Digimon Survive
Digimon Survive brings another Digimon video game to life, this time in a relatively unique manner. Digimon Survive, as the name implies, is a survival strategy RPG. The game features different phases which essentially amount to story, survival decisions, free time, and battles. Perhaps the most interesting part of Digimon Survive is that player decisions play a large role in the game. Decisions can result in characters dying, changing the Digivolution process, and generally altering the path of the story, featuring multiple endings as well. In short, Digimon Survive seems to take the series down a darker path than usual, and we’re here for it.
Tales of Arise
The Tales series has had its ups and downs, but its games are a relatively consistent, high-quality affair. While everyone’s favorites vary between different games, the series’ memorable characters and quality combat systems usually do enough to keep the games interesting by themselves. Throw in narratives that are a bit more mature than your usual JRPGs, and the Tales series starts to make a niche for itself. With this entry, the Tales series is utilizing Unreal Engine 4, which should provide for an improved graphical quality compared to previous titles. While the series appears to be evolving with this installment, we hope that Tales of Arise keeps the Tales charm going forward.
Shin Megami Tensei V
While the mainline series of Shin Megami Tensei has been overshadowed by its more vibrant spinoff, Persona, Shin Megami Tensei V remains one of the most anticipated RPGs of 2021. While not a lot of details have been revealed about the game so far, the announcement trailer has confirmed that this entry will stay true to the rest of the mainline games in terms of themes. Specifically, it appears that a darker tone will remain, a big city setting (Tokyo) is still present, and a post-apocalyptic event seems to be occurring. With the series being known for its more difficult gameplay, demon recruitment, and demon fusing, we look forward to learning more about the title.
Nier Replicant
While 2017’s Nier Automata received critical acclaim, the original Nier game from 2010 ended up as a bit of a cult classic. While the Nier series is a spinoff from the Drakengard series, it is essentially a separate series. Nier Replicant (specifically titled Nier Replicant ver. 1.22474487139) is a high definition remaster of the original game, but not in the way you think. The original Nier that released in the West was Nier Gestalt, whereas the original Nier Replicant was a Japanese-only release. The difference? Nier Replicant puts you in the role of a teenaged boy, as compared to a middle-aged man in Gestalt. With the success of Nier: Automata, we hope that Nier Replicant captures more of the audience this time around.
Persona 5 Strikers
Persona 5 was one of the most highly regarded games in 2017, and Persona 5 Royal held the same regard in 2020. It comes as no surprise then, that Persona 5 Strikers is one of the most anticipated games of 2021. As a hack-and-slash RPG, Persona 5 Strikers is actually a sequel to the events of Persona 5, making it pretty much a must-play for any fans. Despite being a departure from the series’ usual turn-based battle system, the hack-and-slash gameplay is a breath of fresh air, or at least we hope that it turns out to be.
Are you looking forward to any other RPGs in 2021? Let us know in the comments below!
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