It's raining classic RPGs, and Nintendo took away our umbrella
Nothing like going for an extended family camping trip to ensure a jam-packed Nintendo Direct loaded with RPG news. In addition to a bunch of exciting announcements, like a free Balatro update, Pizza Tower coming to Switch, new footage of The Plucky Squire and Metal Slug Tactics, and a love letter to the history of the GOAT, Tetris Forever, yesterday's Nintendo Direct featured a ton of news about various remakes and remasters of classic console RPGs. I'm home, showered, and while my tent's drying out, I took the time to watch all the trailers, and, man, we're eating good over the next year.
So, let's pull up a few of the highlights, which have very quickly ascended to the top of my most anticipated games list.
Suikoden I&II HD Remaster: Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars
It's no secret the Suikoden series is near and dear to me (more on that soon... #vaguetweet), so seeing Suikoden I&II HD Remaster resurface after months of silence, especially in the wake of Eiyuden Chronicle's success, was a delight. Most importantly, we finally have a release date: March 6th, 2025. I'm surprised it's missing the holiday window, especially as it's been over two years since the initial release and the trailer looks nearly complete. But, considering a lot of fans had started assuming the project was quietly canceled, a solid release date, when it's not going to be crushed under the weight of other major RPG releases this fall, seems like an ideal spot for Suikoden to rejoin the fray after a decade away.
I'll be honest, given Suikoden's origins as one of PlayStation's first major RPGs, during Sony's early stages of wresting the console RPG genre from Nintendo in the mid-90s, hearing the Nintendo guy introduce Suikoden as a major release for a Nintendo console gives me chills. I don't think I'll ever quite get over the idea of playing prominent PlayStation games on Nintendo machines.
As for the trailer itself, it's hard not to be impressed with the care and attention paid to the remaster. Unlike quick cash-in remakes like Chrono Cross, with its awful upscaled backgrounds, or Grandia with its smear-filtered textures, this remaster features properly redrawn HD backgrounds and beautifully upscaled sprites. Threading the needle between something that feels modern and genuinely retro can be tough, but Konami's walking that tightrope and, alongside Square Enix's efforts with Dragon Quest III (which we'll get to in a sec), it feels like we're entering a new era of retro revivals that understand the appeal of the RPG golden era of the mid-to-late '90s.
Even better, though, was the thrice-long Japanese trailer featuring a ton of new footage:
There's a bunch more on the game's official website, including examples of the games update visuals, UI, and sound. The remaster also adds much-needed QoL features to help smooth over rough edges. The ability to speed up Suikoden's already quick battles will surely pair nicely with the series's trademark auto-battle, and auto-saves on any screen with a save point is nice—though true auto-saves and/or save anywhere would've been nice in a game that sometimes features large gaps between save points.
Aidan Moher
Suikoden's legacy is strong, and, given the rise in popularity for retro-style RPGs, I can't wait for a new generation of fans to discover what makes the late Yoshitaka Murayama's work so special. Hopefully it's just the beginning for a long overdue Suikoden revival.
Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake
Everything I said about Suikoden above? Pretty much applies here, too. A gorgeous, heartfelt remake of one of the all-time great RPGs that understands why its important to modernize these older games with love and care, rather than as a quick cash grab. The vast gap between this game and other Square Enix remasters, like the aforementioned Chrono Cross, or even the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster titles with their janky font and colour issues, is remarkable.
I fell in love with the Dragon Quest series thanks to the Nintendo DS remakes of Dragon Quest IV, V, and VI. While the series received some decent remakes on the 3DS for Dragon Quest VII and VIII, both were flawed in ways that were either a) poor design choices (like DQ VII's slow, stretched UI), or b) limitations of the platform (like DQ VIII's severely compromised graphics). And then there were the god awful mobile remakes of Dragon Quest I, II, and III that made their way to consoles and featured offensively bad takes on Dragon Quest's iconic pixel art graphics.
I've recently been playing the Game Boy Color version of Dragon Quest I&II, and my enthusiasm for the series's roots is at an all-time high. These remasters, with their gorgeous take on HD-2D graphics, modernized QoL features, and new content like customizable character sprites and the new Monster Wrangler job suggest Square Enix is finally giving these games the attention they deserve.
