Welcome back to RPGs Coming This Week, where we highlight some of the most promising and noteworthy upcoming roleplaying (and roleplaying-adjacent) titles. 2024 promises to be a downright chonker of a year, judging by our release calendar. In my opinion, we’re kicking off the year with games that have serious potential, so let’s get down to it!
Archaelund (Entering Early Access) – January 8th (Windows)
It’s taken a while, but the turn-based dungeon crawler Archaelund is finally about to launch… sort of. It’s coming to Early Access, and developer 4 Dimension Games expects to reach version 1.0 in the second quarter of 2026. Archaelund‘s reveal came nearly six years ago, for context.
You might know 4 Dimension as the studio behind 2015’s decidedly old-school Exiled Kingdoms, which still has a following to this day on mobile and PC. Worth noting is that, at the time of writing, its Steam page has reviews (glowing ones at that) as recent as yesterday. The common refrain seems to be that Exiled Kingdoms has strong worldbuilding, quest design, and attention to detail, albeit with some jank.
Archaelund isn’t a direct successor, but it’s got a lot of the same DNA. Exploration this time around takes place in first person instead of its predecessor’s isometric view. Battles will zoom out to a top-down grid, though, which says the devs want us to strategize our way to victory. There will, of course, be character progression, job classes, questing, secrets, and lore (galore).
As late as this game may seem, I’d wager it could actually be right on time. CRPGs are having a moment with the runaway success of Baldur’s Gate III, and I have a feeling it’s a “rising tide lifts all boats” situation. I anticipate (or at least hope) that the foreseeable future will see greater interest in high-fantasy RPGs, including Archaelund.
Crystal Story: Dawn of Dusk – January 12th (Windows)
RPGs Coming This Week’s first SNES-era throwback of the year is Crystal Story: Dawn of Dusk, a turn-based/action hybrid with some very clear inspirations in EarthBound, Final Fantasy VI, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Final Fantasy Adventure on the Game Boy, and even a little Undertale for good measure.
That’s me judging entirely by the trailer and the screenshots we have and not the presently available demo. The thing is, while Crystal Story seems to lift ideas/visuals from those games quite brazenly, it all feels more like a tongue-in-cheek love letter to the classics rather than a rip-off. I’m sensing a lot of passion and wit from developer Fred Brown and company, and the sheer audacity of it all has succeeded in making me want to check out the full release. You win, Fred Brown. You win.
Frogsong – January 13th (Switch)
You’ve heard of “Dogsong“, now get ready for Frogsong! This is an action RPG with a hand-drawn 2D aesthetic, and it sure is cute. It kind of resembles Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling but closer to Zelda, gameplay-wise.
Feedback for the original PC release in 2023 has been strong, especially for its story. If you’re looking for a short and sweet experience on the Switch that sticks with you long after the credits roll, chances are that you could do far worse than Frogsong. My favorite review: “I’m literally them fr”.
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