10 RPGs With Unique Gameplay Mechanics

When you accumulate hundreds of games in your experience, there comes a point where you start craving completely anomalous works, capable of proving not everything in this world has been invented.

After so many decades dedicated to the industry, and even though I still have hundreds of classics left to enjoy, there comes a point where said desire becomes permanent, and you're invariably on the lookout for what magnificent oddity might appear before you.

I, however, seek them out directly, always hoping to participate in a different adventure, even if only in a small way, to partake in new sensations and continue rediscovering the passion I love most.

Therefore, if you're like me and enjoy delving into universes that have their own exceptional characteristics to offer, I invite you to discover the protagonists of this list of ten RPGs with unique gameplay mechanics.

10 The Falconeer

The Role of a Falcon Tamer

That I've always been a fan of role-playing games and never of flight simulation titles are truths that coexist in my life as a player, though both gave way at a certain point in history so I could appreciate The Falconeer.

With the progression and customization structure typical of an RPG, but with the combat and movement mechanics usual of games featuring aircraft, this campaign puts you in the shoes of a tamer of giant falcons upon which the entire journey is built.

Violent conflicts, exploration, and narrative unfold on the backs of these majestic beasts, which you can customize to your liking to make the arduous process of taming them more manageable—a necessary task considering the story revolves around factional conflicts and limited resources.

It's not a life-changing game, but The Falconeer remains an RPG unlike any other in its genre, and I think it's quite an achievement given that, ultimately, it's still very enjoyable.

9 SpellForce III

Between Hero and Strategist

As the third installment in a series whose core principle is combining role-playing mechanics with real-time strategy, SpellForce 3 was a video game that, quite simply, blew me away from the first touch.

During my initial venture, having entered the game without sufficiently researching its concept, I thought it would be a classic isometric, party-based experience, so the surprise when I had to start gathering resources to build a fort was immense.

SpellForce 3 sacrifices being exceptionally outstanding in either genre to be highly competent in both, creating a symbiosis that works wonderfully and, to my surprise, doesn't bore you even at the end of the campaign.

I relished it so much that I decided to play the entire series, and although I still question whether it's truly better than the original, the truth is that SpellForce 3 is the one I unequivocally recommend for how close it comes to an unbreakable balance.

8 Another Crab’s Treasure

Reinterpreting Parries

Another Crab's Treasure takes the oft-used mechanic of parrying and gives it a twist I can't help but describe as a marvel of creativity that truly underpins much of the game.

First, instead of parrying by pressing a button, it's triggered by releasing the button at that specific moment, which in itself significantly alters how we experience its use.

Nevertheless, what truly elevates it is the fact that the parry originates from the protagonist's own armor—his shell—which you can modify to vary the abilities you can unleash on enemies after deflecting their attacks.

More than just a motivating factor, parrying in Another Crab's Treasure is part of the build you adopt, making it one of the most uncommon and entertaining instances of this mechanic in history.

7 Bloodborne

There Are Gods Everywhere for Those With the Eyes to See

Although all the elements of the Soulsborne formula remain within a more or less rigid framework, Bloodborne takes the creative liberty of introducing a mechanic that completely changes our understanding of its world: Insight.

This currency is the playable explanation of what the narrative conceals, as accumulating knowledge of the game, achieved through exploration and boss defeats, allows both you and your avatar to unveil the cosmic horror.

From giant Amygdalas in every corner of the city to special enemy moves and designs, a high Insight equates to a seasoned hunter who doesn't die and, therefore, a being capable of revealing the reality to which mortals have no access.

Mechanically, it's interesting because of how it alters your approach to places you thought you knew, but on a narrative level, it's the ultimate connection to the game's themes, which revolve entirely around the player's lack of knowledge.

Unfortunately, it is not explored as much as it could be, but its application is memorable enough to still include it without hesitation in this list.

6 Shadows: Awakening

A Puppeteer's Campaign

As someone who always wants more Diablo after finishing each new installment, I'm always eager for any similar title, which led me to the surprising Shadows: Awakening.

At first glance, it's an unwavering parallel to Blizzard's creation, including combat, exploration, and mechanical customization, yet it turns out that everything on the surface is the product of a puppeteer pulling the strings from the shadows.

The game features a duality of planes where, in reality, we embody a demon who controls fallen heroes, allowing him to move between the Shadow Realm and the Mortal Realm to face two distinct sets of characteristics.

