Even in a year packed with great RPGs, you don't want to miss Disco Elysium-style time loop noir Rue Valley, which has a new trailer and a release date in November

Rue Valley key art — (Image credit: Owlcat Games)

Even in a year with two main course Obsidian joints in Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, as well as the Oblivion Remaster, one of the RPGs we're most excited about is Rue Valley, a time loop mystery set in a surreal motel in the American southwest. And now we know we don't have much longer to wait: In a new trailer, publisher Owlcat and developer Emotion Spark have announced a release date of November 11.

The release trailer outlines three potential "builds" for Mr. Harrow, the poor schmuck at the center of the time loop. The first is a neurotic, cerebral obsessive who "pokes into everything, talks to everyone. He even inspects garbage, just in case there's lore."

Rue Valley Date Reveal Trailer - YouTube

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Charitably, I'd call him Rust Cohle from True Detective but without all the swag. Uncharitably? A classic RPG gamer's murderhobo, with Reaction Speed and Encyclopedia being the Disco Elysium skills that come to mind.

The next Harrow is a morose, melancholic type approaching things at a much slower pace, but with no less of an eye for detail⁠—he's giving Disco's Harry with maxed out Inland Empire and Empathy. Last in the Harrow line-up is a bastard Harrow, or "badass" to quote the trailer. He flips people off, punches inanimate objects, and hates self-reflection. Half Light and Physical Instrument all the way.

Rue Valley would be an exciting enough RPG on its own merits, but it's also earned praise and attention from Disco Elysium developers Robert Kurvitz, Aleksander Rostov, and Helen Hindpere. PCG online editor Fraser Brown loved Rue Valley's demo, but I've been holding off for the full thing, and November 11 can't come soon enough. You can wishlist Rue Valley over on Steam, GOG, or Epic.

Ted has been thinking about PC games and bothering anyone who would listen with his thoughts on them ever since he booted up his sister's copy of Neverwinter Nights on the family computer. He is obsessed with all things CRPG and CRPG-adjacent, but has also covered esports, modding, and rare game collecting. When he's not playing or writing about games, you can find Ted lifting weights on his back porch. You can follow Ted on Bluesky.

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