Beaten Path, an Extensively Customizable SRPG, Coming in 2026

Fans of strategy RPGs have another game to keep an eye on in 2026: Beaten Path from Peacebreak Studio hopes to deliver compelling gameplay and storytelling. Following a successfully funded (but still ongoing) Kickstarter campaign, it’s clearly resonating with RPG fans.

The game places you in control of young adventurer Panna, trapped in a mysterious time loop (I’m listening). Gameplay includes tactical mechanics on a hex grid and a dual-job system inspired by the likes of Final Fantasy Tactics and Fire Emblem. The presentation looks polished even now during the funding phase, with an attractive painterly style and miniature-styled map and town graphics (see below!), with music by the team at Scarlet Moon. I recommend checking out the trailer below to see some of the character customization options as well, as it looks fairly in-depth. Peacebreak Studio notes that there are 300+ customization combinations, and describes the game thusly:

“Beaten Path takes our favorite elements from the SRPG staples and puts them to work in a new experience,” says Peacebreak Studio. “Classics like Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy Tactics, and more recently, Triangle Strategy, inspired our direction for the game between their high level of customization and thought-proving battles. We were also deeply inspired by slower-burn fantasy stories like Frieren and the character work in Malazan. With Beaten Path, we want to capture that same feeling of discovery and emotional weight, but with modern pacing and polish. We hope you’ll enjoy everything the game has to offer!”

Beaten Path Trailer

Scarlet Moon was kind enough to provide us with some exclusive screenshots and quotes from the developer below:

“My goal was to mix the tactical gameplay of Fire Emblem and Final Fantasy Tactics with the rich, character-driven worldbuilding often found in fantasy novels and anime.”

“The dual-job system, inspired by classic JRPGs, is built to go beyond just picking a class. Each job has its own branching skill tree, giving players the freedom to tailor abilities and stats to the unique path they want for every character.”

Of course, we have more than two screens! Get a closer look at Beaten Path‘s art style both in and out of battle in the gallery below:

Beaten Path Screenshots

Beaten Path‘s Kickstarter campaign launched a couple weeks ago, but as of this writing, the project surpassed its $20,000 USD funding goal as well as the $30k stretch goal to add a Hard Mode. With the campaign running until September 18th, there’s still time for other stretch goals, like New Game+ and additional language and platform support. As of now, Beaten Path is planned to launch on Windows via Steam sometime in 2026.