In addition to different combat and movement abilities, both dimensions change aesthetically and interactively, transforming the enemies you face, the way you solve puzzles, the paths you can follow, the loot you find, and even the specific vulnerabilities you can exploit.

Beyond that, it doesn't have much new to offer, but simply because of the smooth transition between concepts, Shadows: Awakening becomes a captivating adventure worth trying.

5 Zero Parades: For Dead Spies

Secrecy's Material Toll

Matching Disco Elysium is a task we must now accept as humanly impossible, but that doesn't mean Zero Parades: For Dead Spies hasn't brought a fantastic innovation to the formula.

Although the game's structure remains almost intact, this spiritual successor adds immediate consequences for many of our conversational interactions, manifesting as anxiety, delirium, and fatigue.

The pressure that arises from making decisions that fuel one of these three states leads to the loss of skill points beyond a certain threshold, as well as the inability to attempt certain dice rolls, establishing a strong connection between the story and gameplay of what Cascade experiences on the field.

It's a subtle but highly functional concept that prevents us from only seeing the weight of our decisions in pivotal moments. Instead, like the protagonist herself, we are constantly weighing the effects of our words, giving the dialogues a depth of feeling quite atypical for the subgenre.

4 Skill & Raids

A Cocktail of Genres

Historically, we've tended to think of the "extraction shooter" genre as an inseparable fusion, though Skill & Raids arrived to break that monogamous relationship and give the RPG genre a place in what is now a love triangle.

Instead of shooting, the title is built on the premise of an auto battler where you control three different characters, each with their own abilities and equipment, whose cooldowns you must manage to succeed in each incursion.

The underlying philosophy is the same: you start an attempt, explore the map, gather resources, and escape, or you die trying and lose your possessions, having to start from scratch until you defeat the final boss.

You can modify armor and weapons, including their rarity, as well as change the skills of each of the three roles, following the typical structure proposed by World of Warcraft but with a unique aesthetic and implementation that make Skill & Raids a completely atypical phenomenon.

3 The Outer Worlds

A Trip of Flaws

Just as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim excelled at linking player progress in certain skills to their consistent execution, The Outer Worlds turns the formula on its head and asks: what are the consequences of repeatedly making the same gameplay mistake?

The answer to this question lies in its Flaws, a series of debuffs applied based on our most frequent actions, such as constantly taking fall damage, buying overpriced items, consuming too many drugs, or getting burned too often.

Each of these events, which occur in real time according to our play style minute by minute, creates a tremendous sense of immersion, as it grants real side effects to situations that, in any other RPG, you wouldn't even consider.

These Flaws translate into simple statistical variations for our character in exchange for perk points, though their value lies in their impact on role-playing and the act of immersing oneself in The Outer Worlds' fantasy.

2 Undertale

Escaping Violence's Hell

As a work whose soul lies in subverting many of the expectations of an RPG, it was practically inevitable that Undertale would appear on a list of this nature.

The grounds for its inclusion are numerous, but the main one lies in how it shifts the genre's verbal focus: instead of killing, showing mercy becomes the desired action, creating a new set of rules in which you must empathize with the enemy to understand them and know how to manifest that compassion.

In the process, Undertale establishes itself as a bullet hell in which you can only focus on avoiding enemy attacks, thereby demonstrating a supremacy that can only lead to their surrender and overriding the hegemony of violence in modern role-playing experiences.

Undertale is a masterpiece for many more reasons, but I think its relevance to the norm is often underestimated, magnificently picking up the torch from the early iterations of this gimmick that games like Earthbound and Shin Megami Tensei did in their times.

1 Vampyr

Morality or Survival

Morality systems in video games often have simplistic, black-and-white applications that don't make you feel the true pressure of making certain decisions, though Vampyr stands alone at the opposite extreme of said statement.

Since our protagonist is a doctor infected with vampirism, witnessing the duality of upholding his Hippocratic oath and being too weak for the challenges he faces, or betraying himself and succumbing to the thirst for blood, isn't just a narrative issue; it resonates with the player.

Being able to depopulate the entire city simply to inflict more damage or gain more health points is what separates one reality from the other, and the mechanical difference is palpable to the point that certain encounters feel impossible if you don't give in.

The fact that they introduced a system where getting to know your victim better before consuming them grants you more experience, just as devouring too many people leads to chaos in each district with more enemies and fewer shops, demonstrates the morality bar is the city itself, not just a HUD indicator.

Because of this cohesion, Vampyr transforms the environment and difficulty into a direct reflection of your interaction, achieving a ludonarrative coherence that can only be applauded.