Still, I don’t want to focus too much on the negative. Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves is already a deep and satisfying fighting game with a ton going for it. I never thought I’d see another Fatal Fury game, and while it hasn’t yet surpassed Mark of the Wolves in my heart, I definitely want to keep coming back for more. I just hope those server issues don’t continue to be an issue.
The very idea of bringing together the minds behind Danganronpa and Zero Escape will be enough to get many fans of this genre in the door. They’ll find that The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- is an incredibly ambitious title which may not have some of what they expect in the early going, but will ultimately give them everything they’re looking for and more.
Even now, I want to go start another run of Blue Prince. I have ideas floating around in my head and if I just draft the right room I’ll be on my way to unlocking more of the mysteries of this mansion. I’ve had more than a few late nights since starting this title, telling myself that I was on my last run but then instantly starting another once it ended. That’s what a great roguelike does to players and Blue Prince is certainly that, as well as a great puzzle game. Blue Prince constantly forced me to learn new things and work towards a wide variety of goals in a way which forced me to change my entire way of thinking about similar titles, even changing how I think about progression. It’s a masterpiece that players should run to play.
Despite only offering minor updates, I still wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the LUNAR Remastered Collection to any fan of RPGs who hasn’t played these great games. I still absolutely love both of these games. Even after all these years, they are well-paced adventures filled with a lot of heart and excellent characters who are highly memorable. It would have been great to see LUNAR once more get the red-carpet treatment, but just having these games easily accessible to modern audiences is a major win.
Atomfall’s commitment to player freedom is baked into its design, and it works really well. I’d love to see the team at Rebellion, or other developers, for that matter, iterate on its structure and build more games designed around this level of freedom. Even most open-world games aren’t even close. Atomfall itself, though, is a tougher recommendation. It isn’t that it does anything terribly wrong, it’s just that little about it other than the structure stands out. Once you get used to the flow of things, there’s not much else I can point at and say this is why you should play Atomfall instead of any number of other survival games. Still, it’s always nice to see a developer try something outside of what has become the accepted right way to do things, and for the most part, Atomfall succeeds on that front.
As RPGs, Suikoden is still excellent even today, and Suikoden II remains my favorite game of all time. Revisiting them for the first time in nearly a decade has solidified that opinion. These games have been hard to access in recent years, and I’m thrilled to see them made readily available to a whole new generation of players. As a remaster, Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars is relatively bare bones, and a few of the choices the developers made are baffling, but most of the changes they did make are still welcome. This is the best way to play two fantastic games, including my personal pick for the best game ever.
I feel like I keep coming back to the idea, though, that things might matter in Tape 2. Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 1 isn’t bad, but it’s very slow to get going and feels almost entirely like character-building. After completing it, I still don’t fully understand what this game is going to be. Even if the full game was out now this would be a slow burn that could use to pick up the pace, but when all you have is the burn it becomes very hard to justify playing the game. That doesn’t mean I didn’t have a good enough time. I did, and I can see a world where Tape 2 pays off this character development with a second half that really makes the most of it. Without knowing what’s to come, though, I might recommend waiting to see what comes next.
I still wish the story of Avowed had connected with me because if it had, there’s a good chance I’d be looking at one of my favorite games of 2025. Even without that, however, Avowed is an excellent RPG that I had a fantastic time with and would recommend to any fan of the genre. It’s the sort of foundation that could lead to a far superior sequel if the team behind it can keep everything that works and improve on the few things that could use some work.
Split Fiction isn’t a perfect experience. There are a few gameplay stretches that don’t feel as polished as the rest of the game, and I wish the company that provides the backdrop for the entire story had been given the care its protagonists were. These are minor issues in a game this beautifully done, though. Split Fiction is one of the most audacious games I’ve ever played, constantly reinventing itself in ways that somehow work when they simply shouldn’t. There were numerous moments that stunned me into wondering how this game just kept getting away with design decisions that seemed like a disaster waiting to happen but instead led to some of the most memorable stages I’ve ever played. Finding someone to play with may be a challenge for some, but if you can remotely do so, you won’t regret it.
