RPG Site's Most Anticipated RPGs of 2022

With 2021 behind us, we at RPG Site are peeking ahead at what's to come in 2022, and as fans of the role-playing genre, there's quite a bit to look forward to. We wanted to highlight a handful of games we are especially eager to see.

We also asked for input with a public Twitter poll to see what games our readers were looking forward to 2022. What follows below is our staff selected games, and you can also check the results from the Reader Poll for both Favorite RPG of 2021 and Most Anticipated RPG of 2022.

Our staff criteria for the Most Anticipated selection is fairly loose. In our staff vote, we picked upcoming RPGs that either interested us due to sheer potential, a good pedigree, and/or titles that find themselves with intriguing release situations regarding its development. This year in our internal polling, we saw a breadth of titles getting votes rather than a few titles running away with the tally. So, we have selected a total of 14 RPGs that we are looking forward to.

Note that the list is unranked, with the exception of our overall winner.

Need a refresher on what RPGs are set to release in 2022? We have a list you can check out right here.

RPG Site Staff Picks - Most Anticipated 2022 RPGs

Granblue Fantasy: Relink

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Long have we waited for this new action RPG from Cygames. Initially announced in 2016, the road to Granblue Fantasy: Relink has been a bumpy one. We’ve been drip-fed footage over the years and it’s shaping up to be a good time. The original Granblue Fantasy browser game has built an absolutely enormous roster since its inception and we’re crossing our fingers that our favorites will make it into Relink.

Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin

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Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is quite easily one of the strangest (no pun intended) projects we’ve seen in the big-budget AAA RPG space. Developed in collaboration between Koei Tecmo, Square Enix, and Nioh developers Team Ninja, Stranger of Paradise explores the backstory behind the very first Final Fantasy game. Team Ninja has adapted a lot of what’s made Nioh work and added a Final Fantasy twist to it all, from changing jobs on-the-fly and absorbing enemy spells to making them your own. We think Stranger of Paradise has a lot of potential to be one of the best games in 2022 as it re-contextualizes the lore behind Final Fantasy by adding a dash of chaos to it all.

Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak

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Monster Hunter Rise was a brilliant game that ate up a lot of time for several staff members last year. We’re expecting a lot more of our time in 2022 will be devoted to monster hunting with the upcoming Sunbreak expansion that aims to add a new region, Master Rank, and of course, more monsters. Thankfully, Sunbreak will be coming out for Switch and PC simultaneously; it won’t be repeating the weird staggered release that Monster Hunter World: Iceborne suffered.

Relayer

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This is one of the most interesting releases of 2022 and perhaps the lone one on this list that does not have a significant pedigree behind its maker. Relayer comes from the development team behind 2017’s God Wars, which was initially met with mixed reception until subsequent releases improved it overtime with updates to its system and balance. There hasn’t been much mecha-focused strategy RPGs aside from the Super Robot Wars series, so we’re rooting for Kadokawa Games to strike gold on this upcoming release.

Star Ocean The Divine Force

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Star Ocean has always been a weird RPG series with crazy characters, fun combat, and some intricate progression systems. It may not always be the most polished, or most well-executed, but there always seems to be something strange or interesting in every Star Ocean title that not many other JRPG series can match. Star Ocean The Divine Force is looking to be the most expansive title yet, with huge zones and a focus on exploration and traversal. Star Ocean The Last Hope and Star Ocean Integrity and Faithlessness are flawed gems at best, but hopefully this time Tri-Ace will deliver an experience that can stand with the genre’s strongest.

Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising

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It’s been more than a decade since we’ve seen an official Suikoden release, and RPG fans are excited to revisit that style of RPG as evidenced by the record-breaking Kickstarter campaign of spiritual successor Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes. While that title isn’t actually set to launch until 2023 at the earliest, we will see a tease of what’s to come in a sidescroller RPG spinoff with Eiuyden Chronicle Rising. The gameplay shown at Tokyo Game Show seemed promising, and even just a taste of what’s to come is exciting.

Starfield

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The launch of a new Bethesda RPG is always an event. The launch of a new Bethesda RPG IP is something we haven’t seen in a long, long time. Being built on the new Creation Engine 2, we have high hopes for Starfield as a massive open-world experience. There’s still a lot about the game we don’t know yet, but you bet we’ll be all over it when it lands in November.

Rune Factory 5

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This is the third time Rune Factory 5 has graced our Most Anticipated list. Rune Factory 4 was a bit of a watershed moment for the series, skyrocketing its popularity as an action RPG / farming sim / dating sim combo, and fans have been waiting for a true follow-up ever since. Having released in Japan already with the localization set for March, we don’t have to wait much longer to get our hands on it. 

Pokemon Legends: Arceus

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People have been asking for an open-world Pokemon game for what feels like forever. Pokemon Legends: Arceus is not quite that, but it seems to be quite the departure for the franchise that we normally see from Game Freak. With a new way to encounter and tame Pokemon, larger zone to explore, and a more feudal take on the world of Pokemon, this is definitely one of the most interesting titles hitting very soon.

Elden Ring

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Elden Ring is definitely one of the biggest RPGs coming out in Early 2022. Take Souls-like combat & progression, add an open-world, and sprinkle in some narrative elements from George R.R. Martin, and how can we not be excited for Elden Ring? Impressions from the Closed Network Test are promising, and now we just have to play the waiting game for another month or so.

Final Fantasy XVI

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Final Fantasy XVI was our “Wishful Thinking” pick last year, and turn out ‘wishful thinking’ was definitely the case, as we’ve barely have heard anything about the game throughout all of 2021. We did learn a small tidbit that the game’s English voiceover and facial capture was done before the Japanese recording, but otherwise, we are in the same boat as we were in January 2021. We are still excited of course, and news is set to come in Spring, so hopefully, we’ll know more sooner rather than later. If Final Fantasy XVI doesn't manage to release on 2022, look forward to seeing it on next year's Most Anticipated list.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Sequel

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Yet another title that graces our Most Anticipated list for the second year in a row, of course we’re excited to see what Nintendo will offer with this sequel that doesn’t even have an official title yet. We know the game is ‘targeting’ a 2022 release, and the trailer shown at E3 2021 highlights a lot of cool things we’ll see in this anticipated follow-up. It may only loosely be an RPG, but approaching five years of separation since the launch of Breath of the Wild, our expectations for its sequel are as high as ever.

Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake (Wishful Thinking Pick)

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Originally released in 1988, Dragon Quest III is still one of the best RPGs of all time. When a remake was announced using the Octopath Traveler style HD-2D pixel art visuals, we were of course excited to see more of an all-time classic redone. We still don’t have confirmation of when Dragon Quest III HD-2D will launch, or even what platforms it will be available for, but we are ready for it, whenever we are able to get our hands on it.

Triangle Strategy (Staff Choice for Most Anticipated 2022 RPG Winner)

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It feels like it’s been forever since we’ve gotten a true tactical RPG from Square Enix. The excellent remakes of Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together originally launched in 2007 and 2010 respectively for PSP, while Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift still remains the most recent entry in its series, also having launched in 2007 for Nintendo DS. It’s been a long time coming, but Triangle Strategy aims to finally scratch that itch that strategy fans have been waiting more than a decade for. With a multitude of characters, competing factions, intriguing conflicts, and a promising demo, our expectations for Triangle Strategy are high. Set to launch exclusively for Nintendo Switch in March, we hope this spiritual successor can reach the renown of its predecessors and become much more than an imitation.