Many RPG players enjoy Final Fantasy for its story, characters, and constantly evolving combat systems, but there has simultaneously been some demand for new RPGs that take different approaches in style and mechanics. That’s where Heart of Gaia, a steampunk-inspired action RPG coming soon to Steam, comes in, as it could attract that group of players who are looking for an alternative experience with real-time combat and a unique fantasy world. Longtime Final Fantasy fans, especially, might find something worth their time here, as it seems to offer the character and world-building depth that some believe Square Enix’s beloved franchise has lost over the years.
Heart of Gaia comes from Brokentail Games, an indie developer and publisher that seems to be making its debut with the action RPG. It’s still in a pre-release stage on Steam at the moment, with a Q1 2026 release window and a fully playable demo available that players can take advantage of to take the game for a spin. At first glance, it doesn’t look like the blockbusters some of the more recent Final Fantasy games have been, but that’s where it might have an advantage of the decades-old RPG franchise. There’s a lot of ambition here when it comes to its lore-rich world and engaging party mechanics, but that’s precisely what many fans of Final Fantasy have been asking for lately.
Heart of Gaia’s Steampunk World and Party-Driven Combat Fill a Final Fantasy-Sized Void
Heart of Gaia is a steampunk action RPG set in a world that never fully recovered from a cataclysm known as the Decline of the Gods. Long ago, a primordial chaos dragon nearly brought everything to ruin before being sealed away, but signs now suggest that history may be repeating itself. As cults and shadowy forces begin moving behind the scenes, a new band of unlikely heroes is pulled into the center of a growing crisis, fighting to prevent an ancient evil from resurfacing. Through real-time combat and party-based character switching, players step into a world caught between fading divinity and mechanical progress, where the past refuses to stay buried.
Who’s That Character?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Easy (7.5s)Medium (5.0s)Hard (2.5s)Permadeath (2.5s)
Heart of Gaia’s Core Features
- EXPANSIVE STEAMPUNK WORLD — Explore a vast fantasy setting with steampunk aesthetics.
- PARTY-BASED RPG ELEMENTS — Assemble and control a party with varied skills.
- REAL-TIME COMBAT SYSTEM — Fight using dynamic real-time action combat.
- CHARACTER SWITCHING MECHANIC — Swap between party members during combat.
- SOULS-LIKE CHALLENGES — Includes tough fights and explorative challenges.
- EMPHASIS ON EXPLORATION — Navigate large regions and discover secrets.
- RICH LORE AND STORY — A narrative driven by ancient mysteries and conflict.
Even just looking at it, it’s easy to tell Heart of Gaia isn’t your typical RPG, as its art style and presentation set it apart from almost every other game in the genre. It’s not done in the HD-2D pixel art style of some of Square Enix’s latest games, like Octopath Traveler and the Dragon Quest 1 and 2 HD-2D Remake, it’s not in the more photorealistic style of modern JRPGs like Final Fantasy 16, and it doesn’t even call back to retro RPGs from the SNES era. Instead, it opts for oil painting-like visuals that appear hand-drawn but richly detailed.
Where Heart of Gaia really aims to stand out, however, is in its combat. While many modern RPGs often choose between either turn-based combat or simple real-time mechanics, Heart of Gaia leans fully into the action RPG genre, with mid-fight character-swapping that allows players to better tailor their approach to unique situations. Instead of relying on a single protagonist, players rotate through a roster of six playable characters with distinct combat styles and abilities. While games like Octopath Traveler have party-swapping mechanics, this kind of real-time character switching is somewhat rare in the RPG genre, especially when it means swapping between playstyles rather than mere character models.
Heart of Gaia’s Six Playable Characters
- OLEG THE ROGUE — A shadow warrior shaped by tragedy, summoned to Aetheria and driven by vengeance.
- ALEXANDER THE PALADIN — Captain of the northern infantry and a faithful member of the Order of Paladins, embodying honor and justice.
- BALTHAZAR THE MAGE — An arcane scholar on a secret mission to track a rogue mage, analytical and knowledgeable about forbidden magic.
- KATHERINE THE PRIESTESS — A priestess of light known for her compassion and powerful command of white magic.
- SIGFRA THE HUNTRESS — An elven master archer and elite sentinel guarding the Dark Forest, vigilant and pragmatic.
- LEORA THE MONK — A disciplined monk from the Floating Isles, dedicated to upholding a sacred seal against a dark curse.
From the looks of things, Heart of Gaia‘s diverse character roster isn’t just for combat either, as each party member contributes to the game’s seemingly narrative-driven world. In traditional JRPGs, character arcs often make up the emotional core of the story—especially the Final Fantasy series—and Heart of Gaia looks to carry on that tradition. The combination of personalities, backgrounds, and skills within the roster should theoretically not only add depth to the game’s combat but also its character development and the relationship dynamics between them.
Instead of relying on a single protagonist, players rotate through a roster of six playable characters with distinct combat styles and abilities.
Narrative aside, Heart of Gaia features a “vast” world worth exploring. Apart from what players can see in the game’s demo, there is limited information about what its world can offer. However, they’re guaranteed to navigate plenty of steampunk-themed environments, and its lore-rich world is bound to make each region feel like a place with its own history, its own scars, and its own unanswered questions.
One of Heart of Gaia‘s Steam tags suggests it is an open-world game, but there is no confirmation that it is fully open world.
Heart of Gaia’s Smaller Scale Could Work in Its Favor
When comparing Heart of Gaia to something like Final Fantasy, it’s important to acknowledge the scale difference. Final Fantasy games often come with enormous budgets, cinematic cutscenes, and global marketing pushes. Heart of Gaia, on the other hand, is a smaller, indie-driven project, but that is precisely what could work in its favor. Freed from the pressure to conform to blockbuster expectations, Brokentail Games appears to be focusing on the core elements that have made the best RPGs so beloved in the industry.
There are still a lot of unknowns—final balance, story pacing, and how deep character arcs will go are all unknowns until Heart of Gaia‘s release. But based on what is publicly visible, it stands out in a crowded space of RPG announcements by promising a more intimate yet still ambitious take on the genre. If it continues on toward launch, it could very well satisfy those RPG fans looking for something that hits the emotional beats they’ve missed from more recent Final Fantasy games without falling back on worn-out tropes.
Heart of Gaia launches on Steam in Q1 2026.
