Inside of me there are two wolves. One wears sunglasses and wants to cruise around a virtual Miami all summer long. The other wears regular glasses, all the better to see character stats and dialogue options with. One wolf smokes Cuban cigars. The other smokes a pipe. One wolf wears a Hawaiian shirt
The other wears a shirt with a wolf on it (no relation).
In short, I have an insatiable desire for the crunchy RPG gameplay you can only get in a game likeBaldur’s Gate 3. But it is matched by an irrepressible need to feel the wind in my digital hair as I drive through a real-world city that only the likes ofGrand Theft Auto 6can deliver.
Or, y’know,close enoughto a real-world city.
Turns Out The R In ‘RPG’ Stands For Real-World
There aren’t many games that try to deliver both experiences. If I want RPG crunch in a real-ish setting, my options are limited.Cyberpunk 2077is close, and often feels less futuristic than you might expect going in. But as much as I enjoy aspects of that game, it doesn’t really deliver on the RPG elements I love inBaldur’s Gate 3.
You can’t make your own unique character; you can only shape aspects of the one you’re given.
It also doesn’t deliver on the stuff that makes GTA cool. Rockstar’s famed series captures the feeling of driving around in a big, cool city, but it’s never had robust systems in place to support the feeling that you were in a real, inhabited place. NPCs are clueless and buildings are locked-up art assets. you may’t really feel like a criminal mastermind, either. Cops and civilians alike felt like an afterthought in the game at launch and during my last playthrough uponPhantom Liberty’s release in 2023.
It’s possible it’s better now, but I shouldn’t need to play the game a third time, five years after launch to see that.
We just don’t have enough RPGs set in the real-world in all its big, beautiful, grimy glory. Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has been trying to singlehandedly change this in recent years, shifting theYakuzaseries away from the brawler gameplay that defined it toward turn-based combat with Yakuza: Like a Dragon and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.
Unfortunately, I have roughly a dozen LaD games to play before I’m legally allowed to try those ones, so I don’t get to benefit from this.
And The P Is For Present
RPGs set in our present are rare.Earthboundwas beloved, in part, because it was set in a version of the United States, rather than a fantasy world.South Park: The Stick of Truthtook players to an interactive version of the titular, fictional Colorado town.Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlinesis set in four Los Angeles neighborhoods. ThePersonagames are set in the real world, too, and theFalloutsare set in post-apocalyptic versions of real-world cities.
But there’s nothing with quite the same vibe as GTA — especially the beachy Vice City or expansive, diverseSan Andreas. These games take players to sun-drenched real-world cities, and emphasize realistic NPC behavior, traffic patterns, and cop responses to make you feel like a criminal having the time of their life.
While The G Is For… Games?
Imagine how good a game could be if it merged that setting with the opportunity to choose who, exactly, your criminal was. Imagine the ability to plan a heist your wayandexert equal control over your choices in conversation, to choose your class and the color of your classic Corvette. Imagine working out on the beach then engaging in turn-based tactical combat with those musclebound men who lift weights on Venice Beach.
The possibilities are endless.
Please, some developer, let me bring peace to my wolves. They have an overwhelming need to do crimes and live life with as much endless potential as the world of Baulder’s Gate has to offer.
