The best role-playing games with unconventional settings

Key insights

• RPGs have the freedom to create fascinating worlds with unusual settings steeped in lore.
• Unconventional RPG settings such as post-apocalyptic worlds or advanced regions offer unique experiences.
• RPGs like Disco Elysium mix complex themes like capitalism and existential despair in a multi-layered world.

Few genres have the freedom to truly explore more outlandish settings like role-playing games. The escapism that the role-playing game offers sets the stage for developers to create the most fascinating worlds full of lore where players can adventure as newbies while learning the full exciting story.

Whether it's flying cities or continents divided into their own planes of existence, ideas that are more “out there” often resonate the most with audiences, especially because they are used to address the broader societal issues to comment on things that players can identify with. With that said, here is a list of some RPGs with truly unconventional settings.

9 Grim dawn

No old Victorian setting

Grim Dawns The ominously large and gothic Victorian setting is the perfect setting for a story full of folklore, the supernatural and steampunk. The somewhat unsettling and hostile world sets the stage for a war-torn story about that Lovecraftians cosmic horrors and a war between powerful species.

Exploring a world full of such dangers is rewarding in itself. When the player barely survives the fast-paced battles against unspeakable horrors found only in the darkest crypts, the moment of stepping outside and seeing the rain pattering on the forest grass feels all the more earned and relieving.

8 World of Warcraft

Azeroth is lost in time

Considering how long World of Warcraft It's no surprise that it's chock-full of content and stories that have irrevocably changed the world in which they live. Even though it originally started as a more classic fantasy setting, it has now completely changed based on its lore.

From the countless playable races and classes, each with their own fantastic abilities and stories, to the combination of ancient magical settings and steampunk technology – to the ability for players to essentially visit the afterlife. Azeroth essentially exists outside of any time environment and each zone adapts to the expansion.

7 Okami

The moving painting

Set in a fantastical version of ancient Japan, the world of Okami can only be described as a completely living ink painting. Thanks to the art direction, this 2006 title still holds its own in an industry increasingly focused on fidelity.

The beautiful architecture is accentuated by the bold outlines and bold colors that serve as a backdrop to this story firmly rooted in Japanese legend. Each character he meets on his journey has their own endearing eccentricities, and the actual gameplay mechanics make it an addictive hack-and-slash game and a creative puzzle solver.

6 NieR: Automata

Robot controlled dystopia

This hack-and-slash adventure from the legendary PlatinumGames studios is set thousands of years in the future. The Earth is all but destroyed and humanity has fled to the moon, while an eternal war between humans and androids rages below.

The crumbling cities and sandy, desolate landscapes provide great backdrops for the stylish combat you'd expect from a PlatinumGames title. The setting allows for quieter moments of isolated melancholy in a futile war, evoking just the right feelings the BioShock And Terminator Franchises.

5 The Outer Worlds

Tried the rest, now try the best

Obsidian's own sci-fi space journey is filled with its own unique blend of absurdist humor in an advertising-heavy galaxy. From moon-headed sales representatives to gardeners who use human bodies as fertilizer, everyone seems to be on board The Outer Worlds is on the hunt for her own version of the Halycon dream.

While the mega-corporate galaxy feels incredibly isolating, and both the protagonist and his companions experience their own obstacles on the path to success, that doesn't mean it's lacking in occasional moments of beauty. The presentation is truly the perfect marriage of smoky 70s retro and elegant symmetrical utopia.

4 Disco Elysium

Revachol, capitalism and existential despair

The world of Disco Elysium is anything but ordinary. Each continent is essentially its own plane of existence, and the seemingly endless city of Revachol has fallen victim to colonial exploitation and economic collapse. It's no easy task solving crimes as a drunken, amnesiac detective who has trouble stringing sentences together in such a complex setting.

The theme of the isolation of the working class, left to survive on nothing but the crumbs of a long-defunct society, is prevalent in this bizarre plane of existence. A mix of steampunk and reality-altering science is what makes Revachol so atmospheric.

3 Undertale

The sound of the underground

The now iconic Undertale is far from being considered a traditional role-playing game. Set in the vast underground and filled with kingdoms, villages, magic, and an array of adorable, quirky monsters, those who haven't played the game will need a lot of determination.

Undertale utilizes its expansive yet isolating setting to deliver some heartwarming moments of introspection, be it reflecting on loneliness – or performing stand-up comedy by a skeleton. It also quickly becomes downright terrifying when the player is in the Genocide playthrough, where the background music transitions into something far more ominous and ominous and the player is left completely alone.

2 Dragon Age: The Veil Guardian

The Tevinter Empire

The latest installment in the spoiled BioWare series is set in the far more advanced region of Thedas, the Teviner Empire. Although the region has been portrayed in a less favorable light in previous franchise entries – it has been described as the home of corruption, blood magic, and pretty much all evil – it is also the most advanced region of Thedas and is full of magical vistas.

Tevinter magisters and technological advancements are commonplace here. From entire castles floating in the sky – to the beautifully lit nighttime streets of the surprisingly steampunk town of Treviso – it's a good argument for why mages in Ferelden should be kept on a slightly looser leash.

1 Shadowrun: Dragonfall

Futuristic Dungeons and Dragons

Based on the tabletop role-playing game, Shadowrun asks, “What happens when?” Dungeons and dragons Progress?” Set in a Bladerunner equivalent World of elves, orcs, magic and more – players can finally be the magic-wielding hacker they were meant to become.

Shadow Run: Dragonfall is set in 2054 in an extremely dystopian Berlin where mythical creatures walk and the government has essentially been completely replaced by factions of gangs and anarchists who fight relentlessly among themselves. Players can decide exactly who they want to be and what name they want to make for themselves in this fantastic future.