I hope there is something really amazing on top. If we dont find Dragon Quest V, it is all your fault.

This week on Retro Encounter, we undertake a difficult endeavor yet again: making a tier list of one of the most popular RPG franchises. This time, it’s Dragon Quest! Do things get heated? Who really loves a 100 hour game? Does anything finish in D tier? Listen in to find out!

Featuring: Zach Wilkerson, Aleks Franiczek, Michael Sollosi; Edited by Zach Wilkerson

Opening and ending music by Miles Morkri

Listen and subscribe where you please, and leave a rating if you can! Email us your feedback: retro@rpgfan.com

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Revenge is a road that never loops back to where you began. Every step pulls you further from the person you once were and closer to the one you may become. In Octopath Traveler 0, that idea shapes the entire journey. Your hometown lies in ruins, your family is gone, and the only thing pushing you forward is the hope that those responsible will face what they have done. Yet as you close in on the powers that rule Orsterra, the pursuit turns inward. Are you here to rebuild what was lost, or are you simply chasing a victory that will never feel like enough?

When you peel back the layers of Octopath Traveler 0, you find a tale that begins with a single act of devastation but expands far beyond a straightforward pursuit of justice. Three powerful forces shatter your life, and the path ahead seems simple at first. It is anything but. The deeper you push into Orsterra, the more the Divine Rings twist this tragedy into something larger. As mentioned in my preview, since this is a reimagining of the premise from Champions of the Continent, the familiar pieces are here. The three tyrants still embody Wealth, Power, and Fame, but Square Enix has reshaped these ideals to feel heavier and more personal.

The journey never reduces itself to mere vengeance. As you travel through the world, you rebuild the things that loss tried to erase. You restore your town, strengthen what remains of your identity, reconnect with survivors, and slowly piece together a future that seemed impossible in the opening hours. Recovery becomes as important as retaliation, giving the story a steady heartbeat underneath the conflict. Each path, tied to one of the three routes, digs into the flaws that shaped the villains you now face. Ambition, insecurity, and the hunger for recognition twist them into people who might have been heroes under different circumstances. Their humanity gives the story nuance and adds weight to every step you take toward them.

This is one of my favorite stories Square Enix has released to date, easily rivaling their best SNES titles. My main criticism is that the party interactions can feel a bit muted at times. With a total of 34 recruitable party members (not including the main character), the game occasionally suffers from the Chrono Cross effect, where characters are treated more like stats than personalities. Additionally, the second half of the game has pacing issues. Certain chapters drag on far longer than necessary, though the payoff makes the wait more than worth it.

Octopath Traveler 0‘s gameplay, however, leaves much to be desired. While the gacha system from the mobile release, Champions of the Continent, is gone in this version, poor character balance remains. Many skills feel completely useless, and there is little incentive to engage with most core mechanics. Nearly every boss can be defeated using the same few attacks. Even the break system, which is supposed to exploit enemy weaknesses to temporarily stun them and deal extra damage, is almost pointless, since you can easily win most fights without using it at all. As far as I can recall, only a few optional bosses actually required me to trigger a break.

I found myself defaulting to the exact same handful of moves against every single boss, hardly noticing their attacks or supposed weaknesses. Each boss might as well be a differently colored version of the same fight, like a figurative palette swap. The random encounters, by contrast, are literal palette swaps, with enemies recycled across areas and routes. In fact, by the end of the game, I was still primarily using the same attacks I had in the first chapter. Battles feel like a slideshow of déjà vu, with the systems designed to keep them fresh barely registering. The gameplay is a Swiss Army knife in theory, but in practice, you only ever use the can opener.

The job system exemplifies Octopath Traveler 0’s core problem: only a handful of jobs are actually worth using. After completing the game and earning the platinum trophy, I did a second playthrough to test this, and it became clear that trying different party setups accomplishes nothing. Experimenting just drags battles out and turns fights into a slog. You’re much better off just doubling up on strong jobs instead of having a diverse party. 

Regarding the dungeons themselves, the early areas are fairly basic, featuring a handful of treasure chests and a direct path to the boss. Later dungeons grow more intricate, as the final dungeon in each path introduces simple puzzles and some backtracking. It is nothing revolutionary, but it gets the job done. The original Octopath Traveler characters also return as playable additions. While a nod to longtime fans, they do not influence the story and feel shoehorned in, existing solely as optional party members. I found their inclusion a bit forced, as the developers had to convert them from their original gacha roles into permanent companions.

On a more positive note, the town restoration won me over in the end. I was skeptical about it in my preview, but it integrates with Octopath Traveler 0‘s story in a surprisingly brilliant way. By the time I had access to all the tools, I genuinely enjoyed shaping my own town. The gameplay features here feel especially meaningful, from gaining the ability to communicate with animals to unlocking the monster arena. While the arena could have offered a wider selection of monsters, I still appreciated just how far Square Enix pushed the town-building system.

I already praised the soundtrack in my preview, so at the risk of sounding like a broken record, the OST in this game is truly remarkable. Yasunori Nishiki and his team craft melodies that linger like the last rays of sunset over a quiet town. From the contemplative tunes accompanying exploration to the soaring orchestration in key moments, the music carries the story as much as any dialogue or cutscene. That said, some tracks can grow repetitive over the course of such a long game. In particular, the standard dungeon and random battle themes persist for far too long, though they do change as you reach later areas.

At this point, Square Enix has perfected the HD-2D style, and Octopath Traveler 0 is no exception. I am grateful to experience this world away from a mobile device, with every town as colorful and vibrant as I could have hoped. The later dungeons are much more visually intricate than the earlier ones, possibly because of their more oppressive or fantastical nature. This comes through in richer lighting and denser environmental detail.

Octopath Traveler 0 reminds us that what we chase often changes who we become. The game asks you to consider what it truly means to rebuild: whether it is a town, a life, or even yourself. I very much enjoyed this journey, particularly for its incredible story. However, I recognize it’s not a game for everyone, with its repetitive battles and remnants of its mobile origins. But for those who have the patience, this is an adventure well worth taking; just make sure you bring a comfortable chair and a strong cup of tea.

From Baldur’s Gate 3 to Critical Role to Stranger Things, the resurgence of fantasy-horror rooted in the 1980s Dungeons & Dragons zeitgeist continues to deliver a mix of standout hits and inevitable misfires. Drawing inspiration from the Duffer Brothers’ Netflix phenomenon, Kingdom of Night blends a touch of cosmic horror with a heavy dose of Hawkins-style storytelling, wrapped around an action RPG core that demands precise dodging, stamina management, and frequent reliance on random consumables. Kingdom of Night proudly embraces its retro ARPG identity. It doesn’t shy away from the visceral gore that defines the genre’s grimmer entries, nor from their occasional rough edges. It’s dark out on the edges of this town—exactly where the game wants you to be.

