When I finally beat the superboss, when I finally finished doing everything I wanted to in Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, I hesitated to turn it off. I walked around. I grinded. I tried to picture my grandparents playing through it, tried to replicate how they’d play it. I couldn’t, of course. They are gone. But what a treasure it is to remember them with this lovingly crafted, faithful, and pure remake of a game in a series we cherish so much. Square Enix got it right, and I’m excited for the families who get to share this experience for the first time.

All in all, LEGO Horizon Adventures is a cute and fun experience that I think both LEGO and Horizon fans will enjoy. The story is an amusing adaptation of Zero Dawn’s plot, the characters are often hilarious, the gameplay is entertaining — if a little repetitive — and it definitely nails the feeling of playing in a large Horizon-themed LEGO set. It is fairly short, and there aren’t a ton of things to do once you finish the main content, so your mileage may vary regarding how much you feel it’s worth the $60 price tag. But if you’re really into LEGO or Horizon, you will probably find plenty to like about this unexpected but welcome spin-off.

Aside from the bears, there’s little to recommend here on the game’s own merits. Great strategy RPGs aren’t hard to come by these days, but it’s generally a time-consuming subgenre, and Crown Wars comes across worse in their shadow. Bearing that in mind, even if you’ve exhausted all other options, you may be better off firing up another run of XCOM, Jagged Alliance, or Fire Emblem.

When all is said and done, the negative headwinds are too strong for Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire to navigate successfully. The earnest story and varied, if simple, setting assets can’t make up for the obtuse systems and vapid, repetitive combat. The raft of graphical glitches and plotting bugs only adds to the terminal altitude loss. For the very committed, there may be enough content and exploration for a week or so. But with many better retro RPGs available, from indie to triple-A, the turbulence on deck is too great to warrant a recommendation to hire Glenn and his crew this time.

Slay the Princess – The Pristine Cut is a work of video game art that should not be missed by anyone fond of this form of the genre. It takes you down the stairs, traps you in the basement, and forces you to confront yourself in a dark mirror that wears a tiara. Pick up the blade. You’re going to need it to face what’s down there.

Fans of The Case of the Golden Idol will find their itch for more demented mad libs scratched but not sated by The Rise of the Golden Idol. Despite my issues with the game, existing devotees of the Golden Idol will find something to like here. Everyone else should start with the first game and its two expansions, which are better and provide vital context for fully enjoying the sequel.

While Death of the Reprobate is not a perfect experience, this brief journey doesn’t overstay its welcome. I’m a Joe Richardson fan, and I can’t wait to see what he does next, even if it’s nothing like his previous works. Clearly, he’s a talented individual who deserves success. If unique experiences are your wheelhouse and you don’t mind some potty humor to go with your high-brow language, then please support this developer.

Metal Slug Tactics tends to play it safe while simultaneously encouraging players to not play it safe. With few bells and whistles, everything just feels slightly different, rather than a mind-blowing change in gameplay. Even in an old-school SRPG like Shining Force, characters feel starkly different from each other—except the centaurs—though in this title, everything just kinda runs together. It feels like Metal Slug because it looks like Metal Slug, and the sound effects help in that respect, but in no way does this game evoke frenetic joy like its forebears.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard has cemented itself as one of my favorite DA games and is easily the best BioWare outing we’ve had in a while. It has heart and plenty of emotion alongside a found family cast with some of the best personal character questlines I’ve experienced in a game. It’s evident that there’s a deep respect for the DA lore and titles that came before, and I love how The Veilguard takes vital points of so many BioWare games and builds upon them. Rook’s journey contains several devastating choices, but opting to give Dragon Age: The Veilguard a chance should be a surprisingly easy choice for RPG fans.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure is a game that fails to capitalize on its premise. Although the soundtrack and occasional moments of intrigue are commendable, they are overshadowed by poor character development, confusing plot choices, and a lack of polish. The technical issues, combined with the short length and unresolved storylines, make this entry feel rushed and incomplete. Longtime fans of the series might find themselves disheartened, as they may genuinely dislike the narrative choices that diverge from what they loved about the original. While some may find enjoyment in revisiting the world of Life is Strange, for many, this game could feel like a disappointing misstep.

