Most Anticipated Games

RPGFan’s 30 Most Anticipated Games of 2025 (Part 2)

Most Anticipated Games of 2025 with artwork from some 2025 releases in the background

We’re on to part 2! There are plenty of excellent remasters here, an early game that might have been in Games of the Year if the full one wasn’t releasing next year, and at least one game in a long running franchise that is so unbelievable that it’s downright perfect.


Fable

Writeup by Aleks Franiczek

What should we expect from a new Fable? The original trilogy was built on overpromises and scale-backs, but the seeds of unfeasible ambition still grew into a few distinct, fun RPGs. But under-delivering on an idealized creative vision isn’t exactly a winning marketing model, so series newcomers Playground Games have mostly kept quiet and let their trailers do the show-and-tell. While there hasn’t been enough gameplay footage to know much more than “it’s still an action RPG,” these initial trailers went all-in on personality.

Fable has always indulged in its Britishness, and the casting inclusions of Richard Ayoade as a polite giant and Matt King as a washed-up hero guarantee some quirky worldbuilding. Many AAA RPGs of late have been grimdark and/or thematically earnest. This new Fable can leave a welcome mark with some cheeky humour and fairytale-like aesthetics. If Playground Games can strike a balance between playfulness and playability, I’ll be chuffed with this one.


Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time (April)

Writeup by Sam-James Gordon

While Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time seemed at one point to be a victim of its own subtitle — its release date was up in the air for a while — the flow of time is now restored and the game will be released in April 2025. The lack of a specific date is mildly concerning, but hopefully this cozy game will warm the cockles of our hearts this spring.

Fantasy Life i is a sequel to the 2014 3DS game Fantasy Life, and I’m very upset that I’ve aged ten years since then. While the original entry was a fairly standard RPG with a crafting system similar to Final Fantasy XIV’s, The Girl Who Steals Time expands by allowing players to fully customise their own island. How deep these systems go remains to be seen, but it’s shaping up to be The Next Big Cozy Game. Details are still quite sparse, so keep your eyes peeled for coverage from us as April draws closer.


Freedom Wars Remastered (January 10th)

Writeup by Audra Bowling

Confession time: I tried playing the original Freedom Wars on PlayStation Vita a few years ago and couldn’t play more than a few hours due to some of the title’s restrictive gameplay components aggravating me. This was a shame, as I enjoythe premise behind the game’s sci-fi dystopian plot and had a lot of fun with its action-oriented combat whenever I could access it.

Consider my curiosity reignited as we flash forward to our current gaming generation and the upcoming Freedom Wars Remastered in 2025.  Promising updated graphics and improved gameplay elements, I’m more than happy to have the opportunity to give Freedom Wars another chance. I think a potentially fun game exists within Freedom Wars, and the remaster might provide the best excuse to delve deeper and discover it!


Hades II

Writeup by Niki Fakhoori

Hades II has been in Early Access since May, and fans are already as smitten with it as Narcissus is with his own reflection. It’s no surprise, though, considering the game’s predecessor went through its own similar labors. After two years in Early Access, Hades was many peoples’ favorite game in 2020. Its impeccable roguelite gameplay loop meshed brilliantly with its distinct approach to Greek myth, a subject that never goes out of style. Hades II promises to expand upon the beloved original with more great gameplay, even more mythological figures, and a new protagonist for them to assist. Like her brother Zagreus, Melinoë appears in very few Greek stories, giving Supergiant Games plenty of leeway to work their storytelling magic and bring the character to life in their own way once again. When the time is right, we can’t wait to dive right back into the underworld again with Hades II.


Kingdom Come: Deliverance II (February 11th)

Writeup by Abraham Kobylanski

The time is coming to resume the adventures of Henry. Kingdom Come: Deliverance set you off in a world far different from our own with all the intrigue and decision-making of The Elder Scrolls or Dragon Age. There were no magic spells or dragons, but the human monsters in 15th-century Europe proved much more cruel and brutal. Henry’s is the life of a lowly blacksmith’s assistant thrown into a life of conflict that he never imagined — until it found him. He’s no warrior, just some guy trying to survive.

While ambitious, the commitment to grounded realism sometimes got in the way of being something actually fun. Warhorse Studios has a ton of potential to create a more polished sequel with another enthralling story that finds that balance, so here’s hoping. We won’t have long to find out where Henry’s journey takes him next, as Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is set to release on February 11th.


