Forget Divinity, The Next Best CRPG Is Releasing Way Sooner

The unprecedented popularity of Baldur's Gate 3 has brought a brand-new spotlight on the CRPG genre, with Larian Studios' next release, Divinity, raising excitement for all the right reasons. While there's no doubt that the upcoming fantasy release will be another massive hit, one incredible game in the genre is going relatively under the radar in comparison, despite deserving a spot on your wishlist too.

Whether you're looking for a new turn-based RPG fix or want to experiment with cRPGs outside the standard fantasy genre, there are thankfully more than a few games to scratch the itch left behind by Baldur's Gate 3. Compared to the long wait for DOS3, Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy is an upcoming CRPG that's not only releasing much sooner, but also has an early access demo available to play right now if you purchase its deluxe edition.

Dark Heresy Is Everything I Wanted From A Warhammer CRPG

Following up Owlcat Games' previous entry into the iconic sci-fi setting, Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy is a standalone CRPG that follows an Inquisition Acolyte to the Empire of Man, tasked with 'waging a secret war against heresy'. While this might sound like a standard entry into the brutal world of 40K's grim dark future, the real draw of Dark Heresy comes from its character-driven narrative and investigation-based gameplay.

Much like Dark Heresy's story-rich predecessor, the best parts of Dark Heresy occur outside its combat encounters, both through roleplaying social situations with the occasional skill-based checks and unfolding the deeper conspiracies lying in wait within the Empire's underbelly. Despite being a more familiar setting for fans of the series, Dark Heresy also explores some exciting new locales and factions that have rarely been developed in previous games.

One of the decision-based mechanics that stood out to me the most during my playthrough of Dark Heresy's alpha was how the game treats the order of your decisions and the zones you decide to investigate first, which drastically alters both the environments and storyline of each chapter.

If you choose to visit the Marisportum Sectoris hab zone later on during your playthrough of the full game, for example, the entire map will have been devastated by rising floodwaters. This change turns the local population into even more desperate fanatics than before, and it alters which faction requires your aid here in the first place.

This mechanic was more than interesting enough from a replayability standpoint, and NPC dialogue frequently brings up the state of the hab zone, which has a note attached for the action that caused it. From the state of current events to the attitude of a character towards you, it's cool to see that your decisions in Dark Heresy have a meaningful impact on the world and what you could do differently next time.

Owlcat Games Has An Excellent Track Record So Far

Rogue Trader is one of the best Warhammer games of all time, raising the expectations for Dark Heresy to live up to the mantle of its predecessor while improving on the weaker areas that held it back on release.

Built from scratch with a new design philosophy and gameplay systems, Dark Heresy already feels like a better balance between accessibility and complexity. While some aspects can be a bit frustrating at times, like the length of combat or the sheer size of arenas when navigating Dark Heresy's detailed environments, I found the overall gameplay experience more than enjoyable and surprisingly hard to put down after getting invested in my investigation of the alpha's hab zone.

Even with fighting being one of the weaker aspects of Dark Heresy's experience, many of the combat encounters have secondary objectives or mechanics in play that make them much more engaging than a simple firefight to the death. Encouraging more strategic decision-making for encounters, many battles I thought were virtually impossible at the current level were made far more feasible by using the environment and gameplay systems to their full potential.

One surprising facelift in Dark Heresy comes in the form of the changes made to Rogue Trader's reputation system. Rather than simply garnering favor for each of the available factions, Dark Heresy has two meters that rise based on your "Presence" or "Rapport." These allow you to garner influence through either intimidation or amicable deeds, depending on what you think fits best for your playthrough.

Dark Heresy Still Has Plenty To Offer For Non-Warhammer Fans

The biggest hurdle facing Dark Heresy is how overwhelming the abundance of unique mechanics and systems can be at the start. Thankfully, Dark Heresy's gameplay loop is much easier to get a grasp of after just a few hours of gameplay, and it still has enough depth to reward veteran players of the genre willing to tackle some of the more complex mechanics.

Another feature that helps new players is the use of in-game tooltips over certain terms and phrases that offer a summary when you hover over them. Given the extensive amount of Warhammer 40,000 lore and terminology there is in Dark Heresy, this helped me avoid falling behind in some of the more extensive conversations at times, and the in-game investigation board tracks any major details you might have missed.

The standout mechanic of the Dark Heresy alpha is its investigation system, which fully satisfied my niche for detective-based gameplay. This helps you track and record a series of events related to your mission, allowing you to piece together what actually happened yourself based on clues and analysis from your allies. When I was finished, the process made submitting the final report all the more satisfying.

Every time I got a new piece of vital information, I found myself looking forward to seeing how it tied back into the greater mystery lurking beneath the surface of Dark Heresy's caselog. Throughout the alpha, I kept going out of my way to follow up with leads that I would have completely missed in a standard CRPG roleplaying experience.

Dictating your own story, it's up to you if you want to be a brutal inquisitor with a zero-tolerance policy for heresy and xenos galore, or a more flexible investigator who is willing to use every resource at your disposal to serve the greater good. Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy seems poised to full advantage of the creative flexibility offered through games like Baldur's Gate 3 and Owlcat's extensive roleplaying experience.