Role-playing games, or RPGs for short, are the essence of video games to begin with. If you think about it, video games were made to enable gamers to impersonate another character, live a different live, explore a mysterious universe, and enjoy an intriguing storyline. The RPG genre features some of the greatest video games of all time, including the likes of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, The Withcer III: Wild Hunt, and many more. Luckily for us, web3 games are starting to catch up. Some of them even have enough gameplay and content to keep you coming back consistently to play and grind for better gear and enjoy your character's progression. Let's get right into it and see what our five GAM3 Awards Best RPG finalists got to offer.

Big Time

Big Time Studios is the company behind Big Time, the first game in the series. It combines fast-action combat with collectability and a sweeping adventure that spans history. What made the game so addictive was its endless dungeons, full of new treasures and NFT loot to be collected and enemies to slay.

Big Time features four unique class selections. Different characters offer different types of experience, which means that it's important to pick the right one. Not only that, you can queue up with a maximum of 6 players in your party so making sure the team composition works well together is essential. Each one of these classes comes with their own skill tree and progression system, with Pocketwatches enabling you to add more complexity to your character by unlocking new skills and allowing players to switch between different classes.

Illuvium

Illuvium is a collectible RPG and auto-battler. In the game's Overworld mode, you'll explore an open-world experience with tons of content and 7 diverse regions to wander through to try and capture the coveted Illuvials. Not only that, you will get to play through traps, solve puzzles, mine and harvest resources, discover new items scattered across the world—and fight with 100+ "Illuvials"—creatures lurking inside the deadly Rifts. Each creature possesses its own hybrid synergy and traits that set it apart from those in your collection.

The Illuvium: Overworld gameplay follows a relatively simple path but challenges those who wish to master the game. Its seamless combination of open-world exploration and auto-battling mechanics, while delivering genuinely enjoyable experiences across both leaves players wanting to sink endless hours into their game.

Aurory

It's never easy setting up a MMORPG from scratch, but Aurory has done it so beautifully that it stands out in the free-to-play web3 gaming world. The game's active community, recognizable art style, and its ability to attract many traditional gamers to switch their interest to blockchain have all contributed to its rise in popularity.

In Aurory, the goal is to form a team of Nefties that will eventually become the best in the world. The in-game NFT collection on Solana represents profile portraits and characters that players can use inside the game. The game relies heavily on its narrative design and the adventure luring in players to dive deeper into the game's world, and to say the studio succeeded is an understatement. After all, they are one of the GAM3 Awards Best RPG category finalists.

SIPHER

SIPHER is the new multiplayer shooter ARPG set in a dream-like universe. It includes aliens, vibrant characters, and dangerous mysteries that players must discover. Players have the choice of being either an INU or NEKO as they explore and protect their home. SIPHER features two playable Races, with four sub-races each. Depending on which one you choose, it will affect the weapons and abilities of your characters. While cooperative gameplay is a huge focus in SIPHER, it can be tough to coordinate your character's strengths and weaknesses without some help from teammates.

The INUs feature four sub-races, namely Inu, Canis, Bioz, Cyborg, and Cosmic. Each sub-race has its own unique skill, but they are all masters at wielding assault rifles, sniper rifles, and katanas. On the other hand, NEKOs are the female versions of the INU characters mentioned above, but their cute little cat ears are a disguise. They are just as dangerous, if not more. The NEKOs’ four sub-races are: Felis, Synthetic, Phasewalker, and Crystalis. Considering the game's essential focus is its shooting mechanics and adventure element, there is tremendous amount of depth in the RPG elements in the game, making it a worthy nominee in the GAM3 Awards Best Strategy category.

Phantom Galaxies

Fifty years after the last great war between the Union and the Commonwealth of Neoterra, both sides were forced to put their differences aside when they encountered pirates and a dangerous new enemy: the Sha'Kari. This is how The Phantom Galaxies starts, and those words are enough to keep you hooked forever. Phantom Galaxies is a space shooter unlike any other, and it's easy to see why. Blowfish Studios took EVE Online and Star Citizen - two of the most popular franchises in the space genre - and combined their own vision with top-of-the-line visuals to deliver an all-new experience for all of web3 gaming to enjoy.

The Ranger Squad are humanity's top Mecha pilots, and each one of them serve a different purpose. These Mechanized Starfighters are the core item that the player utilizes for exploration and combat in Phantom Galaxies. Each Starfighter is an NFT that specifies both its aesthetics and attributes. The Fusion process is a major gameplay element that is vital to maintaining your mech, upgrading it, and altering its abilities. The Mecha, storyline, and incredible narrative make The Phantom Galaxies one of the strongest contenders to win the GAM3 Awards Best RPG title.

Who do you think will walk away with the GAM3 Awards Best RPG trophy? Which one do you enjoy playing the most? Share this article and tag us on any of our socials to let us know.

Website | Discord | Twitter | Twitch | YouTube