XCOM meets Rashomon in Vaunted, a tactical RPG where your characters can rewrite history from their perspective

XCOM meets Rashomon in Vaunted, a tactical RPG where your characters can rewrite history from their perspective | PC Gamer Skip to main content Open menu Close main menu PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES US Edition UK US Canada Australia Subscribe Sign in View Profile Sign out Search Search PC Gamer Games Hardware News Reviews Guides Video Forum More PC Gaming Show PC Gamer Clips Software Codes Coupons Movies & TV Magazine Newsletter Affiliate links Meet the team Community guidelines About PC Gamer PC Gamer Magazine SubscriptionWhy subscribe?Subscribe to the world’s #1 PC gaming magTry a single issue or save on a subscriptionIssues delivered straight to your door or device From$1Subscribe now Don’t miss these RPG The companions in Owlcat’s new Mass Effect-inspired RPG stand ready to have heart-to-heart chats, drag you into their sidequests, and blow a lot of stuff up Strategy Star Wars Zero Company is more than just ‘Star Wars XCOM’—it feels like Mass Effect but with turn-based tactics and permadeath Strategy ‘Early on in the 2000s, we got enamored with consoles and I think certain games didn’t make the leap right:⁠’ Star Wars Zero Company’s director has a theory about why old school PC gaming genres are back with a vengeance Games Upcoming 2026 games: All the new PC games you won’t want to miss, from big hits to hidden gems Strategy ‘Realtime-with-pause is not dead,’ says lead designer of promising turn-based game Star Wars Zero Company Games Aether & Iron is a thrilling narrative RPG in a floating, skybound reimagining of New York City’s vibrant 1930s landscape Strategy Everything you need to know about Star Wars Zero Company Action After 6 hours, Crimson Desert is one of the most overwhelming, chaotic, madcap videogames I’ve ever played—and I’m hungry for more Strategy Star Wars Zero Company devs said ‘there were some fights’ about its story-centric squadmates suffering permadeath, but accepting that ‘Star Wars is about loss’ made the game stronger RPG The Expanse: Osiris Reborn will get pre-orderers in for beta testing nearly a year before launch Strategy If you simply cannot wait for the new Heroes of Might and Magic, this sci-fi take on HoMM just launched from Steam early access RPG As a Pathfinder 2e sicko, I’m excited for Starfinder: Afterlight after playing an hour of its playtest—but Epictellers has a lot of work to do before demo time this summer Third Person Shooter Our full chat with Embark: How Arc Raiders was saved mid-development, the balancing process, and the possibility of vehicles RPG Exodus, the space opera epic with trailers narrated by Matthew McConaughey, drops a trio of gameplay clips that still look a lot like Mass Effect RPG Solasta 2 is shaping up to be the kind of tactical D&D hexcrawl Baldur’s Gate 3 very much was not PopularSpring SaleClipsCrimson DesertMarathonBest PC gearQuizzes Games RPG XCOM meets Rashomon in Vaunted, a tactical RPG where your characters can rewrite history from their perspective News By Rick Lane published 29 March 2026 The debut title from Lost Lake Games also lets you switch between turn-based combat and real-time action. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Lost Lake Games) Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter PC Gamer The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? 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Signup + Every Wednesday Switch 2 Spotlight Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo’s new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play. Signup + Every Saturday The Watchlist Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we’ve got you covered. Signup + Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! Signup + An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter I’m not sure I’ve entirely got my head around Vaunted, the latest game to emerge from the stable of Hooded Horse, PC gaming’s hottest publisher. Revealed at last week’s Xbox Partner Preview, Vaunted is a sci-fi tactical RPG where you control a motley crew of thieves and mercenaries forced to do the bidding of a criminal syndicate after an ambitious expedition goes horribly awry.I understand the bones of Vaunted well enough, though, I do have some questions. The game involves assembling motley crews of miscreants and leading them into battle in a run-based format. A key gimmick is that Vaunted lets you switch between turn-based combat and real-time third-person action. For example, you can deploy specific abilities and plan manoeuvres in your fixed turn, then switch to real-time to move a character into cover or dodge incoming projectiles.I can see how that would work, though I’m intrigued to see how developer Lost Lake Games stops this from giving the player a massive advantage. Where things get particularly intriguing (and confusing) is how Vaunted approaches narrative.Article continues below You may like Star Wars Zero Company is more than just ‘Star Wars XCOM’—it feels like Mass Effect but with turn-based tactics and permadeath ‘We lost things such as physics in games:’ The dev behind my most anticipated RPG thinks players are craving more interactive games, not just ‘moving around in a static 3D environment’ InXile’s steampunk RPG Clockwork Revolution aims to ‘bring the level of reactivity from our isometric titles into something first-perso