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The RPGs That Made Us: Jimmy Turner

Posted by Jimmy Turner on April 25, 2025

1. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic When I met my future wife in 2005, the only RPGs I had played up to that point were JRPGs. Furthermore, she did not even know what the term RPG meant (at the time). Both these things changed when we discovered Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Being th… Read More »

The RPGs That Made Us: Audra Bowling

Posted by Audra Bowling on April 25, 2025

1. Suikoden II If FFVII holds a special place in my heart as my first ever RPG, Suikoden II holds one for being the first I bought with my own money. My sister and I pooled our saved allowance to buy it solely based on its gorgeous cover art and premise. We weren’t disappointed, immediately sucked i… Read More »

The RPGs That Made Us: Mark Roddison

Posted by Mark Roddison on April 25, 2025

1. Final Fantasy VII Purchasing a copy of this landmark RPG from my local HMV store in 1997 was a shot in the dark for me. I hadn’t been that aware of JRPGs, or much of the broader Japanese entertainment culture, prior to this act. But the cover looked stylish, and the screenshots on the back seemed… Read More »

The RPGs That Made Us: Michael Sollosi

Posted by Michael Sollosi on April 25, 2025

1. Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride Dragon Quest games always have simple core mechanics serving as vehicles for tightly-written fantasy stories, given life by the late Akira Toriyama’s vibrant character and monster designs. I love that every Dragon Quest game has combat and menus from the… Read More »

The RPGs That Made Us: Mike Salbato

Posted by Mike Salbato on April 25, 2025

1. Chrono Trigger Even if I didn’t have a love for time travel tales, Chrono Trigger is always on my list. It is, for me, old-school JRPG perfection, with timeless and gorgeous artwork and music, a cast I overwhelmingly love, and one interesting and innovative gameplay idea after another. Battles ta… Read More »

The RPGs That Made Us: Nick Mangiaracina

Posted by Nick Mangiaracina on April 25, 2025

1. EarthBound I don’t think EarthBound was the first RPG I played, but it was definitely one of the first I owned and the first one I remember sinking my teeth into. I saved up a considerable amount of money to buy it and pored over the strategy guide whenever I wasn’t near my SNES. I try not to hol… Read More »

The RPGs That Made Us: Patrick Gann

Posted by Patrick Gann on April 25, 2025

1. NieR Over the course of my life, there have only been a handful of games that caused me to shift my paradigm around what I wanted. The 2010 release of NieR showed me the things I wanted in a game that I didn’t even know I wanted. The series’ tradition of excellence continues, but I’ll never forge… Read More »

The RPGs That Made Us: Rob White

Posted by Rob White on April 25, 2025

1. Final Fantasy VIII Final Fantasy VIII was my first Final Fantasy game and just happens to be the one that most accurately reflects my tastes in many aspects — the world, story, and gameplay. Due to my age when I played it, you could even say this game helped form my taste in RPGs and fantasy fict… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2024: Best Story

Posted by Sean Cabot on February 8, 2025

Winner: Metaphor: ReFantazio Writeup by Sean Cabot There are a few JRPGs from the past few years whose handling of prejudice and slavery never sat well with me. Cliche and underdeveloped core themes overshadow any insightful points. Metaphor: ReFantazio touches upon common elements related to these… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2024: Best Localization

Posted by Tim Rattray on February 8, 2025

Winner: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Writeup by Tim Rattray This game’s localization aren’t sick. When localization is clearly undercooked, we endlessly mock it (see above). In the original Final Fantasy VII’s case, this occurred because it was handled primarily by one man in a short timeframe. These m… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2024: Best Action RPG

Posted by Tim Rattray on February 8, 2025

Winner: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Writeup by Tim Rattray I scoffed when Final Fantasy VII Remake was revealed not to be a purely turn-based game, and yet I walked away from playing it thinking it had the greatest action combat of all time. Now, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth has put even that to shame. I… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2024: Best Protagonist

Posted by Des Miller on February 8, 2025

Winner: Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy VII Rebirth) Writeup by Des Miller Weird. Awkward. Dorky. None of these are words I’d use to describe Cloud from 1997’s Final Fantasy VII, perhaps due to the original game’s lackluster localization. Yet in Final Fantasy VII Remake and its sequel, Final Fantasy VII… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2024: Best Traditional RPG

