Dread Delusion

Dread Delusion places you in a broken world where the surface seethes with an undead curse and humanity survives on flying continents. From mushroom forests to undead mausoleums, the landscape is strange and the locals stranger. A central interactive narrative threads through, but you can also just pick a direction and wander.

Gameplay openly draws from early-2000s RPGs (the era of Morrowind and Gothic). Combat is one option among many; charm, lockpicking, occult knowledge and persuasion all open alternate paths through quests. Character builds aren't class-locked, so a mage can become a swordsman or a charmer can pivot into alchemy. Smithing turns a rusty blade into a Master Crafted Clockwork Sword; alchemy brews potions that bend reality.

Factions pursue their own agendas, and joining or opposing them shapes the world's eventual state. The Clockwork God on one end, occultists on another, mortal kings caught between. The retro 3D aesthetic stays low-poly and chunky-textured throughout, paired with hand-painted UI and an atmospheric synth-and-strings soundtrack. Lovely Hellplace developed; DreadXP published.