When an abysmally low player base.
But for those who want a game that delivers on the high potential the studio felt Babylon's Fall would have, these titles deliver on that expectation and provide a satisfying gaming experience for players. What games are everything that Babylon's Fall should have been?
NieR:Automata
PlatinumGames' aforementioned previous title, NieR:Automata has to be played more than twice because players genuinely cannot experience the entire game in one go, and in this case, that's to its benefit. The emotional story is told from three perspectives, and engaging combat mechanics help bring players along through the narratives. Automata remains a great and unique experience.
Platinum clearly tried recreating Automata's gameplay, to a degree, in Babylon's Fall, which is far from unusual in an industry where mechanics are often part of a company's signature. The problem instead lay in structural issues around how the combat interacted with Fall's world, among other issues with the game.
Genshin Impact
Just as PlatinumGames wanted to position Babylon's Fall, 's success totaled more than $245 million within its first month alone, meaning many players sprung for upgraded weapons and/or characters.
Genshin has the anime, RPG, and fantasy elements that Babylon's Fall also shares, and is continually updated by its developers, which means players can expect new content frequently. The free-to-play model also means there's no financial risk involved in giving it a try. Its expansive fantasy world is incredible, and sure to please fans of combat and lore exploration.
Final Fantasy XIV
The 2010 original Final Fantasy XIV RPG was critically panned upon release, but Square Enix listened to complaints and reinvented the title in 2013; that MMORPG is still running today and just released the Endwalker expansion in 2021. It's unlikely Babylon's Fall could take the same route at this point, because of the bad press, but it's always possible for this kind of reinvention.
Final Fantasy XIV is perfect for fans of MMORPGs in particular, but it's also a great entry point for fans of games like Final Fantasy to try an MMORPG for the first time since it plays very similarly to the single-player games, which are already RPG adventures. Explore the world or engage in quests; either way, it's a fun time.
Elden Ring
Game of Thrones novelist George R.R. Martin and coming from the same studio that created the Souls series, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and Bloodborne, Elden Ring presents an expansive and lore-heavy open-world game that, while difficult at parts, is an extraordinary achievement and an overall blast.
That pedigree was enough to create an RPG with narrative stakes and a combat system that features customization, magical and physical elements, and a good dose of strategy required from the player. Getting through the game's main quest-line is itself a massive satisfaction, and once it's over, gamers wish they could replay it again for the first time.
Middle-earth: Shadow series
Using the proprietary Nemesis system, Monolith Productions made the Middle-earth: Shadow games stand out by having previous foes recall player actions against them and react based on that upon a rematch. It's not the only way to make the world feel like it's alive, but it is an impressive and unique one.
RPG games thrive on providing an immersive, living world, and Shadow's Nemesis system grounds Tolkien's fantasy world, making it seem almost as if these orcs could burst from the game world and actually target the real-life player. It's the games' biggest selling point for a reason, and it's the most important Middle-earth: Shadow mechanic beginners should know before playing the games.
Mass Effect 2
The Mass Effect games also had an impressive selling point: the ability to choose whether the player-character, Commander Shepard, is male or female, with full voice-acting provided for either option. For a game series that released its first entry in 2007, it was a groundbreaking leap.
Mass Effect 2 stepped up the story from the first game, innovating even further by using the Mass Effect 1 save file to influence the second game, so while players could go in without having played the first game, having done so provided an extra bonus. Without that, though, the story is still incredibly well-acted, written, and designed. Best of all, it's welcoming for new players.
God of War (2018)
Personal quests are what define God of War, as while its combat is incredible and its upgrade systems make Kratos feel like a co-creation of the player, the best aspect of the game is the story. It follows a father and son who bond along a journey of peril to spread a loved one's ashes on a mountain peak.
This isn't to say that the landscapes aren't gorgeous, the gameplay-cutscene transitions seamless (the game takes place in one take), and the mechanics – especially with Kratos's axe – aren't fun beyond belief. It's merely to say that story-focused players will find God of War one of the most emotional games ever, with a breathtaking catharsis achieved by the end.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Although it was released all the way back in 2015, Witcher 3 is also one of the best-selling games ever made.
Witcher 3 manages to balance having a multitude of side quests while also having a central storyline focused around finding Ciri, and the implications surrounding her power and role in the world. What it lacks in mechanical innovation it more than makes up for in expansiveness, both physically and narratively.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Don't let The Legend of Zelda's or Nintendo's family-friendly image fool you; Breath of the Wild has appeal for all ages. It also doesn't rely on nostalgia to sell itself, as the game genuinely compels players to explore every corner of its vast open world, all while eventually making their way toward facing Ganon.
Breath of the Wild is more comparable to Babylon's Fall than most, since the former Hyrule Castle is the dominant central focus of the game (as it's where Zelda is located), and Babylon's Fall focuses around scaling the Ziggurat. BOTW, however, has build-up quests and side quests that provide diversity in gameplay, yielding hours of content that rarely if ever bores.
Bloodborne
Although not part of the Souls series, Bloodborne may as well be, since it's another FromSoftware game that is notorious for its unforgiving difficulty, so anyone who plays this game has to be ready for a challenge. Still, for those who make it to the end, victory is ecstatic, just like with the sister game Elden Ring.
Inspired by folklore and horror, Bloodborne takes players down a path of investigating a mysterious affliction. It's fantasy meets mystery meets RPG, and the three genres work in tandem to augment one another. Mystery keeps players exploring, fantasy means there's no telling what they'll find, and RPG means player ownership of the character. Babylon's Fall could've benefitted from this combo.