The narrative takes place across one night in 1987, when the quiet town of Miami, Arizona erupts into chaos, including the abduction of your neighbour. As John, you plunge into the night, carving your way through demons, hunting down cult members, and racing to save your friends before the darkness consumes the town. Kingdom of Night signals its televisual inspirations right from the splash screen, and the setting quickly confirms the parallels. High-school-adjacent character tropes? A mysterious cosmic evil possibly tied to a shady corporation? Shadow-soaked environments, thick mist, and copious shredded viscera? They’re all here.

To its credit, Kingdom of Night maintains this tone consistently, but unlike stronger entries in the genre, its characters and story rarely develop beyond what’s needed to move you to the next plot beat or boss fight. Most characters feel like quick sketches—a foul-mouthed bartender, a scatterbrained old woman, stock jocks and nerds—and their interactions unfold exactly as you’d expect. The dialogue reflects this simplicity, and several typos and a few dated situations don’t help matters, sometimes making the writing feel stuck in a bygone era rather than cleverly riffing on it.

Kingdom of Night’s art design is evocative, and its vibrant pixel art feels right at home alongside other Dangen-published titles. Wandering through dark streets lit by magenta ground fires or navigating neon green fungal blooms in the sewers creates a surreal atmosphere, even though the game is very darkly lit throughout. Character portraits take the form of simple 16-bit-style headshots—there are plenty of them, though few are memorable. Lonely stretches of plains and rocky scree gain tension from the minimal soundscape, where only footsteps, ambient effects, or the occasional thunderclap break the silence. A brooding musical layer ties everything together, leaning into synths, slow orchestral swells, and gentle plucks common to the genre, with a few standout exceptions.

You’ll spend most of your time in Kingdom of Night roaming the bleak, shadow-drenched streets of Miami, moving between abandoned supermarkets, small town libraries, and everything in between. The sense of carnage and supernatural dread seeps through environmental details, character encounters, and quick sketches scattered across the world. Many of these moments lead to quests—some push the central mystery forward, while others send you hunting for item sets or tracking down missing high school friends. The quest structure feels genuinely open. After the initial setup, you’re free to explore wherever you like and tackle whatever catches your interest, limited only by your character’s level, abilities, and the strength of the enemies occupying each area. The overworld map and area mini-maps do a solid job of showing your location and highlighting enemies or points of interest. Before long, you unlock a fast travel system, which is a huge relief given the size of some zones and how slowly your character moves at the start.

Real-time combat in Kingdom of Night revolves around locking onto the nearest enemy with the left gamepad trigger (frankly, playing with a keyboard and mouse isn’t pleasant). From there, you rely on melee attacks, dodges, and parries with the other face buttons. Stamina management becomes essential—dodging and using abilities drain it—so strafing, retreating strategically, and kiting enemies around terrain features all become core tactics. Magic users gain additional area attack options that demand careful positioning and an awareness of cast times. You select spells through different combinations of the face buttons, and combat will pause if you need to review them. These classes take more practice to play precisely, but their ability to damage large groups of enemies offers a satisfying payoff. Overall, combat in Kingdom of Night feels enjoyable, and the controls are tight, even if your character moves painfully slowly at first, and selecting spells is not immediately intuitive. Once you get comfortable with lock-on targeting, spell selection, and well-timed parries, most frustrations fade away.

Enemies usually attack in swarming mobs, starting with slow-moving zombies and introducing variants with new attack patterns. These shifts force you to adapt your strategy—projectile-firing shades demand sharp dodges, while poisonous fungi can split on death and quickly overwhelm you with sheer numbers and lingering damage. The combat design leans into these synergies: shambling zombies aren’t hard to corral on their own, but they become far more dangerous when you’re also trying to stay clear of a shadow’s homing, missile-like attack. In the more chaotic encounters, the screen practically turns into a bullet hell. Flaming projectiles fill your view while you dodge charging mastiffs and hordes of zombies all at once.

Most of Kingdom of Night’s drawbacks come from its inventory and equipment interfaces. The Notebook tracks your basic stats and is where you equip a weapon and up to three accessories, but with no way to sort the flood of loot you collect—especially accessories—it quickly becomes tedious to stay organized. It’s easy to overlook items that could actually help you. Quest tracking poses similar issues. Kingdom of Night displays quests as a horizontally scrolling strip of reminders, each tied to an NPC portrait. If you’re juggling a dozen quests, you’ll have to cycle through all of them to recall their requirements—there’s no prioritization system or quest markers.

This leads to a broader issue. Although the main thrust of Kingdom of Night is simple—and the “save the damsel” premise is classic—the sheer number of quests constantly distracts you from it. The game leans heavily into its sandbox structure, encouraging you to fight, loot, and explore without much narrative funneling. With combat so frequent, Kingdom of Night may work best when played in smaller sessions, where you complete quests days after you pick them up, thanks to stumbling across the right NPC or item on the far side of the map. If that’s your style, you’ll feel right at home. If not, you may find yourself less inclined to plod on through the dark streets.

Early in Kingdom of Night, your main character selects a class that shapes their ability list and influences how their Muscle, Guts, and Willpower grow. You first choose between melee and magic, then pick a more specific subclass. Class abilities link to a “keychain,” a visual system to represent how skills strengthen and evolve; as a result, progression stays fairly linear until the later levels. Each character level boosts your core stats and grants new abilities. You can raise health, increase critical hit chance and damage, or improve defensive resistances. These stats interact closely with the equipment and accessories scattered across the world, and it’s satisfying to steer your build toward heavy crit damage or stack Fear resistance in areas where enemies—and bosses—can panic you into wandering helplessly. Your primary stats also determine bonus damage for different weapon types and critical chance. Because lighter weapons attack faster, you’ll need to consider how to balance speed, damage, and your preferred playstyle to get the most out of your journey.

Individual abilities reinforce these stat synergies. For example, one melee class can reflect damage back at an enemy after a successful parry, and the reflected amount scales with your Guts stat—making Guts a crucial attribute to monitor. A later ability in the same skill tree negates all damage from the first hit you take (with a lengthy cooldown), which created moments where I could charge in, parry confidently, deal damage through the reflection effect, and rely on the passive damage negation to keep me somewhat safe in crowded encounters.

Kingdom of Night supports both local and remote co-op. While I couldn’t test the remote option, local co-op significantly expands your strategic choices. With a second player, a mage can focus entirely on crowd control and ranged spells while a melee partner draws aggro. Having another set of hands also softens the game’s difficulty curve—Normal mode is challenging enough that you’ll burn through consumable food items regularly, and even then, some bosses are tough without precise mastery of each class’s core mechanics. Enemies respawn in most areas, and because zones often feel level-gated, you can farm them for XP if you’re willing to put in the time during the fairly lengthy campaign. Alongside the large maps and various collectibles, Kingdom of Night also hides a surprising amount of lore in scattered books and documents found in houses and other buildings. These articles go a long way toward fleshing out the world and reinforcing the game’s themes.

