Ever since the debut of this list a few years ago, I wonder when the day will come that there won’t be enough content to fill it. But so far, each time a year has started slow for re-releases and/or expansions, it has well and truly recovered. 2025 was no different; in fact in the end I didn’t even have room for the likes of Ninja Gaiden II Black, System Shock 2 25th Anniversary Remaster, Suikoden I & II HD Remaster, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, Yooka-Replaylee, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Avatar FoP: From the Ashes, or Lies of P: Overture. In fact, I barely needed to play them.

The rather different nature of this year’s Game of the Year list means this page is where most of the best JRPG-adjacent content of 2025 lives; it’s also where a good chunk of Switch 2 stuff is eligible, as the industry’s slower and slower development cycles begin to clash with Nintendo’s modern commitment to consistent releases. I also thought about easing off on the policing of that Remake-vs-Reimagining line this year, but I don’t think there were any real examples that challenged it anyway.

Parentheses indicate the version of each slice of gaming goodness that I played.

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VR BEST OF 2025 DISCLAIMER

This list represents my opinion only. I am not asserting any kind of superiority or self-importance by presenting it as I have. My opinion is not fact. Nobody ever agrees with me 100%. Respectful disagreement is most welcome.

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RE-RELEASES
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5. Dragon Quest I + II: HD-2D Remake (NS2)

This nice little value package from Square Enix lovingly recreates two pixelated classics in the mould of last year’s Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake – and for virtually the same price as that single game – but I wouldn’t know much about the trailblazing lone-protagonist first entry because, on the recommendation of a few reviews, I’ve exclusively been playing II. And as a complete Dragon Quest scrub for most of my life, I think it might be my favourite of the original trilogy. It’s the only one to feature a full RPG party of pre-formed characters with their own backstories, which have apparently been heavily expanded in the remake, and they all have that warm old-school fantasy charm.

Otherwise, everything that was true about III last year continues to shine: the most colourful iteration of the HD-2D aesthetic to date, plenty of neat quality-of-life tweaks, and a wonderfully orchestrated soundtrack. Only now the Switch 2 (finally) exists, so you can enjoy all those things with the same simplicity yet a crisper resolution on a train ride.

4. Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater (PS5)

One of the strangest visual remakes in recent memory, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater applies an absolutely gorgeous coat of graphical paint to an all time classic, replacing every character model and bringing in entirely new lighting systems to frankly stunning results. It also removes the “3” from the original title to better reflect the chronology of the Metal Gear story, but effectively does not touch the original game’s animation framework or voice track (with some tiny exceptions), preserving the exact feel of an all-time videogame classic for better and worse. Modern Konami brass were clearly petrified of overriding Hideo Kojima’s vision in any way save for that iconic title sequence, which results in a very unique product: one that holds up magnificently for the most part. And yet, for some reason (oh hello Unreal Engine 5), the remake’s performance regularly brings even the PS5 Pro to its knees, with judder and frame inconsistency around almost every turn. And that ain’t great.

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That’s right, last year’s experimental combined list is back for a sophomore appearance. 2024 was hardly the year to drop the double-barrelled concept, sprinkled as it was with plenty of quality remakes, remasters, and expansion content of all flavours to challenge the year’s full-on new releases for quality. This year I can even properly balance the lists at five entries apiece, and I don’t even have Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster, Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred, Starfield: Shattered Space, Fantasian: Neo Dimension Eastward: Octopia, or Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven on there! What a world.

And here’s the thing: I don’t have Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, either. Yes, I know, I know. I know! I’m disappointed in myself too, but it just turned out to be one in-depth RPG too many; I got back to my 2022 Game of the Year a week or two late thanks to a pretty busy time in my life, and then soon discovered that despite completing the game I hadn’t even entered the optional dungeon required to access the new content, let alone beaten it. On top of that, my co-op partner for a large chunk of the base game had also lost access to his character. My heart sank, I picked up something else, and just couldn’t find the slot to go back to it.

Even without Shadow of the Erdtree, however, this evenly-divided list of ten entries still features no less than six RPGs. Yeah, it was that kind of year.

Just like last time, the first mini-list only includes re-releases that don’t aim to fully “reimagine” their source material; essentially any entry within the first five categories from this article count, while contenders within the last two are saved for the main list at the very end of the year. Parentheses indicate the platform on which I played each entry.

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VR BEST OF 2024 DISCLAIMER

This list represents my opinion only. I am not asserting any kind of superiority or self-importance by presenting it as I have. My opinion is not fact. Nobody ever agrees with me 100%. Respectful disagreement is most welcome.

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RE-RELEASES
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5. Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance (PC)

2024 was Sega’s best year for videogame releases in decades, perhaps ever; this is the first of about a dozen mentions the Japanese publishing veteran is going to get in the lists this year, after I already dedicated an entire article to the team’s 2024 efforts, so strap yourselves in.

The original Switch version of SMT V was already a fantastic semi-open-world evolution of a legendary series, but the crisp menus and smooth traversal were crying out for just a little more performance, so this multi-platform release years later is just what the doctor ordered. The neatly-optimised PC version is perfect for Steam Deck play (or indeed for my AyaNeo Air 1S), especially now that you can save the game anywhere – at long last!

But of course that’s not the main reason Atlus released this edition of the game: an entirely new story route transforms the experience for returning players and provides a more colourful challenge for newcomers, following the time-tested Atlus tradition of videogame re-releases that pack in enough new stuff at every level to defy simple categorisation. The game still loves to make you regret going into a fight unprepared, but fresh tools and abilities level the playing field enough that you feel like you can take on whatever nightmare lies around the corner. In any other year, this kind of game would have been the flagship Sega RPG. But this, unfortunately for SMT V:V, was 2024.

4. Dragon Quest III: HD-2D Remake (NS)

I do not know what delirium-inducing substance has been slipped into the coffee of every single marketing department at every single major Japanese publisher this year, but here’s yet another great JRPG with yet another awful title. Someone at Square Enix was clearly huffing internal jargon fumes, terrified of any possible ambiguity, and looked at only the key art of the FFVII remake team down the hall without actually playing anything.

Luckily, this wonderful revisitation of Japan’s favourite entry from Japan’s favourite RPG series seems to be selling anyway, because it is as close to a warm hug as a JRPG can be for those of us who grew up on turn-based random-battle grinds. Convincing people why the Dragon Quest games are so compelling has been a struggle ever since XI converted me to a series apologist in 2018, but the simplest explanation remains as true for III HD-2D as it was then: the game’s confidence in the strength of its original, very old-school mechanics shines through via some of the most polished presentation in the business.

The Octopath Traveller / Triangle Strategy projects may have introduced and refined that so-called “HD-2D” aesthetic, but it has never looked this colourful or this vibrant before. The series is also clearly over its controversial attitude to stubborn MIDI soundtracks, because the rearranged orchestral score is simply stunning. These significant overhauls work alongside the small ones – like the ability to see your party in between battle turns or the way the menu messages seem to have a voice of their own – to both cushion the game’s more stubborn habits and enhance its time-tested strengths. Bring on the next two awfully-titled entries.

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