Final Fantasy Resonance is at once a nostalgia-laced antidote for the longtime fans who have felt alienated by the recent 3D iterations turning their backs on the series' turn-based traditions as well as Square Enix giving its trademarked HD-2D style a much needed shot in the arm. While I've been enamored by this retro-modern style since its introduction in 2018's Octopath Traveler, over time it's been losing its charm, as the same presentation had been wheeled out in successive nostalgic outings, though at least Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined had the good grace to try something different.

Nonetheless, its legacy of pixel-based classics like Final Fantasy 6 meant it was only a matter of time before a Final Fantasy title would receive the HD-2D treatment while also finding ways for the aesthetic to feel fresh again. Ironically, it's done that not through a brand new game but with an adaptation of mobile spin-off Final Fantasy Brave Exvius.

Crystal clear

Square Enix reworking its mobile catalog to console may not be new, as it has done successfully with Octopath Traveler 0, and less so with Various Daylife, but Final Fantasy Resonance is more significant as it excavates a since discontinued mobile game. The work from Square Enix Creative Studio 5 and Lancarse is even more extensive than just an act of preservation or removing the gacha elements that had been why Brave Exvius passed me by when it was available. While its story and characters remain intact, the whole presentation and experience has been overhauled to feel like a very classic yet fresh Final Fantasy adventure that stands on its own two feet.

Just about everything in Final Fantasy Resonance harks back to the series' classic hallmarks, from turn-based battles with a party size of four characters to the explorable overworld of Lapis peppered with towns, dungeons, random encounters, and – of course – a story that revolves around crystals. As a knight of the kingdom of Grandshelt, your protagonist Rain finds himself setting out on a journey to find the legendary crystals before each can be destroyed by a mysterious group of elite armored warriors calling themselves the Sworn Six.

There's plenty that follows a largely conventional structure – visit a new region, discover a problem the locals are having where one of the characters end up joining your party, and a dungeon that culminates in a fight with one of the Sworn Six – but it's not really a criticism when the execution of this formula is done so well. Sure, there are some familiar characterizations, from a leading man obliviously caught in a love triangle, to a feisty mechanic who's often butting heads with the sleazeball of the group, but these are fun characters to spend time with. Even the game's villains are written with pathos, while the series' recurring Espers have their own personality as you fight for the right to summon them in battle.

It's all bolstered by the presentation that's a substantial level-up from past HD-2D games. While Final Fantasy Resonance does make use of voice-acting as well as having dialogue text accompanied by expressive character illustrations – the latter introduced in this year's The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales – its biggest improvement comes from the spritework, which are bigger and feature more animations than what would have been feasible for a 16-bit Final Fantasy.

Another subtle yet meaningful shift seen early on is how it's not presented with the same top-down medium-wide camera but actually leverages the fact that the game is made up of 3D environments. It's not that Final Fantasy Resonance strives to be cinematic, but a simple change of the camera to a close-up, more dynamic angles during a boss encounter, or one of your party member's show-stopping Limit Bursts, does a lot to make HD-2D feel fresh again.

It's only undermined by the occasional use of CG sequences when you're summoning Espers or Visions, the latter including manifestations of characters from the numbered Final Fantasy titles. Given how their CG sequences are taken straight from Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, I imagine they looked far more spectacular blowing up on your smartphone back in the day. I personally found these transitions at odds with the HD-2D style, and it's perhaps weirder if playing the game with English audio since the CG Visions are only voiced in Japanese.

Vision quest

Visions are nonetheless a core component in Final Fantasy Resonance and are significantly overhauled from Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, where they were unlocked through a gacha system. This remake has just 26 from the hundreds of the mobile title but nixes any monetization or rarity randomization. Each is unlocked either by visiting their respective shrine or completing a side quest, while awakening more of their abilities is done by using magicite found as you go through the campaign.

Obviously, it's wish fulfillment having the likes of Final Fantasy 7's Cloud fighting alongside Final Fantasy 13's Lightning or Final Fantasy 14's Y'shtola, though they are more comparable to the skill-wielding summons from the likes of Persona 5 than true party members. They also have the added function of being like jobs, giving more abilities and attack options for the party member who's equipped them, while keeping them paired up for longer also levels up mastery, unlocking more benefits. There's also incentive to master multiple visions, since some of these perks become equippable, and you can mix and match different abilities, like a more flexible form of Octopath Traveler's secondary jobs.

Indeed, while there are many familiar Final Fantasy elements – such as Phoenix Downs for reviving fallen party members, or using tents as save points for fully recovering – I can't help but think how much of Octopath Traveler's design sensibilities permeate throughout. Mostly, it makes for a smoother experience, like the ability to run making dungeon traversal snappier, and the mini-map acting as a red-flashing radar helping you anticipate random battles.

It's also evident in the presentation of the battles themselves, with a timeline on the top displaying the order of turns while icons next to enemies also indicate which elemental properties they are weak, resistant, or immune to after a respective attack or spell is used on them. That said, the battles flow differently to the break and boost systems of Octopath Traveler.

While staggering has become a core mechanic since Final Fantasy 13, in Final Fantasy Resonance, your abilities also show their effectiveness in dealing damage to an enemy's HP and stagger gauge, handily color-coded in the same respective red and yellow. Instead of raw damage, it's often more important to focus on attacks that bring down the stagger gauge faster, especially when those abilities tend to cost less MP, before saving the strongest attacks for when their guard is down.

The more satisfying strategy comes from coordinating an attack where you stagger all the enemies during the same turn. Not only do you have the next turn free for everyone to pile on, but it's also how you get to finish the turn with a powerful Resonance attack from one of your equipped visions, in other words, the CG special ability mentioned previously.

Admittedly, the power of these bonus attacks in earlier field battles almost feels too much, prompting that The Simpsons 'Stop, he's already dead' meme to spring to mind after my party has wiped all but one enemy out whose HP is also already at zero, before unleashing a Resonance attack. But then it's also encouraged since you can gain an Overkill bonus at the end of a battle. Bosses are spongier and don't go down as easily, but there's a great sense of relief when you manage to stagger them just before the timeline indicates they're about to dish out a devastating attack on the whole party.

Finite Fantasy

The cozy familiarity of Final Fantasy Resonance does mean that at times it has almost too predictable a rhythm. It's not that the boss battles, or optional monster dungeon challenges, won't occasionally put you in a tight spot, but there is less friction in mind. For example, if the boss' weakness isn't already obvious from appearance, once you spend the first couple turns figuring this out, it's easy to hit pause, load your last save, quickly reassemble your party and visions, and skip any cutscenes to get back to that same fight at an advantage with minimal fuss.

With access to an airship by the game's midpoint, you might say it opens the world up a bit too soon, such as being able to reach one region several chapters before its relevance to the story even kicks in, or access monster dungeons that indicate you're far below its recommended level but you might as well go in so that you can fast-travel to it once you are ready. In that sense, there's almost little in the way of surprise.

Yet, while it might feel a little too breezy at times, it also feels a comforting counterpoint to the unfathomable bloat of the modern JRPG – looking at you, Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy.

There's a generous amount of side quests on offer that unlock at a manageable cadence where the rewards are usually upfront, while dungeons never outstay their welcome, although side quests do have a knack for backtracking to earlier locations that's at least mitigated by fast travel. Even the endgame convention of ascending a huge towering dungeon is smartly broken up so that you can always go and explore the rest of Lapis and mop up other side quests without worrying about how far the next save point is.

Final Fantasy Resonance may only cover the first story arc of Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, which might make it seem less complete than the multi-arc epic of Octopath Traveler 0, yet that may also be the point. If this beautifully enhanced remake does as well as it deserves to, then I'm hopeful its subsequent arcs will also get the same restoration treatment, with even bolder design choices.

Final Fantasy Resonance was reviewed on Nintendo Switch 2, with a code provided by the publisher.

Don't make this adventure final. Check out our best Final Fantasy games, best RPGs, and best JRPGs rankings for loads more to keep you busy. Our new releases calendar has plenty on the horizon too!

Final Fantasy 7 Remake series producer Naoki Hamaguchi has confirmed details about Revelation's difficulty, including a new enemy strength option.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth obviously have beloved combat in both entries, but neither game has combat I'd describe as particularly difficult. Obviously, tackling the Summon Materia battles from Chadley earlier than you're meant to is a bit of a nightmare, but for the core story progression, there were only a handful of moments when things felt much more challenging.

And unfortunately, Hard mode was only made available after you beat the game in full, so unless you really want to replay it – which, given how long Rebirth is, I don't blame you for not wanting to – you won't experience it.

Thankfully, Hamaguchi – in an interview with Hardcore Gamer – confirms that "Hard Mode is selectable from the very start of this game." He explained that the hard difficulty "won't function in the exact same way as it did in Remake and Rebirth" and that for Final Fantasy 7 Revelation "we’ve reimagined the high-difficulty experience to align with the new game design."

"Unlike Remake and Rebirth, Revelation offers a wide variety of end-game content even after you’ve beaten the game," Hamaguchi explains, adding, "we aimed to create a game where players can enjoy various new content and challenges even after completing the main story."

On top of that, the balance of hard mode has changed somewhat, with him explaining that player options "have expanded significantly," and, as a result, the team "determined that simply banning items wouldn’t be enough to achieve the ideal high-difficulty experience we envisioned."

Hamaguchi also detailed an option in the difficulty settings, namely 'Enemy Strength,' which lets you choose between the returning Dynamic mode and static enemies. He explains, "we’ve created a challenging environment that will thoroughly satisfy those seeking high difficulty, while also expanding players’ freedom and strategic options."

More options are always a good thing, and after talking all that smack at the start of this, I look forward to bouncing my difficulty back down to normal after the third roadblock.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation boss doesn't want to hear your Rebirth mini-game discourse: "I don't think that discussion really gets to the heart of the matter"

While we still know little about Persona 6, some former leads on the series have given us an idea of where it should go, discussing the soul of the series at large during a recent roundtable discussion.

Appearing at games culture and arts festival The Tenth Mosaic, Persona 3, 4, and 5 director Katsura Hashino, character designer Shigenori Soejima, and composer Shoji Meguro reflect on what makes a Persona game a Persona game.

While you might think of high school drama with a touch of the supernatural, Hashino, as per Automaton, would say "chaos," as he makes an effort not to be too selective about what he leans on to depict adolescence.

Adding to this, Soejima says that "changing to reflect the times" is another important part of the beloved JRPG series, particularly in its settings and storylines. That's because it's important to avoid stagnation, and ultimately, Atlus wants each Persona game to resonate with contemporary audiences, which it partly achieves by drawing on modern society and culture. And then, you know, slappin' some Persona on it.

As for what an RPG should be in the modern era, Hashino says it's important to make an impact to stand out from the wide array of media we have available today.

Developers need to ensure the experience doesn't "end up being something fleeting" that could easily be replaced by watching TV. Rather, it's important for fans to have "something to draw on as they go on to live their lives."

Hashino rounds things off by saying his team has yet to fully realize the vision, though is inspired to pursue just that in future works. Of course, this won't be in Persona 6. As has been reported previously, Hashino is now heading up a different team within Atlus, most recently releasing Metaphor: ReFantazio.

Still, the tenets of Persona he offers give us at least some insight into what the next installment could look like. Whether or not the current Persona team abides by those tenets, however, remains to be seen. All in good time.

Persona 6 producer doesn't want "to make games for the global market," only something "we ourselves genuinely find exciting."

If there's one department that Final Fantasy 14 fans are lacking in, it's reading, apparently – particularly the MMO's own settings.

It's a tale as old as time: players want certain options, and Square Enix either delivers them or doesn't… or, you know, already has, but folks don't check the settings to make sure what they want is or isn't already implemented in the game before asking for it.

Global community producer Toshio Murouchi jests about this phenomenon during a panel at this past weekend's PAX Australia event, explaining that it happens all the time. "Some of the player group loves A, the other group loves B, so you guys tend to say, 'Okay, how about making it selectable in the config options?"

That's when Square Enix does just that, with a "let's make it happen" attitude" – there are more than 10 years, as Muruochi says, of work poured into the MMO, after all, so the existing settings are "tremendous."

So tremendous, in fact, that players don't bother going through them.

They "don't like to read any play guide or the manuals," Moruochi jokes, which… guilty as charged – but we'll want to do just that for the new expansion Evercold.

"In preparation for Evercold, please take time to read through the config options," as the developer kindly tells the community. "That will help raise your quality of life in Eorzea." He's probably not wrong, considering all the new configurations and tweaks coming.

From new jobs like the Bastion to housing changes, Evercold's packing quite the punch of content, and knowing your way around pre-existing settings can't hurt. Some fans think that Square Enix should make them easier to navigate, however.

Over on a Reddit thread about Muruochi's recent words, one person comments that the devs "should redesign the horrible options menus" if they expect players to explore them.

Another suggests the Final Fantasy 14 team "just add a search bar" to make navigation a bit simpler – something I wouldn't be opposed to myself. For now, though, we'll have to make do with the old-fashioned click-and-browse method, I suppose.

Final Fantasy 14's Beastmaster has fans experiencing the MMO as Pokemon trainers for the first time in its 16 years, and they love it so much they "wish it was a standard job"

Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii is touting his new game which he claims took him about 30 minutes to make using generative AI.

Despite being one of the most prolific game creators of all time, the Dragon Quest creator has fallen head over heels for the slop machine like your elderly uncle on Facebook. Developers like Hideo Kojima have spoken critically about using it as a replacement for creative aspects of game development, but Square Enix is working with Google on a chatbot for Dragon Quest 10, and Horii has generally been very positive about the tech, claiming it can make JRPG characters "feel even more human" and claiming that the tech known for hallucinating info "hardly ever makes things up."

