet typically shallow RPGs dominating the landscape nowadays, so every game that stays true to branching narratives and lets players live with the consequences is especially precious. Just look at Baldur’s Gate 3 and how widely popular the game has become — undoubtedly, in large part thanks to Larian’s dedication to the core RPG pillars. It could be a while until RPG fans get another game of similar caliber, but the future still seems bright. Below are the upcoming RPGs that promise far-reaching consequences and allow players to build their personal stories through choices, decisions, and even mistakes.
Clockwork Revolution
Explore the True Butterfly Effect
RPGs with a time-travel focus are a perfect fit for exploring far-reaching consequences, as players can take convenient shortcuts enabled by the core theme to see almost instantly whether they made the right choices. Clockwork Revolution, with its rich steampunk setting and explorable metropolis, is shaping up to deliver exactly that: a time-bending adventure where choices ripple through different eras.
Made by genre veterans InXile Entertainment, Clockwork Revolution is all about altering key events to reshape history in pursuit of a perfect future. As the devs have stated, they are most interested in exploring a true butterfly effect through player actions, where even seemingly minor decisions can lead to dramatic changes and profound consequences for the city and its inhabitants. Now, if only we knew how flexible the time-travel mechanics truly are, and whether it’s possible to revisit an initial choice if its results prove too discouraging to live with.
Exodus
Experience the Flow of Time on a Cosmic Scale
Archetype Entertainment’s Exodus has been on every sci-fi RPG fan’s radar for years and is finally entering its final stretch before launch. By emphasizing the passage of time on a truly cosmic scale, Exodus aims to evoke that mind-bending feeling of returning to once-visited planets decades later, akin to Interstellar (they even specifically hired Matthew McConaughey), witnessing their growth or downfall, and encountering familiar characters now aged by the relentless march of years.
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While it remains to be seen how such an ambitious concept will play out in practice, Exodus appears to be defined by choices and consequences on an unprecedented scale, letting players witness the long-term impact of their actions across distant worlds. With its grand ambition, rich lore, believable universe, and the irresistible allure of once again standing at the helm of a spaceship backed by a loyal crew, Exodus simply can’t arrive soon enough.
Zero Parades: For Dead Spies
High-Stakes Espionage World of Constant Pressure
The next RPG from the Disco Elysium studio is enough to instantly excite many RPG fans, even though its original developers and writers, including Robert Kurvitz, Aleksander Rostov, and Helen Hindpere, have left ZA/UM. Nevertheless, Zero Parades: For Dead Spies undoubtedly intrigues, taking the same unmistakable visual design and deep RPG mechanics to build an ambitious espionage narrative with a psychological flavor that’s extremely rare nowadays.
With its vast, explorable city full of conspiracies and a three-way power struggle, unusual characters, complex themes and quests, and a pinch of dice-rolling mechanics, Zero Parades all but implies that players will fail far more often than they succeed. Add to that a deeply tormented operative, Hershel Wilk, haunted by her past failures, as the protagonist, and you’ve got a recipe for a potential hit RPG unlike any other. The creators highlight that choices in Zero Parades: For Dead Spies affect absolutely everything — not just allies’ loyalty, but also the state of Hershel’s mind. The main question is: can players handle the constant pressure and control consequences they do not choose?
The Witcher 4
An Ambitious RPG Trilogy Is Upon Us
Coming from the RPG masters at CD Projekt Red, who made their name on branching stories defined by choices and consequences, The Witcher 4 could be the next bold step in this direction. Making Ciri the playable protagonist for the first time grants storytellers more freedom than ever, as they’re now even less bound by the books and can take the narrative into exciting new territory while creating their own original characters to surround her with.
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Not only that, but CDPR has already revealed its ambitious goal of quickly producing new entries for the next Witcher trilogy, meaning players can expect subsequent chapters to launch relatively quickly on the same technical foundation. This probably means key choices and consequences can carry over between titles for an even more personal journey built on moral dilemmas and impactful decisions. The only downside is that players still haven’t seen the real game — everything shown so far comes from a tech demo, and The Witcher 4 won’t be out until at least 2027.
Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy
Tyranny Fans, Your Prayers Have Been Heard
The already acclaimed Warhammer 40k: Rogue Trader was just a first step for Owlcat Games, who now aim to push things further with the upcoming Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy. Seemingly mirroring the spectacular evolution of the Pathfinder RPGs, Dark Heresy is poised to embrace player choices and consequences even more, building on the rich potential of its iconic universe that the studio has admirably brought to life.
In Dark Heresy, players take on the role of an acolyte of the Inquisition tasked with grand investigations to uncover hidden conspiracies. This premise already sounds intriguing, bringing the game close to Obsidian’s Tyranny territory, known for its unique narrative built around far-reaching consequences that alter the entire world. The Dark Heresy developers promise impactful decisions in a world where true justice is nonexistent, as players explore the Inquisition and all its inner conflicts on a grand scale, deciding how far they’re willing to go in their quest to be a conduit of the God-Emperor’s will.
Gothic 1 Remake
A Compact World Where Every Decision Carries Weight
The faithful recreation of the iconic RPG classic with modern technology, Gothic 1 Remake promises to deliver everything that made the original game by Piranha Bytes so special for millions of fans. Thanks to its compact world and just a handful of NPCs, Gothic has managed to achieve the feeling of a living world with believable ecosystems, where each character and choice carries weight.
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But it’s not just a smaller world with higher density that works in Gothic’s favor. It also grants players admirable freedom, letting them decide which major faction to join in the Valley of Mines —the Old Camp, New Camp, or Swamp Camp — essentially packing three major ways to experience the game’s story. Let’s hope Gothic 1 Remake stays true to its rich legacy while enriching and modernizing the iconic experience in all the right spots.
The Blood of Dawnwalker
Players Are Invited to Construct Their Own Story
Many RPG fans have already been keeping a close eye on The Blood of Dawnwalker, which promises to be a real breath of fresh air. From what we’ve learned so far, The Blood of Dawnwalker won’t even feature traditional main-story quests like other RPGs. Instead, players can rush to their final goal right from the start or take their time preparing to grow stronger, tackling a limited number of equally important side stories before their time runs out.
Due to the game’s unique narrative structure, each completed quest advances the clock, forcing players to choose which objectives to pursue, as they simply won’t be able to help everyone. If done well, this feature alone can make The Blood of Dawnwalker a highly replayable role-playing experience, constantly reminding players of the highly dynamic world around them and the harsh consequences of their choices.
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