It pains me to say this, but SINce Memories: Off the Starry Sky is a subpar Memories: Off game and a mediocre-at-best visual novel. Visual novels live and die by their storylines and characters, which fall flat here. Lovely graphics and Takeshi Abo’s stellar music are not enough to save SINce Memories: Off the Starry Sky from being one of 2024’s biggest disappointments.

In my eyes, Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven is the ideal RPG remake. The game makes great use of the expanded scope and presentation afforded by more powerful hardware. However, the core tenets of the game and systems design remain largely unaltered, preserving the unique experience of guiding Gerard and his descendants across centuries of conflict against an imposing, interdimensional force. Square Enix has successfully delivered the definitive way to experience one of the best games the SaGa franchise has to offer, and in the process provided the best introduction for new players curious about the 35-year-old franchise. I know there are so many other RPGs releasing this October competing for player’s time, but Revenge of the Seven is a triumph, and I urge any fan of RPGs to give it a shot.

If you’re a fan of SRPGs and Arco flew under your radar, you owe it to yourself to correct that. It’s one of the better games I’ve played in that category in recent years, with a combat system that successfully tries something new, a setting that hasn’t been explored in any RPG I’m aware of, and a journey that leaves an impact in no small part thanks to the developers’ handling of its subject matter. There are some flaws here that the developers could fix to make this game even better, but don’t let those dissuade you from trying out this singular RPG experience.

Card-en-Ciel spoofs so hard, it spoofs itself, and doesn’t have much left to give after that. There’s plenty of entertainment to be found in the game, but it comes at the cost of not having much to offer as a game experience. While hints of cleverness pop up here and there, they’re scant cover for the emptiness in Card-en-Ciel‘s soul. There’s something to be said about self-awareness of one’s limitations, but that doesn’t erase the limitations themselves.

If you were late to the Supermassive Games train like I was, climbing aboard sometime after their success because you didn’t have a Playstation 4, then this is the perfect time to catch up on a classic. Some might say this is the progenitor of interactive cinema, at least in terms of commercial success. While not the perfect remaster, Until Dawn has made the leap to the modern era of presentation without falling to its death. Just a few scrapes and bruises.

Fate/stay night Remastered holds onto several 2000s trappings that may not appeal to contemporary sensibilities, but playing it most certainly brought me back to my younger days. The moment I saw the slick anime intro following the lengthy prologue, I knew this was the kind of game I would have absolutely devoured twenty years ago. Fans laud Fate/stay night Remastered for good reason and I am glad I finally got to play it.

Ys X: Nordics is a truly sensational adventure where the story, themes, characters, and combat are all individually strong and collectively transcendent. It is a worthy starting point and an excellent evolution for fans of modern Ys. It has singlehandedly reinvigorated my passion for both Ys and Falcom as a whole, and I regret having only so many words to recount all the reasons you should play it. 2024 is already packed with several more-than-worthwhile RPGs, but please do not let this one go unnoticed.

In Echoes of Wisdom, we have everything that I hoped for and more. New and old, revolutionary and yet traditional, it pulls you back to a place of long-treasured happiness without solely relying on nostalgia. More than a worthy entry in the series, destined to be held in affection for decades to come, it could introduce a whole new generation of Zelda fans to the magic that the best of this series delivers.

I’m pleasantly surprised by 9 R.I.P., especially considering I was initially somewhat wary of it due to my horror aversion. Yet I found it to be, at its core, an excellent tale of self-discovery and romance with a supernatural element that helps make it a perfect Halloween treat. Given some of its subject material, it might not be for everyone, but those to whom it does appeal should find a compelling game to play with the lights either on or off!

If you love Supermassive Games’ work, you’ll feel right at home with The Casting of Frank Stone, technical issues aside. For the uninitiated, expect to run around areas finding nick-nacks to read or look at and the occasional binary dialogue choice. Creepy at times, but fascinating throughout, I enjoyed my foray into Frank Stone’s debut. All I gotta do now is play Until Dawn’s remaster.

