RPG is a nebulous term in gaming, with elements of the genre finding their way into multiple other genres and just about any game out there that you can think of. There are a few games that still embody the origins of the genre, and those are what we’re looking at for our Best RPG award this year. This isn’t the award for “best RPG elements,” it’s the award for Best RPG, and we think our list reflects some of the best this year, even if there are a few notable mentions that didn’t get nods (we’re a relatively small team, and we didn’t play everything). But which one was the best? Here are the PlayStation LifeStyle nominations for Best RPG in 2019.
- SaGa Scarlet Graces Ambition
- Indivisible
- Final Fantasy VIII Remastered
- Kingdom Hearts III
- Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringers
Best RPG 2019 Winner
Final Fantasy VIII Remastered
We debated on whether or not to allow a remaster of an old game to win this one, but Final Fantasy VIII is such a damn good game that we felt compelled to let it ride and see if it could secure the victory. The game’s been notoriously absent from the myriad re-releases and remasters that Square Enix has done, and the surprise opportunity to play it again this year reminded us what a great classic RPG this game was and still is. Perhaps once Square Enix is done with the Final Fantasy VII Remake saga of games, they can shift their attentions to giving us a modern-day rendition of VIII.
Reader’s Choice Winner
Kingdom Hearts III
While FFVIII Remastered showed up for a second-place award here, our readers overwhelmingly picked Kingdom Hearts III for the win in this category. Perhaps it was the long wait after so many years, finally getting the third entry in the beloved series. Notable write-ins in this category included GreedFall, The Outer Worlds, and The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 3, many of which were not included in our nominations due to our relatively small staff and us simply not being able to play every game this year. They should all be noted as honorable mentions in this category, however.
Don’t miss our full lineup of nominees for the PlayStation LifeStyle Game of the Year awards. We’ll be revealing more winners all throughout the week, leading up to the Game of the Year on Friday December 20.