Trails in the Sky the 1st
While Suikoden and Dragon Quest were known quantities, the major JRPG surprise of the Direct was a full-on 3D remake of Falcom's classic Trails in the Sky FC. Trading the original's prerendered character sprites and 3/4 perspective camera for full 3D, this modernization of the first Trails title is a gorgeous reimagining of a game that, until now, has been difficult to play outside of its (admittedly pretty good) PC remaster of the PlayStation Vita remaster of the PSP remaster of the PC original. Amusingly, this remake was featured only briefly during a sizzle reel among many other games during the Western Nintendo Direct, but, like Suikoden, received a much longer trailer in the Japanese Direct, above.
I've been hoping for a modern console release for the Trails in the Sky trilogy, similar to what we got for Trails From Zero and Trails To Azure, which resemble the aforementioned PS Vita and PC remasters of Trails in the Sky, but this is a level above and beyond anything I thought reasonable.
I've always considered the Trails series to be a spiritual successor to Lunar and Grandia in its approach to worldbuilding through character dialogue, and its low-stakes opening. Trails in the Sky FC, and presumably this remake, are a slow entry into a series that, at this point, spans over a dozen titles telling a vast, interconnected story. But that pace rewards the player with a wonderfully immersive and memorable experience as protagonists Estelle and Joshua set out on an adventure across the region of Liberl in pursuit of Estelle's missing father.
THREAD: A couple of years ago, I replayed LUNAR: SILVER STAR STORY COMPLETE and spent a few hours with its spiritual successor GRANDIA. One thing that stands out about both games—created by Game Arts, but localized by different companies—is the NPC dialogue.
— Aidan Moher (@aidanmoher.com) 2023-08-25T18:23:11.623Z
Many RPG series start slow and then ramp up to epic proportions over the course of a single title, but the Trails series takes that same approach and stretches it across multiple titles. I've often talked about how I believe one of the most important elements for secondary world fantasy is to establish a world that the reader cares for and wants to save (see my piece on "Lord of or the Rings" below for a more thorough explanation). Trails in the Sky does this wonderfully by creating personal stakes long before it introduces and global world ending stakes. By the time the larger conflicts rear their head, the player is invested because they feel so close to the characters they've spent dozens of hours alongside. It's not for everyone, but I'm thrilled to see the series finally get a release on modern consoles (Trails in the Sky FC has previously been available on PSP, PS Vita, and PC) with the potential to find a whole new audience.
Aidan Moher
Trails in the Sky the 1st is slated for a 2025 release, and the English footage featured in the Western Nintendo Direct suggests a simultaneous worldwide release. Needless to say, this is one of my most anticipated games of next year.
Tales of Graces f Remastered
I've had an on-and-off again love affair with the Tales of... series (I love Tales of Destiny and Eternia, greatly dislike Tales of Arise, and find the other titles in between span that spectrum.) While not quite on the same level as the four games above, Tales of Graces f Remastered is a remaster of a PlayStation 3 remaster of the Wii original, and though its reputation is for combat over story/characters, I'm looking forward to giving it a shot after missing out on its 2012 English release. It's coming out on January 17th, 2025, closing the Nintendo > Sony > Nintendo loop.
One more thing...
Above-and-beyond all these remakes/remasters, we also got to see new footage of a bunch of other exciting RPG and RPG-adjacent titles coming to the Switch over the next year. Nintendo's console might be long-in-the-tooth, but it's still got some jam while we wait for its sequel.
Sea of Stars: Throes of the Watchmaker
Despite my mile high and years long anticipation, I ended up immensely satisfied by 2023's Sea of Stars and its take as a modernized riff on classic SNES and PlayStation RPGs. More Sea of Stars is good, and this trailer for its first DLC, Throes of the Watchmaker, looks just as beautiful as the base game. It'll be released for free in Spring, 2025.
Aidan Moher
Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land
I haven't dabbled with the Atelier series since Atelier Iris on the PS2, but Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land looks cute and evokes Xenoblade Chronicles in a good way. It'll be released in early 2025.
Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of The Rings Game
Years ago, I wrote a piece asking why we haven't seen more cozy Middle-earth games, and, well, I'm not taking full responsibility for this game, but at least partial credit is due. Tales of the Shire was announced a few months ago, but it was nice to see an appearance in the Direct. It's coming on October 24th.
Castlevania Dominus Collection
One of the biggest surprises from the Direct was the shadow dropped Castlevania Dominus Collection, an unlikely collection of the three terrific Castlevania titles for the Nintendo DS. Always impressive, developer M2 has found clever ways to adapt the DS's unique dual screen set up to traditional screens. I'm hoping this is just the start for DS remasters because we really need Okamiden. Out now.
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