Kingdom of Night is a dark tale, steeped in nostalgia for its setting and story inspirations, as well as its action-oriented combat. While it won’t earn accolades for originality or deep character stories, the combat remains satisfying, capturing that “git gud” feeling of progress and mastery—especially when you combine abilities or play a class in ways its progression encourages. Kingdom of Night can be frustrating at times, particularly with inventory management and quest tracking, as the UI struggles to keep up with growing loot piles and multiple active quests. If you enjoy wandering through nightmare-infested small-town Americana at night, this is a realm worth visiting. If not, there are certainly stranger things to explore elsewhere.

Due to an exploit with the Paizo Plus system, we have temporarily turned off the ability to use $off coupons purchased with gold for digital products. Once we have resolved this exploit, we will turn them back on.

Update: Coupons are once again available to use, but we have removed them from the checkout dropdown menu until we make some changes. You can copy-paste your codes from the Paizo Plus rewards page into the coupon field at checkout.

-Jim

On this week’s Random Encounter, we’re taking a look at two very different narrative adventures!

Back in the 2010s, Telltale Games reinvented the point-and-click adventure game with The Walking Dead, introducing new multiple paths and lasting choices. Unfortunately, they spread themselves a little too thin, and the studio closed. Thankfully, many of those developers went off to create their own studios, and that is how we got Dispatch, the new episodic superhero adventure game! Tom has played the entire season and can confidently say that it reaches, and maybe even exceeds, the heights of Telltale’s output at its prime.

Then, Audra is here with an indie narrative visual novel inspired by Nintendo DS Japanese adventure games like Ace Attorney and Hotel Dusk: Detective Instinct: Farewell, My Beloved. This looks to be a classic case of, “Well, if the developer won’t make any more of the games we like, we’re going to do it ourselves!” In this detective game, you and your investigative partner explore crime scenes and interrogate witnesses to uncover the perpetrators of a shocking murder (maybe, you’ll have to follow the clues to find out)

Featuring: Jono Logan, Audra Bowling, and Tom Naylor; Edited by Jono Logan

Listen and subscribe where you please, and leave a rating if you can! Email us your feedback: podcast@rpgfan.com

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In this edition of RPGs Coming This Week, we near the end… of the year! I will say, now is a good time to catch up on games you missed if you’re invested in the zeitgeist, especially with the Keighleys just around the corner.

Of course, there are almost always new games coming out, and you can trust this steadfast crew to continue covering as much of that as possible. So without further ado, let’s dive in!

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Also Coming This Week

Harken back to yesteryear with the Secret of Evermore-like Shrine’s Legacy. We’ve got 2.5D action RPG swords, staves, and spells slung about for 15 to 20 hours for your millennial enjoyment. Games’ve moved past the 16-bit era? Get off my lawn! Puzzles, exploration, collectibles, one spell in an arsenal of four that is completely busted, hidden walls, talking cats, adolescent dialogue, awkwardly forced swearing—Shrine’s Legacy has it all!

Rio, a teenage boy from a small village, dreams of saving a princess. Puh-lease. You’re dreaming small, bud. How about the whole world? Well, someone’s gotta get this sleepy country bumpkin out of his hamlet, and that someone is Aklor: armored, archetypal villain extraordinaire. This guy shows up and he’s after the Sword of Shrine. Wouldn’t you know it? Rio’s got the sword in a fancy glass case. And his last name is Shrine!

Our acne’d hero meets Reima, a mysterious girl who wants to help him, as she isn’t a big fan of Aklor herself. The two gallivant all over Ardemia (the world) in search of gems to power up the Sword of Shrine. Aklor wants those, too, but he also wants to kill the two upstarts. So, he does what all good villains do and sends his least capable general to thwart the progeny of an ancestor who already defeated Aklor once before.

Each of the eight crystals is guarded by a massive beast (boss) in a dungeon. These crystals grant spells to Rio and Reima, who can expend mana to assist them in battle. Nothing earth-shattering here: enhance their sword to heal, ignite enemies, freeze foes, etc. To get mana back, they have to smack enemies with sword or staff as if powering up a battery. Combat flows simply, as well, with players running around timing hits when enemies leave themselves exposed. Or you could do what I did and pop the healing buff to mindlessly beat enemies through their attacks. Surprisingly fun.

Ardemia’s full of hidden goodies, and the open world map design is one of Shrine’s Legacy’s best features. The world forks and hides paths tastefully, making it eye-catching and engrossing to explore. Spells can sometimes impact the world, so Shrine’s Legacy bleeds into the Metroidvania genre, as returning to old locations can grant passage to a goodie or secret shop. The world map doesn’t articulate exactly where players are unless they enter a dungeon, which provides a grid-based map to help players navigate the sometimes labyrinthine catacombs leading to a gem.

Functionally, exploring dungeons is the same as walking around the open world, but getting to the boss has a distinct feel to it. Most dungeons have a puzzle theme that uses a previous spell and can feel boxy in its design. Save points generously dot the map, which is consistent in tone with Shrine’s Legacy’s general difficulty. Aside from a couple bosses, the game’s fairly easy, but challenging enough to maintain one’s attention, and I played single-player.

For those flying solo, the inactive character follows the active one, and switching takes a single button press. I often did this when mana reserves got low or I needed to heal the ally because they were taking too much damage. As referenced earlier, the healing spell is kinda busted, but potions give players the opportunity to heal in a more traditional style for this kind of game. Crafting potions requires money and resources, which are somewhat challenging to accrue. Potions can also permanently grow stats with specific types of collectibles, though don’t expect any surprises here.

Sidequests keep the world feeling uniform as NPCs task Rio and Reima to lead them somewhere, meet them in a location, or hunt for a trinket. This gave me an excuse to revisit old locations with new powers, so while I was satisfying the quest, I also found new paths to tread; I imagine this is part of the intention of the sidequests: providing players purpose for backtracking and giving them plenty to do.

While the side quests are enjoyable from a gameplay perspective, the overall dialogue in Shrine’s Legacy is fine. Stylistically, I found conversations reminiscent of days of olde, but because the atmosphere matches a bygone era doesn’t necessarily make it good. Still, not every game needs sophistry or vocabulary-rich exchanges in an attempt at maturity. For a game that looks like Shrine’s Legacy, the young adult approach maintains consistency.

Distinctly 16-bit in appearance, Shrine’s Legacy was clearly crafted with care. Pixel art doesn’t have to be basic, and Shrine’s Legacy is evidence of that. Spells commit flair, locations are detailed in layout and unique imagery, hubs win the eye’s attention with varied decor, and enemies animate uniquely with no copycat foes. If this era is your thing, the visuals will win you over easily.

Similarly, the music capably carries the SNES (not Genesis) banner with playful, earnest beeps and boops. Ruins have a mysterious, eerie tone to them, while towns have the upbeat cheer one expects. Although the soundtrack doesn’t boast any standout hits or surprises, the music is expertly composed and complements the era’s feel with the use of modern hardware (again, not Genesis).

