10 Obscure RPGs You NEED To Play

10. Anachronox

Developed by Tom Hall and the Dallas-based Ion Storm company, Anachronox is a sci-fi turn-based RPG game first released all the way back in 2001.

The game revolves around Sylvester "Sly Boots" Bucelli, a struggling private investigator who decides to try his luck and find some work in the slums of Anachronox, an inter-galatic steampunk-themed city home to shady figures and sinister secrets.

Tom Hall and co. looked to famous RPG games such as Final Fantasy as well as sci-fi books and literatures like Ender's Game for inspiration when it came to developing Anachronox, and all of this influence can be seen in the game's three-person party structure and how players navigate through 3D futuristic environments.

Anachronox had a notoriously long and troubled development, with its originally planned release date of mid to late 1998 being pushed back time after time due to a variety of technical issues and some seriously unfortunate events such as one of the developers having their laptops stolen on the eve of E3.

But, whilst plans for a sequel to Anachronox would have to be scrapped when Ion Storm's offices closed just days after the game's release, there's no denying that this is still a seriously important moment in RPG history.

Anachronox is a game that was built entirely from individuals with a strong passion for RPG games and, whether it's in the various technical languages written specifically for the game, the vibrant visuals or goofy dialogues supplied by Hall himself, it's a passion that can be felt every time the game is played.