Between Diablo, Fallout, and Baldur’s Gate, the ‘90s might be regarded as the golden age for RPGs on PC. But if you jump a few years ahead, beyond the millennium and into the early ‘00s, there are some serious classics, enough to maybe steal the title as the genre’s best decade. Elder Scrolls Morrowind. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic. Deus Ex. Gothic. King’s Field IV. Taking inspiration from all these hits and more, an upcoming RPG with a retro aesthetic has accumulated near-flawless Steam user reviews, and now it’s departing early access for its full 1.0 release.
Dread Delusion is a gorgeous, vibrant, fever dream of an RPG game, a beautiful collision of visual references that somehow emerges with its own distinctive style. Monster and character models feel like they’ve come from Morrowind, but the colorful, almost surrealistic environments evoke the original version of World of Warcraft’s Azeroth, or more obscure influences like Atlus’ Despiria. It’s terrific to look at – every frame is an eye-catching, loving homage to a bygone era in videogame graphics – but Dread Delusion also boasts a substantive role-playing adventure.
The world of Dread Delusion is entirely handcrafted, and occupied by hundreds of different creatures, enemies, factions, and NPCs. You can choose between conventional sword-and-shield combat, spellcasting, or a mixture of both, but like the best immersive sims, you can also overcome problems without any violence at all.
Build your charisma or improve your lockpicking, and Dread Delusion presents dozens of alternate paths and solutions. Equipment can be upgraded. There are dozens of towns to explore. In short, Dread Delusion does for the classic RPG what Dusk does for the boomer shooter. The spirit and style of the era is captured perfectly, but combined with mission and game design that feels more modern.
Based on Steam user reviews from the past 30 days, Dread Delusion has a perfect score of 100%. Over its lifetime, it’s earned similar praise – 92% of all Dread Delusion player reviews are positive. First launched in early access back in 2022, the full Dread Delusion 1.0 release date is now confirmed for Tuesday May 14. If you want to try it now, or wishlist it for launch day, just head here.
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