PS3 RPGs of Early 2010

We're already 18 days into 2010, and it's already clear looking at release lists that this is going to be one hell of a year for the RPG genre.

The Playstation 3 had a tough couple of years for RPGs. After the PS2 being the go-to machine for RPG fans, many of the genre's biggest hitters - including games like Star Ocean, Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, Mass Effect, Tales of Vesperia and The Last Remnant either being exclusive to Xbox 360 or appearing on the 360 far earlier than the PS3.

Even truly multiplatform games such as Fallout 3 and The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion had Downloadable Content delayed on the PS3 - but 2010 is the year that PS3 RPGs strike back - and hard - with a fantastic line-up of RPGs, both exclusive and multi-platform.

Here's the Top PS3 RPGs of early 2010 - and this only covers the first half of the year!

Alpha Protocol (SEGA, Spring 2010)

Coming from Obsidian Entertainment, Alpha Protocol is a spy-espionage RPG that allows players to make dialogue and story decisions that will feel very familiar to fans of Bioware titles. That should be no surprise, though - Obsidian were the guys responsible for the second Knights of the Old Republic game, and clearly lessons learned there have been carried to Alpha Protocol.

The combat features the use of guns, hand-to-hand combat and spy-gadgets, and you'll have to level-up your abilities and skills throughout the game in order to make yourself a better spy. You'll have to make dialogue choices that affect the path of the story, too.

The truly cool bit of Alpha Protocol is that it's all about choice, be it in the dialogue or the way you handle a combat situation. When we saw the game at E3 2009, the developers suggested it was all about choosing between the 3 JBs - Jack Bauer, James Bond or Jason Bourne. That's a pretty damn cool choice.

Final Fantasy XIII (Square Enix, March 9th 2010)

Final Fantasy XIII needs little introduction. It's been looming over the release schedules for years now, and in March 2010, it finally arrives. Telling the story of Lightning and an unlikely band of people in a similar situation to her, FF13 will see players rebel against god and government.

Featuring a new, faster battle system, character progression that does away with levels and cinematic perfection and flair not before seen in a game, Final Fantasy XIII is certain to influence the shape of the Japanese RPG genre for years to come.

We've already reviewed the Japanese version, which you can see here. Final Fantasy XIII is a vital staple of Sony's release line-up, and is sure to cause a stir for both the men in suits and the gamers when it launches.

Resonance of Fate (SEGA, March 9th, 2010)

Known as End of Eternity in Japan, Resonance of Fate introduces the all-new tri-Attack-Battle system - known as tAB. It's tri-Ace's first outing with SEGA as publishers, and SEGA are clearly pretty confident to put the game directly up against Square Enix's FF13, launching in the US on the same day.

Resonance of Fate is definitely a change from FF13, set in a more contemporary setting with plenty of guns and explosions, telling the story of civilization struggling to survive on a damaged Earth.

Everything we've seen of Resonance of Fate suggests it's an over-the-top, melodramatic, action-packed RPG - but knows it, and so manages to avoid appearing stupid. Battles follow on from ideas set by tri-Ace in previous games they've developed, with free movement around the battlefield, closely resembling an action RPG but keeping turn-based elements.

The Last Rebellion (Nippon Ichi Software, March 26th, 2010)

While it's largely kept a low profile, Nippon Ichi's latest PS3 offering is also arriving early in 2010, hitting the US and Europe in March. The Last Rebellion is all about two people sharing one body, taking said body on an epic quest for revenge.

The gameplay in The Last Rebellion is largely turn-based, but the game throws in some action elements to keep players engaged and keep things interesting, such as body-part targeting that'll let you take out an enemies legs to hamper their movement, or lower their attack strength by weakening their arms.

While all the other RPGs hitting PS3 in early 2010 are highly focused on being revolutionary in some area or another, The Last Rebellion is a bastion of the traditions we all know and love.

White Knight Chronicles (Sony, February 2nd, 2010)

Originally released in Japan all the way back in 2008, White Knight Chronicles is finally preparing for its Western debut as the first major PS3-only RPG of the year. With Japanese success already behind it and a sequel already in the works, White Knight Chronicles is a confident force as it heads for a Western release.

White Knight Chronicles has good reason to be confident - it's packing an exciting real time combat system and enough to do that developers Level-5 claim it makes up hundreds of hours of content as well as a very interesting take on online play in an RPG.

The Western version of White Knight Chronicles will ship with many of the updates and downloadable content added to the Japanese version across the course of 2009 in the box, and this is one new franchise players can enjoy safe in the knowledge that it will continue for some time - as it's already been a huge success.

And Finally...
That about wraps it up for our look at the top PS3 RPGs of early 2010. There are some other notable releases, though - chief of which is Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening, the add-on for Bioware's 2009 RPG.

The latter half of 2010 is already looking exciting, with titles like Final Fantasy XIV and Fallout: New Vegas on the horizon - and that's before the inevitable onslaught of announcements GDC and E3 will bring!

It's set to be a very good year for RPGs on the PS3. Stick with us at RPGSite, the RPG specialists, for the latest on all these games and more.