Unfortunately, Shrine’s Legacy isn’t a hidden gem or a sleeper hit for a few reasons. The chief reason is that games that lean heavily on nostalgia—like this one—have to be careful not to feel too much like old games. Old games aren’t made anymore for a reason. Most successful titles like this add elements that may not have even been possible thirty years ago; they feel retro while having modern sensibilities. If you’re a purist, Shrine’s Legacy’s going to scratch that itch just fine.

I also ran into a host of bugs and awkward graphical issues, such as walking into what should have been dense objects as my characters went completely under them. This has a cheap feel to it, and happened often enough to irk me a bit. I also occasionally got stuck in walls, the game crashed or froze, and quest progression was sometimes unclear. These happened infrequently enough for me to put them at the end of my review—and I have made grievances about this stuff at the start of some reviews—but still impacted my experience. We also hope developers will patch this stuff out, but not all devs will do that, sadly.

The other issue I have with Shrine’s Legacy is that the characters and world lack power. This part’s hard because making a truly impactful story that is worth people’s time and money is core to an RPG experience. I enjoyed the characters and world, but I know some will find these aspects largely forgettable. Rio and Reima grow together over the course of the journey and noticeable changes occur, but their personalities lack depth and unique voice.

Of the retro titles out there, Shrine’s Legacy is a cut above. Several games like this may feel like cheap-to-develop cash grabs, or like someone made them just to relive the old days but doesn’t know how to make a good game. I’m critical of this style of game. Despite its failings and mediocrity, I enjoyed my time with Shrine’s Legacy. A bit simple, a bit weak, a bit buggy, but full of outstanding map design, charm, and great ideas. I hope the developers find some success and make an even better game in the future. I’ll be waiting.

On paper, Sacred Earth – Reverie is the type of game I’d expect to enjoy. After all, it’s a VN/RPG hybrid with point-and-click exploration mechanics, fast turn-based combat, high replayability that builds on past actions, amazing battle music, and a rich story with colorful characters: all signs of a grand gaming adventure. Unfortunately, Sacred Earth – Reverie‘s well-polished armor has a few imperfections, keeping it from being a stellar experience, with one significant, frustrating weak point that almost made me drop it entirely for a time.

Sacred Earth – Reverie revolves around protagonists Cain and Abelle. You pick which one to play based on a personality dialogue choice in the game’s beginning portion. Our heroes were once successful knights until a fateful battle between the realm’s human forces and their sworn enemy, a powerful entity known only as the Demon Queen. The decimation from the battle disillusioned Cain and Abelle, leading them to abandon their knightly careers. So, they retire to the outskirts of human society until word reaches them that the Demon Queen is on the move. Burning with questions about the fighting’s purpose, they set off with a colorful cast of characters to do the seemingly impossible: ask the Demon Queen herself for the truth.

That’s the main gist, though I’ll say the plot goes in some unexpected directions. The game’s worldbuilding is also impressive. It’s no wonder that, from a narrative stance, two of the inspirations for Sacred Earth – Reverie are Utawarerumono and Falcom’s The Legend of Heroes: Trails series. While the game does reference lore and events from previous Sacred Earth titles, I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to get immersed in the narrative without extensive prior knowledge. It provides a self-contained story that constantly evolves based on choices and actions made throughout the playthrough. There are multiple endings to uncover on the way to the true ending, and new scenes to peruse if you happen to play the New Game Plus version after reaching the end credits. The first time I played, I engaged in an optional boss battle that not only gave me an influential new party member for the endgame but also netted me a surprisingly different ending than the one I initially expected. I give Sacred Earth – Reverie credit for its constantly evolving narrative, which is not predictable and offers high replayability.

Sacred Earth – Reverie‘s exploration phases are point-and-click affairs. In town, you enter into conversations and event scenarios by picking them from the map, with some new events only opening up if you choose to see a prior one. The NPC narratives also constantly evolve alongside the main plot, helping the world feel lived in. You can also occasionally acquire sidequests that require you to enter into battles or find spots of interest in dungeons and gather materials to earn rewards. You equip weapons, armor, and optional stat-boosting accessories to your party alongside powerful elemental Ether Gems that provide ability and stat boosts to your characters.

In the dungeons themselves, you traverse by point-and-clicking over points of interest on a given section of the map. Each time you travel to a new area of the dungeon, you acquire more points on a danger/encounter gauge. Once the indicator is full, a random battle occurs, and you’re given options on how to deal with it based on your Travel Points. These Travel Points allow you to do things like re-roll for a different encounter, boost your stats before the fight occurs, or even retreat from combat before it begins. This system helps keep random encounters manageable, though unfortunately, it isn’t available for the myriad demanding boss battles over the course of the journey. I played the game on my Steam Deck, and Sacred Earth – Reverie is totally playable on the platform. However, I’d like to point out that it isn’t as controller-friendly as a mouse-and-keyboard schematic.

The sheer difficulty of many boss battles is the frustrating point of contention I mentioned in my first paragraph. Even on lower difficulty settings, there’s a very noticeable spike in challenge when it comes to boss fights. Usually, bosses get multiple immediate turns to shell out massive amounts of damage. Depending on random luck, those turns can spell doom even before the fight properly begins. I lost count of how many times I restarted a boss fight because I got a game over before my party had a chance to counter. When they do get a turn, your party members aren’t awarded nearly as many moves as bosses receive, so fights feel largely one-sided. Boss battles should offer more challenge than regular fights and require more strategy to overcome, but this game’s hellish spike in difficulty is incredibly frustrating. Be prepared to retry boss battles often and scream profanities the second you make a miscalculation that turns the encounter into a wash. Given that retries seem expected, ideally, I’d have loved a retry option for boss fights right from the Game Over screen. Unfortunately, you have to backpedal and load a save from the main menu.

Visually, there’s a lot to praise about the game. The UI is clearly visible and eye-catching with large, easy-to-read text, and there are two different art styles to choose from at any point in the narrative. I went with Style A, but there’s nothing visually negative about Style B either. It boils down to your personal preference. The CG illustrations for key scenes and the pixel sprite art for dungeon exploration are nicely detailed and aesthetically pleasing. The art itself is vibrant and colorful, and all the characters are expressive throughout the story. I admit I don’t love several of the female character designs, in particular, and I could see them as potentially offputting to others who might be interested in the game, which is a shame given that other aspects of the visual direction are solid. That said, I know the character designs won’t be a dealbreaker for everyone, given the subjectivity of art and visuals in general.

The game’s soundtrack is quite remarkable, especially this track and the many stellar battle tracks throughout. Hearing them over and over again was probably the best thing about the constant boss battle repeats! Sacred Earth – Reverie also has partial voice acting, and the cast delivers top-notch performances. The story script does have occasional typos, but given the title’s sheer amount of text, it’s mainly negligible and easy enough to correct in your head when an error occurs. However, I did notice that, while playing as Abelle, the game would sometimes address the protagonist as “Cain,” which makes me think Abelle was perhaps a later addition. This misnaming is rare, and the two protagonists’ personalities are pretty different.

