When it comes to gaming, I’ve found myself enjoying action RPGs, more specifically, Soulslike titles, for the past several years, from Demon’s Souls to Dark Souls, Elden Ring, Nioh, and countless others. This means that I’m constantly looking for new action RPGs to play, and so far, it looks as if 2023 is going to have a handful of them being released for the current generation of consoles and PC.
Below are several titles that will be released this year, and if you’re a fan of Soulslike games, you’ll want to keep an eye on these upcoming titles.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is the follow-up to 2019’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, with features a much older Cal Kestis, who is still on the run from the Galactic Empire, who is still attempting to hunt him down. Taking five years after the first game, Respawn Entertainment has added more lore and action that should make Stars Wars and action RPG fans very happy. Not to mention more customization, an epic story, and more worlds to explore. And hopefully, it won’t have as many bugs as Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order had.
Honestly, I was already sold on this as soon as it was announced. I loved Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (except for the bugs), and after the credits rolled on it, I was harassing Respawn for the follow-up. Given everything I’ve seen and heard about Survivor, I’m ready to sit down for a 20+ hour adventure, with a lightsaber in hand.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor releases on April 28, 2023, for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn
Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is an upcoming action RPG that puts players in control of Nor Vanek, a coalition member tasked with saving humanity from extinction by battling against the old Gods. The game is played from a third-person perspective, and players can use a combination of flintlock firearms and melee weapons to fight enemies. Okay, that’s the boring stuff; let’s talk about the cool stuff.
This game looks to be the lovechild of Devil May Cry, Elden Ring, and… Mega Man. Combat is fast and features a combo style system – the more stylish you fight, the better your score, which will double as currency. The game features an open world that beckons players to explore it and will include optional dungeons and secret areas. When you defeat bosses, you’ll acquire their powers and add them to your own, hence the Mega Man bit. It looks juicy and exciting. Did I mention you’ll have a companion who looks even cuter than a fox? But can we pet it?
The downside to all this is that there hasn’t been information on Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn in over six months, as the developer A44 Games, the same team behind Ashen, has quiet on the game. The last time I saw anything on the game was in September 2022. This is troublesome as the game is supposed to be released in early 2023, and here we are in April 2023.
Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn has a release window of early 2023 for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Xbox Game Pass.
Lies of P
Lies of P is a Soulslike title set in a dark Belle Époque world and one that I’ve been following ever since it was announced, and I’m looking forward to it. What’s interesting about Lies of P is that this is inspired by Pinocchio Yep, that very same one, with the boy whose nose would grow longer if he told a lie. The game also reminds me of several other titles, including Bloodborne, Bioshock, and Devil May Cry. I imagine that the developers were big fans of Bloodborne and got tired of waiting for it to hit the PC, so they made their own. The main character’s primary goal is to somehow become human, and he sports a prosthetic left arm, just like in Sekiro, and can utilize it in both an offensive and defensive manner.
As the name suggests, Lies of P includes a system called the “Lying System,” where the player’s decisions will affect the course of the game events, leading to multiple endings. That said, I am a bit worried about the game as it runs on Unreal Engine 4, and shader complication issues that we’ve seen in several games have encountered the dreaded compilation stutter on PC. Hopefully, that won’t be an issue with Lies of P.
Lies of P releases in August 2023 for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
The Lords of the Fallen
While the original Lords of the Fallen was perhaps the first actual Soulslike title, I wasn’t a fan of it. Released in 2014, the game was a carbon copy of the Dark Souls games. The team at Deck 13 didn’t try to hide how much of the game was pulled from the Fromsoftware titles without everything that made those games great. Now Lords of the Fallen is back, but not as the promised sequel from eight years ago, but instead as a rebooted title called The Lords of the Fallen, with Hexworks as the new developer of the title, as we found out during Gamescom 2022. What to expect? Well, outside of several trailers, I still don’t know. What we do know is the developer has indicated that the reboot will be a much better experience than the original game, with better combat and a magic system. But I’m also wondering about the dark fantasy world and how it will all come together.
At the time of this piece, we’ve yet to see any actual gameplay, even though a “gameplay teaser” was released that did nothing to show any sorry of gameplay. Despite being a fan of the Soulslike genre and gluten for punishment, I’m looking to see how The Lords of the Fallen turns out.
The Lords of the Fallen has no release date but will be available for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
I’m sure there will likely be more action RPG/Soulslike games that will launch this year, but these are the ones I’m looking forward to. Are there any here that you’re looking forward to playing? Let me know in the comments!