And now, Horii has released a new 'game' titled Interrogation Room Komiya (via VGC). The developer went to Twitter recalling the development of his 1983 adventure game The Portopia Serial Murder Case – a game which he wrote, programmed and created art for all by himself – while now, he can just write some words into the machine, allowing him to make something in about 30 minutes.

Of course, the question is whether Horii's enthusiasm for the tech will carry over into Dragon Quest 12, which has been in what could be described as development hell, given that the entire concept was reworked and development was restarted. The game is confirmed to have artwork and characters from Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama and series composer Koichi Sugiyama, both of whom have passed away since the 12th entry was announced.

I'm a creature-collecting sicko, and going hands-on with Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World made me realize how much I've been missing out on this spin-off.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth takes a lot of flak for the amount of mini-games it has that distract you from the main objective. Queen's Blood, Fort Condor, Chocobo Racing, Galactic Survivors, Pirate's Rampage, Queen's Blood... oh, god, Queen's Blood. (I suck at Queen's Blood because I lack the attention span to learn.)

Anyway, I don't much care for all of Final Fantasy Rebirth's mini-games, but I'm not upset that they exist. Even in the rare occasion I'm forced to interact with them, it's usually a nice, brief break from the main quest that makes me slow down and appreciate the depth of the game's world. That's just me, and there are plenty of JRPG fans who are vocally against the amount of mini-games in Rebirth, and indeed, the conversation has grown loud enough that it's officially become capital-D Discourse. Final Fantasy 7 Revelation director Naoki Hamaguchi, who also helmed Rebirth, isn't having any of it.

"I often see debates about whether it's better to have more minigames or fewer," says Hamaguchi in the latest issue of Edge Magazine. "However, I don't think that discussion really gets to the heart of the matter. What I consider first is what kind of gaming experience is best suited to a particular title. In that sense, the overarching policy that 'the FF7 remakes would offer a gaming experience as rich in minigames as the original' was my decision as director, and I believe that responsibility is mine to bear."

Not only is Hamaguchi taking direct ownership of the decision to stay true to the spirit of the original game with a ton of goofy mini-games, he's also saying people who focus on the amount of mini-games are missing the whole point. It's about quality and quantity, he seems to suggest.

"I believe we should continuously improve aspects such as whether the game is easy to engage with and whether players can enjoy it without unnecessary stress," says Hamaguchi. "We prioritised ensuring that players engage with the minigames because they want to, rather than feeling like they're being made to play them. I believe that how we can deliver that gaming experience is more important than whether to increase or reduce the number of minigames."

The mini-games in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth are definitely, for the most part, thoroughly fleshed out compared to their 1997 counterparts, but for the most part they're entirely optional. Or at least, the ones that require a lot of concentration or skill aren't necessary to the critical path, from what I remember. I don't know, I think I'm picking up what Hamaguchi is putting down here. When there are bigger issues to discuss like Square Enix's "inevitable" embrace of multiplatform availability and the lack of a true physical disc version of Revelation, whether or not there are too many mini-games seems pretty inconsequential.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation lead explains that making each game in the RPG trilogy a "complete experience" was "non-negotiable" from the beginning

The Final Fantasy series has always had incredible music, and if you were to ask my top three soundtracks from the franchise, Final Fantasy 7 and 10 would probably compete for the number one position. Nobuo Uematsu, the longtime composer of Square Enix's centre-piece property, disagrees emphatically with the quality of the former, believing it to be a downgrade from his work in prior entries.

In the book Nobuo Uematsu: On The Record by James Mielke, as shared on Twitter by FF7 Music, the storied musical legend goes in on his work for Cloud Strife's quest to stop Sephiroth. "Apart from the fan favorites, like 'One-Winged Angel', most of Final Fantasy 7's songs are boring compared to the music in prior games," he says.

"Because of the improvements in the visuals, the music distracts from the gameplay if the melody is too catchy," he adds. "So I wrote music that doesn't impose on the focus for the story."

I would consider that a strength and not a weakness. The soundtrack for Final Fantasy 7 strikes a strong balance between catchy melodies and sitting comfortably in the background of any given scene.

I've got 'Mako Reactor' playing while I write this, and that's a good example: it's foreboding and broody, heightening the feeling of seeing Shinra's technology suck the life out of the planet. But the cyclical nature of the melody makes it appropriately ambient - it doesn't demand your attention, but there's enough going on you could listen attentively, too.

To Uematsu, his contributions were more commanding when Final Fantasy games were on the NES and SNES. "For the Famicom and Super Famicom games, the music played a role in advancing the story," he explains.

"But by Final Fantasy 7, the visuals are convincing enough to tell the story, so it was better for the music to step back," he recalls. "I think the revelation that I'm adding music to enhance the visuals started in Final Fantasy 7 and carried on to Final Fantasy 8."

His work evolved quite heavily across 7, 8 and 9, bolstered by the sound team learning more about the PlayStation's capabilities. The soundtracks for 8 and 9 are both more orchestral and dynamic than 7's, but the synth-heavy flavor of the 1997 classic just gives it more charm to me. Agree to disagree, Uematsu - agree to disagree.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation ditching PS5 exclusivity was "inevitable," Naoki Hamaguchi says, because players are "no longer tied to a single piece of hardware"

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation marks a significant first for the remake series: it'll be the only entry available across multiple platforms on launch day. Remake and Rebirth both released as PlayStation exclusives, and took years to hit PC, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch, but Revelation will be available for all players on day one. The change in approach, director Naoki Hamaguchi says, is simply a response to the reality of today's gaming landscape.

The multiplatform release is "an inevitable outcome of the changing environment surrounding today's players," as Hamaguchi explains in Edge Magazine issue #429. Now, players "are no longer tied to a single piece of hardware," and enjoy their games on TVs, desktops, and handheld devices alike.

"I believe that what will be important in future triple-A game development is not how high-performance an environment we can use," Hamaguchi says, "but rather how widely we can deliver the core of the same experience across different environments." In other words, game devs are now incentivized to make sure their games scale across a wide range of platforms, from the highest-end PCs to the most lowly handhelds.

Square Enix announced its intention to "aggressively" pursue a "multiplatform strategy" back in 2024. The publisher had never truly been exclusive to one particular platform, though its allegiance shifts between Nintendo and Sony in the '90s are the stuff of game history legend. Nevertheless, almost all of its games have been released across all major platforms in the past few years – an unequivocal win for all but the most hardened of console warriors.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation lead says he pushed Square Enix for a physical version of the JRPG, but physical media will eventually be "essentially disc-less."

Lie of Caelum: Spirit recently bagged more than $100,000 in extra Kickstarter funds on the back of stellar art and music, and the promise of a "PSX-style sci-fi mecha JRPG" that was "inspired by Xenogears and Phantasy Star." This all sounds well and good, but my gast wasn't truly flabbered until I learned that this 3D mech game was made in RPG Maker.

I don't know if you've ever played an RPG Maker game, but they don't normally look like this:

Already listed on Steam, Lie of Caelum: Spirit was made with RPG Maker MZ, the 2020 version of the storied game maker. Exactly how it was made, I couldn't tell you. I'm right alongside this Twitter user reacting to the news: "3D mech combat in RPG maker????? God's strongest programmer."

"I want to see your face when I tell you this was made in RPG Maker MZ," Lie of Caelium: Spirit developer Classi5ed says in an older tweet showing off 3D open-world exploration both in and out of a mech suit, with seamless transitioning between those two forms. A video on Kickstarter shows off even faster mech movement in a racing minigame. There's also a card game and fishing minigame, making this a true JRPG.

RPG Maker MZ games tend to be flatter, simpler, and more static than this. "Making an RPG is as easy as putting in the stats for your heroes and villains, drawing up some maps, and using a simple eventing system to drive the story to its finale!" the engine's Steam page reads. And that's pretty accurate. For most users, the appeal of RPG Maker is the ability to dive in and start making a real, playable game without needing the sort of technical skill normally associated with game dev. Lie of Caelum: Spirit is showing us what it can do if you also have that technical skill.

This detail is barely touched on in the Kickstarter campaign for the game, which asked for $34,000 and drew over $147,000. "60+ hours of main campaign. 20+ hours of meaningful side content. Multiple arcs that get deeper into the main cast's identities, philosophy, and conspiracies surrounding Caelum," it promises.

All of this is actually an evolved version of Lie of Caelum, a smaller, free game released on Steam by Classi5ed in 2022. It's primitive in comparison, but you can see the early seeds of what Lie of Caelum: Spirit would become: an extremely promising RPG that grabbed me in under a minute.

Lie of Caelum: Spirit is currently only listed on Steam, but it smashed a Kickstarter stretch goal for Nintendo Switch 2 and Xbox ports. It's also apparently coming to GOG.

A remake of a 20-year-old cult JRPG is now the best-rated game of 2026, pushing aside Resident Evil Requiem, Pokemon Pokopia, and more.

Naoki Hamaguchi had one "non-negotiable premise" when he began remaking Final Fantasy 7 as a three-part trilogy: each chapter had to feel like it's own complete, individual experience, despite the fact they were all essentially one third of a larger story.

The Final Fantasy 7 Revelation director said as much in an interview with Edge magazine's 429 issue. "Even as a multi-part series, providing a complete experience in each individual game was a non-negotiable premise from the very beginning," Hamaguchi explains. "The biggest thing to avoid in a multi-part series is having the creators think 'there's more to come, so it's fine to stop here for now'."

As such, each part ends during one of the original game's most climatic scenes. 2020's Final Fantasy 7 Remake finished with Cloud and his ragtag party escaping the city of Midgar, right before heading into a much larger, more colorful world. And 2024's Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth closes right after one of gaming's most famous and tragic scenes ever, leading quite dramatically into the finale.

But the developers took a few big liberties, too. In Rebirth, long-time fans might have noticed that a couple locations and towns from the original game were entirely absent, and there's a very good reason for that - Rebirth was already far too big for many players.

"When we looked at the overall plot and gameplay experience of Rebirth, we determined that depicting those elements [Rocket Town and Wutai] at the same time would have made the game too dense with information, disrupting the story's pacing and the focus of the second game," Hamaguchi says.

The Remake trilogy lead also delved a bit into Cloud's character arc in the upcoming third and final chapter. "In the footage we unveiled at SGF, people noted that the way Cloud speaks had become gentler than before. While I'd prefer not to go into detail, I can say that players will experience a side of Cloud that hasn't been seen in previous titles," he adds. "I hope players will pay attention not only to how [Cloud] confronts [the crisis in Revelations' story], but also to his relationships with his companions and the answer he ultimately arrives at as an individual."

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation lead says he pushed Square Enix for a physical version of the JRPG, but physical media will eventually be "essentially disc-less"

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, the third and final entry in Square Enix's remake trilogy, will be available on disc when it launches on April 8, but the physical version comes with a massive caveat: unlike the two-disc Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Revelation will be a single disc and will only contain the opening parts of the game. You'll have to be connected to the internet to download and play the rest of the game. Naturally, this raises questions about the nature of physical media, entitlements, and whether the disc version of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation can fundamentally be considered physical media. And yet, director Naoki Hamaguchi wants you to know he really stuck his neck out to get the game on disc at all.

Talking to Radio Times, Hamaguchi says he has fond memories of collecting physical games as a kid and will still buy discs when he's "particularly attached to a title," but he ultimately sees "a world in the not-too-distant future where physical media is essentially disc-less," adding that "You would have a copy of the code on a piece of paper inside the physical box or something like that."

That sort of thing already exists in things like Switch 2 game-key cards and some special editions, but it sounds like Hamaguchi thinks that'll be how all physical games work in the near future, which is kind of sad. Regardless, the veteran game developer says he "really like[s] and appreciate[s] physical media," and acknowledges the 'no disc, no purchase' movement that's happening on social media.

"And for Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, we've been able to preserve a physical edition. You can't play the entire game on that disc, but it's got the opening – a sort of key disc – and then after that, it will ask you to download the rest."

Hamaguchi is keenly aware that Final Fantasy 7 Revelation's physical version hasn't exactly been a huge hit with fans, but he says that, despite his trying, the decision is largely out of his hands.

"I've got people saying to me on social media, 'Give us a full disc version!' And so, from an overall perspective, let me first say that as the director, it's my responsibility to look after the content of the game to make sure it's fun, really exciting.

"The product line-up, the SKUs (stock keeping units), how it's going on sale; that is the responsibility of the publishing team. So, my authority there is somewhat limited," says Hamaguchi.

Of course, this whole conversation is happening with a big contextual backdrop that is PlayStation's decision to stop producing physical games in 2028. Developers and publishers are also gradually moving toward digital-only games despite fervent opposition from physical media collectors and even game preservationists, but Hamaguchi says he "did [his] best" convincing Square Enix to give Final Fantasy 7 Revelation a physical release.

"In this day and age, as we've been talking about, there's a lot of pressure for disc-less editions, digital editions, and I used my position to put forth an argument for the physical version as much as possible.

"And all of the negotiations, both internally and with first parties, have led us to where we are now, and of course, I completely understand there are those out there who may not really agree with that direction or approve of that direction."

It is, as they say, what it is.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation director says "it wasn't easy" not turning "a masterpiece like FF7 into something that felt like my own personal fan project"

Final Fantasy 7 feels both like a time capsule from the late '90s and a timeless story about corporate greed and its negative impact on the environment, and the upcoming Final Fantasy 7 Revelation is set to tie the knot on the remake trilogy's modern retelling.

In Edge Magazine issue 429, Hamaguchi says it hasn't been easy remaking a game as beloved as Final Fantasy 7 as three separate entries while staying true to the spirit of the original.

"We haven't altered the core of the story based on reactions at any given time. It feels as though we've built up each title one by one without wavering from the central theme we established at the very start of the Remake series," Hamaguchi says. "It wasn't easy. I felt it was absolutely essential to avoid turning a masterpiece like FF7 into something that felt like my own personal fan project."

