It’s December and game sales are well under way. If you’re like us and love a good adventure, you’d most definitely love the five selected games in our year-end list of RPGs. All in all, it was a great year for Single-player RPGs.
Most Tales games start small — you (the Protagonist) start small, not knowing too much of the conflicts of the world, living your everyday life in some everyday land. Through a series of events, you spiral into a world-threatening conflict. The regular JRPG expectation.
Tales of Arise improves on the JRPG formula that Tales of Berseria sets, with several quality-of-life upgrades as well as a gorgeous set of battle animations ready to trigger upon battle. If you’re a JRPG fan, hop on and be ready to join a war between two worlds that spirals into celestial proportions.
Story-wise, the game managed to keep me at the edge of my seat and truth be told, I cried a couple of times during the cutscenes.
Be warned though, if you’re one to finish side missions before the main plot, you might discover that the game was designed to play the other way around.
4. Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin
If the particle-fest of Tales of Arise is not up to your speed, why not try Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin. Four years after the first release of Monster Hunter Stories, it is now back on the Nintendo Switch. Jump into the world of Monsters yet again, but this time, tame them and use them in fights instead.
The best part of it all is that you don’t have to know anything about the Monster Hunter World to play this game. This mix of Pokemon-like JRPG injects a new element of strategy and allows for several ways to play and optimize the game.
The only issues I have with the game is the lack of clarity in several of the breeding and hatching mechanics of monsters. This causes problems in PVP as players who are unable to figure it out in-game will suffer against those who do.
This time, you are encouraged to finish the copious amount of side content before continuing on. The vast yet conveniently fast-travelled world thus allows you to explore several places to upgrade your team.
3. Bug Fables
While the game was originally launched in 2019 for Steam, it was launched in 2020 for the Nintendo Switch and it’s sad that we’ve only discovered this now.
Fans of Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door will recognize the style that Bug Fables are going for; and boy does the formula still work. It goes to show that if you give fans what they want, people gravitate towards a good game.
Fueled by the intricate story of three bug adventurers, Vi, Kabbu and Leif, Bug Fables is surprisingly nuanced and has a level of culture and politics that many other RPGs are unable to replicate. Along with its art style, combat and music, Bug Fables is a must-play for any RPG fan.
2. Ruined King
This dropped on our lap last minute. And thus, we had to shove another RPG out of the list because of it. With Riot killing it in all departments recently, little needs to be said of the quality of Ruined King.
Dive into the depths of Bilgewater and the Shadow Isles as Champions from across the land of Runeterra become unlikely allies against the likes of Thresh and Viego to stop the Ruination from affecting the world.
Unfortunately, the still-art cutscenes leave much to be desired after watching the acclaimed Arcane in action. Thankfully it has the great voice-acting to carry the game through. Try the game out; who knows, you might bump into a league of legends youtuber inside the game.
What just happened? Did Marvel finally make a good video game (that isn’t Spider-man)? Apparently yes.
Set in a different universe as the MCU, we follow the exploits of Peter Quill and his chaotic neutral band of misfits. Enjoy the banter between the characters we’ve grown to love as their motivations carry the story as much as the plot pushes them forward.
Combat is smooth and frankly a welcome change from what marvel video games usually provide. This comes especially so since the latest Avengers game is still leaving quite the sour taste in many players’ palates.
One would be surprised at the more comic-accurate iteration of GotG than James Gunn’s spin on the unlikely team. As our RPG of the year, Marvel’s GotG is worth its price tag and more. No spoilers, it’s awesome.
