The year 2019 had a lot of big RPGs released with like of Kingdom Hearts III, The Outer Worlds, and Fire Emblem: Three Houses being among them. However, as popular as the RPG genre is many of its best games go underappreciated, overlooked or completely underrated. Many smaller developers can’t afford the massive and expensive budgets afforded to companies like EA, Square-Enix or Bethesda to advertise and market their games so that everyone from the moon and back has heard of it and will likely buy it.
There are occasions, however, where even well-marketed games aren’t as well-received as expected with reviewers despite being loved by the gamers. 2019 had lots of great RPGs that went under the radar, let’s take a look at some of the most overlooked and underrated RPGs of last year.
10 Code Vein (Metascore 70)
Released in September 2019, Code Vein is Bandai Namco’s Dark Souls inspired action RPG set in a post-apocalyptic future where vampires – known as Revenants – have been created to protect humanity from monsters. Its inspirations may have caused some reviewers to be overly harsh due to their expectations being too high.
The gameplay in Code Vein is terrific, it isn’t as punishing as other Souls-likes but the level of customization involved with its Blood Code system. The Blood Code system is very similar to the job class systems seen in games like Final Fantasy Tactics and is amazingly flexible. Furthermore, there’s a pretty epic storyline for gamers to dive into with lots of interaction between the characters.
9 Star Ocean: First Departure R (Metascore 73)
A remaster of the PlayStation Portable original - which is an enhanced remake of the Japan-only Star Ocean released on the Super Famicom in 1996 - Star Ocean: First Departure R was released in 2019 on the PlayStation 4 and the Nintendo Switch.
True to its roots, First Departure is as old school as it gets but unlike other games in the genre released at the same time, it features an entertaining real-time combat system. In addition, the game’s story is enjoyable and fleshed out with optional story scenes called Private Actions and despite this, the game length doesn’t overstay its welcome.
8 Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order (Metascore 73)
The return of the Marvel Ultimate Alliance series with its third entry in 2019 after a ten-year hiatus was a nice surprise to fans of the series. Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order was more of a reboot in the series as it began a brand new story arc of its own making it more welcoming to newcomers.
Since its release, the game has received new characters via DLC and the expanded storyline content featuring characters like Blade, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four. It’s good fun in single-player mode but even better with friends and family as one of the best couch co-op games of the generation.
7 Alliance Alive HD Remaster (Metascore 74)
Alliance Alive HD Remaster is an enhanced port of the Nintendo 3DS version which was originally released worldwide in 2018. To look at the game in action, one wouldn’t think that this game originated on 3DS as the backgrounds are incredibly detailed with a beautiful art-design.
The game is a total love letter to the classic PS1 RPGs and was written by Yoshitaka Murayama who also penned the first three games in the Suikoden series. The characters aren’t voiced but this only adds to the game’s old-school charm and imagination.
6 SaGa: Scarlet Grace – Ambitions (Metascore 76)
Released by Square-Enix in 2019 SaGa: Scarlet Grace – Ambitions was an enhanced port of the previously Japan-only original released in 2016. Its release in the west was something of a nice surprise for fans that gave up any hopes of a western release.
Thankfully, the wait was worth it because despite being one of the more challenging RPGs of the year, it’s very strategic and rewarding. In addition, Scarlet Grace is packed with tons of side-quests and has one of the best soundtracks of the year.
5 Greedfall (Metascore 78)
Released for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and the PC in 2019, Greedfall from developers Spiders is one of the most surprisingly deep and entertaining RPGs of the year. By taking the BioWare formula of character interaction and branching storylines and made it their own Spiders have created a fantastic world of their own.
Furthermore, the developers gave gamers the solution to all those that were disappointed in BioWare’s own Anthem released earlier in 2019. Greedfall is set in a 17th-century colonial-inspired fantasy world feels suitably epic and the world-building is as good as anything that the big name developers have released this generation.
4 Wargroove (Metascore 82)
It was a good year for fans of the tactical RPG genre with the likes of Fire Emblem: Three Houses being the biggest of them all. The popularity of the Fire Emblem series has left fans hoping for a return to developers Intelligent Systems’ other strategy series Advance Wars to make a return.
While there’s no word on whether or not it will make a return, British indie developer Chucklefish brought gamers Wargroove one part a pure love letter to Nintendo’s classic franchise and another part a true evolution featuring endless customization and RPG mechanics. Wargroove is the spiritual successor that fans have been waiting for.
3 Bloodstained: Ritual Of The Night (Metascore 83)
After a successful Kickstarter campaign created by Castlevania series producer Koji Igarashi, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night was released in 2019 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and the Nintendo Switch.
It was touted as the spiritual successor to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night that fans have been begging the producer to make for years. While the story doesn’t quite reach the dizzying heights of SotN, Bloodstained hits the mark in terms of Metroidvania level design, combat, and addictive gameplay.
2 Collection Of Mana (Metascore 83)
The Collection of Mana is a compilation of three classic action-JRPGs in the Mana series released in one amazing package on the Switch. It also marks the first time that the long-awaited Trials of Mana has been released outside of Japan for the first time since its release on the Super Famicom in 1995.
The other two games in the package are original – the best – Secret of Mana and Final Fantasy Adventure which released on the Game Boy in 1991. The Collection of Mana is a bargain package for the price with tons of replay value in Trials of Mana. Trials sprites still look as beautiful now as they did fifteen years ago and JRPG fans can finally get their hands on a long sought after classic and play it in the palm of their hands.
1 Fell Seal: Arbiter’s Mark (Metascore 83)
Fell Seal: Arbiter’s Mark was released for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and the PC in April 2019. It was developed by 6 Eyes Studio and is inspired by the classic tactical RPGs Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions and the Tactics Ogre series.
With a deep and mature storyline and an incredible amount of depth to its customization, Fell Seal more than lives up to its inspirations. The sprite-based art-design is wonderfully detailed and there’s an excellent soundtrack to really draw players into its world and story. Fell Seal is one of the best games of 2019 and should be played by everyone that appreciates a strategy RPG with the depth and scope of its predecessors.