Of course, the Final Fantasy 7 remakes aren't without their creative liberties, even introducing a meta narrative device to make major changes to the original story via the Whisper entities. Hamaguchi says the development team didn't struggle with individual alterations; rather, they struggled with the remake series' whole identity among the Final Fantasy pantheon.

"The real challenge wasn't simply incorporating elements that differed from the original or introducing new interpretations. It was constantly asking ourselves whether what we were creating could truly be called FF7R," says Hamaguchi.

With Final Fantasy 7 Revelation due out April 8, 2027, you still have plenty of time to catch up on the story as told before the sequel picks up, whether that's a replay of Remake and Rebirth or the original 1997 JRPG. Hamaguchi himself recently told GamesRadar+ that the original story "is very much enshrined within the story [and] the narrative of the Remake series as a thing in the world," but that newcomers can also jump right into the remakes and still have a great old time.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation battle lead still doesn't know the "correct" way to balance between real-time and turn-based combat, but that's why he's not "tired" of working on the trilogy

After three whole installments of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy, battle director Teruki Endo still isn't sure what the right balance of turn-based and real-time combat is, but as he heads towards the launch of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, he reckons this is why he's still not "tired" of working on the revamped JRPGs after all these years.

Speaking in an interview in Edge magazine issue 429, Endo notes that "whenever I've worked on a sequel, I've always faced this dilemma. If the game becomes too complex, that's a problem. But if there are no entirely new elements, or if we only make minor adjustments, we risk failing to meet players' expectations and not giving them that sense of freshness when they play again."

Endo's approach is to "always make a point of considering the purpose, significance, and role of every element from the ground up, and then rebuilding them for the new game." When it comes to the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy specifically, he's taken inspiration from the "festive atmosphere" he felt in the JRPG "ever since I first played" the original, noting that "I've increasingly wanted to explore how we could make even bolder, more playful additions to the game."

One way he's done this is via the FITS system – a sort-of job system that lets you change the abilities of your party members and the way you approach combat with them. "Our approach has always been to place Materia at the center of customization," he adds. "With the FITS system, one might be concerned that it could limit the freedom players had to shape each character's strengths through Materia. Instead, we've made a conscious effort to position FITS as an element that allows players to further sharpen and specialize the direction of Materia-based builds."

As we get closer to the release of the finale of the remake trilogy in Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, Endo acknowledges the continual effort that's gone into the balance of turn-based and real-time combat across the three games. Remake and Rebirth both included a Classic mode that lets your party members fight automatically, allowing you to focus on selecting commands. Way back in 2019, Square Enix described this as something that would "thrill fans who prefer the original FINAL FANTASY turn-based battle systems to real-time combat."

"Across all three titles, we've repeatedly fine-tuned this balance [between turn-based and real-time] through trial and error," Endo says. "The difficult part is that I still haven't decided on a definitive 'correct answer' for myself.'"

There's a silver lining to that situation though, he adds: "I think [it] may be one of the reasons I've been able to keep working on these games across all three installments without getting tired of it."

Turn-based RPGs have been making a real resurgence lately thanks to the likes of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Sandfall's hit game is definitively turn-based, but uses Super Mario RPG-esque real-time inputs on top of that system, allowing for parries, dodges, and powered-up moves.

It'll be interesting to see where Square Enix goes with its Final Fantasy games after Revelation, but Final Fantasy Resonance, which is releasing this month, should hopefully satisfy the cravings of anyone who's been eager for the series to get a full-fat turn-based entry again.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation lead says the original 1997 RPG "is very much enshrined within the story," but newcomers can still jump in with the Remake trilogy.

Have you heard of the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy 11? It now has an expanded free trial which you can play up to level 75 for free with no restrictions on playtime. Yes, devotees of Final Fantasy 14 have had good times with their own free trial memes over the years, but Square Enix's older MMO is finally bulking up its own trial in an effort to get more players in the door.

There is no longer any time limit on Final Fantasy 11's free trial. Previously, players would be locked out after two weeks and forced to upgrade to the full game. Additionally, the level cap on the trial is now 75, up from the previous cap of 50. These changes were first announced earlier this year, and have just gone live as of today's update.

Notably, the trial still only includes the base game, with no expansion content, and there are some key restrictions on access to social features. Notably, trial players can't access the auction house, trade with other people, or carry more than 100,000 gil, all of which are presumably meant to limit gold farming activity.

Trial players also aren't allowed to start parties, but they can join parties started by owners of the full game. All these sorts of restrictions will sound pretty familiar to FF14 players, and just as with that game, this trial is probably best paired with an experienced subscriber to the full game who can show you the ropes and help you party up.

In any case, Final Fantasy 11 is long overdue for this kind of free trial expansion. The memes are easy to reference, but the real reason I keep evoking Final Fantasy 14 here is because it's the MMO I know, and that's in large part thanks to its generous introductory trial. But Final Fantasy 14 is very much a post-WoW theme park MMO whose biggest hooks are a strong story and accessible gameplay loop.

Final Fantasy 11 is a lot crunchier and more player-driven, with esoteric gameplay systems and a big emphasis on letting players explore at their own pace and find their own fun. Some players swear by it, which is why FF11 is still running 24 years later. But when I tried it out many years ago with the original free trial, I found that the two-week time limit was far too intimidating to make much progress in understanding how the game works.

I'm not sure I can find space in my life to take another run at understanding FF11 these days, but the new free trial goes a long way toward making the possibility realistic.

These are the best MMORPGs you can play today.

I will never forget the evening when Final Fantasy 7 Remake was unveiled in 2015. Fondly remembered by many as the 'E3 Conference of Dreams' where Shenmue 3 and The Last Guardian were also shown off, it was a period when PlayStation ruled the gaming world and could seemingly do no wrong. The console giant boasted an incredible slate of exclusive games, offered massive support to burgeoning indies, and seemed determined to surprise us at every turn. But even in this landscape, Final Fantasy 7 Remake was a miracle.

An ambitious reimagining that was previously only gleaned through a fancy PS3 tech demo and a collection of underwhelming yet fondly appreciated spin-offs was finally a reality – planned as an expansive trilogy for PlayStation consoles well into the future.

I was skeptical, worried that there simply wasn't enough content in the original game to be stretched across three modern triple-A blockbusters. But after spending 40 hours trapped within Remake's Midgar and another 80 falling head over heels with familiar locales in Rebirth, I'm ready for anything Final Fantasy 7 Revelation has to throw at me when it arrives next year.

Let's mosey

We are in an unsustainable gaming landscape where countless studios have been closed, thousands of folks have been laid off, and goodness knows how many projects have been cancelled because they cost too much time and money to make. Once upon a time we received three Uncharted games and The Last of Us in just 6 years, but this generation has seen Naughty Dog spend the same time on a single release. I'm confident that Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet will be tremendous, but it sucks that AAA gaming is caught between chasing the live-service dragon and taking nearly a decade to get a single game out the door.

Unless Final Fantasy 7 Revelation receives a last-minute delay, when it releases next April we will have a finished entire trilogy in just 7 years. A trio of games that are ambitious, dense, and visually spectacular – while also packing 200 hours of play when all is said done. A major developer achieving this in the modern age is almost unheard of.

Speaking to Bloomberg shortly after its reveal at Summer Game Fest, game director Naoki Hamaguchi credits the speedy three year development cycle of Revelation to retaining the core development team throughout the trilogy and refusing to waver from his overall vision. On occasion, this results in patches of outdated open world design.

These flaws are worth the expanded world and narrative, allowing us to spend more time with characters we grew up with. Every fault is countered by scenes that are beautifully reimagined or once miniscule locations now filled with life. It often feels like a miracle, but it's a labor of love by people who understand Final Fantasy 7 more than I ever will. The image of this dieselpunk classic we held in our minds for decades is now a living, breathing reality. But with overlong development cycles and ballooning budgets becoming the norm in this industry, I struggle to envision a reality where a trilogy of this size, quality, and caliber can happen again.

Not because people don't want to make games like this anymore. But few enjoy the safety or opportunity that an established title like Final Fantasy 7 affords. As indicated during a recent panel at PAX West, Hamaguchi noted that one of the goals for the trilogy is to welcome a new generation to Final Fantasy 7 with an established plan to expand upon it well into the future, though I pray that it doesn't coalesce into an endless stream of content. There is definitely too much of a good thing – I should know, I'm a Kingdom Hearts fan. If Revelation concludes in all of the right ways, I'd love for Square Enix to leave it behind and break new ground. Give new talent a chance to redefine this series all over again.

The Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy is an extraordinary achievement, but I sincerely hope it isn't the last of its kind. New stories, new characters, and new worlds all deserve the same opportunity as this monolith even if they don't have the benefit of several decades worth of ingrained nostalgia. Unfortunately, in a landscape where safe bets have become commonplace, I fear that day will never come to pass.

We've picked 10 games like Final Fantasy to help you fill the void until Revelation

Asked about whether newcomers should play the original classic before starting its epic trilogy of remakes, Final Fantasy 7 Revelation's director says there's no "clear cut" answer. In some ways, knowing what happened in the 1997 RPG is crucial in understanding the Remake trilogy's story, but at the same time, newbies who don't know what a Materia is can still have a great time.

Speaking to GamesRadar+, lead developer Naoki Hamaguchi says fans aren't "mistaken at all" for recommending that new players finish the original Final Fantasy 7 game before its remakes. That's because "the storyline of the original Final Fantasy 7 is very much enshrined within the story [and] the narrative of the Remake series as a thing in the world."

So far, the Final Fantasy 7 Remake games have toyed with fans' expectations. Battling against destiny and fate, all while knowing what's supposed to happen next, is part of the fun. Plus, the remakes' alternate timelines have many fans convinced Square Enix is secretly creating a meta-sequel, of sorts, rather than a clean remake - we'll need to see how Revelation ends for those answers.

"If you know what that original storyline is and you can pick up on what's changing or looking like it's going to change, you're going to have more fun," Hamaguchi tells us, via an interpreter. "And you're going to get more out of it."

At the same time, the Remake trilogy has been "designed very much so that even someone who's not played the original can jump in on any of them [and] still have a really great experience."

Hamaguchi then suggests some people might actually have a better time starting with the ongoing Remake saga, in fact: "You could actually look at it the other way around, too, and maybe say that it's better to start with the Remake series for a different reason." According to Hamaguchi, the modern tech in the new trilogy and the "graphical splendor" on display might make it "easier to have that emotional impact maybe than the original did." At least, for first timers.

"So, in that sense, you could argue coming into Final Fantasy 7 without any prior knowledge [is better]," he adds. "You're experiencing it for the first time in this modern graphical splendor. That might also be a better way of doing it. So I guess really it's down to people's preferences. It's not as clear cut as one way or the other."

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's battle lead "regrets" how hard the Platinum trophy was to earn, so director Naoki Hamaguchi says Revelation's is "easier"

Despite a very vocal backlash, Sony has no apparent plans to backtrack on its decision to end physical PlayStation discs in 2028. But maybe things aren't quite as set in stone as they seem – at least, that's what I want to tell myself as I read recent quotes from Kenzo Saruhashi, president of Nippon Ichi Software, who offers a bit of hope that Sony's decision isn't final.

"In our discussions with Sony so far," Saruhashi tells Kotaku, "I think that they're hearing a lot of the feedback from customers and so while that may be one destination that we arrive at, it's possible that the discussion may change in the future, so we'll have to see what happens, what comes of it."

Saruhashi made these comments earlier this month at PAX West, and they're now being published amid other rumors about Sony's disc plans. As Eurogamer reports, YouTube channel Moore's Law is Dead recently suggested that Sony is now surveying its developers about the decision to end discs. This report is unsubstantiated, but combined with Saruhashi's comments, it's starting to feel at least possible that Sony might be having second thoughts about discs.

NIS is known for the tactical RPG series Disgaea and other niche favorites with devoted followings among the most hardcore JRPG fans. Its subsidiary, NIS America handles global publishing duties for a wide array of notable JRPGs, including beloved series like Ys and Trails. NISA often puts these games out in deluxe collector's editions that might be a lot more difficult to sell without an actual game included.

"Speaking for myself, I know that a big part of our business model, particularly with NISA, is producing our physical limited editions," Saruhashi says, "and that's an important part of our business and we, for our part, intend to continue making those physical editions and delivering the exceptional quality that our customers are expecting of us."

The benefits to Sony's business for dropping physical games are immense. It no longer has to bear the expense of manufacturing discs or share revenue with retailers. It can work with third-party publishers to control prices on the PlayStation store. And it no longer has to stare sadly out the window as it fails to draw a penny from the sale of used games.

Some reports suggest that Sony's biggest first-party games are still making a substantial amount of their revenue on disc, but clearly the publisher feels that market control is worth the loss of however many physical game holdouts are still hanging on.

Still, even that's not the whole story. Sony's decision to end discs almost certainly presages plans for an all-digital PS6 – and with threats of $1,000 consoles limiting the next-gen audience, the publisher certainly wants to maximize its profit margins. But if the next couple of years continue to be full of former fans rallying against PlayStation's decision to end physical media, it's going to be even tougher to convince them to spend big bucks on a new console. Certainly, it's pushing me away from the platform after a decade as a PlayStation-first player.

The death of physical media is having the opposite effect on me – I've fallen back in love with my disc drive in 2026.

It'll be less painful to pine for Platinum in Final Fantasy 7 Revelation now that Square Enix developers are changing their approach to the completionist trophy.

In fact, director Naoki Hamaguchi tells Anime News Network he expects "twenty percent of players or maybe even more than that to be able to obtain" Platinum in Revelation, the final installment of the remake trilogy. In comparison, only 2.3% of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth players on Steam have earned its platinum prize, The Planet's Hope. Square Enix devs were apparently expecting a bigger number.

