A Refreshing Open-World RPG Gem Launching August 2025

2025 has been one of the best years for RPGs in a very long time. Of course, last year we got the likes of Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth and Metaphor: ReFantazio, and the year before we got the RPG to end all RPGs, Baldur’s Gate 3. However, the sheer diversity on display, coupled with the novel ideas, new IPs, and reinvention of certain formulas, ideas, and mechanics, has made 2025 feel substantially more refreshing.

There are already so many amazing 2025 RPGs that deserve to earn the award, from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 to Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. However, the year is not quite over, and there are a few more incredibly unique games on the horizon, including one hidden gem releasing at the tail end of August. Without being too hyperbolic, this game may just end up stealing GOTY from under all of those aforementioned RPGs’ noses.

The Knightling Is Releasing At The End Of August

It Has Been In Development For Quite A While

The Knightling is an incredibly colorful open-world action-adventure game that blends the humor of the Fable series, the engrossing exploration of Breath of the Wild, and the smooth platforming of Mario Odyssey. Oh, and throw in a little bit of surfing in there while you’re at it. You bounce, glide, surf, and platform your way across a gorgeously detailed world teeming with secrets to uncover, enemies to whack with your enormous shield, and quests to complete along the way.

I previewed The Knightling a while back and found it to be a genuinely enthralling experience, with a world that kept surprising me and throwing just enough collectibles and upgrades at me to make me want to keep playing. I’ve not stopped thinking about it since that initial playthrough, and yet, I feel like so few people are talking about it. That’s surprising considering not just how incredible The Knightling looks, but also the caliber of its developer, Twirlbound.

For those who missed Twirlbound’s previous game, Pine – which ranks easily as one of the best indie RPGs ever made – you should absolutely play it. Pine is an open-world RPG with an intricately designed faction mechanic that sees battles break out randomly in the open world, towns and villages being taken over, and relationships sour all without your input. Its strongest asset is its living, breathing world, and Twirlbound has brought that over into The Knightling.

Fortunately, if all of that sounds great, you’re in luck, as The Knightling is releasing on Thursday, August 28, 2025. I have been following it intently since its reveal trailer, both thanks to its gorgeous art design, but also because of my love for Pine. The fact that it is finally here is incredibly exciting, and I can’t wait to finally play the full thing. I also genuinely believe, even despite adoring the likes of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and KC:D2, that The Knightling could be my game of the year.

The Knightling Could Be Game Of The Year

It Is An Incredibly Engrossing Experience

The Knightling riding on their shield in a desert location in The Knightling.

The Knightling has a lot going for it that I find utterly compelling. I think what will likely resonate the most with players is its open world. While it skews on the smaller size, its compact nature makes for a more curated experience, an intricately designed, vertical world that’s purpose-built not only to accommodate the protagonist’s ability to surf across it, but also the numerous secrets tucked away in every nook and cranny.

Much like BOTW, a lot of the joy from playing The Knightling is stumbling across a gorgeously detailed area off the beaten path or a reward you can only get by overcoming some form of traversal adversity. There are a lot of ways that The Knightling falls into the best games like BOTW category, especially considering its RPG-lite elements, such as unlocking new abilities and upgrading your shield help it squeeze into the genre, alongside all the others it’s trying to hit.

The Knightling, like Vampire Survivors and Hades before it, is also just an incredibly unique game, one that takes familiar mechanics or ideas and recontextualizes them. 2025 very much is the year for reinvention, and The Knightling feels like it is doing that in spades.

It is as refreshing as Breath of the Wild was when it tackled the open-world genre back in 2017, a complete overhaul of what we’ve come to expect, but in the best possible way. I truly believe The Knightling will end up being one of the best indie games of the year, if not the best game.

We Need More Unique RPGs

2025 Has Been A Great Year For Them

The Knightling looking up at a questgiver on a tower in The Knightling.

While The Knightling may not be selling itself as an RPG on its Steam store page, it very much felt like one when I was surfing through its mesmerizing open world. It may lack the min-maxing of games like Baldur’s Gate 3, but that, at least to me, is a selling point. It’s more of a cozy RPG, a game that embraces the art of exploration and the joy that comes from that, much like Breath of the Wild before it.

It’s also just a unique game, one releasing during an era of remakes, sequels, and remasters. Just like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 before it, The Knightling offers a fresh perspective on a tired genre, an injection of joy and creativity when we need it the most. Its bright aesthetic and bold art direction evoke memories of GameCube and Dreamcast classics while adorning that modern, detailed sheen to make it all the more palatable to a 2025 audience.

Yet its gameplay is as polished and refined as any triple-A game of today. It perfectly balances innovation and nostalgia in the best possible way, and that’s why I believe this hidden gem needs more attention, not just from action-adventure fans, but RPG ones too. The Knightling is exactly the kind of game we need in 2025, and the perfect remedy for those exhausted by the Ubisoft-style brand of open-world RPG fare.