I appreciate that throughout October we keep seeing more spooky-themed games, because while it’s fun to have those at the end of the month and close to Halloween, we can’t play ’em all at once, so let’s spread them out! Between the colorful, Disgaea-esque vibes of Demons’ Night Fever, and the neon colors and viscera of Stupid Never Dies, it’s a very colorful style of darkness, for sure. We also have the first Western release of an obscure SEGA Genesis SRPG, with Vixen 357.
I list all of these except the biggest one first, because if you’ve been following Final Fantasy Resonance, you don’t even need us to tell you it’s coming this week. It’s far and away the biggest game this week for fans of old-school turn-based Final Fantasy, but honestly, this week is a shorter but really solid lineup of games worth a look!
Intro by Mike Salbato
Demons’ Night Fever – October 21st (PS5, Switch, Windows)
Demons’ Night Fever is the next title from Disgaea creator Sohei Niikawa, who previously released the musical action RPG Etrange Overlord earlier this year. Demons’ Night Fever returns to the strategy RPG genre Niikawa is best known for, but with a few unique twists compared to his past works. In most strategy RPGs, protecting your units from harm and keeping them alive is paramount; in Demons’ Night Fever, the Peon Exploitation System encourages players to sacrifice their expendable soldiers without a second thought to gain strength. The colorful aesthetics and humorous narrative involving super sentai heroes and magical girls will be familiar to any fan of classic NIS strategy RPGs, though it remains to be seen if the unique gameplay mechanics differentiate this title enough from Niikawa’s past works. Our own Paul Skevington found Etrange Overlord full of unique ideas despite some rough execution, so I’m hopeful that Demons’ Night Fever will be a villainously good time when it launches this week.
by Ben Love
Stupid Never Dies – October 21st (PS5, Windows)
You’d be forgiven for mistaking Stupid Never Dies as another Suda51 joint—as I did—but it turns out this SEGA-published action RPG is actually the first venture by GPTRACK50 Inc., a studio funded by China’s NetEase and headed by former Capcom devs. Put your pitchforks down; the “GPT” stands for “Game Play Track.” Still, NetEase DID also fund Suda51’s Grasshopper Studios right up until the start of October this year, and GPTRACK50 Inc. acknowledges Suda51 as an influence.
Stupid Never Dies casts you as Davy, a wimpy zombie seeking the power to unfreeze his girlfriend, Julia, with the lost human knowledge hidden in a monster-filled Dungeon. With each run into the Dungeon, Davy can bite and absorb powers of various creatures, absorbing abilities, transforming his shape, and changing into eleven different playstyles (limited each run to two styles on top of the default Zombie style). Stupid Never Dies has the same pomp and irreverence as games like Lollipop Chainsaw or Bayonetta, so it seems like a fun, flashy throwback to the days of PS3 3D action games. Can love consume on a battlefield?
by Matt Wardell
Final Fantasy Resonance – October 22nd (PS5, Switch, Switch 2, XBX, Windows)
The trend of converting mobile games with gacha components to full-fledged “offline” RPGs continues this week, with the incredibly promising Final Fantasy Resonance. Final Fantasy Resonance is the first Final Fantasy title to get the HD-2D treatment, and the game is based on the first portion of the story in Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, a popular mobile game that ran for nine years before being shut down in 2024.
Scott played Resonance at an event in August and was really impressed with what he played, as are many players who have checked out the game’s demo. It’s safe to say we will have a review up as soon we are able, but I’m quite excited about this one, myself. I hope people love it, and moreover, I hope it does well enough to send a message to Square Enix that this type of remake is what a lot of players would love to see for other classic titles like Final Fantasy VI or Chrono Trigger. (They don’t all have to be 12-year-journey full 3D remakes!)
by Mike Salbato
Vixen 357 – October 23rd (Switch)
This week marks the first English (and Spanish) release of strategy RPG Vixen 357. In fact, its October 23rd launch will be 34 years to the day since its 1992 SEGA Mega Drive release! The title lands on the Switch this week, and Windows via Steam sometime later this year. Vixen 357 is a turn-based strategy RPG featuring mecha known as VECTORs as humanity wages war against hostile alien forces. Taking inspiration from the Fire Emblem series, Vixen 357 features permadeath for the player’s mech pilots if they fall in battle. There is an aftermarket physical release for Mega Drive/Genesis from publisher Shinyuden for a tidy sum, but thankfully Ratalaika Games is offering the translated version digitally for a very affordable $5.99 USD, the perfect price point for a long-lost hidden gem.
by Ben Love
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