"For Rebirth's Platinum trophy – well, for Rebirth in general – there's so much to do," Hamaguchi acknowledges. "There's so much content. We wanted to make people go through all this content and perfect it. It's kind of by design that that would make it difficult."

But, you know, you can blast through a challenging number of appetizers at dinner or push yourself with back-to-back rewatches of Saw 2 – it doesn't mean you won't regret ordering the tuna tartare in the morning. So, Rebirth's battle director Teruki Endo had regrets.

"'Oh, no! I feel bad – I have regrets,'" Hamaguchi reports Endo saying upon seeing fan feedback to what a pain Rebirth's Platinum trophy was. The director continues, "I don't want to call it a mistake in judgment or anything but we also didn't expect so many people to want the Platinum trophy. I think that was what we underestimated here."

But Square Enix devs have learned their lesson for Revelation, which is out April 8, 2027. Hamaguchi promises "the Platinum trophy will be easier to get" once the RPG launches, and the game's overall combat should be less brutal, too.

"It's not just about the amount of battles that there are but the battles themselves that are going to be enjoyable," says Hamaguchi about the developers' approach. "I think that's one thing that we've learned from Rebirth: to make the battles themselves enjoyable rather than just challenging."

Final Fantasy 7 Remake being split in 3 was a risk, director says, because what could Square Enix do if the first game was received "poorly."

Atlus has cleared up some miscommunication that there will be a new social link in Persona 4 Revival, with the character set to be a "Location Episode Character."

Last week, Atlus dropped a bombshell surprise on the Persona fanbase. During the Persona 4 Revival broadcast it was revealed that a fan-favorite character from Persona 4: The Animation, Aika Nakamura, is a new Social Link. Aika is the daughter of the owner of Aiya Restaurant, where the 'Rainy Day Mega Beef Bowl Challenge' takes place.

However, in Persona 4 Golden she's only mentioned by the owner rather than appearing, so it was a big shock that not only is she being added to its remake, but would be a new Social Link. Not only that, but after Persona series producer Kazuhisa Wada said it was too much work to add Yosuke's seemingly cut romance option, some saw an entirely new Social Link as antithetical to that comment.

Atlus has since clarified that Aika's status as a Social Link was actually an error. The Atlus West account posts on Twitter saying, "We want to correct one key detail from the English language version of the Persona Broadcast that listed Aika Nakamura as a new Social Link. Aika is indeed a Location Episode Character and not a Social Link." The post adds, "we apologize for the confusion."

Location Episodes seem to be Persona 4 Revival's fake Social Link equivalent. These were added in Persona 3 Reload as Linked Episodes, allowing the male party members – who didn't have them in the original game – to have their own pseudo-Social Link scenes. Thankfully, the Linked Episodes gave new Personas, so presumably the Location Episodes could too.

Aika is currently the only character confirmed to have a Location Episode for the time being, but I hope Funky Student is one of them.

Persona 4 Revival lead said Atlus wanted "a whole new cast," but one actor is reprising his role from the OG JRPG anyway: "True!"

Final Fantasy 7 Remake's Jessie actor says playing the character in Square Enix's 2020 JRPG was a "bucket list role," but with that in mind, you can understand why she's "devastated" at her fate.

Erica Lindbeck – who also voices Futaba in Persona 5, Black Cat in the Marvel's Spider-Man games, and many more – tells us in a new interview that being cast as Jessie in Final Fantasy 7 Remake's PSX trailer back in 2015 was "one of my first big things" she booked in her acting career, and it understandably meant a great deal to her.

"I mean, that's just a bucket list role for anybody, or project – especially FF7," she says. She recalls being anxious about whether Square Enix would keep her in the role, and perhaps more importantly, wondering "will the game eventually get made," which thankfully she had nothing to worry about.

But then there was the question of what would happen to Jessie in the long-awaited remake – something Lindbeck "did not know" when she took on the role. In case it wasn't obvious, we're about to get into spoiler territory, so be warned.

Alas, much like in the original 1997 JRPG, Jessie sadly dies in Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and thanks to Lindbeck's excellent acting – as well as the extra detail the remake could offer – it's more heartbreaking than ever.

"When they dug the knife – and they chose to dig the knife in even further, so to speak – I was devastated. I mean, I was just devastated," Lindbeck tells us.

With that said, she's still rather philosophical about the whole thing, adding: "But I think some deaths are necessary. I think that if you have a universe with no death, things feel less heavy and less permanent, and I think that's what gives life its meaning."

Final Fantasy 7 Remake being split in 3 was a risk, director says, because what could Square Enix do if the first game was received "poorly."

Persona 5 Futaba actor Erica Lindbeck thought she was "completely miscast" when she was offered the role of the anxious tech genius in Atlus's beloved JRPG, and she was "terrified" about it.

Lindbeck is a prolific actor in gaming – from Black Cat in the Marvel's Spider-Man games (and Marvel Rivals), to Celica in the Fire Emblem series, and Jessie in Final Fantasy 7 Remake, chances are that you've heard her voice in something before. One of her most iconic roles, though, is in Persona 5, and in a new interview, we ask Lindbeck if she had any idea how well received the JRPG and Futaba herself were going to be when she took on the role, to which she tells us that she tries to "go into anything with low expectations," despite in this case knowing "how large the IP was."

She continues: "I also understood, as someone who loves character-driven stories, Persona is that manifest. They're so character-driven. If you do not fall in love with the characters, you are DOA. There's just nothing there, and so I knew that they were very careful when they cast the games."

With that in mind, then, Lindbeck says that when she was offered the role of Futaba, she was "shocked." She explains: "I thought I was completely miscast when I went in to voice her, because if anyone talks to me, they're like, 'You're Futaba?' She's very different from me.

"I was terrified, to be quite honest with you. I'm not afraid or embarrassed to say that," she continues. "I just knew… I knew this was a make-or-break moment for me, in the same way that I knew it was a make-or-break moment for me the day I stepped onto that mocap stage to do mocap for the first Spider-Man game."

Even if she was hesitant about the role at first, though, Lindbeck recalls that Persona 5 talent director Valerie Arem (also an actor herself – amongst many other roles, she voices Naoto in the Persona 4 spin-off games) told her years later that she "literally cannot think of another another actor that could do Futaba," a sentiment I'm sure many fans will agree with.

Now, almost 10 years on from Persona 5's global release, Lindbeck says "voicing Futaba feels like slipping on an old pair of boots," and "that project will always hold a special place in my heart."

Persona 1 and 2 remakes will "probably" happen for the sake of "cultural preservation," says Persona 4 Revival producer: "It's your duty to take the things you've done and make sure they're not lost."

Final Fantasy 7 Remake series director Naoki Hamaguchi says splitting the project into three games wasn't a business decision, as it's a risky endeavor.

When it was announced that Final Fantasy 7's remake would be an episodic release, many scoffed at the idea, but here we are years later, with two great RPGs to show for it and Final Fantasy 7 Revelation being one of the most anticipated games of all time. Remaking the game's sheer scale seemingly necessitated the multi-game approach, but some saw it as nothing more than Square Enix trying to milk its most popular game for all its worth. However, the director of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy says business didn't factor into it at all.

Speaking to Final Weapon, Hamaguchi says he can't imagine many other games that would be remade across multiple titles, with the director thinking he won't see a game on the same scale as the trilogy ever again. And while from "a creative perspective" the game necessitated this massive project, Hamaguchi notes "from a business perspective, it's a totally different story."

"If the first title had sold really poorly and been poorly reviewed, I mean, what do you do with the rest of the titles?" Hamaguchi says. He notes that with a project like this, "There's also this need to keep the team as similar as possible across all of the titles," with him calling it "another huge headache, especially for people who control the strings."

Hamaguchi says these are "big risks that you have to take" for a project like this, and he doesn't think "many will" take that on. In an era of ballooning AAA budgets, the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy is especially impressive, and sure the devs have reused assets and other factors, but given the reported budgets of the Marvel's Spider-Man sequels, I feel like even that's not a given for a smooth development now.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation lets you automatically level characters and blast through the campaign after Rebirth players begged director Naoki Hamaguchi for a break from the JRPG grind.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake series director Naoki Hamaguchi doesn't think there will ever be a game that compares to the scale of the trilogy after Final Fantasy 7 Revelation releases.

Whatever you feel about the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy, there's no denying that it's one of the most impressive AAA projects in recent memory. In an era where the likes of Naughty Dog are taking close to a decade to release a game, the fact that three major titles are going to have released within seven years is quite the feat. While the idea of splitting the classic JRPG across three titles continues to be a contentious decision years later, it's not a choice Hamaguchi sees happening often.

"I think the popular titles that came before, I think they will be remade." Hamaguchi says, speaking to Final Weapon. He adds, "that being said, a game like this, splitting it across three titles… I'm not so sure there will be that many; if there are any, very few."

He recalls the challenges to be considered when making a game across three parts, like if the first part had sold or reviewed poorly, and the fact that the "need to keep the team as similar as possible across all of the titles" can be a "huge headache."

Hamaguchi continues, "Not only is Final Fantasy 7 huge and the scale of the Remake Series is just enormous, but in a way, I don't think a game will ever compare in terms of scale across three titles ever again." He adds, "in that way, I think the Final Fantasy 7 Remake series will be looked at as kind of like this outlier. That's something I'm gonna be proud of."

Hamaguchi is seemingly counting the series as a "game" in this case, despite it being three titles. Granted – even if there are some that will argue Final Fantasy 7 hasn't either – I don't know if there are many games that could pull off being split across multiple games for a remake. Although personally, I anxiously await Capcom stretching Devil May Cry 1's four hour runtime into three games.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation lets you automatically level characters and blast through the campaign after Rebirth players begged director Naoki Hamaguchi for a break from the JRPG grind.

You can expect Final Fantasy 7 Revelation to be a big game. It's the trilogy closer, and that means there'll be plenty of side quests and a lot of exploring to do. In lieu of this, there'll be some extra guidance for players who'd rather just get from A-to-B without much hassle – but Square Enix knows not everyone may be interested in these features if they're in it for the journey.

Director Naoki Hamaguchi explains the balance of these ideals on Twitter. "In Revelation, we've included more on-screen guidance than in our previous titles so that even players who are not familiar with open-world games can enjoy the experience without getting lost," he says. "By following that guidance, players can naturally explore the world as it gradually opens up, revealing new places to discover and more things to do."

However, if that sounds annoying or like hand-holding to you, then Square Enix is "considering options that would allow players to customize how guidance is presented." He doesn't mention to what extent you'll be able to adjust the wayfinding or whatever other signposting the game will provide, but I imagine the lowest settings will be quite freeing overall.

More options are always good, especially in RPGs requiring dozens of hours of investment to get through. While I'm in the camp of preferring less guidance, there are many who don't have the time or energy to wander aimlessly for hours, or would simply prefer to know exactly where to go at any given time.

If it's feasible to appease both sides of the spectrum, that can only widen the appeal of the game and make sure everyone's getting a better experience. Final Fantasy 7 Revelation ties together the remake trilogy, and considering the scale of both Remake and Rebirth, I expect this one to basically swallow me whole for upwards of 100 hours.

Hamaguchi recently mentioned it'll take multiple runs to see and do everything in the adventure, and even as an ardent journeyman of these kinds of games, I can see myself leaning into the exploration options for my second and third playthroughs, just to streamline things. If the versatility is there, why not make use of it? This isn't 1997 any more, not everything needs to be a grind.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation lets you automatically level characters and blast through the campaign after Rebirth players begged director Naoki Hamaguchi for a break from the JRPG grind.

Atlus has confirmed that Devil May Cry actor Johnny Yong Bosch will be reprising his role as Tohru Adachi in Persona 4 Revival, despite previous comments from the developers.

Before Persona 4 Revival was even announced, we found out that the game existed because a trio of voice actors from the game tweeted that they had been replaced in what was either the most widespread 'official' remake leak in recent memory or some very strange marketing.

Series producer Kazuhisa Wada told GamesRadar+ the reason for this was mostly down to not being able to get everyone back, so the team decided to completely recast everyone. He recalls thinking "let's start over. Let's get a whole new cast in and let's do our best."

Given the original cast featured the likes of Yuri Lowenthal (who has said he wanted to return), Troy Baker, and Laura Bailey, whose stocks have significantly risen in the time since, it's maybe not a surprise. However, Baker and Bailey were recast with Matthew Mercer and Ashly Burch taking over the roles in past Persona 4 projects.

However, a new cast reveal dropped this week revealing that Judy Alice Lee will be playing Aika, Courtney Shaw will be playing Nanako, Ray Chase will be Detective Dojima, and that Johnny Yong Bosch will be Dojima's partner Adachi, the role he played in the original game (alongside protagonist Yu Narukami). While Nazeeh Tarsha is taking over the protagonist's role, Atlus has contradicted its all-or-nothing reasoning with the Devil May Cry actor returning as Adachi.

Bosch posted on Twitter following the announcement with the "TRUE!" Adachi meme that I've never quite understood the meaning of (which he has also changed his Instagram profile picture to), saying, "I know. You guys are NEVER going to trust me again. In my defense, I was told to keep my mouth shut. See you in Persona 4 Revival!"

After Bosch's complete laughter breakdown when Vergil actor Dan Southworth casually leaked Devil May Cry 5 years in advance, maybe he's more careful about giving anything away.

Persona 4 Revival adds a fan-favorite character from the anime as a social link, hinting we might get new Personas in the remake.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation overlord Naoki Hamaguchi says players can automatically level up after a certain point in Square Enix's conclusion to its Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy, since some fans were apparently about to pass out from JRPG exhaustion.

