- Review
Kernel Hearts
Generally, I’m allergic to roguelites and anime games—the former for needlessly bloating what could be great small experiences and the latter for perpetuating fanservicey tropes. Still, Kernel Hearts’ aesthetics and concept ensnared me while I was writing a news post about its release, and I felt co… Read More »- Review
TOEM 2
Creating a captivating, family-friendly adventure title that appeals to everyone is no easy feat. On its surface, one need only take out the swears, create some light-hearted quests and dialogue, and keep the visuals bright and cartoony. That’s all well and good, but can these adventures maintain an… Read More »- Article
- Random Encounter
- Podcast
Random Encounter 356 – Tokyo Game Show 2026 Breakdown
On this episode of Random Encounter, we’re talking about one of the biggest gaming shows of the year! Every year, RPGFan covers the biggest RPGs and adventure games to come out of the Tokyo Game Show, but this year, we had a reporter on the floor! Matt Wardell was there to check out every booth he c… Read More »- Article
- News
RPGs Coming This Week, September 27–October 3, 2026 – 16 Paths Diverged in a Wood
For RPGs Coming This Week, I don’t usually base my headline on a given week’s “Also Coming This Week” section, but the opportunity and my desire to make this reference was just too strong. But as far as brand-new games, we have a long-awaited followup to Minecraft Dungeons, another followup I’m exci… Read More »- Article
- Preview
TGS 2026 — Kodansha Game Lab and Late Fee Girls Hands-On Preview: Saving This For Later
People around the world would certainly know Kodansha best for the manga they publish, including iconic series like Akira, The Ghost in the Shell, and Attack on Titan. What more people should recognize, however, are the many “Labs” Kodansha has built—that is, development departments with the goal of… Read More »- Article
- Preview
TGS 2026 — Crymelight Hands-On Preview: Curiouser and Curiouser!
In the massive indie section at Tokyo Game Show 2026, I had the chance to explore Japanese developer and publisher FuRyu Games’ impressive booth and sit down for a demo of Crymelight. Mixing Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland with the “death game” genre popular in Japanese fiction (though more aesthet… Read More »- Review
Myst III: Exile
In my youth, I adored Myst and its sequel Riven. However, Riven pushed my then-aging PC to its processing limits. So when Myst III: Exile launched in 2001, I was forced to skip it. Cut to 25 years later — after thoroughly enjoying the recent Riven remake, I decided it was time to step forward with t… Read More »- Article
- Preview
TGS 2026 — Hellheart Breaker Hands-On Preview: The Most Diverse Underworld to Date
Indie publisher Red Dunes Games went big at Tokyo Game Show 2026. Their booth was larger and more lavish than in 2025, and many of the titles that were early works in progress last year are now gearing up for release in 2027. Hellheart Breaker, an action RPG roguelite by Singaporean devs Battle Brew… Read More »Music Review
Final Fantasy VII Remake Original Soundtrack Plus
When the original soundtrack to Final Fantasy VII Remake released, I was astounded to see that it covered seven discs, with an additional bonus disc on the limited edition release. I was even more surprised when, just a few months later, Square Enix announced Final Fantasy VII Remake Original Soundt… Read More »- Article
- Preview
TGS 2026 — Tokyo Stories Hands-On Preview: The Night is Short, Walk On Girl
Among the most stylish aesthetics of any game I played at Tokyo Game Show 2026 was the gloomy indie adventure Tokyo Stories. Developer Drecom might be best known in the West for helping steward the Wizardry series with Atari (including developing 2024’s Wizardry Variants Daphne), but they are also i… Read More »- Article
- Preview
TGS 2026 — Snack World: Reloaded Hands-On Preview: Fun to Play With, Not to Eat
Among Level-5’s impressive stable of RPGs and multimedia franchises, Snack World is rather overlooked in the West. With Level-5’s other heavy hitters present at their Tokyo Game Show 2026 booth, namely Professor Layton and The New World of Steam and Decapolice, I wasn’t sure I’d even have time to fi… Read More »- Article
- Preview
TGS 2026 — Blades of Mirage Hands-On Preview: Water You Waiting For?