Sacred Earth – Reverie is a game with surprising depth, held back in particular by a crushing difficulty spike regarding most boss battles. I enjoyed my time within its multilayered story, appreciating the various ways the narrative could evolve, but I also found some aspects of the game offputting. Gamers who can get past those hurdles and overcome the demanding boss fights that await could encounter a potentially engaging experience in Sacred Earth – Reverie.

Developer Nihon Falcom and publisher NIS America have announced that Ys X: Proud Nordics will launch in the west for the PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam on February 20th, 2026. This definitive edition will include new mechanics, a challenging new dungeon, and an added storyline.

Preview the latest announcement trailer below:

The original game Ys X: Nordics was released worldwide on October 25th, 2024. Unfortunately, players who own that currently don’t have an upgrade path to the newer version. If you have yet to experience Adol and Karja’s island adventure, it’s looking like Ys X: Proud Nordics is definitely the better choice.

Ys X: Proud Nordics Overview

As the definitive edition of this critically acclaimed entry in the Ys series, Ys X: Proud Nordics offers all of the fast-paced combat and enthralling narrative of the original release, with new mechanics, a high-difficulty dungeon, and a brand-new storyline seamlessly integrated throughout the game.

After a tense encounter at sea, the young red-haired adventurer Adol and the proud Norman Karja find themselves bound together by shackles of Mana, and by the looming threat of an undying horde known as the Griegr, who seek to pillage the vibrant Obelia Gulf. Aboard their ship, the Sandras, Adol and Karja gather a trusty crew of friends and allies as they go head-to-head with the Griegr in one unforgettable journey!

Key Feature

Adventure Anew

The spectacular adventure of Ys X: Nordics is back and better than ever, with improved graphical performance and quality of life updates that make this the definitive way to experience Ys X.

Isle of Mystery

Arrive at Öland Island and take part in a brand-new adventure! With Shield
Siblings Canute and Astrid by your side, dig deep into the mystery surrounding this island in a story that’s been seamlessly integrated into the original.

An Ocean of Experiences Awaits

New mechanics and content abound in Ys X: Proud Nordics! Use the new Mana Hold ability to manipulate the world around you, try your hand at new challenges on Öland Island, and prepare yourself for Muspelheim, a timed dungeon of diabolical
difficulty.

Screenshots

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Ys X: Proud Nordics sets sail in the West for PS5, Switch 2, and PC via Steam on February 20th, 2026. If you need an indication as to its quality, our PS5 review of Ys X: Nordics calls it one of the finest entries in the entire series.

Once viewed as nothing more than a disposable pawn, a young man becomes a powerful force for inspiration in a fantasy realm that is quickly losing its hope. Can he and his comrades secure lasting peace, or will their sacrifices prove too much to bear? Indie-developed The Tale of Relm is an opening salvo into an engaging traditional RPG plot, albeit with a few bumps along the way.

The beginning of The Tale of Relm serves as an introduction to a faction of soldiers known as the Crudo. These specialized soldiers, created at a very young age through mysterious and arguably nefarious means, are known for their emotionless obedience. However, the latest batch of Crudo trainees isn’t living up to the kingdom’s standards, so it’s decided to sacrifice them instead. Things don’t go as planned when one Crudo trainee survives the ordeal, spared from that fate only for a planned execution later for showing emotion and conscious thought.

Known initially as Red Eyes, his deliverance from jail and the executioner’s blade soon becomes a sprawling epic, throwing the very fate of all three of the land’s governing nations into chaos as they try to survive a looming darkness arguably of their own making. Toss in otherworldly beings with their own agendas and things get immensely heated, with Red Eyes’ quest to find himself becoming so much more.

I won’t say much more about The Tale of Relm’s plot, given that the story takes some interesting narrative twists and directions. However, I will say that many of the central characters who officially join Red Eyes’ party are likable and interesting enough in their own right, though they unfortunately don’t often get the story exposure and narrative insight I would have loved to see. Red Eyes and the offensive magic-casting princess Celes are definitely the most plot-focused characters, given their later developments and overall central importance, with Celes’ journey and outlook in particular going in shocking and memorable directions later on.

Yet, there are several standout ally characters whom I’d have appreciated seeing featured more prominently due to their distinctive designs and the few scenes they appear in. The game offers an intriguing perspective on the moral complexities in political and war narratives. However, I wish the game had explored these observations in a more nuanced and detailed manner than was sometimes presented in the game itself.

The Tale of Relm is very much a traditional RPG in terms of gameplay, with players taking on the role of either Red Eyes or Celes, depending on what’s going on in the story. You control a party of up to four characters at a time, partaking in turn-based battles against up to four enemies once you encounter an enemy sprite on the field. Each party member has a specialized job class and skillset with unique weaponry and equipment sets available to them. As you gain experience and level up through combat, you also acquire job points, which you can use to learn new class skills for a specific character.

Both combat and equipment usage in The Tale of Relm are relatively easy to figure out if you’re at all familiar with other traditional RPG setups; however, there are a few unique notes regarding battle that can take some getting used to. For starters, each piece of armor you acquire in-game has an inherent weakness attached to it, such as an elemental weakness like fire or a weapon weakness like a dagger. These weaknesses mean that the damage inflicted upon a character with said specific attacks or spells breaks through a character’s shield points. Once their shield is effectively “broken,” the character is temporarily stunned and left open to double the damage.

Enemies also have inherent weaknesses and shield points to strategize around, meaning you’ll want to equip armor that won’t make you so susceptible to their offensive abilities. You also accumulate boost points every round that allow you to strengthen skills exponentially or even attack multiple times. Figuring out an enemy’s weaknesses and planning how to strike them multiple times to whittle down their shield points is vital to victory.

There are some cases where, depending on your party makeup, what gear you have equipped, and what skills you’ve yet learned, you might have a difficult time with fights until you discover an effective strategy, even if you use respawning enemies on maps to level grind. All of these factors combine to create a tactically engaging turn-based battle system.

While you can save anywhere when out on the world map, you have to utilize save points in dungeons, meaning that you should carefully plan your field traversing more. I found some of the dungeon and field maps to be confusing or tedious to navigate, but that often turned out in my favor, as it gave me an excuse to level up more while getting my bearings. Be prepared for a lot of backtracking, though, as there’s no fast travel component at play.

Graphically, The Tale of Relm features visually appealing, comic book-inspired CG illustrations for the more significant cutscenes. The pixel sprite work, backgrounds, and character art used during important dialogues are also quite eye-catching and pleasing to look at. The music, particularly the main theme, is quite atmospheric and fitting for the game’s fantastical setting. I also enjoyed the addition of partial voice acting, as the voiceover narrations for the beginning of chapters and one particular speech before a pivotal battle are both exceptionally well done. From a script-stance, the story’s presented well enough. However, while it’s easy to parse what’s said throughout, there are several noticeable typos and grammar issues to contend with.

