PPG Game Of The Year 2024 - 20 - The Best Isometric CRPGs

Kickstarter brought this genre back in an impressive manner, proving that though there is a ceiling (somewhat) for the number of fans of the niche, there is a dedicated group of players who love that overhead camera, party based, map driven RPG. The scene has since flourished with indies all over the spectrum taking a stab, to surprisingly excellent results.

Unforetold: Witchstone (Abandonned)
Abandoned Reactive World
Released in Early Access, the devs could no longer support the game and sadly shut down. Rather than removing the game altogether, it remains available for people to enjoy what does exist at a reduced price, which I think is neat. There are some bugs and only 1 act, but it has some neat (and possibly overly ambitious) ideas around world reactivity. It will remain as a vestige of what could have been, and I think it’s worth highlighting.

Stolen Realm
Simultaneous Turns, Customizable Classes
A "simultaneous turn-based tactical dungeon crawling looter with action RPG elements" with a low poly art style, with node based exploration on each delve.

Blade Prince Academy
Real Time With Pause
A neat art style and worldbuilding come together with some fun, over the top combat where strategy is key, combining party member's abilities and timing for devastating attacks.

Zoria: Age of Shattering
Squad Based Tactical RPG
Pretty fantasy RPG with tactical turn based combat. Clearly made by fans of old school fantasy RPGs like Dragon Age: Origins and Baldurs Gate II.

EMPYRE: Earls of the Deep Earth
Narrative Focused, Novel Setting
Mix between Neo Victorian and Chinese setting, this story focused RPG concludes a whole trilogy(!) of almost completely overlooked interesting games that get better as the devs honed their vision.

Felvidek
Slovakian JRPG
Leads with a singular striking art style. Takes inspiration from classics such as the OG Dragon Quest to build out a distinctly Eastern European version of what a JRPG would look like in that context. wrapped up with some great witty writing.

Broken Roads
Aussie Outback Philosophical Morality
While it sadly fell short of player's hopes in all of its systems coming together into a satisfying package at release, the morality system and the Aussie-ness of it all makes this one still worth checking out in my eyes. The devs have also spent time diligently patching bugs and issues post release, so things are more stable than they were in the beginning, with hope of a full redemption in view.

Vendir: Plague of Lies
Classic Party/Turn Based
An indie take on the classic formula that is "steeped in history". It's got the lot - character customization and builds, exploration, loot to find, classic difficult choices to make. English translation could use some work, but still readable and some interesting ideas at play.

Banquet For Fools (EA)
Party Based RPG
Kind of grungy claymation-ish isometric RPG with RTWP combat and some neat world interactions with spells and such. A great example of a very focused vision from creators that have very specific ideas and skills put toward making something original in the space.

Drova - Forsaken Kin
Gothic Celtic Mythology
Distinct pixel artwork and a unique blend of a grimdark and Celtic mythologies make for an action RPG filled with fascinating mysteries to uncover and enemies to fight.

Passageway of the Ancients
Retro CRPG
Saying that this is inspired by 90s/00s classic computer RPGs almost feels like an understatement. Real time with pause combat with a classic RPG journey wrapped in some pretty intricate and fun lore.

Elin (EA)
Grid Based Open Ended Adventure Creator
A grid based RPG with a somewhat roguelike structure in that death is the end of that character. Very open ended gameplay and world with interacting systems, survival mechanics, crafting, base management and much more.

And The Best Isometric RPG Of 2024 Is…

Geneforge 2 - Infestation
Classic Sipderwebs RPG
Jeff Vogel's best work to date comes after 30 years of filling a very specific niche. These games are catnip to those who get into them and are well worth learning the quirks to enjoy some of the best role playing games on the market. The freedom of approach and options at your disposal is astounding for this tiny team to accomplish. It’s a testament to what a focused, long term approach to refining ideas can produce.