An Old School RPG Worth Playing

Wildheart by developer Wayfinder Studios is made up of former AAA developers looking to forge their own path.

Yes, I know we’ve heard that story before, but I can’t help but feel that this is different. Not just because there’s a lot of potential in Wyldheart, an upcoming ARPG that wants to bring the feel of a tabletop RPG to the co-op video game experience, but also because they’re making the game they want to make, not what they think the market wants.

Dennis Brännvall is Wayfinder’s Creative Director and co-founder. If the name sounds familiar, it’s because he has over a decade of experience in the industry, especially in games like Star Wars Battlefront II and Finals. Brännvall and his small team of over a dozen developers have been hard at work on Wyldheart for the past four years, and they’re finally ready to show things off at PAX East 2026. Before that, I was lucky enough to spend an hour with the game, and I’m happy to report that it scratches the surface of all my old-school RPGs.

Wyldheart Wants To Target RPG Gamers Who Can Invest 100 Hours Into A Campaign

After extensive work in the FPS genre, Brännvall asked his team what they would do if they weren’t developing shooters. That led to the foundation of Wayfinder and a five-year plan to release Wyldheart. Here we are in the fourth year of that program, and it’s time to show the world what they’ve been up to. The concept of bringing a tabletop RPG experience into video game form isn’t exactly new. Still, Brännvall felt there was an opening in the market that they could take advantage of.

We felt like you want to play RPGs together as small communities or your family or as your own small Discord group, then it feels like you’re stuck between signing up for a really long genre of single player RPGs that can also be played cooperatively. So you’re signing up for about 160 hours, and that can be difficult for some teams to meet every week and keep playing.

Brännvall also points out that while MMORPGs exist, they are a huge timesink. “We thought, ‘Hey, there might be a gap here for smaller communities that want to play RPGs together. Something like a bite.'” Wyldheart is designed to take advantage of this, using multiple campaigns that can be completed in twelve hours or so, allowing players to have a more manageable schedule to enjoy themselves rather than making a huge investment.

True-Blue Tabletop RPG experience

One thing that immediately struck me was how well Wyldheart captures the authentic old-school tabletop RPG experience.

Its gameplay is reminiscent of the PC RPGs you grew up with, with the added benefits of modern quality-of-life enhancements. The right balance between delivering a focused environment and not constantly holding your hands. It’s not as open as, say, Elden Ring, but I’d argue that’s a good thing. I really don’t want a game that’s going to throw me into an incredibly hostile open world and tell me “good luck.” I want to explore a world full of secrets that require cooperation to solve puzzles and defeat enemies. That’s what Wyldheart accomplishes.

During our opening dungeon, that’s exactly what we were tasked with: carefully exploring the crawling caves, dealing with enemies lurking behind every corner, and constantly looking for loot upgrades and valuable items that would allow us to continue on our way. The good thing here is that, again, there wasn’t any hand-wringing or obvious points of interest for us to solve puzzles, but the game does a great job of providing the context needed to progress.

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For example, one boss enemy was resistant to elemental damage. However, there were several barrels of torch fire that I could not only connect with, but also throw. Hmm, wondering what that might mean? This is one of the few examples of how Wyldheart captures that creativity and interactivity that makes a top-of-the-line RPG experience so great, and that’s just the beginning. Best of all, everything is designed for your team to work together. You travel as a team, face problems as a team, and succeed as a team.

Wyldheart Shows The Importance Of Making The Game You Want

It’s not a great time to be a video game developer.

Talk of layoffs has been brewing in the industry for some time, and 2026 is off to a rough start. Epic Games recently laid off about 1,000 developers from its team. Highguard, which was a project from former Repspawn developers, failed to survive for two months before shutting down its servers. So what makes Wyldheart different? First, it’s the small team size that allows Wayfinder Studios to be fast.

If they want to make a change to improve the game, they can just succeed. No need to go through multiple rounds of approval; it’s all about learning from player feedback and using that small team size to adapt. In fact, it’s something Brännvall believes works directly in their favor, allowing the group to follow their passions. He talks about his love for the original World of Warcraft locations, like Elwynn Forest and Westfall, something that quickly fills my ears. He talks about drawing inspiration from Shadow Dark or Dragon Bane.

These are all things that will resonate with the target audience, but it’s a far cry from the voices we see in, say, AAA games. It’s a much-needed breath of fresh air that helps Wyldheart stand out in a crowded marketplace, and the band’s true belief shines through. It also led to attracting more AAA talent to the team at Wayfinder, such as Erin Bower, Wayfinder’s Director of Marketing, who brings over a decade of experience working with Rockstar, Square Enix, and Riot Games. I can feel Erin’s enthusiasm for Wyldheart, which is contagious during our hour-long play session. He, along with Brännvall, is the perfect guide to take me on a journey that I can’t wait to experience again.

I’m always happy when a group of established game developers make their own way away from AAA studios. We already saw what could happen last year in the story of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Am I saying that Wyldheart will definitely follow in those footsteps? It is not so; the game still has a long way to go before entering and entering the Front. That said, if you’re looking for an RPG experience that captures the magic of tabletop gaming, look no further.

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