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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
Three Favorite 2024 RPGs Unicorn Overlord This incredible SRPG would’ve flown under my radar if not for the praise fellow RPGFan staff members kept heaping on it. I’m glad I listened, as Unicorn Overlord is a graphically stunning, entertainingly meaty adventure that the strategy RPG lover in me read… Read More »
So! About that 2024, huh? A year of difficult (yet fulfilling!) personal change for me was punctuated by one of the all-time best years in RPG history. As I made my way through treacherous personal waters, I found myself further away from the games I love so much until later into the year, when I st… Read More »
It’s been a great year for RPGs, and I’m always trying to keep up with the great titles of this year, last year, the previous year, and so on. Last year, I hadn’t beaten Baldur’s Gate 3, and here I am, a year later, and I still haven’t beaten it! Anyway, that was last year. Here’s what I played this… Read More »
Best 2024 Game (That I Played): Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth In a year full of extraordinary RPGs, I’m unashamed to say that I’m sticking with my comfort food: the Yakuza series. Why? Because Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is simply some of the tastiest video game comfort food you could find outsi… Read More »
Bat Dad Is Best Dad Award! Metaphor: ReFantazio was easily the best RPG this year. No doubt in my mind. It had a fresh new setting, took the long and sometimes stale Persona gameplay loop and streamlined it, and combined a job system with the Press Turn system to make for amazing top-tier turn-based… Read More »
Top 3 RPGs That Held My Attention This Year SKALD: Against the Black Priory If you’d told me a year ago that my favorite gaming experience of the year would have been an Amiga-inspired retro RPG, I’d have likely shot a pessimistic glance. But SKALD was so draped in dark atmospherics, both in its det… Read More »
I feel that 2024 was one of the strongest years for RPGs and puzzle adventure games in recent memory, and as a result I played way more new video games than I originally planned to, enough for a list of my ten favorite RPGs released in the calendar year. Missed Connections Black Myth: Wukong, Dragon… Read More »
Best Stylish Action RPG/Gambling Simulator: Wuthering Waves Punishing: Gray Raven is easily one of my favorite mobile games, so I was over the moon when an official PC client released. Once developer Kuro Games announced their follow-up to PGR and revealed it to be an open-world action RPG, I was in… Read More »
Best Older RPG that I Played (For the First Time) in 2024: Linda³ Again Playing Linda³ for the first time today feels like NieR went back in time and had a child with EarthBound. This is the best way I’ve been able to convey what makes this PSX boundary-pusher such a special game. I’d heard chatter… Read More »
For me, it’s easily Metaphor: ReFantazio… To be frank, I was not particularly excited for Metaphor: ReFantazio even when it emerged from the ether after many quiet years following its announcement. I didn’t follow the pre-release cycle closely and only maintained the faintest interest because my f… Read More »
The 2024 RPG I Played in 2024 Award: Unicorn Overlord The Ogre Battle series, particularly Person of Lordly Caliber, is a series that has moved and inspired me more than most. The notion of a similar game, given Vanillaware’s signature treatment, is quite a nice prospect. Unicorn Overlord does not q… Read More »
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