Feudal Japan. Boshin War. Steam-powered war machines stomping through ancient temple courtyards while yokai tear into imperial soldiers from the shadows. The British East Nippon Company (yes, really) has handed Emperor Mutsuhito’s forces a massive technological leg-up, and here you are, a ragtag party of ronin, retainers, and one very suspicious child, trying to survive the whole mess. That’s Shadow of the Road, and Owlcat Games just locked in a release date at gamescom: November 12, 2026, on Steam, GOG, and Epic.

Developer Another Angle Games has serious pedigree (Witcher, Ghostrunner, Rogue Trader alumni), and the tactical bones look sharp: turn-based combat with relationship mechanics, multi-attack combos, environmental interaction, and a yokai transformation mode for when everything has gone completely sideways. The Omega7Red Formulae looked at 19th-century Japan, said “needs more rivets and fog,” and apparently the result is a war story where your most dangerous enemy might be a steam automaton, a supernatural fox spirit, or your own party members’ conflicting loyalties. All three, probably, before lunch. A free demo is already on Steam if you want to find out the hard way. High-5.

Via: RPGamer

Samurai. Yōkai. And a British trade conglomerate rolling in with steam-powered war machines to “help” everyone modernize. Shadow of the Road is a turn-based tactical RPG from Another Angle Games (published by Owlcat, the fine people behind Pathfinder and Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader) set in a reimagined 1868 Bakumatsu-era Japan, where the Tokugawa Shogunate and Emperor Mutsuhito’s loyalists are already at each other’s throats, and the British East Nippon Company has decided this is a great time to show up with steampunk constructs and advanced firepower. Progress and prosperity, they promise. Sure. Sure they do.

Your fight roster isn’t just human factions either: yōkai share the battlefield with armored steampunk contraptions, so your party loadout has to cover supernatural threats AND industrial machinery in the same engagement. The campaign follows a Tokugawa spymaster who recruits ronin Satoru and Akira to escort a boy with unstable, catastrophic power, and every relationship in that party matters mechanically. Choices reshape bonds, break them, or push characters down completely different paths. The Doctor approves of consequences that actually stick. The demo is live on Steam right now, the full release is still 2026, and the store pages are already up on Steam, GOG, and Epic. Go play the demo. Nothing can beat old age and betrayal, but a well-timed tactical yōkai ambush is a solid second place.

Via: RPG Site