Metaphor: ReFantazio is Atlus’s crowning achievement—a culmination of the best elements from their past titles and across the RPG genre. The Press Turn system, combined with the genius of the Archetype and synthesis facets of battle, creates a thrilling, strategic, and well-balanced battle system as you face off against one incredible boss after another. The impressive moments never stop, never cease, and the utterly magnificent plot is paced perfectly, with no dull moments. A cast of wonderfully written characters carries us through a magical, cohesive, and alluring fantasy world lifted to dizzying heights by a bombastic score and stunning visual design. Atlus has shown that fantasy is not dead.

I’m still crying. I think I needed to play this one. It is telling that I, a therapist by day, still find something healing and therapeutic in the best narrative-based games. Just a To the Moon Series Beach Episode, through its title alone, undersells the promise of having one’s heartstrings pulled. This isn’t “Just” anything. Though it is short (approximately 2-3 hours to experience everything the game has to offer), this game is well worth the time.

I went into Reynatis with many expectations formed by the previously mentioned Crymachina and The Caligula Effect 2. I expected a jankfest that would narratively punch skyward, seeking to shatter the heavens with razor-sharp words like its predecessors. Instead, the result was middling, and I feel this is due to the dual protagonists having to split the story—and thus split the focus. Reynatis has a bit of an identity crisis, and rather than it feeling like clean cuts on where one ends and the other begins, it’s all blended up into a mess that is both fun and taxing to play, both narratively intriguing and vapid, and both exciting and mundane. My one consolation is that if The Caligula Effect 2 and Crymachina are anything to go off of, a sequel to Reynatis could be one of my favorite games of the year. With that hope in mind, I eagerly look forward to the next strange FuRyu collaboration.

As I watched the credits of Emio role, my heart sank that I didn’t love the game as much as I’d had hoped and would need to convey as much in a review. I enjoyed both of the remakes and want to see Famicom Detective Club and other obscure Nintendo franchises thrive. Thus, I can’t overstate how elated I was with the barnstormer of a bonus chapter the game subsequently greeted me with, enough so that it single-handedly increased my opinion of the story and overall game. Still, it can’t overwrite how Emio’s bloat makes it a bit of a wet paper bag before that glorious final hurrah. Emio’s by no means a bad visual novel, but it’s also not worthy of waking its franchise from a 35-year hiatus.

Yaaargh! Subtlety ain’t be whatcher expectin’ out of a tale about pirates, but even though the surface might look cheap, the value is in finding the gems hidden within. If ye be seekin’ the experience of bein’ a real pirate, Rogue Waters is a time of swillin’ rum and chargin’ at them scurvy dogs. Drink up me hearties, yo ho!

As eclectic as its soundtrack, Keylocker has much to love, though with an underlying narrative experience that can be lacking, I can’t recommend the game to everyone. But the superb musical performances and the compelling oddity of it all are good reasons to consider downloading yourself into this flawed but unique adventure.

The Nameless: Slay Dragon is an impressive indie RPG. Robust gameplay systems merge with a choice-heavy narrative that, at its core, is full of colorful characters and insightful messages. Throw in the game’s unique and creative visual presentation, and you have a traditional RPG/VN hybrid that’s well worth the curious giving it a try. While the game’s title is The Nameless: Slay Dragon for plot reasons, this is one fantasy adventure that begs to have its name remembered.

It’s the style and feel of Beyond Galaxyland that kept me interested to the end of Doug’s journey. Though many of the supporting systems are pretty familiar and some are in real need of reconsideration, the thematic narrative has enough mystery to engage. Exploring the intricate graphical detail of the world, and its original worldbuilding, is fun for most of the runtime, and the efficient combat doesn’t bog this down. If a key element of the genre is exploring new worlds, then Beyond Galaxyland puts its best foot forward. It’s just a bit wobbly in how it gets there. Prepare to give it some slack on the journey, and you’ll have a decent time.