RPG Time: The Legend of Wright

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RPG Time: The Legend of Wright is a 2022 adventure RPG by DeskWorks, published by Aniplex. It stands out as a “handwritten” game, with visuals that look like paper-and-pencil drawings in a notebook. The story follows Kenta, a young game designer who uses drawings, cardboard, and stationery to create his own role-playing adventure. Players take on the role of Wright, a warrior in the land of Cardboardaria who must save Princess Lay from the Demon King Deathgawd. Each chapter uses different gameplay styles, so the game can feel very varied.

Gameplay focuses on guiding Wright through hand-illustrated scenes across different environments. A core battle system mixes various input methods and strategies, and players sometimes interact with the drawn world using everyday items like pencils or erasers.

Development was led by Tom Fuji at DeskWorks, inspired by Fuji’s childhood craft projects and handmade games. Fuji had been thinking about this concept for about ten years. The game was first shown at E3 2019 and was initially planned for 2020, but it was delayed. Aniplex later became the worldwide publisher. The game released on Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on March 10, 2022; a Nintendo Switch version and a PlayStation 4 version followed on August 18, 2022; Steam released on September 13, 2022. A physical Nintendo Switch edition came out in Japan on October 13, 2022. A free story update, Monster Party, was released for all versions on August 8, 2023.

Reception was mixed to positive. Critics praised the game’s unique visual presentation and charm, but some felt the gameplay didn’t always live up to the visuals. On Metacritic, the Xbox Series X version has “generally favorable” reviews with about 79% from 4 reviews, while the Nintendo Switch version has mixed or average reviews around 74% from 10 reviews. Some praised the imaginative design and use of different materials, while others noted slower or uneven gameplay in places.

RPG Time won several awards during its development. It received the Excellence in Visual Arts award at the Independent Games Festival in March 2023, won the Vermilion Gate Award for Best of Show at BitSummit 2019, and was nominated for IndieCade 2019.