With 2026 being my second year covering Tokyo Game Show for RPGFan, it was nice to see some familiar faces. Once again, publisher Red Dunes Games had an impressive lineup and presence on the showfloor. Last year, I was particularly impressed by a modest build of Blades of Mirage, developer Agate’s i… Read More »- Article
- Retro Encounter
- Podcast
Retro Encounter 495 – Science Fiction RPGs
Glory to Retro Encounter. On this week’s episode of Retro Encounter, we dive into RPGs that have a science fiction twist. Since science fiction tropes crop up in more games than we realized, how did we narrow down our picks? Does the host bring up one of his favorite games once again? Who is intimid… Read More »- Review
Qliphah in Providence’s Shadow
Shadows twist, often hiding unknowable dangers from those in their direct path. The edges of said shadows and reality get muddied in the post-apocalyptic sci-fi urban fantasy RPG/visual novel hybrid, Qliphah in Providence’s Shadow. Billed as a uniquely “tactical counter-timeline RPG,” the game puts… Read More »- Feature
Entropy Interview with Lovely Hellplace’s Lead Designer, James Wragg
In my Early Access review of Entropy, I spoke about how heavily invested I became (even just in chapter one) in the dour world and grim mechanics of the first traditional turn-based RPG from developer Lovely Hellplace. So when they reached out and offered the opportunity to interview Lead Designer J… Read More »- Review
Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster
I’ve been a huge Final Fantasy fan ever since I rented Final Fantasy VI on the SNES as a kid, though I fell off during the PlayStation 2 era. I still played Final Fantasy X and X-2, but unfortunately, a tough boss fight and a friend stealing them put a damper on things. Thanks to Final Fantasy X/X-2… Read More »- Article
- News
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity Definitive Edition Coming to Nintendo Switch 2 in February 2027
Nintendo and Koei Tecmo have revealed Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity Definitive Edition for Nintendo Switch 2, launching on February 25th, 2027. The announcement came during the latest Nintendo Direct, with a short trailer showcasing new features amid horde-battling action. Check it out below! Hyr… Read More »- Article
- News
Danganronpa 2×2 Brings Sun, Surf, & Slay in January 2027
Spike Chunsoft and developer Gemdrops have announced that Danganronpa 2×2 will launch on January 14th, 2027, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam. The information came during the latest Nintendo Direct, with a new trailer bringing sun, surf, and a… Read More »- Article
- Preview
TGS 2026 — Final Fantasy VII Revelation Hands-On Preview: Once More, With Feeling
Perhaps the biggest fish to catch at Tokyo Game Show 2026, both in and outside the RPG sphere, was Final Fantasy VII Revelation, the third and final installment in the reimagined Final Fantasy VII trilogy, following Remake (2020) and Rebirth (2024). The game dominated Square Enix’s sizable booth wit… Read More »- Article
- News
Persona 4 Revival & Persona 6 Also Coming to Nintendo Switch 2
Atlus has announced that a Nintendo Switch 2 version of Persona 4 Revival will be released on May 20th, 2027, a few months after its release on other platforms. The developer has also confirmed that Persona 6 will be coming to Nintendo Switch 2. The information was revealed during the latest Nintend… Read More »- Article
- News
Level-5 Reveals Yo-kai Watch 2: Haunted Domain in Development
In addition to a release date for Professor Layton and the New World of Steam, Level-5 had an additional big announcement in the latest Nintendo Direct Presentation: Yo-kai Watch is back! The ghost-capture monster collecting series returns to western shores after a long hiatus (and many missing game… Read More »- Article
- News
Lufia Returns in 2027 with Lufia I & II: The Sinistrals Saga
And here I thought Clear River Games was doing enough in 2027 by giving us Terranigma! Announced today during the PC Gaming Show Tokyo Direct, the publisher just revealed they are working with Taito to also bring two more beloved SNES RPGs to modern platforms, with Lufia I & II: The Sinistrals S… Read More »- Article
- News
RPGs Coming This Week, September 20–26, 2026 – Adventures, Demons, and More
This edition of RPGs Coming This Week is an excellent one for pixel art games, between the likes of Nocturne and Yami Kids. We also have a pair of narrative adventure titles that are striking in different ways — Nighthawks with its gritty, urban vampire cast contrasts well against Rivage’s shiny, St… Read More »- Article
- Preview
TGS 2026 — Flawless Abbey Hands-On Preview: To Sleep, Perchance to Dream
Befitting their stable of indie games, Cypriot publisher Critical Reflex had a small but very atmospheric booth at Tokyo Game Show 2026. Packed into a few square meters of techno-horror machinery were 19 (!) games mostly in the horror adventure wheelhouse, save for TANUKI: Pon’s Summer, a post offic… Read More »- Article
- Preview
TGS 2026 — Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse Hands-On Preview: What a Wonderful Night to Have a Curse
Whereas in 2025, Konami’s booth at Tokyo Game Show was a terrifying recreation of Silent Hill f, this year it was a bright, white and red celebration of the 40th anniversary of Ganbare Goemon, the Konami Code (↑↑↓↓←→←→B A), and a beloved little franchise called Castlevania. Though there were flashy… Read More »- Article
- Preview
TGS 2026 — Decapolice Hands-On Preview: Dial “RPG” For Murder
After a promising resurgence at last year’s Tokyo Game Show, Level-5 came out swinging at TGS 2026. With a booth that put all others to shame in terms of volume and colour, Level-5 was showing nearly a full house of RPG-adjacent games, including Snack World Reloaded, Holy Horror Mansion, and a retur… Read More »- Review
Dragon Quest Heroes: Torneko’s Mystery Dungeon -Classic HD-
The Mystery Dungeon series occupies a unique position in the RPG landscape. Better known for its crossovers with bigger RPG franchises like Final Fantasy and Pokémon, the mainline entries floundered in obscurity for years (despite being mechanically ahead of their time), with the occasional re-relea… Read More »- Article
- Preview
TGS 2026 — Stranger Than Heaven Hands-On Preview: This Oldboy Has a Few New Tricks
I bookended my first day at Tokyo Game Show 2026 with RGG Studio’s Like a Dragon prequel, Stranger Than Heaven. In the morning, I beelined to the impressive display/museum/theatre/demo space set up for the game. First, they ushered me and about thirty other industry folks into a standing room plaste… Read More »- Article
- Preview
TGS 2026 — Persona 4 Revival Hands-On Preview: It’s Time to (Re)Make History, Yeah!