Video game news update Twitter account Genki shares the sentiment in a translation of a new interview Hamaguchi did with IGN Japan, where the Square Enix lead talks about learning a lot of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth players wanted to trim the fluff on the game's 40-hour campaign. Hamaguchi is now prepared to meet them in the middle – you'll be able to juice your weak party up to the game's recommended level after reaching a specific milestone in Revelation, out April 8, 2027.

The pop-up option will simply ask you something like, "Do you want to automatically raise the level to the recommended level?" Hamaguchi hopes doing so will let interested players force their way through Revelation's main campaign rather than skulk around in however many million hours' worth of open world exploration if they don't want to. That way, Hamaguchi says, you can play Revelation like a linear game rather than the universe-sized experience it actually is.

Those who prefer their RPGs to be nice and never-ending, though, don't have to participate in automatic leveling if they don't want to. If you'd rather get caught up in side quests and earn your levels through traditional slog, Final Fantasy 7 Revelation will honor that. It offers something for everyone.

Square Enix is really just following a trend here – classic JRPG grind is steadily being replaced with auto-battlers that laser-zap all the little chores that were once mandatory for the genre, and Revelation's automatic leveling option does the same.

A new definition for JRPGs is emerging, and it says a game can be dense, beautiful, and immersive without making you want to slam your head against Sephiroth's abs (unless you really want to).

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation lead says the series' cursed Moogles are back, and this time they're training to form a pop idol group.

Part of the joy of RPGs is replaying them to try different things and explore other side quests and options on your journey. The upcoming Final Fantasy 7 Revelation will apparently reward going through the story more than once, with more to discover than was in Rebirth.

Director and remake trilogy overseer Naoki Hamaguchi comments as much during a gameplay demonstration at Tokyo Game Show, per a translation from Genki on Twitter. While providing commentary to footage of the blockbuster game, he mentions that going through Final Fantasy 7 Revelation once will provide around the same amount of gameplay as in Rebirth.

However, according to him, there's a lot you can't see or do in one go, thus you'll want to get through Revelation a couple of times, making the overall amount of questing and rewards and such more than in the second installment. It's not specified to what degree overall there's more to see.

I'm not shocked to hear this. Revelation is the big closer, and it felt like we were building towards it in Rebirth. You've got the entire party together, finally, the whole world of Final Fantasy 7 to explore, and given the standard of redesign thus far, the stage is set for the devs to really maximize the amount of fun to be had.

Even as someone who doesn't replay games all that much – my backlog is just too big – I suspect I'll be playing Revelation more than once. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Remake and Rebirth, and this'll be the last goodbye to these characters, at least for now, and I want to savor every piece of that.

Hamaguchi's comments here line up with the size of the release too, since it's likely to be around the 200 GB range. That's a chunky piece of your hard drive, but then, let's be honest, once this lands, what else will you be playing?

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation lead says the series' cursed Moogles are back, and this time they're training to form a pop idol group.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has my least favorite Moogle designs in the entire series - their odd, humanoid proportions turn them from adorably fluffy friends to weird creatures I don't want around my pets. And they're back in Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, this time in pursuit of pop music stardom, apparently.

That's according to Final Fantasy 7 Revelation director Naoki Hamaguchi, who told Anime News Network that one of Rebirth's most hated mini-games came from the Moogle family. Cloud would enter these dreamy Moogle-filled environments to round up all the creatures while dodging whatever comical obstacles they threw at him.

"There are a lot of mini-games - and many different styles of mini-games - and I think every player has their own personal preference. It's an RPG, so the characters are moving around the environment in a really specific way - they're not walking around in action-combaty ways," Hamaguchi explains. "For example, there was the Moogle House mini-game, but people who wanted to focus on the action didn't really want to step away from the action elements and do that."

Hamaguchi then reveals the "Moogle Houses are returning" in the trilogy's third and final chapter. "As for the Moogles, they have since quit their jobs as Moogle merchants and they're now trying their hand at being on stage - making a little idol group."

A family of Moogles trying to do their best New Jeans impression would have me really excited if we were dealing with Final Fantasy 9's Moogles or, heck, even the original Final Fantasy 7's chunkier ones. I'm a little scared to see what that looks like in Revelation, though. At least the memes will be worth it.

"Anyway, since a lot of people didn't really like that Moogle mini-game, that was definitely one thing we wanted to change and so we've made it more accessible - and hopefully more people like the Moogles," Hamaguchi says. Bless him for trying.

Speaking of cursed characters you want banished into the shadow realm, Chadley supposedly has a key role in the upcoming game, as well.

"Cloud is still the main character" of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, but the developers know you "want to see more of the other characters"

Persona 4 Revival has been billed as a largely faithful remake of the classic paranatural game, but the developers at Atlus are making some large changes. Most recently, the studio announced it's retroactively adding a fan-favorite character from 2011's Persona 4: The Animation into the main game's cannon.

And that fan-favorite character is Aika Nakamura, one of the player character's classmates and the daughter of the Aiya restaurant's owners - the one with Mighty Beef bowls that almost make you and your friends pass out from meat sweats. She's mentioned in passing in Persona 4 Golden if you take on the restaurant's challenge enough times, but Aika herself is conveniently always on delivery runs while you're eating.

Atlus announced her inclusion in Persona 4 Revival in its second promotional broadcast, introducing her as "laid back by nature." She's still a school goer, still a delivery girl, and still the daughter of Aiya's owners - but there's one key difference here: She's also a social link.

That means you can choose to spend time with her out of class and level up your joint relationship, though a brand-new social link brings up other questions. If Revival has a new social link, does that mean Aika is attached to a new arcana card? And if so, wouldn't that indicate we're getting new Personas to collect who are related to said arcana? Atlus didn't say much about Aika's social link storyline, but we should find out more before the game's launch next February.

Persona 4 Revival's aiming to make a ton more little changes to the game. For starters, the devs want to integrate Marie into the story more naturally this time around and there's also been a few tweaks to some controversial Yosuke scenes. In news that's proved divisive for fans, Atlus also replaced the entire English voice cast of Persona 4 Golden.

Persona 4 Revival lets Atlus "go more in-depth" with Yosuke, lead says, even if you can't romance him: "There has been something more we could explore with every character"

Cloud Strife lovers might have noticed a distinct lack of the iconic, spike-headed hero in all the Final Fantasy 7 Revelation trailers we've seen so far. While players of the original certainly know the why of it all, series director and game lead Naoki Hamaguchi says it gives players a chance to "see more" of the RPG's colorful party members.

Speaking to GamesRadar+, Final Fantasy 7 Remake's Hamaguchi assured folks that "Cloud is still the main character" of the upcoming game, even if he's not as front and centre in the marketing campaign as you might have expected. His leave of absence in the party gives the rest of the cast time to shine, however.

Hamaguchi adds that he knows fans "want to see more of the other characters too, so we very much wanted to have content that goes into each of those characters." To accommodate those desires, players can freely switch between each party member on the fly and bring a different party composition into side quests.

There's also a ton of new stuff to discover for each hero. For instance, Red 13 has an entire narrative arc somehow revolving around the moreish Queen's Blood card game this time around. And Hamaguchi recently revealed that we can learn more about Tifa by engaging with the threequel's piano mini-game, as well, per an interview with VGC. I imagine finally going back to Wutai will give us lots of never-before-seen Yuffie lore, too.

Fans of the original game know that doesn't mean Cloud is being kicked out of the spotlight, however. At least, not for very long. Either way, Final Fantasy 7 Revelation is shaping up to be an absolutely massive romp, so there should be more than enough screentime to go around.

Prepare your hard drives: Final Fantasy 7 Revelation is "probably going to be around 200 GB of game," lead says

Another Eden Begins follows Final Fantasy Resonance and Octopath Traveler 0 in a line of JRPGs based on online mobile games that have been forever preserved through premium-release adaptations, and producer Shinnosuke Hirasawa says it's "wonderful" to see them escape the live-service reaper.

Speaking with Automaton, Hirasawa, who oversaw the overhaul of Another Eden: The Cat Beyond Time and Space, says it was no surprise to see other developers arrive at the same plan.

"Live-service games have the inherent issue that once services are terminated, they become unplayable," Hirasawa reasons. "Also, when a game continues for a long time, it’s common for the scale of development to start shrinking over time."

Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent and Final Fantasy Brave Exvius got almost the exact same treatment: strip out the live service mechanics, fill the gaps with more story content, and sell a full-price game that non-mobile gamers might actually like.

Asked how he feels about the likes of Octopath Traveler 0 and Final Fantasy Resonance, Hirasawa says, "Keep it coming!"

“I believe creators take pride in the work they’ve created, and I think it’s wonderful when live-service works are released in a form that allows them to remain in the world and keep receiving recognition," he adds. "It’s good for games as a medium, too, so I’d like to see more and more releases like that.”

The inevitability of end of service looms over even the best mobile, gacha, and online games. Even giants like Genshin Impact face the question of what happens when, years or – if developer Hoyoverse has its way – decades down the line, development dries up? Is there hope for an official offline version?

Another Eden Begins is now on Steam and Nintendo Switch (and Switch 2) for $40, and it's launched to mostly positive Steam reviews.

This pocket of preserved games arrives as digital rights and preservation become hotter topics amidst PlayStation's plan to end physical games and Stop Killing Games, rooted in the death of multiplayer games, taking its fight to court.

"Too good to become unplayable": Final Fantasy Resonance exists because a JRPG veteran was "frustrated" players ignored their game the first time.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation director Naoki Hamaguchi warns that the finale of Square Enix's Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy will probably be about 200 GB.

Both Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth shipped on multiple discs allowing people to access the entirety of the game without the need to download anything. Not only was this a cute throwback to the PS1 era which saw the original Final Fantasy 7 ship across multiple discs, but a good way to preserve the game in the event these online stores eventually go down. However, for Part 3, news broke that the game's physical release would still require an online download.

Hamaguchi explained this is happening because the team does not want to "compromise" on the quality of the final chapter, which releasing the entirety of it on disc would require. Speaking to VGC, Hamaguchi is now asked if this means the upcoming RPG will be significantly larger than the first two entries, with the director explaining, "Things are still getting worked out, but it's probably going to be around 200 GB of game."

He adds, "I understand there are a lot of opinions about this topic, but at the end of the day, the fact is we need to overcome the hardware to a certain extent."

However, despite the fact the game will not be released entirely on disc, Hamaguchi indirectly refers to the recent news of Sony abandoning disc releases for PS5 games, and explains, "with Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, we definitely wanted to deliver some kind of physical product. That was really important to us. Trust me!"

However, I do feel for Nintendo Switch 2 owners, because 200 GB is almost the entirety of the console's storage. Although, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is almost 150 GB on PS5 and 102.5 GB on Switch 2, so hopefully things are a little smaller on Nintendo's platform.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation boss is "so sorry" for what happens to Aerith in Rebirth, but if you're still upset, "you may change your opinion" by the end of the remake trilogy.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake series director Naoki Hamaguchi says that Revelation's story DLCs will dig deeper into their subjects, but he's not telling us when exactly they'll be set.

Earlier this month we finally got confirmation that Final Fantasy 7 Revelation will be releasing next April, and that after skipping DLC with Rebirth, the final entry in the trilogy will be getting two expansion packs. The first is simply titled Sephiroth, while the second is titled Vincent & the Turks, with expansions set to release between Winter 2027 and Spring 2028.

Speaking to VGC, Hamaguchi explains: "It's best to imagine the DLC like what we did with Intermission: digging deeper into the characters of Vincent and Sephiroth." However, the game's director isn't ready to divulge when exactly these stories take place within the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy, saying, "In regard to whether those stories take place in the past or the present, I'm not going to tell you that now, but we're excited to reveal that."

Given Vincent is the star of his own game, in the form of Dirge of Cerberus, it is entirely possible that Square Enix's plan for his DLC could be an alternate retelling of that game that factors in the Turks. However, given Dirge of Cerberus originally takes place as one of the latest parts of the Final Fantasy 7 timeline, it seems more likely that it'll be a prequel featuring his time as a Turk.

As for Sephiroth, the possibilities are far more vast. You could easily have some of the events that precede the events of Final Fantasy 7, during Sephiroth's time as a Soldier, or have him off doing something during the events of the game.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation boss is "so sorry" for what happens to Aerith in Rebirth, but if you're still upset, "you may change your opinion" by the end of the remake trilogy.

Only last year, around the launch of the fantastic Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter, did I say I was drowning in gaming remakes. Now, as Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter releases – also a sublime remake that manages to add extra detail beyond its predecessor – we're more inundated than ever. Even so, developers and players alike can't seem to agree on what they most want from remakes: vast reimaginings, or dedicated faithfulness? Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter offers the best approach by balancing both, and other developers – RPG studios especially – should take note. This is how you modernize a classic.

In another year crammed with remakes, Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter sneakily became the highest-scoring new release of 2026 overnight for how it revitalizes The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC. It's starting to feel like Gungho's work on modernizing the Nihon Falcom's PC and PSP chibi-style JRPGs is becoming a barometer for measuring the quality of remakes going forward. The second part of a trilogy (which itself forms the first part of a wider ongoing saga well worth playing), this is a luscious reimagining that feels like I'm being sucked into the more abstracted, top-down world of the original, now with a chance to explore it at a truer scale.

Trail as old as time

While Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter wisely, like the original sequel, sticks closely to the first game, improvements to character animations and a tighter script make this aspect shine all the more. That latter change has also been applied through an update to 1st Chapter, creating goodwill by addressing some weaker moments and ensuring that by the time the whole trilogy is remade, it'll be an impressive, cohesive work.

