With E3 officially in the rearview mirror, the annual summer release schedule has now spread out over a number of weeks as numerous “fests” attempt to fill the void. Though we didn’t get any internet-breaking announcements, a particularly strong Nintendo Direct and a number of interesting titles certainly stand out from the crowd for RPG enthusiasts.
In the spirit of keeping this newsletter a comfortable length, I’ve chosen 3 announcements that managed to get me to leap out of my chair.
What’s Coming
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
2025 Release - PS5 / XBox X|S / PC
This visually stunning RPG is the first title from the brand new French developer, Sandfall Interactive. Led by former Ubisoft developers, Expedition 33 is a visually stunning RPG looking to innovate the turn-based combat system. Based in a world inspired by the artwork of the Belle Epoque period of France (1871-1914), the game centers around a Paintress that extinguishes the lives of all that are of the age that is she paints onto a monolith. In a desperate attempt to save the lives of everyone of the age of 33, a party of six characters attempts to change their destiny by vanquishing the Paintress once and for all.
"Once a year, the Paintress wakes and paints upon her monolith. Paints her cursed number and everyone of that age turns to smoke and fades away.
Year by year, that number ticks down and more of us are erased. Tomorrow she’ll wake and paint “33.” Tomorrow we depart on our final mission - Destroy the Paintress, so she can never paint death again.
-We are Expedition 33."
Expedition 33 looks to innovate the turn-based combat system by introducing real-time actions in between commands. Between the footage during the Xbox Game Showcase and the description from the developer, the combat seems to be a hybrid of the combat system designed for Final Fantasy VII Remake and the rhythm and timed-attacked style of a Paper Mario or Sea of Stars. The most recent work by the lead designers appears to be on MMORPGs, and their listed inspirations include: Persona 3, Elden Ring, and Final Fantasy VIII.
Fantasian: Neo Dimension
Holiday 2024 Release - PS5/PS4 - XBox X|S - PC - Nintendo Switch
The long running tease of a console/pc port of what is potentially the last game from the father of Final Fantasy, Hironobu Sakaguchi, has finally come to an end. Thanks to Square Enix, Fantasian will finally be released from the confines of Apple Arcade and will be made available on all major platforms. This upcoming release is welcome news given that our podcast has been shouting from the rooftops for years that any RPG should be finding a way to play this incredible game.
Sakaguchi proves that despite his years of experience, he still has the chops to develop an innovative experience that manages to balance traditional combat with modern improvements. Innovations such as banking random encounters into 1 big battle, controlling the path of magic for a new combat experience, and using real life dioramas for all of the environments are just a few ways that Fantasian stands out.
Back when the game released in 2021, Jessica Chavez, legendary localizer of Trails in the Sky, joined us for a podcast episode to discuss not only the game, but all of the details behind the scenes that went into making it.
Dragon Quest III - HD-2D Remake
November 14, 2024 Release - PS5/PS4 - XBox X|S - PC - Nintendo Switch
The HD-2D remake of Dragon Quest III has been known to be in the works for quite some time, the surprise and delight to RPG fans is that we now know that the entire Erdrick trilogy is being remade for modern platforms. Going in chronological of the story, Dragon Quest III will be released this November, followed by the remakes of Dragon Quest I and II.
Not much yet is known, but word around the street is that the HD-2D remakes will stay relatively faithful to the games originally released on the Nintendo Entertainment System. To date, the only real option to play the first three Dragon Quest titles on modern platforms were the mobile ports with an art-style that is divisive to say the least. Previous to that, you have to go all the way back to the original Game Boy release of Dragon Quest I & II if you couldn’t track down the NES cartridges.
With the success of Dragon Quest XI and another on the way, the timing of these remakes couldn’t come at a better time.
What’s Good to Play Right Now
Unfortunately, the month of June was relatively quiet for new releases. A few titles that have flown under the radar certainly deserve consideration, but the slow month was punctuated by the fact that the biggest release was DLC for a game released in 2022. Saving a few bucks is never a bad thing, and may just be helpful with a number of exciting RPGs releasing soon, and a new Nintendo console potentially within the next 12 months.