The Tale of Relm is roughly twenty or so hours in length, but I feel I should note that it does carry the subtitle “The Awakening” in its save files. The reason for that becomes apparent when you reach the game’s “To Be Continued” ending. The cliffhanger is particularly upsetting since the story really begins to develop in interesting ways by that point, and I was eager to continue and find out what happens next, only to be met by the credits rolling. So, for those who want a self-contained tale, it’s worth taking note. I can only hope that whatever form the narrative continuation takes, it won’t be too long a wait.

The Tale of Relm is an enjoyable indie traditional RPG experience, provided you can get past its foibles and are okay with an ending that’s not yet conclusive. Developer EG Games consistently updates and patches the game, ensuring it plays smoothly. By the end of my playtime, I simply wanted to play more of The Tale of Relm, and I think that speaks to the title’s inherent strength of heart more than anything else. It’s a tale I wouldn’t mind diving into again.

It was a dark day for the Atelier fandom when Gust announced that Project A25—the 25th Atelier entry—was a gacha game. While the franchise is no stranger to spinoffs, including Atelier Online: Alchemist of Bressisle for mobile, Atelier Resleriana: Forgotten Alchemy & the Polar Night Liberator broke new ground for the series, for better or worse. Not only was the game a free-to-play gacha, but it was also limited to mobile devices and PCs, which contradicted Gust and Koei Tecmo’s efforts to expand the series to a broader audience across multiple platforms. With a focus on crossover characters from previous titles buried in FOMO-infused limited-time banners, an oversaturated gacha market, and stripped-down systems and mechanics, Atelier Resleriana: Forgotten Alchemy and the Polar Night Liberator had an uphill battle from the start, and I say that as one of the few people who enjoyed it.

Slightly over a year later, the game went end of service in the West, leaving behind the hollow corpse of a game that still shambles on in Japan, yet leaves a coffin-shaped hole in the franchise for Western fans. It’s remaining local, even though the Atelier franchise is beloved by fans worldwide these days. Could the game be saved in any way, or is it better to move on to the next thing? Koei Tecmo’s answer is a mixture of both ideas, leading to one of the better salvage jobs in the industry. While not as impressive or on the scale of Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn rebirth, Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian feels like a course correction, an apology, and a thank you to fans of the series.

Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian is a return to form in many ways. While the most recent Atelier series, Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land, featured a deep and complex synthesis system with kinetic and chaotic battles, Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian takes a more simplified approach to alchemy and combat. The world is much smaller in scope, split into pockets and zones that are reminiscent of the PS3 and PS4 era Atelier games. Many of the ideas in Atelier Yumia were a bold step forward into the future, but Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian is a look back at the past, spanning the franchise in both roster and mechanics.

Unlike the previous Atelier Resleriana title, The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian plays like a proper and fully fledged Atelier game. Players can spend their days exploring fields and zones, gathering materials, fighting enemies, crafting items, and managing their shop. All of these tasks contribute to the game’s primary goal: to restore the town of Hallfein. The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian focuses on town restoration, but there is no town building per se. Unlike the last crossover title, Nelke & the Legendary Alchemists: Ateliers of the New World, players aren’t selecting building placements or what said buildings have available for purchase. Instead, by investing money, completing tasks, recruiting fairies, crafting and selling new items, and so on, the town advances in levels as different districts undergo improvements. As the districts grow, so does Hallfein itself, and the range of shops and merchants available expands. Admittedly, I was reminded of Final Fantasy XIV’s Doman and Ishgardian Restoration projects more than anything.

The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian’s synthesis system is also quite basic at first glance. However, as the story progresses and Rias learns new recipes, a bevy of branching paths open up that often change the original recipe completely. The color-matching gift system is easy to understand, and the onboarding process gently introduces players to the alchemy system. Recipes have clearly defined branching paths, which allows players to plan ahead the moment they unlock new recipes. While the system isn’t as deep or complex as the Mysterious series’ color-matching or Atelier Yumia’s radius-based resonance system, The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian’s synthesis system feels right at home with the PS3-era Ateliers. Thankfully, the incredible number of quality of life changes over the years is reflected in the new system, ensuring players will find it easy to learn and easy to master.

The gacha featured stunning visuals, ranging from beautiful vistas to gorgeous character designs. Graphically, the game appeared both high-budget and high-quality. While the character models in Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian match the previous game, the cutscene direction is a step up for the series due to the dynamic angles and scene layout. Animations look fluid and natural, emotions are easily discernible, and conversations flow naturally with a focus on facial expressions. The environments, however, appear much flatter because it allows free roaming about the zones, as opposed to the gacha’s on-rails exploration. This flatness is most present in the Dimensional Paths—strange dungeons that look and feel randomly generated. Dimensional Paths are fantastic spots for gathering materials, hunting down augmented foes, and scouting out faeries to help the town. They generally consist of small, flat rooms, yet they’re home to some of the more interesting and strange locales in the game.

On the narrative front, The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian is awkward, to say the least. Although it’s a sequel to a defunct game, it also serves as a standalone story, focusing on the fledgling alchemist Rias and her newfound companion, Slade. Naturally, the titular Resna and Valeria make their appearances, and the story references events in the prior game, but the two never join the party. As one of the few dual-protagonist games in the series, players can start with either Slade or Rias, yet their paths quickly converge as their goals align. Rias learns that her knack for alchemy can help her uncover the truth behind a tragedy that occurred many years ago. At the same time, Slade seeks to unravel the mystery surrounding the gauntlet his family left behind. Throughout the game, the two aim to rebuild the devastated town of Hallfein—a town generally abandoned by the nation’s capital following the aforementioned tragedy. Eventually, the story finds its footing as a solid and emotional tale about cooperation and helping those in need.

Until the release of Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout in 2019, mainline Atelier games featured exclusively turn-based battles. With Ryza, the developers began experimenting with real-time hybrid combat systems, focusing on timelines similar to Final Fantasy’s Active Time Battle systems. Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian takes a look back at the series, incorporating elements from former turn-based battle systems. The multi-action system, in which characters can tag in with combo attacks, feels like a mixture of Mana Khemia: Alchemists of Al-Revis and Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream. Additionally, Atelier Lulua: The Scion of Arland’s interrupt system makes a comeback with improvements, and Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings’s follow-up system soars, ensuring battles are flashy with constant progression. Timecards, found in numerous Atelier games, also make a return, allowing players to stack recurring attacks and effects across multiple turns.

Defensive play in Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian is more critical than ever. Whenever enemies attack, players can block with perfect timing to reduce damage and prevent status effects. Though it’s a far cry from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33‘s active parries and dodging, and even further from Ar tonelico II: Melody of Metafalica’s rhythmic timed defensive system, it ensures combat feels more engaging than mindlessly trading blows. At its peak, combat in Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian is both fun and rewarding. However, the onboarding process is incredibly slow. The first few battles in the game are a slog, as actions feel heavier and slower than they should, yet a tap of the L3 button speeds things up and makes battle snappier. Additionally, it takes quite a while to get the whole cast of six characters, and the multi-action system feels mostly unused until the fourth character shows up.