Unlike the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy, which splits its pseudo-sequel approach across three entries when the original was just one, Trails in the Sky has always been told across three full-length games that have their own complete story and character arcs. In terms of scope, Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter might add loads more detail by bringing the action closer, but it accurately recreates almost every act and scene from the original (while adding some additional bits as well). I'm reminded of Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined from earlier this year which, though we quite liked it, made the baffling choice to cut out a vast amount of its side-stories, which are some of the strongest parts of the PS1 original.

So far, my favorite moments playing this RPG have been playing scenes side-by-side just to revel in how much more personality has been added in 2nd Chapter's renditions of iconic moments. While the chibi-graphics are no more, this JRPG isn't shy about its anime roots, absolutely dripping with vibrant colors and unafraid to still use shorthand anime expressions as characters emote. It gives interactions a lively feeling, even if at times there's an awful lot of yapping between the action as characters constantly re-state the same things. To be honest, they're personable enough here that I mind it less when getting to see full scenes unfold before me rather than watching from above.

Ironically, these also make for some of my favorite moments in the likes of Final Fantasy 7 Remake. The whole Wall Market sequence feels unreal in how large it makes the antics of the original, and my deep knowledge of Cloud's dress-shopping experience made me fist-pump all the harder when it was reimagined in the shape of a musical number.

But, so many other parts of the game diverge so significantly – and feel so split up having been retooled into a trilogy – that while I love Remake as a spiritual sequel, I can still feel disconnected as an original fan. It's one reason I sweat so much whenever Square Enix hints at giving the likes of Final Fantasy 9 or Final Fantasy 6 the same remake treatment across multiple games. They work well enough as one game as it is! Cease this!

On the other end of the spectrum, something like this year's Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, despite offering higher-fidelity assets, can feel so close to the original that it's sometimes uncanny. How you feel about it comes down to whether you like the muckier-looking characters in the original or the 10% more handsomified models. In my Black Flag Resynced review, I called it "far from smooth sailing, even though I love the original" because of how it struggled to find its balance in this regard.

There's no mistaking Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter is a new, distinct take on what I'm already familiar with, while simultaneously having deep reverence for the classic. One of the benefits of remaking an older RPG that's heavy on a birds-eye view perspective and transitioning into random battles arenas is how clear that distinction can be by simply making the world more contiguous.

Still, despite being so respectful of its source material, Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter isn't above making massive changes to how you experience the RPG. To me, that's the core appeal for why this remake works as well as it does. The more abstracted original still exists with its strictly turn-based combat, while 2nd Chapter provides a new way to experience that journey by dashing about its blue-sky, green-grass, gorgeous world.

The biggest change is, of course, hybrid real-time and turn-based combat that offers some of the best battles this surprisingly tactical RPG series has ever had. The original is completely turn-based. Enemies can be battered to pieces on the field, and stance-broken to give you an advantage when you initiate a turn-based battle. This in turn allows for potential bonus strikes like team-up attacks as your party and enemy monsters scrabble into place.

Plenty of foes can be felled purely by cannily dodging and attacking in real-time, though you'll be able to more effectively blast apart health bars by using the command abilities and magic spells only usable while in the turn-based mode. It's a fluid hybrid that feels less delineated than the similar approach in Metaphor ReFantazio (which, for the record, came out after Trails first embraced this system in Trails Through Daybreak).

Several abilities in battle are determined through each character's orbal device. Akin to materia, these are individual powers that, combined into connecting slots, can boost elemental affinities that cumulatively unlock new spells. Connect a bunch of blue ones together and you'll get healing spells, for instance, while red ones (believe it or not) unlock fire spells.

But, plenty of orbments have different amounts (or a mix) of affinities, and can be boosted by character-specific slots. It's easy enough to set and forget tough upgrades, but offers a real chin-stroking layer for those who want to meet Trails' hardest challenges. In recent entries, I've felt this has been flattened down a bit, but Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter manages to embrace the original spirit of this battle system while still remaining friendly to get to grips with.

Despite me constantly saying Final Fantasy 9, with its fairytale art style, doesn't need a remake, that doesn't stop multiple leaks, rumors, and Square Enix themselves from teasing that a proper Final Fantasy 9 remake is seriously on the cards. I'm a chipper sort of fellow, but the prospect has been making me on-and-off grumpy for a while. But, being wowed once again by Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter really does go to show that you can get it right. If Final Fantasy 9 Remake can take some pointers from how elegantly 2nd Chapters modernizes a classic through a remake, by matching it in scope, reviving its spirit, and adding plenty of depth, I can see myself getting with the program.

The real genius of Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter is how it avoids the remake pitfall that lies beneath the tightrope between being so faithful you wonder what the point is, and a reimagining so different it feels off. It accomplishes this by removing my worries entirely. I'm simply whisked away to the world of Zemuria, lost in its vibrant world once again – that's the real magical potential of a remake when done right.

Check out our best RPGs and best JRPGs rankings for more adventures!

The 1994 JRPG The Legend of Heroes 3: The White Witch, which you might know by another name (more on that below), is being revived by Neowiz, the publisher behind the acclaimed Soulslike Lies of P.

If you haven't heard of The Legend of Heroes 3 until now, that might be because you're not a giant JRPG sicko and simply haven't encountered it until now. After all, the English localization released in North America in 2006 on the PlayStation Portable, and it remains exclusive to that platform to this day. The Japanese version is available on the Nintendo Switch eShop via publisher D4 Enterprise's EGGCONSOLE series of retro ports, but again, that's just the Japanese version with the option for English text in menus. That means the only way to play the official English localization is on PSP, and online discussion around that version is far from encouraging.

I promised I'd explain why the game is known by another name, so let me do that quickly. As is the case with a lot of Japanese games that are part of wider series that eventually come to the West, they aren't always released perfectly sequentially. The Final Fantasy series is notoriously confusing for this reason, but in this case, The Legend of Heroes 4 released in North America in 2005 as just The Legend of Heroes, so when its predecessor was localized the following year, it was titled The Legend of Heroes 2, a complete reversal.

It seems the remake, or remaster, or whatever it is (Neowiz calls it a revival and recreation), is sticking with the original Japanese naming convention and releasing it as The Legend of Heroes 3: The White Witch, on "PC and console" at an undisclosed date. Not much is known about the project, but Neowiz says it's aiming for a polished, updated adaptation.

"The White Witch has been cherished by RPG fans worldwide for over 30 years," reads a statement from a Neowiz spokesperson. "We want to bring a polished experience that recaptures the emotional experience of the original game, while inviting new and old players to immerse themselves in an updated adaptation. With this agreement, we are looking forward to building a strong partnership with Nihon Falcom." 

You also might know The Legend of Heroes series by its more well-known association, the Trails series, which spawned from the former with The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky in 2004. Coincidentally, Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter, the second release in a remake series of the whole Trails series, is launching this week to fantastic reviews putting it even above critical darlings Resident Evil Requiem and Pokopia.

With that extremely nerdy history out of the way, here are the best JRPGs you can play right now.

As we await the rest of the 2026 game flood, including the likes of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake and GTA 6, there's suddenly a new and very unexpected game of the year contender. That's Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter, a new remake of a 20-year-old cult classic JRPG, which is launching to the best reviews of any game this year.

Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter officially releases tomorrow, September 17, but critic reviews are slowly trickling in. On Metacritic, the PC version has earned a 93 based on 10 reviews, while the PS5 version has gotten a 92 based on 13 reviews. Either score puts it as the best-rated new release of 2026. (The Switch 2 version is a fair bit lower at 84, but that score is based on fewer reviews.)

Over on OpenCritic, which puts all platform reviews into a single pool, Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter has earned a 92. Across either site, that puts the JRPG ahead of all the best games of 2026, from big publisher releases like Forza Horizon 6, Resident Evil Requiem, and Pokemon Pokopia to indie breakouts like Mewgenics, Mina the Hollower, Titanium Court, and Big Walk.

For decades, developer Nihon Falcom's Trails series was something of an underground sensation – one for the hardcore JRPG sickos. But in recent years, the pool of sickos has either gotten much bigger, or the series has started to find a much larger audience. And with extensive world-building, robust combat systems, and memorable characters, it's no wonder the Trails fandom is growing.

Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter, as the name suggests, is the second in a line of remakes that are reviving the series from the beginning. Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter launched in 2025 to similar acclaim, and Falcom's president says the success has the company "hoping to continue the remakes for a while." Given the time investment it'd take to play through the entire Trails series at this point, these remakes might just be the jumping we all need.

These are the best JRPGs you can play today.

A few weeks ago, we learned that Terranigma would finally get a modern re-release, bringing the classic Super Nintendo JRPG out in North America for the very first time. Today, remaster dev Clear River Games has confirmed that the new edition of Terranigma will launch on January 14, offering a host of details on the in-game updates and the first look at a super-deluxe $200 collector's edition.

Terranigma was originally developed by Quintet, a now-defunct studio responsible for numerous SNES classics like ActRaiser and Illusion of Gaia. Like many of those games, Terranigma was published by Enix – now one half of Square Enix – and has seemingly been trapped in some kind of licensing limbo ever since. Now it's finally coming out of the vault in style.

The Terranigma remaster launches across PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, Switch, and PC via Steam and GOG on January 14, with physical editions available for all current console platforms. You can put $200 into the Gaia Edition, if you're so inclined, netting you a Yomi figure, music box, art book, cloth world map, soundtrack CD, and more. Pre-orders are available through Limited Run Games in the US or straight from developer Clear River Games in Europe.

But for me, the real news today is the remaster itself. Terranigma will feature an "original mode" offering "untouched balance" and the "original save system" for the classic experience. Even in this mode, however, there's a new sidebar alongside the 4:3 game window that shows your current money and experience, as well as a new set of quick access controls letting you quickly swap equipped items.

You can also swap to the "arranged mode," which promises "enhanced progression" and "adjusted difficulty," along with modern retro gaming conveniences like quick saves and rewinds. Best of all is a new minimap that shows your position in the current location.

These are the kinds of features I wish Square Enix itself would invest in for games like the OG Final Fantasy titles. The Pixel Remasters have turned out to be decent ways to play the originals, but those games have aesthetic and gameplay "improvements" that are questionable at best, and even the upgrades don't go as far as Terranigma's minimap and new inventory controls do. Getting the option of going back to the original experience and game balance offers the best of both worlds.

I'd be happy enough getting an official US release of Terranigma in just about any condition, but the remaster devs here are clearly going above and beyond to make sure this will be worth the three-decade wait.

These are the best SNES games of all time.

Once Final Fantasy 7 Revelation comes out on April 8, 2027, the entire Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy will likely total at least 150 hours of Cloud being tormented – assuming the final installment is as long as the two before it. That's already a lot of Final Fantasy 7 remake, but Square Enix company director Yoshinori Kitase might be craving more, and he wouldn't rule out a spin-off, or 12.

He had the same open approach to the original Final Fantasy 7 game in 1997, Kitase tells Malaysia-based games news site GamerBraves. That RPG was meant to be a one-and-done experience until fans' sleepless enthusiasm led to years of related games, like the popular Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII from 2007, which also got remastered in 2022 as Final Fantasy 7 Crisis Core Reunion.

Kitase says, "In terms of the remake series with [Final Fantasy 7], we really wanted to feel like, and we really have put so much work into this to feel like we've done everything we possibly can to make this [newest] title have the best quality it possibly can have." At the moment, that assessment seems honest – GamesRadar+ senior producer James Daly writes in his recent Final Fantasy 7 Revelation preview, "I wonder how Naoki Hamaguchi and Square Enix so masterfully manage to weave nostalgia into something so obviously new in so many ways. Maybe I'll never truly understand."

At the risk of sounding cynical, I think it helps that Square Enix developers are so willing to squeeze every single molecule of inspiration from Final Fantasy 7 until it's dry and crackling. The developer learned this approach 30 years ago. "When we created the original Final Fantasy VII," Kitase says, "we really thought like, 'Okay, we're done now. We can move on.'"

But fans of what many consider to be one of the best Final Fantasy games of all time weren't ready to let go. "The characters were so popular and so lasting," Kitase recalls. "The fan reaction to these characters really is what brought on the spinoff games as well like Advent Children and Crisis Core.”

Now, Kitase says about Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, "We can confidently say it's the end of the series." But there's a giant, shining asterisk assigned to that statement. Square Enix is fine with walking away from its remake trilogy, but the overall concept of Final Fantasy 7 might still be holding a few cups worth of spin-off ideas.

"Who knows what's going to happen with fan reaction and how people come to enjoy this series and this finale," Kitase says. The door is open.

After countless memes, Final Fantasy 7 Revelation boss confirms that, yes, Fortnite partly inspired jumping out of the Highwind.

The Final Fantasy 7 Revelation team had to have an "emergency meeting" to rebuild Knights of the Round and turn the iconic summon into a boss battle worthy of their legacy. Square Enix's first pass apparently didn't kick enough butt.

Final Fantasy 7's Knights of the Round materia is legendary - it's easily one of the series' most powerful summons and merely unlocking them is the 1997 game's toughest, most convoluted challenge. No, I don't want to spend hours taming and breeding chocobos, please.

While we haven't seen Revelation's Knights of the Round yet, we do know they're definitely showing up in the trilogy's grand finale. And like some of the other summons across the FF7 Remake trilogy, you'll need to fight the 13 massive Arthurian knights before becoming their pal.

"Summoning Knights of the Round will be in Final Fantasy 7 Revelation," game director Naoki Hamaguchi reiterated in an interview with MinnMax. "Given how powerful the materia was in the original, we're making it a very formidable enemy." Scary.

But translating the epic summon into an equally epic boss battle is easier said than done. Even the original game's summon animation was so long and so grand, players eventually found a glitch to skip it. During development, combat director Teruki Endo decided the team's first iteration wasn't tough enough: "We need to make them stronger."

