The year 2025 is shaping up to be an incredible year for JRPGs — specifically, remakes of classic RPGs from the 90s. The rise of the HD-2D art style has certainty helped, but we can also chalk it up to fond nostalgia of the Golden Age of JRPGs.
Whether you grew up loving console RPGs, or you’re a newcomer to the genre, this year is the perfect time explore the genre.
Suikoden I & II HD Remaster Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars
Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Switch, Xbox
Release: March 6, 2025
Rating: T for Teen
Hilariously overly-long title aside, the Suikoden I & II HD Remaster adds all the quality of live improvements to two great JRPGs. Fast-forward, auto-battle, HD backgrounds, improved sound effects, and more. Both games feature a plucky rebel force fighting back against an oppressive empire. The series trademark feature are the huge cast of characters, recruiting up to 108 Stars of Destiny who fight in battles, or work important jobs and tasks in your ever-growing castle headquarters.
Suikoden is a fine game, but Suikoden 2 is an all-time great among the pantheon of classic JRPGs, and one of my personal favorite games of all time. The series spawned several sequels and spin-offs, but has lain dormant until recently, with a new mobile game on the way.
SaGa Frontier 2 Remastered
Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Switch, and mobile devices
Release: March 27, 2025
Rating: E10+
For RPGs fans who feel the Final Fantasy series is too easy and linear, SaGa is for you. SaGa Frontier 2 tells two stories of intertwining protagonists: an exiled Prince, and an orphaned treasure hunter. Players can choose events and explore the world as they advance through the decades of the heroes’ lives.
The remaster updates the same beautiful water color art with modern resolutions, adds new story events and post-game content, and a chronology to help organize the story. Plus, new power inheritance for characters, more playable characters, new epic bosses, and support for New Game+. Square Enix is absolutely treating this underrated series right.
Lunar Remastered Collection
Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Switch, Xbox
Release: April 18, 2025
Rating: T for Teen
Lunar 2: Eternal Blue was one of the first JRPGs I ever played, way back on the Sega CD circa 1995. The awesome anime cutscenes, colorful pixel art, enchanting story, intuitive gameplay, and classic turn-based combat was absolutely mesmerizing.
The Lunar Remastered Collection includes Lunar Silver Star Story Complete, and Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete. Both games have been previously remade for the Sega Saturn and PlayStation, adding new gameplay elements, expanded script, and more animated sequences. So it’s a remaster of a remake!
The new remasters include updated visuals, battle speed settings, wide-screen support, and improved cutscenes. Plus, players can swap between the remaster and the classic remakes with original 4:3 resolution, cutscenes, and CRT filters.
Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake
Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Switch, Xbox
Release: 2025
Rating: Rating Pending
Following last year’s excellent Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake, the first two games in the venerable RPG series are launching this year in compilation package, completing the Erdrick trilogy.
The entire JRPG genre can be traced back to the Dragon Quest series, which began in the late 1980s (then known as Dragon Warrior) on the Nintendo Entertainment System. The first two games in the series tell the story of the descendants of famous hero Erdrick as they gather heroes, plumb dungeons, and defeat colorful monsters (DQ3 is a prequel).
The remake combines pixel art with 3D backgrounds, a style that Square Enix’s Team Asano have perfected over the years, and looks to add modernized improvements from more recent Dragon Quest titles.
Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter
Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Switch
Release: Fall 2025
Rating: Rating Pending
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky from 2004 falls just outside the 80s/90s nostalgia, and didn’t arrive in the US until 2011, but it’s pretty darn classic all the same. Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is a full remake of the original game, using a much more modern game engine from Trails Through Daybreak.
The original game features two protagonists and eight playable characters, with grid-based combat and a large world. The remake looks remarkably different from the isometric original, with full 3D exploration and real-time combat, like the more recent games in the series. Players can also choose to play with turn-based combat, and enjoy all new voiceovers in English and Japanese.
The massive Trails series has spawned over a dozen interconnected entries that explore different regions and stories, with the most entry, Trails Beyond the Horizon, coming to the US later this year.
Did we miss any new remakes or remasters of classic JRPGs coming in 2025? Should we argue that Xenoblade Chronicles X is a classic even though it’s only 10 years old? Let us know in our social media channels, and sign up for our weekly newsletter!
