(s) Archive
2025-04-04
While Blades of Fire was only announced earlier this year, it’s gracing PCs and consoles next month. This adventure title from developer MercurySteam (creators of my beloved Metroid Dread, but that’s neither here nor there) is built around an interesting concept: What happens in a medieval world ruled by a dangerous Queen when she curses… Read More »
2025-03-20
Michael Sollosi Tales titles are typically reliable RPG comfort food. You go on a journey for a few dozen hours, get to know a group of quirky anime teenagers, and save the world while navigating a world full of color and made-up nonsense words that explain the setting’s unification of technology and magic. Tales of… Read More »
2025-03-19
As a little kid growing up on the PlayStation 1 and my father’s NES, I was accustomed to replaying the same short experiences again and again. Not knowing how to work a memory card—and fearful of overwriting dad’s Metal Gear Solid save—I was content to start my handful of games fresh each day. If it… Read More »
2025-02-26
Hello RPGFriends, and welcome to 2025’s first installment of Crowdfunding Chronicles! Today we present the Kickstarter debut of a title which may be familiar to some of our readers; Alterium Shift, a SNES-inspired 2D-HD RPG featuring brisk turn-based combat and an epic journey through parallel dimensions.
2025-02-08
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 Serpentcoil Island capably retains the series identity, introduces several quality-of-life features, and… 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 roster of characters from different walks of life. Eiyuden Chronicle:… Read More »
Winner: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Writeup by Zek Lu Final Fantasy VII Rebirth has one of the richest combat systems I’ve ever experienced in any action RPG, period. Designed by the legendary Teruki Endo, the combat director of Monster Hunter: World, there is an unprecedented level of freedom around developing and controlling your characters. The… 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, the cast is incredibly strong with… 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? Metaphor: ReFantazio: one of the most confidently executed RPG bangers we’ve… 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 find most of them annoying.… 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, Sephiroth’s… Read More »
Winner: Metaphor: ReFantazio Writeup by Wes Iliff Metaphor is the opposite of a surprise hit. Everyone knew it was coming, everyone knew that it was gonna be amazing, and everyone knew to expect fantastic music and astounding visuals. So maybe it’s a bit of a shocker just how beautiful the game is. Whether it’s monsters… 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 show-stopping scenes are… 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 experience quite like Dragon Quest III HD-2D… Read More »
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 mishaps are far less common now, thanks to… Read More »
Winner: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Writeup by Jerry Williams I’ve been to a few Distant Worlds concerts in my time, which is a celebration of the Final Fantasy series’ suite of outstanding compositions and arrangements played by a full orchestra near you. I get decent seats but never felt the need to splurge on premium… Read More »
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 Rebirth, we get a further look… 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 and the first to see a… 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 the strategy RPG genre with new life. While class systems… 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 Card Game… 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. But it learns from narrative design techniques used in titles… Read More »
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 topics, but only as much as it needs to. The… Read More »
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. It’s… Read More »
And we’re back with our “Overall” picks for Game of the Year! We’ve been on a streak of excellent years for RPGs, and 2024 is no exception. Whether you’re looking at AAA titles or games made on a shoestring budget, there’s been something for everyone. Sure, there are a few games that will dominate our… 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 with 2021’s breathtaking and jaw-dropping… Read More »