"So we had an emergency meeting among all the directors, like the art director, motion director, and I had to explain to everyone [that] Endo wants to make this boss entity stronger, so we gotta start from scratch again," Hamaguchi said with a smile on his face.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation launches next April across all consoles and PC.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation's physical disc still requires a download because Square Enix "didn't want to make any compromises"

After it was memed from the moment the game was announced, Final Fantasy 7 Revelation director Naoki Hamaguchi has confirmed that jumping out of the Highwind Fortnite-style was indeed inspired by Fortnite, though only partly.

The Highwind is set to be the central mechanic of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation. The massive airship that transports the party around was a big part of the original RPG, but in the era of realism and immersion, you can't simply drop to the ground and teleport out of the ship as you did on the PS1 when you arrived.

So when Final Fantasy 7 Revelation got its first showing earlier this year, we were treated to a look at how the Highwind is going to work in the third and final entry in the remake trilogy. You'll be able to fly all around the world and choose which area you're going to pop off into, which is pretty in line with what the PS1 original had. Except this time, your party launches themselves off the side of the ship, and skydives down to the map below.

Naturally, when everyone saw this, we all made the same joke, with a ton of memes of Cloud Strife asking "where we droppin'" emerging in the immediate aftermath. However, when asked about this connection by GamesRadar's Fortnite correspondent James Daly (following the Final Fantasy 7 Revelation hands-on preview), Hamaguchi did admit, "We did get a bit of inspiration from Fortnite, [we] won't lie about that."

It's funny, however, that Fortnite is the inspiration here, when Final Fantasy 7 is one of the only things left on earth that Fortnite hasn't collaborated with, as opposed to, say, Apex Legends, which had a big Final Fantasy 7 crossover and also features the squad dropping out of the sky, or the now-dead Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier battle royale game.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation boss is "so sorry" for what happens to Aerith in Rebirth, but if you're still upset, "you may change your opinion" by the end of the remake trilogy

Atlus has announced a broadcast celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Persona series, and speculation is already rampant about whether we'll see Persona 6.

After almost 10 years since Persona 5 first released, we finally got our first look at Persona 6 earlier this year during the 2026 Summer Game Fest Xbox showcase, and we now know… pretty much as much as we did the moment Persona 5 released (I mean we all knew it would be green by process of elimination anyway). Well, that was until Steam seemingly leaked all the game's achievements, but as for official news, we don't know much.

That being said, the game is rumored to release sometime next year, backed by confirmation of a PS5 physical copy, which puts it before the January 2028 cutoff Sony gave before abandoning discs. Not to mention an M rating, which typically implies a game isn't too far off.

Atlus has announced that it'll be hosting a Persona 30th anniversary celebration stream on September 20, 2026, featuring guest appearances by actors and musicians from the series' past, as well as Persona series producer Kazuhisa Wada, with discussions, live performances, and merch announcements confirmed.

Naturally, everyone is wondering whether Persona 6 will make an appearance, but few are hopeful. A Resetera thread about the event included a poll, in which only 20% of respondents believe we'll see Persona 6 gameplay, with the rest being somewhat realistic. One response reads "I want to vote for gameplay, but I know in my heart it won't happen," while another adds "You'll get Atlus/Persona branded soap, and you'll like it."

Elsewhere, others generally agree that Persona 6 won't be shown at all until after Persona 4: Golden releases. This would somewhat match the releases Persona 3 Reload and Metaphor ReFantazio, which released the same year in 2024, with the latter not getting much in terms of trailers until after the Persona 3 remake was released.

Persona 4 Revival is the best-looking Persona to date, and after 1 hour playing, I'm already desperate to return to Inaba.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation will launch on a physical disc, but there's an important caveat in that the game still requires an online download. That's in contrast to the previous two parts of the remake trilogy, which launched with multiple discs containing the entirety of each respective game. Director Naoki Hamaguchi says releasing the entire game on disc would've meant compromising on the RPG's quality.

"When we had an internal discussion with the development team about how we wanted to approach the physical discs and the physical releases of FFVII Revelation," Hamaguchi tells IGN, "initially there were conversations about using the same disc size as we did for, say, FFVII Rebirth. But if we were to do that, it would mean that we would have to make a compromise in terms of the fidelity and the quality of the game. So as a development team, we didn't want to do that. We didn't want to make any compromises for the game."

I very much wish that Hamaguchi had gone into more technical details here, because it feels like the answer is obvious: just put more discs in the box. The physical versions of Rebirth and the original PS4 release of Remake each featured two discs, after all. Would Revelation's file size have stretched it out to three discs, or more? Would three discs have been too expensive for Square Enix to justify manufacturing? Is there some technical limitation on the console making a three disc version impossible? Hamaguchi doesn't elaborate.

"Realistically, the only choice that we had was to release this physical disc, but with certain sections of the game being a digital download format through the physical disc," he concludes. "With that being said, I completely understand that not all players might be happy with this decision, but at the same time, I am happy that we were still able to release a physical format of the game. So I am quite satisfied with the end results as well. I would hope that our fans and players would be able to share that as well."

There are two primary benefits to physical games. One is that you have a physical object that you can lend, trade, give away, or sell whenever you want to. The other is that – in theory – you've got a permanent archive of that game which you can continue to play long after patching servers shut down. I'd take having one of those things over getting neither of them, but I wish I wasn't having to compromise at all.

Tired of digital everything, more people are buying physical media: CD sales are up 58% and vinyl records jumped 17%, according to new report.

It's finally here – Final Fantasy 14 just got the very exciting Patch 7.56 earlier this week, and the star of the show is most definitely the MMO's new limited job: the Beastmaster.

In case you've not had the chance to experience the class yourself just yet, it plays a whole lot like Pokemon or Palworld in concept.

You capture creatures from all over Eorzea (yes, old A Realm Reborn regions are finally coming back to life), whip 'em out in combat and use all sorts of deadly combos and actions, try to catch more beasts, and… rinse and repeat. There's a handy little bestiary to help you on the way, too.

Put simply, you've gotta (and will wanna) catch them all – and it's genuinely good fun. I've spent hours grinding away in Central Shroud myself, looking forward to the Crucible, in all its painful roguelike-ish glory… and, of course, the glittery Tourmaline Golem mount you can nab by making the duty's official rankings.

I'm not the only loving Beastmaster, though. Discussions over on Reddit prove as much, with one thread dubbing the job "really fun!"

Its poster exclaims, "This content is great," adding that the achievements tied to the new job "are really cool" as well.

A separate post on the Beastmaster sees fans sharing a similar sentiment, with folks writing that they "wish it was a standard job" rather than a limited one – and, honestly, I agree. Another person chimes in that they've "been having a blast" with the job, with a plethora of replies backing their take up.

My favorite conversation so far stems from a screenshot of somebody's Warrior of Light dressed like Ash Ketchum from Pokemon, personally.

"Had to use the appropriate glam," its accompanying words read – and I love it. I also stand with the responses declaring that "the Pokemon vibe is honestly perfect." What else does Beastmaster carry with it, if not a nice old Pokemon vibe? And, that vibe is why so many of us adore the job already.

Obviously, however, not everyone likes it. There are comments here and there about how Square Enix could improve the Beastmaster (and, of course, fears that it might end up a bit… forgotten, like the Blue Mage).

Overall, though, spirits seem high when it comes to the limited job, and I can't say I've found much else to want out of it aside from, well, more levels and more utility in other parts of Final Fantasy 14.

I'm excited to see what Square Enix does with Beastmaster and how it evolves over time. Fingers crossed it's more memorable than Blue Mage – although, for me, it already is.

Final Fantasy 14 fans spot Evercold character in the MMO's Patch 7.56 screenshots, immediately theorize the expansion's new DPS class: "Is that a crossbow?"

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation might have "even more content" than Rebirth, director Naoki Hamaguchi says, who reckons that's "part of what makes the game so appealing." But if you're already feeling overwhelmed, don't stress – the devs really wanted to give you "the choice" this time over what you want to spend your time on.

Depending on how many games you play a year and how much free time you have in your life to spend on them, you might have a very different opinion on the concept of playing an enormous, content-packed JRPG. It's hard to argue that it's a bad thing for a game to be big, but it sure can be overwhelming, and potentially off-putting for those who don't have a spare hundred hours or so lying about.

Speaking to Hamaguchi at Gamescom 2026, we ask about the scale of Revelation compared to Rebirth – a JRPG he acknowledges "had a lot of content in it as well," and Square Enix hasn't slowed down since. "I'm pretty sure that Revelation has at least the same, and probably actually even more content in it than Rebirth had," he tells us. "But it's all good content. It's all going to be really appealing to play."

Hamaguchi knows, however, that for some players, bigger isn't always better. "I am aware that there is a number of players of [Rebirth] who said that the content was just too much and that they felt they were overwhelmed by it. I do understand there are people out there who felt that," he admits.

However, this hasn't put him off from the idea of making Revelation a behemoth, too: "I feel that having that huge amount of content is part of what makes the game so appealing. I don't think it's that kind of game, so I'm very confident in what it is because of that."

With that said, though, Hamaguchi says that "what's important is not how much content there is, it's how you make that interesting and accessible and enjoyable for players to interact with." He tells us that he's learned from fans' feedback following the release of Rebirth, and going into Revelation, not only is its content "all quite different," but he's taken on board the importance of communicating with players "what kind of rewards you can expect, and what kind of experience you're going to get when you take it on."

Hopefully, then, you can expect clearer signposting of what's worth it to you if you're not someone who wants to take on everything the game offers. He notes that we can now expect rewards to be split up across different types of content accordingly, with character upgrades locked behind the battle-focused content, while minigame rewards will be customization options within that specific minigame, for example.

This comes in direct response to Rebirth, where "all of the side content was tied to the Materia development system. So if you wanted that Materia, you had to do all of the content, regardless whether it was something that you would be interested in otherwise or not," he continues. "So I really wanted to address that and maybe improve it for people who felt that, like, feeling of obligation that they had to do it, but they didn't really want to."

Ultimately, the devs wanted to pay attention to the "idea of allowing the player the choice of which content they want to engage with and which they don't," he concludes.

So then, no pressure if you don't want to experience everything Revelation has to offer. Unless you're a hardcore completionist, of course, in which case it sounds like you're going to have your work cut out for you come its release in April.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation director says "open-world fatigue" is real, and since "the world is even bigger than it was in Rebirth," Square Enix specially focused on guiding players.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation director Naoki Hamaguchi has apologized for what happens to Aerith in Rebirth, but if you're still upset about it, he insists you stick around to the end of the remake trilogy, because you might just "change your opinion."

Before we get into it, please take this as your final – very obvious – spoiler warning for the events of Final Fantasy 7 and Rebirth's ending. I'd be shocked if you didn't know what we were about to get into by now, but don't say I didn't warn you if you didn't.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth might have gone about things slightly differently to the OG 1997 JRPG, but one unfortunate fact remains – Aerith dies at the hands of Sephiroth. Ouch. It's arguably made even worse by the fact that, for a brief moment, it looks like things are about to pan out very differently, but alas.

Speaking to Hamaguchi in an interview at Gamescom 2026, GamesRadar+'s James Daly tells the lead how upset he still is about what happened to Aerith, prompting a big laugh. "I hope you have some expectations towards what the final outcome is, though, and I hope you can look forward to seeing what actually happened," Hamaguchi first teases, via interpreter.

He then directly offers an apology himself: "So sorry!" Gotta be honest, though, I'm not sure how sorry he is based on how hard he's laughing.

This comes up again towards the end of the interview, at which point Hamaguchi suggests something rather interesting. After another laugh, he hints: "I mean, really, you need to experience what happens in the very end. You may change your opinion."

Obviously, he's not going to elaborate on what he's referring to at this point, but could there be a glimmer of hope there for Aerith fans? Perhaps, or perhaps not. All will be revealed when Final Fantasy 7 Revelation launches on April 8 next year.

Square Enix's "graphical goal" for Final Fantasy 7 remakes was 2005 spin-off film Advent Children as it's the "ideal version" of the 29-year-old JRPG.

The Highwind floats above the world. Yuffie Kisaragi dives out of the airship, party in tow, and falls through the air with a keen speed before I unleash her parachute, softening our hero's descent into the rich wilderness of Mideel. It's immediately apparent that if we thought Rebirth was big, Final Fantasy 7 Revelation is overwhelmingly enormous.

There's something strange about the Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy. The numerous differences from the original 1997 title make it almost entirely new, and yet it's easy to feel at home in its many locations, from Sector 7 to Gongaga. The same sensation floods my senses as I tear through feral beasts, before encountering a chubby baby Chocobo.

Not my home but I know my way around

Aware of the limited time available during my hands-on preview session at Gamescom 2026, I fast travel back to the Highwind, and set sail from the skies above Mideel for Wutai. I'm playing as Yuffie after all, and I'm told this section of Chapter 4 is dependent on my visiting her homeland to progress the story. I must admit I didn't really expect to just fly straight over to the place myself – I anticipated a cutscene – but the open world exploration is seamless as I guide the vessel before sending Yuffie back to the deck for another Fortnite-esque descent into the land below, something director Naoki Hamaguchi confirms is an intentional display of "inspiration".

Again, I'm staggered to feel immediately at home in Wutai, but this feeling tracks with the developer's design ethos. "Everything in the game has to feel both nostalgic and new at the same time" Hamaguchi tells me, explaining the need to deliver what fans know but with enough change to maintain player interest. He also clarifies that any big changes have to be made by the original FF7 creators.

One particular change I inquire about is the manner of Aerith's demise in Rebirth, and by inquire I mean demand an apology from Hamaguchi-san. He laughs and tells me "so sorry" but I press him on the matter, producing more laughter from the veteran gamemaker. He then tells me "You need to experience what happens in the very end. You may change your opinion then."

