Marvel's Best RPG Hasn't Been Made Yet

When it comes to games, Marvel has been all over the place, from exciting action-adventure experiences like Marvel’s Spider-Man to hero shooters with deep rosters such as Marvel Rivals. However, there has never really been a dedicated RPG set in the world of Marvel Comics, with the deckbuilding strategy game Marvel’s Midnight Suns being the only one that comes the closest. This seems strange, as there is an obvious setting iconic to Marvel’s storied universe that would be perfect for a role-playing experience.

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With Marvel’s Wolverine on the horizon, it’s interesting to see which characters Marvel tends to lean toward when it comes to video games. For example, Spider-Man has a long history of games, but heroes like Iron Man or Daredevil have only been seen in different titles due to their recent popularity through movies or TV shows. With one avenue of Marvel back on the rise due to a successful animated show revival, there couldn’t be a better time for a game featuring one of the company’s oldest properties.

An X-Men RPG Could Allow Players To Create Their Own Mutant For Superhero Adventures

The fact that there isn’t an X-Men RPG is almost criminal, as Charles Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters is arguably the best setting for a custom character to enter the mutant side of Marvel. Being able to pick mutant powers through RPG-style classes to craft a unique experience would be incredible, allowing for multiple gameplay opportunities exclusive to your choices. Games like Baldur’s Gate 3 could serve as an X-Men RPG’s blueprint, as you form a “party” of gifted characters to take on dangers together.

This game wouldn’t even need to have a wealth of X-Men characters, but use the most well-known ones as mentors to your RPG character. For example, if this RPG used a traditional class system, having a character with super strength might take queues from Colossus or Wolverine. Multiple interactions with iconic X-Men faces would be enough to sell this concept alone, as your custom mutant navigates learning how to use their abilities and grow stronger.

Different Titles In Other Universes Already Show Immersive World Building With Custom Characters In Popular IPs

An X-Men RPG could also take an MMO approach, similar to DC Universe Online and its integration of custom characters into a larger world based on comics. Other titles like Star Wars: The Old Republic even allow your custom figure to have unique dialogue and morality paths based on your decisions, dipping into the RPG aspects of the game more. In either case, both MMOs are heavily influenced by the IPs they are set within, paying homage to series history while creating new, interesting characters and stories within it.

Going back to Baldur’s Gate 3, that game crafted by Larian Studios was a direct representation of systems from the Dungeons and Dragons TTRPG. An X-Men RPG could adopt tabletop systems that already exist, such as the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game. That pen and paper game has an expansion completely dedicated to the X-Men, building an independent framework for adventures set within that huge space of Marvel’s history. The sourcebook from that TTRPG could provide mechanics needed to shape an X-Men video game that follows the same rules.

Over 63 Years Of X-Men Stories Could Create A Nearly Endless Game For Marvel Fans

An X-Men game would not only reduce MCU fatigue in Marvel games, but also has the potential of being nearly infinitely sized in content based on the X-Men’s sheer volume of history. There are countless stories from X-Men comics that could be adopted for the story of a game, with more serving as potential DLC expansions, updates, sequels, or more. From “E is for Extinction” to “Days of Future Past,” huge X-Men events could be the backdrop for smaller stories involving the character(s) you create.