1000xResist
May 9 - 1000XResist is so under the radar that it took me an extra month to come across this wonderful narrative thriller. The interactive story is based 1000 years in future after the destruction of civilization from a virus brought to the planet by aliens. The roughly 10 hour game is played mostly from the viewpoint of Watcher, one of the hundreds of clones of the only surviving human immune to the virus. The emotional experience could be best described as an interactive visual novel with some very light puzzle mechanics that pop up every now and then. Playing 1000XResist invoked many of the same feelings I had while watching the TV show Lost all those years ago. The intrigue of learning about the mysteries, the anticipation of what happens next, with the main difference being that 1000XResist has a much more satisfying ending. The relatively short play time makes this game a terrific palette cleanser between much longer games.
“The writing is very moving and the pacing of the character development and plot reveals are perfectly balanced. Every detail of 1000XResist feels very calculated, right down to a subtle soundtrack that ebbs and flows with every emotion. Big moments are given time to breath so that emotional impact has time to sink in, and gives some space for the next. Unlike Lost, the ending of the game feels right, leaving some of the details up for discussion but providing a very heartfelt and satisfying conclusion.”
Fading Afternoon
June 6 - Ever wonder what a Yakuza game would play like if it had released during the pixel era of video games? Well the developer of The Friends of Ringo Ishikawa must have had the same thought when they created Fading Afternoon, the game featuring a middle-aged Yakuza that recently released from prison. With graphics and a playstyle that looks like Kazuma Kiryu was dropped into the Kunio-Kun universe, Fading Afternoon has received very positive feedback for its Nintendo Switch port.
“Fading Afternoon is the third game made by developer Yeo, a small but scrappy studio whose prior games The Friends of Ringo Ishikawa and Arrest of a Stone Buddha wore their inspirations on their sleeve, with unique if underdeveloped gameplay and little direction on how to play them. Fading Afternoon marks their third release and is a game which showcases a growth in gameplay structure and hand-to-hand combat.”
Elden Ring - Shadow of the Erdtree
June 21 - Without a doubt, the biggest release for the month of June was the highly anticipated DLC for Elden Ring - Shadow of the Erdtree. It’s been 2 years since I last put down the game, having probably played about 30 odd hours and deciding that the world was just too vast, and thus too big of a commitment of my time for a playstyle that I’ve come to enjoy in small doses. I wish that I enjoy the combat more, as Elden Tree is truly a masterclass in world design. Despite the usual debates around difficulty as an artistic choice, Shadow of the Erdtree is receiving almost universal praise for both the amount of content, and it’s quality. RPGFan has a great review for those who enjoyed the base game, but are still on the fence about whether it’s worth getting lost again in FromSoftware’s masterpiece.
Shadow of the Erdtree is a staggering addition to the base game—and all of gaming. Once again, would-be designers should take note of what the developers have accomplished here, especially in terms of world and map design. To sleep on Shadow of the Erdtree is akin to depriving oneself a potential Game of the Year contender. Can DLC be Game of the Year? If it has the size, quality, and feeling of independence the way this DLC does, I say “Why not?”
Skald: Against the Black Priory
May 31 - You’d almost think that the theme for this month is “Demake”. Skald: Aginst the Black Priory is the closest we’ll ever get to Baldur’s Gate 3 being made into a throwback pixel game from the Commodore 64 era. The D&D style adventure feels like a modern CRPG but looks like something straight out of the 80s.
If you are, like me, a person of a “certain age”, for whom the entry point into home computing and video games was via an 8-bit Commodore, the most inescapable feeling when you first clap eyes on SKALD is what a throwback it is visually to the role-playing titles of yore for the humble C64.
The reprieve that our wallets received in June will quickly disappear as we roll into July with banger after banger after banger lined up for release. Final Fantasy XIV releases its latest expansion, Dawntrail, on July 2nd. The newest story arc from the long running Legend of Heroes franchise, Trails Through Daybreak, releases only a few days later on July 5th. A number of highly anticipated indie games such as Gesalt, Darkest Dungeon II and more will start to release each week into the summer.
This newsletter would be a mile long if I included all of the recent announcements that I’m excited for. We’re truly in the Golden Age of RPGs, both to our delight, and to the detriment to our bank accounts.