Welcome to a lean and mean edition of RPGs Coming This Week, the column where we give the most noteworthy new RPG (or RPG-adjacent) titles the coverage they deserve. And boy are these particular ones noteworthy. Not to be presumptuous, but I fully expect all three to be Game of the Year award contenders, if not outright winners. Anyway, let’s get on with the previews!
Eastward: Octopia – January 31st (Switch, Windows)
In contrast with Eastward‘s near-collapsed society, expect life above ground in the Eastward: Octopia expansion DLC to be peaceful, heartwarming, and thriving with abundant crops and livestock. In a parallel universe, protagonists Sam and John begin a new life on the farm and help their neighbors with their everyday lives. Octopia will feature most activities you would do in any farm simulation game: growing crops, tending animals, gathering and cooking recipes, fishing, and straight-up building houses.
The developers have said that since Octopia is an entirely different game mode, players who haven’t played Eastward (myself included) are welcome to jump straight into it. You’ll need a copy of the base game to access it ($5.99 USD on PC via Steam and the Nintendo eShop) though.
by Tin Manuel
Granblue Fantasy: Relink – February 1st (PS5, PS4, Windows)
No, we can’t believe it’s really happening either.
Granblue Fantasy: Relink first appeared as a “most anticipated” game for RPGFan in 2020 and has maintained a consistent presence on the annual feature in the last four years. So you can imagine its release this week is the culmination of years of anticipation for many on staff (Des Miller chief amongst them).
If you’re late to the party (or managed to avoid the game’s heartbreakingly choppy development cycle), Granblue Fantasy: Relink is an action RPG set in the “Sky Realm.” The hype train’s been fixated on its diverse character roster (there were 11 unique loadouts in the most recent demo); real-time, fully customizable combat; and co-op opportunities, among other highlight features.
We simply can’t wait to get our hands on it.
Be sure to keep it tuned to our homepage to get the full review later this week and for any and all things RPG!
by Kyle Cantelon
Persona 3 Reload – February 2nd (PS5, XSX, PS4, XB1, Windows)
Time never waits. It delivers all equally to the same end.
I (and many of you, I’m sure) will inevitably play Persona 3 Reload, the much-anticipated remake of Persona 3. It’s just vanilla P3 again; Reload won’t have the content added in Persona 3 Portable or Persona 3: FES. The Answer? Forget about it. FeMC route? DLC, if we’re lucky. God knows Atlus loves its DLC.
(Well, some of the story changes from FES are in, according to a producer.)
Strange development choices aside, I’m still genuinely excited about Persona 3 Reload. The new music (Lotus Juice da gawd) has gone a long way with me, and I’m pumped to check out the improvements to combat and daily life gameplay. Atlus always finds fresh ways to iterate on the formula.
Our own Scott Clay got some hands-on time with the game, and he had plenty to say about it. Check out his feature article.
by Gio Castillo
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