There was a time when the role playing game (or RPG) dominated the gaming consciousness. That was years ago now though, and the genre has fallen into a relative obscurity that is only brightened by a few western RPGs from Bioware and Bethesda. All hope is not lost for the RPG gamer though, with next year holding a veritable treasure drove of RPG titles. Read on for ten things to look forward to in 2012.
Paper Mario 3DS
Paper Mario is one of the most creative, but sadly overlooked, extensions of the Mario franchise to date. You may be happy with your Mario Tennis and Golf for the time being, but the moustachioed plumber was destined for RPG greatness since the Legend of the Seven Stars released on SNES back in 1996 and, despite the disappointingly action orientated Super Paper Mario on Wii, Mario is finally returning to the world of turn based battles on the 3DS next year. If you’ve never played a Paper Mario game before, now is your time to start looking forward to it.
Mass Effect 3
Mass Effect 2 is generally regarded as the greatest RPG of this current generation, so it’s no surprise that the upcoming sequel is going to be hot news for 2012. Carrying on from where the last one left off, Bioware have promised fans an epic conclusion to the trilogy that will no doubt have returning players lining up in their droves on release day.
Persona 4: The Golden
Persona 4 may have been released on last generation’s hardware, but it is still one of the best RPGs released in the past decade. The upcoming enhanced remake for PS Vita will see new network functionality and a host of additional personas, characters and monsters. These reasons alone should get you psyched to play through such a great RPG again, and the fact that it’s on Vita means that Sony’s new handheld is guaranteed a killer app.