That said, the battle system shows its teeth with a notable challenge on harder difficulties, as well as an impressive variety of enemies in battle. Recent Atelier titles have left me wanting as far as battles featuring multiple enemy types at once. The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian requires strategy and thought for each battle. Foes may be immune to elements, physical damage, or cast devastating status effects and debuffs. Boss battles were the highlight of the battle system. I was happy to barely scrape by as I juggled taunts, time cards, perfectly guarded attacks, set up combos and follow-ups, applied a dizzying array of status effects, interrupted turns, and unleashed hell with an array of finely crafted bombs that tanked stats and shackled enemies.

As I’ve mentioned in practically every Atelier review, the soundtracks for each game are incredibly creative, emotional, and exciting pieces of art. For Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian, the OST is overall superb, yet it lacks standout tracks. In previous titles, I’ve gravitated towards any songs composed by Hayato Asano, given his mastery of the artcore sub-genre. Unfortunately, Asano is missing from The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian. Still, long-time series veteran Kazuki Yanagawa and Daisuke Shinoda—who worked on the gacha—have ensured the game has a solid, albeit a bit safe, soundtrack that sounds like a collection of all things Atelier.

There is a lot to love about The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian, but it’s not without scuffs and marks that further reveal the game is a salvage job. The cast of playable characters is dismally small. While six characters wouldn’t be an issue in any other Atelier title, The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian is a crossover title that features dozens of alchemists from across the series. Since almost all of the guest characters were playable in the gacha, the roster of six feels a bit lacking, especially when fan-favorites such as Ryza and Ayesha show up to help out. Additionally, the cutscenes, although laden with fantastic character models and grand vistas, feature a strange yellow overlay in daylight, meant to recreate the image of light beaming down. At night, this overlay is white, and while the intent is appreciated, it’s quite distracting and a tad tacky.

While The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian is an improvement over its predecessor, it doesn’t match Atelier Yumia’s bold steps forward. A lowered scope and lowered stakes return the franchise to a comfortable position, and that’s not a bad thing per se. It serves as a look back on the franchise. After taking a wild turn on the mobile gacha path, a step back was necessary to recenter the series and continue moving forward with the two Atelier pillars. Ultimately, the game feels like a greatest hits album that is missing a couple of those unique B-sides that stood out and tested the limits of the genre. Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian is a fantastic course correction and follow-up to the gacha, sure to appease series veterans, and an excellent starting point for new players to find their footing with the series.

The customer service team is currently unable to respond to tickets. We are working with AWS to resolve the issue.

You can still submit new tickets, but be aware it might take a while to get a response.

We'll update this thread when we can once again send emails.

-Jim

Subscriptions kicked off later than we expected and are continuing to process now. As this is the first run under the new system, we're not exactly sure how long it will take to get through the entire subscriber list. It looks like we're about 15-20% done now.

We are also investigating why PDF copies are not being correctly delivered. I'll provide an update as soon as I have one.

[2 p.m. update] We have a potential fix in for the PDFs not releasing upon charge. We will manually grant them when the subscription run finishes for everyone if that fix isn't working. We still have quite a few subscriptions processing.

[4 p.m. update]: We've identified the source of PDFs not being delivered and corrected it. Subscriptions continue to process and we will fulfill missing PDFs when that process is complete, which we expect to be on Tuesday.

[12 p.m. Tuesday Update]: Subscriptions have finished processing and we are preparing to send out all missed PDFs. That should happen before end of day; your exact time will depend on where you are in the queue.

[3:20 Tuesday Update]: All PDFs have been delivered to your Paizo Store Library.

-Jim

Hey everyone! Lyle here, your friendly neighborhood Director of E-commerce. I'm not the usual person you see posting this, but I come bearing new product news. Since this is our biggest release month of the year, and with it comes huge amounts of orders, we are starting early this month to do our best to avoid shipping delays. Let's get this month's new goodness into your hands ASAP!

The following information, including dates and expected products, is what we currently estimate and may change.

New Physical Product Releases in November 2025

Pathfinder Products

•Pathfinder Flip Mat:

Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Bayou Hideout

•Pathfinder Adventure Path:

Pathfinder Adventure Path #220: Crypt of Runes (Revenge of the Runelords 2 of 3)

•Pathfinder Pocket Edition Rulebooks:

Battlecry Pocket Edition

•Pathfinder Rulebooks:

Monster Core 2

•Pathfinder Special Edition Rulebooks:

Monster Core 2 Special Edition

•Non-Subscription Products:

These products are not part of any subscription line and must be purchased separately.

Pathfinder Monster Core 2 Sketch Cover

Starfinder Products

•Starfinder Accessories:

Starfinder GM Screen (2E)

•Starfinder Rulebook:

Starfinder Alien Core

•Starfinder Flip Mat:

Starfinder Flip-Mat: Renegade Outpost

•Starfinder Special Edition Rulebook:

Starfinder Alien Core Special Edition

•Starfinder Non-Subscription Products:

These products are not part of any subscription line and must be purchased separately.

Starfinder Alien Core Retail Cover Edition

• •Authorization (Order Spawning) Date: 10/8/2025
  
• •Begin Shipping Estimate: 10/14/2025
  
• •End Shipping Estimate: 10/31/2025
  
• •Street Date for Paizo Products: 11/5/2025

Order advice:
↬If you need to make changes to your subscription order after the auth/order creation date please email customer service at customer.service@paizo.com

The following information, including dates and expected products, is what we currently estimate and may change.

New Physical Product Releases in October 2025

Pathfinder Products

•Pathfinder Accessories:

Pathfinder NPC Battle Cards

•Pathfinder Flip Mat:

Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Command Center

•Pathfinder Adventure Path:

Pathfinder Adventure Path #219: Lord of the Trinity Star (Revenge of the Runelords 1 of 3)

•Non-Subscription Products:

These products are not part of any subscription line and must be purchased separately.

Pathfinder Monster Match! Card Game

Starfinder Products

•Starfinder Adventures:

Starfinder Guilt of the Grave World Adventure Path

•Starfinder Non-Subscription Products:

These products are not part of any subscription line and must be purchased separately.

Starfinder Guilt of the Grave World Adventure Path Special Edition

StarfinderPlayer Core Pocket Edition

• •Authorization (Order Spawning) Date: 9/17//2025
  
• •Begin Shipping Estimate: 9/22/2025
  
• •End Shipping Estimate: 10/3/2025
  
• •Street Date for Paizo Products: 10/8/2025

Order advice:
↬If you need to make changes to your subscription order after the auth/order creation date please email customer service at customer.service@paizo.com

The following information, including dates and expected products, is what we currently estimate and may change.

