RPGs are the perfect game for escapism. It is in their very nature to allow you to live out a brand-new life. Sometimes it’s a fantastical world of monsters and magic, in others, it’s a distant time or planet out among the stars. Each of these worlds is bound together by something. Rules.
Every game has rules, but few make them as core to the mechanics as RPGs do. The statistics you equip yourself with act as the rules that bind you to the world and guide you on your journey. Most of the time, you know what to expect with places for strength, endurance, and intelligence. But some games switch things up to add new rules that can spice up the experience.
8Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire
Get Ready For The Show
ThePokemongames are an interesting case in that it’s not your own character that takes center stage. Instead, it’s your companions, the iconic Pokemon, who make up your party. Over the many entries in this series, these pocket monsters have come in all shapes and sizes, which means GameFreak had to come up with more ways to ensure each one was distinguished from one another.
Along with their primary combat statistics like speed and power, Pokemon have some other more niche stats. Debuting in Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire, Pokemon Contests are not the battles you’re accustomed to. Instead, yourPokemon are measured by how cute or cool they look. An odd change of pace, but for the more aesthetically minded, it’s always nice to be appreciated for style.
7Cyberpunk 2077
Coolest In All Of Night City
Cyberpunk 2077has you building V to Night City’s baddest mercenary via whatever means you deem best. You could be a sharpshooter capable of quick drawing any gonk dumb enough to try them. Or you could be a netrunner, playing around with your enemy’s systems like it was your toy. These abilities are governed by a standard spread of statistics and perks that are gathered throughout the game.
Except for one that stands out from the rest. Coolness. Not something that is often measured, the coolness statistic is as it sounds. It affects how V handles pressure, both in combat and out. During fights, it allows you to use stealth and poison to your advantage, striking at your enemy’s weak points. In conversation, it keeps V from being intimidated and helps them to assert themselves in shaky situations.
6Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines
Many Shades Of Darkness
Vampire The Masqueradestarted life as atabletop RPG before it made its big splash in gaming. These roots ensured that Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines offers a lot of agency when it comes to how you design and play your vampire. Your clan is your biggest choice, affecting what skills you’ll be using and the playstyle you’ll have to adapt. But even the minor disciplines have some unusual elements worthy of consideration.
There is of course, variables like intelligence and charisma, but these run deeper than in most games. Charisma only affects how well you speak, while your beauty holds sway of how easy or hard it can be to even start the conversation. As for intelligence, you’ll have to pick some schools of thought to be an expert in as being a financial wizard and a computer genius are very different skill sets.
5Bloodborne
Just A Touch Of Madness
FromSoftwarehas produced some of the greatest RPGs of all time. Outside of its fantasy titles likeElden RingandDark Souls, its other titles have taken inspiration from a variety of sources. WhileSekiroopted for Japanese myth,Bloodbornecentered its themes around Lovecraft.
A bold move that paid off through stellar world design and memorable enemies, as well as the general aesthetic of the game. This carried over into the character creation, which is equipped was some odd inclusions. Perhaps the most bizarre of the bunch is Bloodtinge, which affects how potent your blood is when it comes to dealing damage. Another interesting inclusion that builds up organically throughout the campaign is Insight, which represents your understanding of the unknown and allows you to see things the more sane can’t.
4Yakuza: Like A Dragon
Be The Best You Possible
Yakuza: Like A Dragonloves to have fun with traditional JRPG tropes. It gets rid of the normally fantastical plots and schools of light and dark magic in favor of something more contemporary,even if it can get silly. What replaces it is a gritty Japanese crime story centered around a group of 40-somethings who are pulled into a plot that can shake up the entire criminal underworld.
These radical changes to the formula carry over to the gameplay mechanics as well. Aside from just having your normal stats to govern attack power and dodge chance, you also have your personality to worry about. For instance, some encounters won’t start if you’re not stylish enough to earn the attention of the NPC. But that’s not all, as these personality stats like charisma and compassion factor into your skills too, measuring how effective they are.
3Darkest Dungeon
Try Not To Lose Yourself In The Dark
Lovecraft’s influence on gamescan be seen in a lot of ways. Slow-creeping horror, monsters that reach into the heavens, and most notably of all, madness that seeps into the mind. The kind that obscures what’s real and what’s fake, which adds a new kind of challenge into the mixture.Darkest Dungeonputs its spin on these ideas.
Each character has a set of core stats tied to their class, but one they all share is a vulnerability in their sanity. Stress in Darkest Dungeon is about more than just what kind of equipment and trinkets you should use. Stress can turn your allies against you if not maintained, resulting in debilitating defects and, in the worst cases, death.
2Disco Elysium
Broken In More Ways Than One
Disco Elysiumis not the typical RPG experience. The game handles things differently from its contemporaries, in areas of plot, setting, and even character building. In many ways, the main character is a box of broken parts before you even get your hands on him. As the story continues you feel less like you’ve crafted a champion and more that you’re picking up the pieces.
Even placing the points themselves is a unique experience thanks to the areas you can invest in. There are four groups based on intelligence, psyche, physique, and motorics. Each of these is then subdivided which is where the true strangeness arrives in skills like your pain threshold, inland empire, and the shivers.
1Sunless Sea
Master Of Your Fate And Captain Of Your Vessel
Sunless Sea takes you to a flooded, underground world where captains explore these troubled waters. Dangerous creatures lie beneath the surface, strange beings inhabit the lands, and, all the while, you’re just trying to keep yourself from going mad and making money while you’re doing it. For those who enjoy freedom in their RPGs, the dark waters off Sunless Sea have that in droves.
Nearly the entire game is spent behind the wheel of your vessel, and so your stats are designed around that, weird as they may seem. For instance, your speed and handling of the ship are called Veils, while your understanding of the odd world you inhabit is Pages.
