If you’re looking for a new RPG in the vein of beloved classics like Baldur’s Gate 3 and Morrowind, but with some distinctly modern ideas, the newly released Archaelund is for you. Out now in Steam Early Access, you explore the fantasy world in first-person, only to then fight your turn-based battles in a top-down perspective. Oh, and it’s also almost entirely developed by one person.
You can tell just by looking at it that Archaelund is heavily inspired by old-school RPGs – the world, UI, NPCs, and even the way you move have this classic tinge to them that’s hard to place but instantly recognizable.
What brings Archaelund forward though is its use of a dual perspective. You’ll explore as you would in games like Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim before the camera seamlessly pans to a grid-based combat system with a top-down perspective for combat, giving some serious Baldur’s Gate vibes.
From 4 Dimension Games’ solo developer David Ballestrino – who handled the programming, writing, and game design while working with fellow artists – you can explore the world of Archaerlund as you see fit, leveling up and completing quests while talking to interesting NPCs.
Throughout early access, we’ll be getting improved battles, more dungeons to explore, more complex NPC behavior, a new companion, better inventory and combat AI, chapter two of the main quest, new vast areas, and a whole lot more. Think of it similarly to how Larian released Act 1 of Baldur’s Gate 3 into early access and added a series of new features, quests, and ideas back into the start of the game with the full launch.
You can also play as a Minotaur, which shot Archaelund right to the top of my list in the middle of writing this article. You’ll find Archaelund over on Steam right now, with version 1.0 planned for sometime in 2026.
If Archaelund has you thinking about what’s next from the genre, we’ve got everything you need to know about the Elder Scrolls 6 release date, alongside some great fantasy games to try too.
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