Posted by Aleks Franiczek on February 8, 2025

Winner: Metaphor: ReFantazio Writeup by Aleks Franiczek With the Shin Megami Tensei games, Atlus continually shows how masterful they are at crafting traditional RPGs. With the Persona spinoffs, they effectively redefined the conventional RPG. What do you get when you combine both these traditions?… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2024: Best Antagonist

Posted by Abraham Kobylanski on February 8, 2025

Winner: Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII Rebirth) Writeup by Abe Kobylanski We all had an idea of how Final Fantasy VII Rebirth would end and that Sephiroth would have a role in that ending. In the prologue, Cloud recalls a moment where he was assailed by a terrifying act of cruelty, and from that point… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2024: Best Graphic Adventure or Visual Novel

Posted by Aleks Franiczek on February 8, 2025

Winner: 1000xRESIST Writeup by Aleks Franiczek One of 1000xRESIST’s most impressive achievements is how thoughtfully it is structured, leveraging shifts in its presentation to support its storytelling. It’s not really an adventure game. It’s not really a walking sim. And it’s certainly not an RPG. B… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2024: Best Supporting Character

Posted by Tim Rattray on February 8, 2025

Winner: Aerith Gainsborough (Final Fantasy VII Rebirth) Writeup by Tim Rattray Well, the votes are in. Aerith is better than Tifa by a margin of Barret. The shipping wars are over. Okay, I jest (mostly). Aerith in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is one of the best video game characters ever written. Her s… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2024: Best Strategy RPG

Posted by Tyler Trosper on February 8, 2025

Winner: Unicorn Overlord Writeup by Tyler Trosper After Vanillaware’s phenomenal take on classic Japanese mecha anime in 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, the celebrated team returned to the world of fantasy this year with Unicorn Overlord. A passion project through and through, their latest game injected th… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2024: Best Animal or Mascot Character

Posted by Aleks Franiczek on February 8, 2025

Winner: Koromaru (Persona 3 Reload) Writeup by Aleks Franiczek The votes are in: you simply can’t beat a good boy. And between Koromaru’s loving loyalty, bright personality, and fierce battle power, a boy doesn’t get much gooder. Atlus is arguably the king of mascot characters but, to be honest, I f… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2024: Best Indie Game

Posted by Audra Bowling on February 8, 2025

Winner: Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes Writeup by Audra Bowling If its massively successful Kickstarter is any indication, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is a game that many were hyped about. A spiritual successor to the beloved Suikoden series, it shared the premise of recruiting an extensive… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2024: Game of the Year

Posted by Des Miller on February 8, 2025

Winner: Metaphor: ReFantazio Writeup by Des Miller Initially, it was easy to write off Metaphor: ReFantazio as just fantasy Persona. Yet within minutes of the game starting, Metaphor quickly proved itself as more than that. The narrative shows its teeth early on with the focus on classism and racism… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2024: Best Ongoing Game

Posted by Des Miller on February 8, 2025

Winner: Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail Writeup by Des Miller Over the past decade, Final Fantasy XIV has gone from being a tragic tale of corporate mismanagement to one of the most beloved games in the industry. With over ten years of story building upon itself, the main storyline finally concluded wi… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2024: Best Mobile Game

Posted by Niki Fakhoori on February 8, 2025

Winner: Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket Writeup by Niki Fakhoori Do you feel lucky? Rule number one of TCGs is “Don’t buy packs, buy singles,” but there’s no denying the thrill of cracking packs. It also helps when the packs have a “pity point” system to earn you singles later, as Pokémon Trading C… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2024: Best Unconventional or Hybrid RPG

Posted by Ben Love on February 8, 2025

Winner: Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island Writeup by Ben Love One of the earliest true roguelikes before the genre was mainstream, the Shiren series finally received a new entry after a decade with The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island, the sixth game in the series a… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2024: Best Remake or Re-Release

Posted by Wes Iliff on February 8, 2025

Winner: Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake Writeup by Wes Iliff In the modern era, we are spoiled for choice with remakes, remasters, and rereleases. They range from upscaled ports to complete reimaginings, but none have towed the line of being true to the original while completely reimagining the experi… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2024: Best Sleeper Hit

Posted by Jerry Williams on February 8, 2025

Winner: Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island Writeup by Jerry Williams Great roguelikes have an accessibility issue that the modern era rectified with roguelites, which lean heavily on level-ups, skill progression, and unlocks. Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Se… Read More »

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