Aging RPGs are Having a Moment
Aging RPGs are Having a Moment
Everything old is newish again.
Horror games aren’t the only genre having a grand ol’ time right now—the past few weeks have seen announcements for a ton of role-playing games, too. A remarkable number of those new releases encompass old games: remakes, remastered, and reissues. What is it about RPGs that makes them so durable compared to most other styles of video game? The fact that they rarely push the bleeding edge of graphical tech and therefore don’t age as quickly? The fact that their beefy systems and mechanics give players something relatively timeless to sink their teeth into? Or maybe just the fact that their measured pace and tendency toward substantial length make them suitable for patient players who don’t necessarily need to hop on the games the moment they first hit shelves? Whatever the case, anyone who missed all of these games the first time around (or just want to revisit an old favorite) have a couple thousand hours of good times ahead....
Final Fantasy VII Revelation
Well. “Old” is kind of stretching it here. Although this concludes the Final Fantasy VII Remake series—a package based on a game that will inexplicably be 30 years old by the time Revelation ships—there probably won’t be a whole lot of the original Final Fantasy VII’s DNA here given the fairly radical ReBuild of Evangelion-style changes with which the last chapter of the remake ended. Still, it’s the spirit of the thing. An old soul, they say.
Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD
The tenth and, uh, tenth-second (?) mainline Final Fantasy games had HD remasters back on PlayStation Vita, which trickled out to other contemporary systems. Including Nintendo Switch, meaning you can already play the HD versions of these games on Switch 2. That admittedly makes this new Switch 2-specific update a little confusing, since the announcement trailer doesn’t indicate any massive new additions. Sometimes the world leaves you wondering and all you can do is laugh. Right, Tidus?
Final Fantasy Resonance
This one’s more like it. Although Final Fantasy Resonance is technically a new release, it ultimately contains the core content and mechanics of an 11-year-old mobile gatcha game called Final Fantasy Brave Exvius. I know, you can already feel your soul leaving your body at the first mention of gatcha, but hang on! Resonance has that distinctive Team Asano-style 2D-HD visual style, as in Octopath Traveler, as in the series whose most recent entry (Octopath Traveler 0) was also built on a mobile gatcha game. The team behind 0 gave it a comprehensive overhaul, however, and honestly you’d never guess that it had its origins in character lootbox pulls and daily play limitations. It was reinvented as a fantastic console RPG, and there’s no reason to think that the same won’t happen when the (highly regarded) Brave Exvius makes its transition, too.
Kingdom Hearts Collection
This compilation of a vast number of Kingdom Hearts titles (not just the three mainline titles, but a ton of side stories and spinoffs) is mainly notable for bringing the games to Switch 2 properly (though admittedly via Game Key Card), replacing the cloud-based streaming version available for the original Switch. There’s certainly some fan ambivalence about this one, but ultimately it seems to have been summoned into existence to build hype for the newly announced Kingdom Hearts IV.
Persona 4
Although Persona 4 has already seen one remake in Persona 4 Golden, Revival will follow in the footsteps of the Reloaded remake of Persona 3 to incorporate tech tweaks, story updates, and quality-of-life features drawn from newer Atlus RPGs like Persona 5 and Metaphor: RePhantazio. Like the Kingdom Hearts reissues, this appears to be one part fan tribute and one part paving the way for the next proper entry in the series (as Atlus has begun teasing Persona 6).
Tales of Eternia Remastered
Originally released at the tail end of the original PlayStation’s life under the name Tales of Destiny 2 (not to be confused with the actual Tales of Destiny 2, a PlayStation 2 title that has only ever been released in Japan), Tales of Eternia is slated to ship for modern consoles this fall with a posh graphical updo while granting player the ability to toggle between the original and modern visuals. And it’ll keep its real title in the west this time. So who knows, maybe there’s hope someday for a modern Tales of Destiny/Destiny 2 update.
Xenoblade Chronicles 1-3
The entire Xenoblade trilogy will soon join Xenoblade Chronicles X as a native Switch 2 release. You can already play them all via carts for the original Switch, but given the scope and occasional shakiness of the Switch releases, it’s hard to imagine fans turning up their noses at what should be vastly improved visuals and performance. This will be the original Xenoblade’s fourth release, incidentally: Wii, New 3DS, Switch, and now Switch 2. If this isn’t a flawless and definitive release, someone needs a stern talking-to.
Muramasa: Revenant Blades
Finally, 2009’s samurai-themed Vanillaware RPG-action game comes to modern systems with massively overhauled visuals and a ton of new content. Muramasa has until now been tied to (and thus long out of print on) Wii and Vita. Neither of those releases is particularly rare or bank-breaking, but how many people keep their Wii or Vita on hand these days? Perhaps most significantly, this will be the first time that developer Vanillaware—a company that has spent much of its existence backing platforms whose audiences don’t necessarily match their games’ style—will ship a title for PC, a union that frankly seems about 20 years overdue.