The last time I played Persona 4, it was Persona 4 Golden on the Vita, and I was on my first flight to Japan, unaware that I’d still be living here a decade later. As it does for me, Persona 4 holds a special place in many fans’ hearts. Remakes of any beloved property face the hard task of respectin… Read More »- Feature
Retro Encounter Final Thoughts – Romancing SaGa 2
Matt Wardell You know the meme with the mother holding her smiling daughter aloft in a pool while her other child fights for their life to stay afloat? If Square Enix is the mother, SaGa is the oft-ignored, half-drowned kid. Not quite the skeleton at the bottom of the ocean, the SaGa series nonethel… Read More »- Review
Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter
If I’ve already played the original game, it takes a lot for remakes to grip me, especially if they don’t offer enough new content. For a time, I was fairly certain that the first two remakes for The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky series, the launching point of Falcom’s grand worldbuilding Trai… Read More »- Article
- News
Stupid Never Dies Releases October 21st for PlayStation 5 and PC
GPTACK50 have announced that Stupid Never Dies will launch on October 21st for PlayStation 5 and PC via Steam. To help with worldwide distribution and publishing, the development team revealed an ongoing co-publishing deal with SEGA. A brief trailer accompanied the announcement, showcasing dance mov… Read More »- Review
Another Eden Begins
This is not a review I want to write. It’s not because I’m opposed to writing a negative review. No, it’s something much more selfish: I want developers to keep adapting mobile and free-to-play titles to full-blown releases. I can’t stand playing games on my phone, and gacha mechanics are probably d… Read More »- Article
- News
RPGs Coming This Week, September 13–19, 2026 – Trails of Fortune
For this edition of RPGs Coming This Week, we have new entries in two major series, with the remake of Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter and Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, and those alone include so many hours of gameplay, they’re enough to keep one busy for weeks, each. But that doesn’t change the fact… Read More »- Review
Parkside: Decayed Soul Manipulation
The immersive sim is in a renaissance if you know where to look. Even if major studios have neglected the genre, Deus Ex and its peers have inspired ambitious passion projects. One such project is Parkside: Decayed Soul Manipulation. Just from a glance, Parkside’s tone and atmosphere are unmistakab… Read More »- Article
- News
Professor Layton and the New World of Steam Brings Machinery and Mysteries on December 10th
Level-5 have announced that Professor Layton and the New World of Steam will launch on December 10th, 2026, for PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 1 & 2, and PC via Steam. The announcement came during the latest Nintendo Direct with a brief trailer showcasing a duo of detectives, steam-laden streets… Read More »- Article
- Preview
Starfinder: Afterlight Demo Impressions
Building on the decent critical and commercial success that Paizo’s rulesets found in digital adaptations like Owlcat Games’ Pathfinder: Kingmaker and Wrath of the Righteous, developer Epictellers Entertainment is taking the tabletop into deep space with Starfinder: Afterlight. Crafted around Starfi… Read More »- Article
- News
Romancing SaGa 3: Destinies United Revitalizes the 1995 Classic in February 2027
After the fantastic remake of its predecessor in 2024, Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven, developer Xeen and publisher Square Enix team up once more for a fully-fledged remake of the 1995 Super Famicom follow up, Romancing SaGa 3: Destinies United, with a trailer debuting at this week’s Nintend… Read More »- Article
- Retro Encounter
- Podcast
Retro Encounter 494 – Romancing SaGa 2 Part II
More like revenge of the four (panelists). This week on Retro Encounter we dive into the second half of Romancing SaGa 2. Topics include unfair quest structures, our favorite classes, and the absurdly challenging final boss. Did everyone finish? Do we have have any new SaGa fans on the panel? Did an… Read More »- Article
- News
