Brand-New $30 Open-World RPG's 92% Steam Rating Is Bad News for AAA Games

As the seemingly ever-increasing cost of AAA games continues to be a sore subject, a brand-new open-world RPG currently holding a 92% Steam rating has arrived on the scene, showing how possible it is for a mid-budget game to look like a AAA game and even play like a AAA game for less than half the price. That game is none other than Hound13's DragonSword: Awakening, a Breath of the Wild-like in full anime getup and perhaps the closest one could get to being Genshin Impact without the gacha mechanics that are often used to artificially prolong playability. Given its quality and undeniably positive reception on Steam, it's hard to argue that DragonSword: Awakening isn't putting some kind of pressure on the AAA side of the industry, especially considering how often players seem disappointed by what that side seems intent on producing.