Similarly, piloting the Highwind to named locations and then descending via parachute is an important part of leveling up the experience of Revelation from Rebirth. "The way you explore the world is all tied to that vertical element," Hamaguchi states, and the effect is a sense of scale so grand I have to fight off choice paralysis with every fiber of my being.

Hamaguchi touches on the size of the game, saying "I'm pretty sure that Revelation has at least the same – and probably actually even more – content in it than Rebirth had, and it's all good content." He also adds that he's aware some players were overwhelmed by the amount in Rebirth, but feels "having that huge amount of content is part of what makes the game so appealing."

Another standout component of my preview session is the lack of Cloud and Tifa, with the roster of available characters instead sporting Cid, Vincent, Cait Sith, Barret, Red XIII, and the aforementioned Yuffie. Having been struck by Aerith being a key focal point of Rebirth, I ask Hamaguchi if we can expect the light to shine more on Yuffie or other characters in Revelation.

"Cloud is still the main character," he asserts, before explaining that the team know some players "want to see more of the other characters too, so we very much wanted to have content that goes into each of those characters," which, as a card-carrying member of the Zack Fair Appreciation Society, is music to my ears. This includes such options as completing side quests with different characters depending on your preferences, as well as the more simple but equally satisfying ability to swap out party members on the fly.

It's been one of the great joys of my time with Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth that I've been able to revel in the company of Cloud's companions. Don't get me wrong, I really love the moody merc and his big beautiful blues, but the added depth to Tifa, Aerith, and many others has resulted in a richer narrative experience.

Not all new content is perfect though, as proven by the mere existence of Chadley, and I'm alarmed by multiple interruptions from MAI, the AI entity created by the precocious young scientist. This apparently feminine-presenting version of Chadley eagerly bombards me with available side quests the moment I set foot in a new place, and it's agonizing given my preview slot is an hour. I'm hopeful Mai will feel less invasive when I'm able to play the game at leisure, but something tells me 2027's Most Annoying Sidekick Award is already en route to Square Enix HQ.

Those Who Fight Further

Throughout my session I enjoy multiple battles. In addition to Yuffie and her fast-flowing combos, I try out Vincent Valentine, whose ranged-based fighting style feels more safety-conscious yet no less satisfying. Then I give Cid Highwind a go, and he swings a spear-type edge weapon with a blend of elegance and brutality that feels perfect for hacking through Wutai's wildlife.

With the ability to mix up the party frequently, I'm eager to see what each combination of fighters will bring, especially now Tifa has appeared as a Black Mage in promotional materials, and other jobs in the FITS system are available too.

Upon arrival at Wutai a cutscene plays out – which I won't spoil – where it dawns on me how incredible a performer Suzie Yeung really is. The Persona 3 Reload actor delivers an expressiveness that virtually propels Yuffie through the screen, which seems fitting given Wutai introduces the ability to use a grappling hook for traversal.

Zipping between rooftops, I find my way to the Happy Turtle bar and restaurant after photographing a cat and having a quick swim in the sparkling waters that surround the traditional Japanese-inspired architecture of Yuffie's homeland. As I walk through the grand building, I strike up a conversation I never get to hear as the session ends.

Now I'm left wondering what the NPC was going to say, what the other areas in the preview build had to offer, and what the unaccounted for characters were getting up to during this section of the game. Above all I wonder how Naoki Hamaguchi and Square Enix so masterfully manage to weave nostalgia into something so obviously new in so many ways. Maybe I'll never truly understand but, if I am able to, it won't be until Final Fantasy 7 Revelation releases on April 8, 2027.

If this is far from your final adventure, check out our games like Final Fantasy recommendations, or our best RPGs and best JRPGs ranking for more to play next!

A long running sort of ironic Xenoblade theory has finally been laid to rest thanks to today's Nintendo Direct. The canon child of one of Xenoblade 2's main heroes has been unveiled, and it's not the crusty villain that much of the fanbase had been willing it to be.

A fresh trailer for Xenoblade Chronicles 3's Nintendo Switch 2 Edition was shown off today, highlighting more of the Heroes' Vault mode, which sees you take on waves of enemies while grabbing upgrades as you go, be it for your abilities or to bring new allies into the fray.

More excitingly, though, we've been given our first glimpse of the JRPG's upcoming new Hero. Her name is Shimmer – she's got blonde hair, a white outfit, and the Foresight ability… sound familiar?

We're going to get into some spoilers now for a revelation that comes at the end of Xenoblade Chronicles 3 – as well as a rather obvious observation about its Future Redeemed DLC – so proceed with caution.

At the end of Xenoblade Chronicles 3, we see a photo of an aged-up Xenoblade 2 cast, including protagonist Rex standing behind Pyra, Mythra, and Nia – each holding a child, with the implication that he's the father of all three. We meet Pyra and Rex's daughter, Glimmer, in the Future Redeemed DLC, and it's quite widely accepted that 3's co-lead Mio is most likely Nia's daughter, too. But what about the remaining blonde baby we see Mythra holding?

Well, with no concrete answers up to this point, fans have been… creative, with their theories. Perhaps the most common – though how seriously it's believed varies from person to person – is that it's one of Xenoblade 3's villains, Dirk, otherwise known as Consul D. He's, uh, not a nice guy. Even before becoming one of the Moebius (you know, the bad guys you're fighting for the entire game), he was a twisted, sadistic soldier. So what's the evidence of him being related to good guys Rex and Mythra?

He's blonde, I guess? There is a bit more to it than that, actually – folks have also pointed out before that he and Rex share similar ear shapes and facial hair, and have names with comparable meanings. Dirk is also lacking a significantly expanded backstory unlike many of the other baddies in the JRPG, leaving some to wonder if it connected to this larger plot point. For many, it's been more of a meme than anything – after all, he's hardly a likeable character, so willing it to be true is more funny than anything else.

Anyway, today, all of that has been debunked, and fans are mixed on the outcome. "Dirk Mythra kid truthers it's so over," one writes on Twitter, as another responds: "We fought hard it was a good run."

Others, however, are more welcoming of Shimmer's existence: "Finally that fuckass theory of dirk as mythra kid is disproven," one says. Another writes: "Thank God Shimmer finally exists because I was tired of the whole Dirk is Mythra kid BS Theory."

I, for one, am also accepting of Shimmer as our official Mythra Kid. Honestly, my only real problem is with her name. You're telling me that Rex really looked at two of his newborn children and said, "Yeah, that one can be called Glimmer and the other can be Shimmer"? …Actually, yeah, that tracks.

Xenoblade Genesis is coming in 2027, and it looks very different to Monolith Soft's last JRPG trilogy.

Persona 4 Revival might not be making any major changes to its characters, but the remake has still given Atlus the opportunity to "go more in-depth" with some of them, the game's producer reveals.

I spoke to producer Kazuhisa Wada at Gamescom last month, where I asked him about the previously announced changes to Yosuke – a party member with some homophobic dialogue in the original JRPG and its Golden re-release, which was obviously never going to make it into the remake without some serious alterations. Wada told me that "the characters are all the same people. We haven't changed any parts of their personalities," but that "we've adjusted dialogue to make it more modern and to be more effective telling the story."

Even if Atlus isn't changing anyone's personality, though, Wada now tells Eurogamer in a new interview that we can expect some characters to be further explored in the remake. "In a lot of ways, there has been something more we could explore with every character," he begins.

"Since Persona 4 came out, there have been a number of spin-off games that have been released, where we developed the characters and their personalities. So when we were making Revival, we took aspects of that and helped it to inform our characters and add detail and depth. For the team, it was Yosuke and Kanji that they really wanted to explore and go more in-depth with."

Art director Akane Kabayashi adds to this, noting that returning to the RPG made her realize that "Chie is forced to wear a lot of different hats and do a lot of different things. You can see that Chie and Yukiko are like 'double heroines,' but Chie is given a lot more stuff to do than Yukiko is, and it made me really respect that aspect of her."

I'm particularly interested by Wada highlighting Yosuke and Kanji here, especially the former. Going back to Yosuke's homophobia in the original – aimed at Kanji, as it happens – many had theorized that this could be recontextualized in Revival as internalized homophobia via a newly added romance route between him and the protagonist. After all, datamined voice lines from the OG JRPG suggest this was once meant to be an option.

However, Wada also told me at Gamescom that despite being aware of the fan demand for Yosuke romance, "we were thinking, if we did Yosuke, we kind of would have to do all the other male characters as well. And if we did that, that is a lot of work. So we were thinking about our time and schedule. I don't know if we could actually handle this, so we decided to let Yosuke float on by."

So, that theory has been debunked. Even if there's no actual romance route though, Wada's latest comments do have me wondering how Atlus has expanded on Yosuke's character, and if that aforementioned idea could have been explored without changing his social link. For now, we'll just have to wait until February to find out.

Persona 4 Revival is the best looking Persona to date, and after 1 hour playing, I'm already desperate to return to Inaba.

If there's one thing to know about me, it's that I can't resist a creature-collecting RPG. Despite that, the Dragon Quest Monsters spin-off series has somehow always managed to pass me by. But, with less than an hour played of Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World, I already know that I'm not going to let myself miss out for any longer come its December launch.

Dragon Quest games are never lacking in charm, and The Withered World is immediately full of it. Guided by a cute companion creature known as Fluffy, I'm quickly acquainted with the concept of befriending and battling with monsters and given a personality quiz to determine my first ally. Fluffy decides I'd be a perfect match for a Woebergine – the name speaks for itself. Not sure how I feel about that, to be honest, but it sure is cute, so I'll take it.

Befriend 'em all

After this, I make quick work of recruiting all the nearby monsters I can – I've completed too many Pokedexes in my career to waste time here. You can attempt to 'scout' a monster at any time during battle by using a 'show of force,' but as genre veterans will expect, it's more likely to work if you've weakened them first. I also find out the hard way that failing to scout a monster can leave you unable to try again in the same battle – you can't approach it like Pokemon where you can just toss as many Pokeballs as you like until one works – something I'm glad I discovered in the game's opening section rather than later on when a rarer, more desirable monster was on the line.

I say 'more desirable,' but right from the start, there are plenty of loveable creatures to encounter. I can't overstate how delighted I am to encounter a Fat Rat, who – you're not gonna believe this – is a rather rotund rodent. Very early on, I also run headfirst into a battle with a 'super strong enemy' – a Drakularge (shocker, a big dragon) – which immediately one-shots my entire team. Clearly, some things are meant to be returned to later.

With over 500 monsters to tame, you're not just limited to scouting new allies in battles to expand your collection, either. In a different section of my hands-on, I'm given free rein of The Withered World's synthesis system. A returning feature, synthesis allows you to merge two of your monsters together to form a new one, allowing you to pass on things like abilities in the process – think breeding for perfect IVs and Egg Moves in Pokemon.

Before synthesizing, you're shown what monster you're going to get, including whether or not they'll be a special monster. Some of the pairs and their outcomes make more sense than others – blending a Slime and Platypunk gives me a special Mottle Slime, for example, which half tracks, unlike my Skeleton and Platypup producing a Guaardvark – but I know the countless combinations here are going to have me constantly coming back for more to see what possibilities my monsters hold.

While it'd be difficult to form a real bond with anything in under an hour – especially with the knowledge that I'll be leaving it behind me in a room at Gamescom, never to be seen again – my main takeaway from my time with Dragon Quest: The Withered World is that I'm going to adore whatever my team of monsters ends up being. The punny names, the cute designs, the fact that your ragtag team follows you around as you explore the world – everything is designed to be as endearing as possible, and by god, it's working. I will do whatever it takes to raise my Cruelcumber to be a strong, reliable ally, and fight proudly by their side – whatever The Withered World's story has in store for me, well, that's just a bonus.

On your own quest to play more like this? Check out out best JRPGs ranking, or our games like Pokemon recommendations!

Final Fantasy Resonance's director says the upcoming throwback JRPG is part of a "resurgence" of turn-based games, though one that still has plenty of fresh ideas.

Wrapping up a chat with RPG Site at PAX, director Hiroto Furuya says we're in the middle of a "resurgence of turn-based RPGs and JRPGs" – which sounds pretty darn good to me. And if that sounds pretty darn good to you, the Final Fantasy Resonance devs hope the Final Fantasy Brave Exvius refresh might be of interest.

"Looking at the recent wave of things globally, it seems there's a resurgence of turn-based RPGs and JRPGs," he says. "It is kind of like being re-examined once more.

"We consider Final Fantasy Resonance as one aspect of that overarching wave or trend. I think there is something to note about the appeal of classic RPGs, and the fun of classic RPGs, really. We're trying to capture that through Final Fantasy Resonance – but not stop at that.

"We wanted to ensure that we're delivering a new experience, a new title, to audiences all around the world."

Having played the demo myself, I can see part of what Furuya means. Final Fantasy Resonance is very much playing the hits – you've got crystals, chocobos, and a mixture of magic and machinery. More to the point, though, there's a turn-based battle system with some deeper series cuts. There's an order to who moves next, but filling a foe's stagger meter shakes that up – and ensures you'll get a window to deal increased damage.

What I've most enjoyed, though, is that the visuals and action are really dialed up to 11. The art style remains the HD-2D style popularized by Octopath Traveler, though cutscenes, both mid-fight and in-story, really deliver a sense of spectacle.

Of course, when Furuya talks about the trend of turn-based RPGs and JRPGs, it goes beyond what Square Enix has managed to accomplish with the Octopath series and other HD-2D remakes. Atlus has been holding down that fort for a while with the likes of Persona and Metaphor: ReFantazio, and genre love letter Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has won so many awards it's hard to ignore. Speaking of awards, the J'RPG is only really rivaled in recent times by Baldur's Gate 3. I'm starting to think there's something to these turn-based games.

Final Fantasy Resonance appeals to my inner child like no RPG since Chrono Trigger.