Players who are already happy with the PS4 version of Virtua Fighter 5 will find very little that’s exciting, but that doesn’t change that this is still one of the best fighting games you can buy even nineteen years after it was first released. Rollback netcode absolutely makes this the best version of it for anyone who isn’t desperate for a single-player experience.
I mentioned at the start of this review that the improvements found in PGA Tour 2K25 are mostly found in the margins. They’re more evolutionary than revolutionary. There are enough of those changes, though, that this release represents a giant step forward for this series and modern golf video games. It may be my favorite golf game ever made and is a must-play for anyone who enjoys the genre.
The Roottrees Are Dead is a fascinating tale of a famous family with secrets in their closet. Exposing those secrets is some of the most fun I’ve had with a game in a long time, and anyone who has enjoyed similar investigative titles like Her Story, Return of the Obra Dinn, or The Case of the Golden Idol needs to look into the history of the Roottrees.
Laika: Aged Through Blood can feel like a lot at times. There’s no one mechanic that on its own is an issue, but there’s so much to manage that this is a game with a very high learning curve. Still, this is a singular game that feels so unique that it’s hard to imagine players who it clicks for won’t fall in love with it.
That doesn’t change the fact that Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero eventually does become an excellent strategy RPG, at least on a mechanical level. Its narrative never really grabbed me, but once you get past the hours of tutorials, combat becomes incredibly engaging. With so many excellent games in the genre available, though, it can be hard to recommend slogging through a slow starter to get to the good stuff behind it. Fans of the original Phantom Brave who have waited so long for a follow-up will want to check The Lost Hero out, but other players will find games that make better use of their time.
Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana isn’t a necessary release for anyone who already has an easy way to play this adventure. For those who don’t, though, it’s a relatively simple but fun entry into the Ys series. I don’t know that it quite stands up for me as one of the series’ best titles. The story and characters are charming but also conventional, and while the gameplay is fun and moves well, it doesn’t really stand out in a crowded RPG market. Still, this isn’t a long game, and those who want to see what the Ys series is all about will find a lot of it packed into this entry. Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana may not have been an essential re-release, but it’s nice to see a beloved game available to new fans, and it is absolutely the best version of the game available.
While FANTASIAN Neo Dimension may not end as well as it begins, this is still an excellent RPG featuring wonderful characters, an interesting story, and perhaps my favorite battle system of any RPG I played in 2024. This is the ultimate way to play it as well, with an easier difficulty and new soundtrack options inspired by this version of the game being published by Square Enix. Fans of the genre won’t want to miss this one.
Life is Strange: Double Exposure certainly pleased me, though. Returning to the series’ original star and following up on a choice that fans have spent a decade debating was always going to be a challenge. Still, by focusing on the genuine emotions such a choice would leave behind, the team at Deck Nine has created a story that hit me like a ton of bricks. This may be the best Life is Strange yet and sits comfortably among the best games of 2024.
I’ve ended a lot of reviews of Switch ports over the years saying some variation of this may not be the best version of the game, but it’s worth your time if the Switch is your preferred platform. That’s not the case for Yakuza Kiwami. This version simply isn’t worth your time and it doesn’t matter whether you have another way to play the game or not. It isn’t just inferior; it feels terrible to play. Hopefully, the team behind this port will keep working on improving performance because there’s still a solid title underneath this version’s issues. Still, there are too many great experiences on the platform to spend your time on a game that feels like this.
I’d have loved to see Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven lean into its generational aspects a bit harder. While combat is excellent and exploring this world is rewarding, after the initial chapters, it would have been great to feel more connected to my party. Still, I had a great time going through this Kingdom, taking down the seven one by one, and bringing peace back to the land. RPG fans are almost certainly feeling a time crunch with so many excellent games released in the genre recently, but Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven is yet another title worth finding the time for.
Despite that, Balatro is an incredibly easy-to-learn deck builder with plenty of room for experimentation. Even after hundreds of runs, you’ll still encounter new options and combinations to twist your brain around. Even if roguelites and deck builders aren’t normally your favorite genres, Balatro is a game you need to check out.