The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 1st

Writeup by Paul Skevington 

The Trails series is going strong, as the 13th entry only recently released in Japan. Famously, it tells one long, continuous story, and although there are several jumping-on points, there’s no doubt that it rewards those who begin at the first title, Trails in the Sky.

This is not an easy proposition for everyone to swallow. That game was first released in Japan in 2004, and although it is an exemplary JRPG from that era, it shows.

That’s why the announcement of the much-rumored full remake, Trails in the Sky the 1st, is such great news. Now even more beautiful in full 3D, this looks to be an ideal way for newcomers to experience this foundational tale and for fans to revisit Estelle and Joshua as they take their first joyful journey around the Kingdom of Liberl. If you like your slice-of-life drama mixed with high-stakes adventure, this looks like the game for you.


The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II (February 14th)

Writeup by Audra Bowling

It’s no secret that I greatly enjoyed the first The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak when I reviewed the game earlier this year. I appreciated both the overall plot and the party’s found family dynamic. That, alongside the entertaining combat and choice-heavy narrative, made for one very compelling game in Falcom’s Trails opus.

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that we’ll be receiving an English localization for the game’s sequel early in 2025, and I’m looking forward to the continuation of Van’s and Arkride Solutions’ adventures! If The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II can deliver on the first game’s elements that made the title such a delight — and potentially up the ante — it’ll make for another incredible installment of an impressive, lore-rich RPG series that I’ll certainly be eager to play!


Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii (February 21st)

Writeup by Jonathan Logan

For my money, RGG Studios are the undisputed masters of recycling.

From Kamurochō to Sotenbori, we keep seeing the same locations in every entry of the Like a Dragon series. But how would RGG reuse their incredible recreation of Honolulu from Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth? I don’t think anyone suspected it would be in a pirate-themed spin-off starring everyone’s idol, Goro Majima. We should have seen it coming; the eyepatch is right there!

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii not only brings back the real-time combat of the series’ earlier entries, but also introduces ship-to-ship combat where Majima and his crew attack and board enemy vessels. I admittedly wasn’t a massive fan of RGG’s previous gaiden adventure, Like a Dragon: The Man Who Erased His Name, but this new entry has me singing a different sea shanty. I can’t wait to plunder the high seas while hopefully belting out some of the hottest karaoke songs from 1980s Japan!


Lost Records: Bloom & Rage (February 18th & March 18th)

Writeup by Paul Skevington 

DON’T NOD, the original developers of the Life is Strange series, return to familiar narrative choice-based gameplay Lost Records: Bloom & Rage. Key staff members from their excellent earlier titles return to bring this project to life. The story centers on four friends, Nora, Autumn, Kat, and Swann, who we meet in the nineties during their teenage years. They get up to all the usual shenanigans nineties teens did, including starting their own band, the “Bloom and Rage” of the title.

27 years later, the group reunites. It looks like something strange, traumatic, and probably supernatural happened back in their wilder days, and now they must come together to put it to rest. Reminiscent of Stephen King’s stories like It and Stand by Me, with a dose of Stranger Things thrown in for good measure, its sweet and funny trailer has me marking my diary already.


Lunar Remastered Collection

Writeup by Zach Wilkerson

It should be no surprise to see Lunar Remastered Collection on our list of Most Anticipated games; after all, we started life as LunarNET, and many of us found our way to RPGFan way back then.

And no wonder, because the first two Lunar games, Silver Star Story Complete and Eternal Blue Complete, packaged together here, are special, with excellent animated cutscenes with voice acting, a fun, Saturday morning cartoon story, and most of all, wonderful characters and writing. The polished graphics and presentation enhance the classic experience, too. The ability to switch to the original graphics is also a welcome inclusion. While I might be sad that we probably won’t get the original voice acting or localization, having access to these games on modern consoles more than makes up for it.

Including Eternal Blue is especially exciting; while we’ve seen many ports and remasters of The Silver Star, this is the first re-release of Lunar 2 since the PSone.


Zach Wilkerson

Zach Wilkerson

After avidly following RPGFan for years, Zach joined as a Reviews Editor in 2018, and somehow finds himself helping manage the Features department and running our Retro Encounter podcast now. When he's not educating the youth of America, he can often be heard loudly clamoring for Lunar 3 and Suikoden VI.