New Physical Product Releases in September 2025

Pathfinder Products

•Pathfinder Rulebook Pocket Edition:

Pathfinder Treasure Vault Pocket Edition

•Pathfinder Adventure Path:

Pathfinder Adventure Path #218: Titanbane (Myth-Speaker 3 of 3)

•Pathfinder Adventure:

Pathfinder Game Night: Dawn of the Frogs (Deluxe Adventure)

Starfinder Products

•Starfinder Flip Map:

Starfinder Flip-Mat: Garage Warehouse

•Starfinder Accessories:

Starfinder Player Character Folio

•Starfinder Roleplaying Game:

Starfinder Player GM Core

Starfinder GM Core Special Edition

•Starfinder Non-Subscription Products:

These products are not part of any subscription line and must be purchased separately.

Starfinder GM Core Retailer Cover

Starfinder GM Core Pocket Edition

• •Authorization (Order Spawning) Date: 8 /13//2025
  
• •Begin Shipping Estimate: 8/18/2025
  
• •End Shipping Estimate: 8/29/2025
  
• •Street Date for Paizo Products: 9/3/2025

Other Announcements

Happy post GenCon everyone! We wanted to take this time to let customers know that Customer Service is currently experiencing a higher volume of emails during this time and response times may be delayed. Rest assured that we are working through answering everyones emails as quick as we can and thank you for your patience and understanding.

Order advice:
↬If you need to make changes to your subscription order after the auth/order creation date please email customer service at customer.service@paizo.com

The following information, including dates and expected products, is what we currently estimate and may change.

New Physical Product Releases in July 2025

Pathfinder Products

•Pathfinder Flip Mat:

Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Siege

•Pathfinder Adventure Path:

Pathfinder Adventure Path #217: Death Sails a Wine-Dark Sea (Myth-Speaker 2 of 3)

•Pathfinder Rulebook:

Pathfinder Battlecry! (Standard Edition)

Pathfinder Battlecry! (Special Edition)

•Non-Subscription Products:

These products are not part of any subscription line and must be purchased separately.

Sketch Cover Edition Battlecry!

Starfinder Products

•Starfinder Flip Map:

Starfinder Flip-Mat: Cityscape Multi Pack

•Starfinder Accessories:

Starfinder Combat Pad

•Starfinder Adventures:

Starfinder Murder in Metal City Deluxe Adventure

•Starfinder Roleplaying Game:

Starfinder Player Core (Standard Edition)

Starfinder Player Core (Special Edition)

•Starfinder Non-Subscription Products:

These products are not part of any subscription line and must be purchased separately.

Starfinder Player Core Retailer Cover

Starfinder Infinity Deck Card Game

Era of the Eclipse, a Starfinder Novel (hardcover)

• •Authorization (Order Spawning) Date: 7/9//2025
  
• •Begin Shipping Estimate: 7/14/2025
  
• •End Shipping Estimate: 7/25/2025
  
• •Street Date for Paizo Products: 7/31/2025

Other Announcements

Happy GenCon season everyone! We wanted to take this time to let those who may be attending GenCon know that Pazio is not offering pickup for subscription items. This means that your items will be expected to ship out to you prior to GenCon.

Additionally, the PDF for Starfinder Player Core will be available on July 31st. It will be automatically added to Starfinder Rulebook subscriber accounts at that time.

Order advice:
↬If you need to make changes to your subscription order after the auth/order creation date please email customer service at customer.service@paizo.com

The following information, including dates and expected products, is what we currently estimate and may change.

New Physical Product Releases in July 2025

Pathfinder Products

•Pathfinder Accessories:

Pathfinder Deck of Endless Treasure

•Pathfinder Flip Mat:

Pathfinder Flip-Mat: City Districts Multi-Pack

•Pathfinder Adventure Path:

Pathfinder Adventure Path #216: The Acropolis Pyre (Myth-Speaker 1 of 3)

•Pathfinder Adventure:

Pathfinder Adventure Path: Gatewalkers

Pathfinder Adventure Path: Gatewalkers (Special Edition)

•Pathfinder Lost Omens:

Pathfinder Lost Omens: Shining Kingdoms Poster Map Archive

Starfinder Products

•Starfinder Flip Map:

Starfinder Flip-Mat: Cityscape Multi Pack

• •Authorization (Order Spawning) Date: 6/11//2025
  
• •Begin Shipping Estimate: 6/16/2025
  
• •End Shipping Estimate: 6/27/2025
  
• •Street Date for Paizo Products: 7/2/2025

Order advice:
↬If you need to make changes to your subscription order after the auth/order creation date please email customer service at customer.service@paizo.com

The following information, including dates and expected products, is what we currently estimate and may change.

New Physical Product Releases in June 2025

Pathfinder Products

•Pathfinder accesories:

Pathfinder NPC Core Pawn Box

•Pathfinder Flip Mat:

Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Remote Villas

•Pathfinder Adventure Path:

Pathfinder Adventure Path: To Blot Out the Sun (Shades of Blood 3 of 3)

•Pathfinder Pocket Edition Rulebook:

Pathfinder RPG: NPC Core Pocket Edition

•Pathfinder Lost Omens:

Pathfinder Lost Omens: Shining Kingdoms (Standard Edition)

Pathfinder Lost Omens: Shining Kingdoms (Special Edition)

•Non-Subscription Products:

These products are not part of any subscription line and must be purchased separately.

Standard Edition Treasure Vault (Remastered)

Special Edition Treasure Vault (Remastered)

Sketch Cover Edition Treasure Vault (Remastered)

• •Authorization (Order Spawning) Date: 5/14//2025
  
• •Begin Shipping Estimate: 5/19/2025
  
• •End Shipping Estimate: 5/30/2025
  
• •Street Date for Paizo Products: 6/4/2025

Order advice:
↬If you need to make changes to your subscription order after the auth/order creation date please email customer service at customer.service@paizo.com

Hello, enjoyers of premium Pathfinder (and now Starfinder!) content on Foundry VTT!

As many of you are likely aware, the latest Foundry VTT stable release (v11) finally dropped on June 1, 2023. Exciting! However, whenever a new Foundry version releases, please be aware that the Pathfinder and Starfinder systems, as well as all of the premium content modules Paizo has produced for Foundry VTT, will by necessity take some time to update before they fully support the new version. For this reason, if you use the Pathfinder or Starfinder Foundry VTT systems or any of Paizo's premium Foundry modules, we strongly recommend that you wait to upgrade your Foundry install until everything has been properly updated.

Here's a handy guide you can use to guide your upgrade decisions, which we'll keep updated for this release as well as all releases going forward:

Current Foundry VTT software release: 11
Pathfinder 2e system updated? YES
Starfinder system updated? YES
Outlaws of Alkenstar Adventure Path updated? YES
Blood Lords Adventure Path updated? YES
Gatewalkers Adventure Path updated? YES
Stolen Fate Adventure Path updated? YES
Paizo Premium Adventure Path collections (Beginner Box, Abomination Vaults) updated? YES
Paizo Premium Accessories (Pathfinder Token Pack, Harrow Deck) updated? YES
Paizo Premium Organized Play Asset Packs updated? YES
Paizo Premium Pathfinder Bounties updated? YES

We realize that the delay in getting everything updated can be frustrating, but we assure you that they're all being worked on and will be released as soon as possible.