The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero is a 2010 role-playing video game developed by Nihon Falcom. The game is a part of the Trails series, itself a part of the larger The Legend of Heroes series. It takes place in Crossbell, a city-state located between two great powers fighting for control over it, and follows Lloyd Bannings and his colleagues Elie MacDowell, Randy Orlando, and Tio Plato. The four form the Special Support Section, a newly formed department of the Crossbell police. The game and its 2011 sequel, Trails to Azure, form the Crossbell arc of the series.
Time and Eternity is an animated role-playing video game for the PlayStation 3. It uses 3D models for backgrounds and hand-drawn 2D sprites for characters and enemies. The story is centered on a princess, Toki, and her alter ego, Towa. The theme of "time" plays an important role, and is also utilized in the game's action-oriented battle system.
Ib is a 2012 adventure horror game developed and published by kouri for Windows. Players control the titular character from a top-down perspective trapped in an eldritch art museum, where they meet the characters Garry and Mary. Together, they make the goal of escaping the museum and returning to the real world.
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana is a 2016 action role-playing game developed by Nihon Falcom and published by NIS America. A part of the Ys series, it was first released in Japan by Falcom for the PlayStation Vita in July 2016, with later worldwide releases for PlayStation 4, Windows, Nintendo Switch, Amazon Luna, Stadia and PlayStation 5. An abridged version for Android and iOS, Ys VIII Mobile, is also scheduled for release. Ys VIII had sold over 500,000 copies by the end of 2018. The game was followed up by Ys IX: Monstrum Nox in 2019.
Octopath Traveler is a role-playing video game developed by Square Enix, in collaboration with Acquire. The game was released for the Nintendo Switch in July 2018, for Windows in June 2019, for Stadia in April 2020, for Xbox One in March 2021, and for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 in June 2024. It received generally favorable reviews, with praise for its presentation, music, and battle system, while its story received more mixed responses. The game had sold over 3 million copies worldwide by September 2022.
The Messenger is a 2018 action-platform game created by indie developer Sabotage Studio and published by Devolver Digital. The player controls the eponymous ninja, who is appointed by a great hero to deliver a scroll. As the Messenger explores levels and defeats enemies, he gains a currency called Time Shards used to purchase useful upgrades and abilities. The game begins as a linear adventure featuring elements of time travel, with the audio and visuals changing from an 8-bit style to 16-bit to represent the ninja's journey from the past to the future. In the second half, The Messenger becomes a Metroidvania-style game where the player revisits previous levels to find key items.
Ys IX: Monstrum Nox is a 2019 action role-playing game developed by Nihon Falcom. A part of the Ys series, it was released for the PlayStation 4 in Japan in September 2019 and worldwide by NIS America in February 2021. The game received additional releases for Windows, Nintendo Switch and Stadia in July 2021, and PlayStation 5 in May 2023. Ys IX received generally positive reviews from critics.
Persona 5 Strikers is an action role-playing game developed by Omega Force and P-Studio and published by Atlus. The game is a crossover between Koei Tecmo's Dynasty Warriors franchise and the Persona series developed by Atlus. The game's narrative is set half a year after the events of Persona 5, and follows Joker and the rest of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts as they investigate a series of mysterious events involving people across Japan.
Trials of Mana is a 2020 action role-playing game developed by Xeen and published by Square Enix for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Windows. A mobile port released the following year. An Xbox Series X/S port released in 2024. It is a 3D remake of the 1995 Super Famicom title of the same name, the third game in the Mana series. The story follows six possible protagonists in their respective quests, which lead them to obtain the Mana Sword and fight a world-ending threat. In gameplay, the player controls three out of six characters, navigating field environments, fighting enemies in real-time combat, and making use of character classes. New to the gameplay and storyline is a post-game chapter with an unlockable class.
In the video game industry, 2022 saw the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the industry, slowing hardware sales for most of the year as well as development delays for major titles. The industry continued its trend of acquisitions and mergers, highlighted by Microsoft announcing its plan to acquire Activision Blizzard for nearly $69 billion. The industry as a whole continued to deal with issues such as workplace harassment and discrimination, alongside crunch periods, leading to at least the quality assurance staff at three separate studios to vote to unionize.
In the video game industry, 2023 saw significant changes within larger publishers and developers. Microsoft, after having satisfied worldwide regulatory bodies, completed its US$69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, making them the third largest game publisher in the world. Embracer Group, which had been in an acquisition spree over the previous few years, had an estimated $2 billion deal fall through, causing many of the studios under Embracer to either lay off staff or close entirely. Similar layoffs were seen at Unity, Amazon, ByteDance, Epic Games, Bungie, and Ubisoft, leading to over 9,000 jobs lost in the industry in 2023 and part of a larger trend of layoffs at technology companies in 2023.
Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth is a 2021 action role-playing video game developed by Team Ladybug and co-published by Playism and Why so serious? for Microsoft Windows. Versions for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X and Series S were also released. It is based on Ryo Mizuno's Record of Lodoss War series, taking place before the events of The Crown of the Covenant. Controlling the high elf Deedlit, who finds herself in a strange interconnected labyrinth filled with her past foes and companions, the game focuses on exploration and searching for items and power-ups in the vein of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, fighting bosses and minibosses. During gameplay, the player also locates two elemental spirits and swaps between each one.
Dark Devotion is a 2019 action role-playing game developed by Hibernian Workshop and published by The Arcade Crew. It was released for Windows, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch. Development started in 2015, with a successful Kickstarter campaign being launched two years later.
Monster Crown is a 2021 role-playing video game developed by Studio Aurum and published by Soedesco. Heavily inspired by early games in the Pokémon series, it features similar mechanics, but with a darker fictional universe and storyline. The game received mixed reviews from critics, who praised its gameplay and graphical style, but noted significant bugs and performance issues, and also criticized it for game balance issues as well as its story.
RPGolf Legends is a 2022 role-playing video game video game developed by ArticNet and published by Kemco.
Jack Move is a role-playing video game developed by So Romantic and published by HypeTrain Digital in 2022 for macOS, Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Trinity Trigger is an action role-playing game published by FuRyu and developed by Three Rings for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Windows. The game was released in Japan on September 15, 2022, and in English by Xseed Games in mid-2023.
In the video game industry, 2025 is expected to see the release of many new video games.
Eternights is a 2023 dating sim action role-playing game developed and published by Studio Sai. The game was released digitally for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Windows on 12 September 2023. It was released physically for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 on 16 November 2023. A port for Nintendo Switch is scheduled to release on 17 October 2024.
Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist is a 2024 Metroidvania video game developed by Adglobe and Live Wire and published by Binary Haze Interactive. It was released in early access for Microsoft Windows on March 25, 2024. Ender Magnolia is a sequel to the developers' previous game Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights, set in the same world. In Ender Magnolia the protagonist Lilac goes on a quest to purify the corrupted Homunculi that have overrun the kingdom.
