Chronicles Medieval is a new sandbox RPG challenging Kingdom Come Deliverance 2

The huge success of Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 was another reminder of just how appealing living out a medieval fantasy existence can be. But what if, instead of embodying Henry's story, you told a tale all your own? That's the premise of Chronicles Medieval, revealed during the Summer Games Fest with a trailer featuring the ever-iconic Tom Hardy. With the grandiose battles of Total War and the storytelling potential of Crusader Kings 3, Chronicles Medieval drops you into a 14th-century land with complete freedom.

Built by newcomer Raw Power, which is based in Copenhagen but with developers working remotely across multiple countries, Chronicles Medieval is described as a "strategy action roleplaying mix set in medieval Europe." It's an ambitious, immersive sandbox game filled with ever-shifting alliances and loyalties, where your decisions can tip the balance of power in any direction. The studio's other core pillars are large-scale, real-time battles featuring hundreds of soldiers using authentic historical equipment, and a focus on "your journey."

Building your own custom character and backstory, you'll begin to define your path to the throne. Whether you choose to be a blacksmith or a bandit, a mercenary or a noble knight, your foundations will impact the talents and skills at your disposal. These abilities will grow as you make use of them, whether you're fighting in tournaments to seek fame and glory, helping out locals, or engaging in the many handcrafted quests you'll encounter on your travels.

Starting out from a world map, you're able to delve into locations in a third-person perspective and explore on a deeper level. Should you reach a point where you step into a leadership role, you'll be able to build trade routes, hire forces to join your army, train them, and eventually lead them into battle. Eventually, you might run an entire kingdom, rake in cash as a shrewd merchant, or become an army general attempting to conquer the whole world by force – although the team is quick to note that it never becomes "too much of a management game."

Currently, Chronicles Medieval is designed to be an open-ended experience, with no predefined finishing point to your story. There's a general focus on realism, with known historical figures and religions playing a part; while contemporary superstitions and myths hang over the world, you won't ever fight any magical beasts. Combat is likewise designed to be authentic to the era, with motion-captured animations to enhance the feel, but Raw Power mentions that it's taken a few slight liberties in the pursuit of fun where it feels appropriate.

The studio also emphasizes that Chronicles Medieval is "built with modding in mind," and that it believes in the ability for communities to create everything from new features and additional mission types, to more wacky changes such as "100 Thomas the Tank Engines versus one Master Chief." The team has been working with modders from the game's inception to ensure it can become a "fully moddable playground" for those that want it.

Chronicles Medieval will be launched into early access in 2026. Raw Power plans to offer co-op support for custom battles initially, but is also planning to integrate full campaign co-op when the final release arrives.

For now, there are even more of the best medieval games to choose from, alongside the best RPGs for all manner of long-form character building.

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