Best Remaster of the Year!
Ok, so we spent all summer long on our Twitch channel playing remakes and remasters for our annual summer marathon, so I spent a lot of time in this category. But by far the best one of the bunch was Lunar Remastered Collection. In 2025 we finally got a modern port of the two best games of all time, and for the first time ever a port of Lunar 2: Eternal Blue. It blows my mind that it took 25 years to finally get the single greatest RPG ever, Lunar 2, into so many new people’s hands. I can die happy knowing that more people can play these timeless classics now and forever!
Best Game That Felt Like An Expedition!
The clear-cut winner for this category is, of course… Lunar 2: Eternal Blue! What other game had you traverse wondrous landscapes, explore dangerous locales, make friends with an amazing flying mascot character, come jam-packed with amazing turn-based combat, and make it feel like a total adventure from start to end? No other game did that this year! It’s rare to see a game like this come out in this day and age, and even rarer that it’s a game from 30 years ago! So if you’re missing out on that AAA turn-based RPG, then look no further than Lunar 2: Eternal Blue within the Lunar Remastered Collection.
Best Trails Game Ever!
Know what game didn’t have you make trails in the sky? Well, duh, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter didn’t do it, you never set foot on an airship in that game! Know what game actually did have you take to the skies twice! That’s right, Lunar: Silver Star Story! Granted the first time, you kinda crash and the second time you get shot down, but it’s still more trails in the sky than the game called that. That’s a win in my book!
The Go Away Rean Schwazer Award!
Know what game Rean Schwazer isn’t in? If you said Daybreak 2, you would be right, but Daybreak 2 was bad, and that’s probably because a certain character was mentioned too many times. Know what game avoids him completely while still giving you your daily dose of Sean Chiplock as the amazing White Knight Leo? Yep, you guessed it, Lunar 2: Eternal Blue! Now stop sinking 100 hours into the worst Trails game ever made, and start sinking hours into the best game of all time, Lunar 2!
Best Villain of the Year!
Not Ghaleon, dear reader, MAGIC EMPEROR GHALEON!! Yep, from Lunar 1 and 2, the best villain of the year, and probably of all time, goes to my guy Ghaleon. Definitely doesn’t go to the dude trying to paint at you or the plethora of villains in some game with 8 paths. Ghaleon is the real deal villain and still as delightful as ever. I will admit, though, Keith Silverstein plays a fine Ghaleon, but no one can replace the GOAT John Truitt!
Best Remaster That Has Town Building
Oh, Suikoden II was so close to winning this, but the actual winner is the Lunar Remastered Collection. You not only rebuild a town in Lunar after you break a bridge, but in Lunar 2, by joining Lemina on her quest, you also help her restore the magic city of Vane to its rightful place as the premier magic guild. Doesn’t that sound way cooler than some dumb town with a bunch of NPCs where most of them don’t do anything! Of course it does!
Best Tactical RPG Remaster/Remake
It’s Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles. What did you expect to be here?
Now for the singing portion of my GOTY list!
Sang To “The Cadence of The Wind’s Nocturne” aka The Boat Song From Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete!
Wishing on a Lunar 3 that seems far off,
Hoping it will come this decade.
Into the starlit night,
Foolish gamers turn their gaze,
Waiting on a shooting star.
But, what if that Lunar 3 is not to come?
Will my dreams fade to nothing?
When the horizon darkens most,
We all need to believe there is hope.
Is a game developer watching closely over me?
Can there be a kickstarter I’ve yet to see?
I know my heart should guide me, but,
There’s a Lunar 3 hole within my soul.
What will fill this emptiness inside of me?
Am I to be satisfied without knowing?
I wish, then, for a chance to see,
Now all I need, (desperately)
Is Lunar 3 to come…
