RPGs Coming This Week, 8/3/25

Artis Impact – August 7th (Windows)

Here’s a game that’s embedded itself into my brain since entering my radar last fall. Made by solo Malaysian developer Mas, Artis Impact is a turn-based RPG with a singular visual style that looks even better in motion. It’s rare to see sprites move with as much frame-by-frame, pixel-by-pixel subtlety as in Artis Impact, and Mas seems to deploy these hyper-detailed animations to show — not tell — protagonist Akane’s personality, from her epic, intensely anime sword slashes to foes to the (extremely relatable) way she belly flops on a bed.

I really like this interview Mas did with Netto’s Game Room, going over the art style, influences (Harvest Moon and Terranigma fans, hello!), and more. It seems Artis Impact may well be released on other platforms, and I can’t help but think that strong sales when it launches this week on PC might be the push it needs to get there.

Chained Echoes: Ashes of Elrant – August 7th (PS4, XB1, Switch, Windows, macOS, Linux)

Remember Chained Echoes, the throwback RPG that blindsided a lot of people around the time it came out by being such a good homage to the classics? Well, it’s getting a DLC expansion all these years later with more story content, areas, enemies, music and a new playable character. Ashes of Elrant is expected to give us everything we loved from the base game — again! What else is there to say, Chained Echoes fans?

Well, if you’re unfamiliar, our own Caitlin Argyros goes into detail about how and why Chained Echoes executes so well on its ideas. Read her review and you’ll understand exactly the caliber of video game we’re dealing with here.

Paper Animal Adventure (Entering Early Access) – August 7th (Windows)

Coming this week to Steam Early Access, Paper Animal Adventure might look like a slight little jaunt, and maybe it is, but it’s also a turn-based roguelite RPG that draws from long and storied series like Paper Mario and Mystery Dungeon. It’ll have players roaming procedurally generated maps, fending off foes and relaxing at campfires in between. Something tells me it’s a little tougher than it looks. Of course, there’s a casual mode for if you really do want that easier experience.

While Paper Animal Adventure is about 50% done and expected to receive tweaks and additional content throughout early access, it’s supposed to be “fully playable and completable” from when it comes out. It might be the kind of game you revisit and do a few runs for every time a new update comes out.

Xak Precious Package: The Tower of Gazzel – August 7th (Switch)

Here’s another entry in the Eggconsole series, which is about releasing Switch ports of retro PC games that mostly came out only in Japan. Pretty good way to archive and preserve these for future generations, though it’d be even better if these came out on PC in some form.

Anyway, Xak Precious Package: The Tower of Gazzel is the latest one of these, and it’s particularly obscure. The game is part of the Xak series of action RPGs, serving as a side story in between the second and third games. It plays similarly to other top-down games like Ys, though the player character in The Tower of Gazzel starts with the ability to fire off projectiles, in addition to your standard sword attacks.

Cat Quest III – August 8th (macOS, iOS)

Coming this week to Apple platforms is Cat Quest III, the famously cute, short, and kid-friendly series of RPGs. The first two games are already on macOS and iOS, so it only makes sense to have this third entry on there too.