Ever since the arrival of Final Fantasy III, there have only been a few RPGs released. But never fear this spring and summer is going to see a flood of new RPGs. The SNES is going to be packed with RPGs by this summer:
Brandish (KOEI)
An overhead RPG in which you play the part of a man who has been accused of murder. You are being pursued by a bounty hunter who is considered the most ruthless and efficient of his profession. Unfortunately while running from him, you fall into an underground labyrinth. You must avoid traps and vicious monsters while trying to stay one step ahead of your pursuer, and hopefully make it back out of these dungeons alive.
Ogre Battle "March of the Black Queen" (ENIX):
In Ogre Battle you play the leader of a small group of rebels with hopes of overthrowing the Zetegenian Empire. However, you don't stand a chance against such a powerful empire, unless you are able to recruit neighboring countries as allies and raise an army of your own. There are over 70 characters who can join your rebellion, if you are able to find them and then persuade them to join your cause. Ogre Battle is a RPG/Simulation game in which your decisions in the game affect the actual ending. Can you free the Kingdoms of Zenobia and get the perfect ending?
King Arthur & The Knights of Justice (ENIX):
Command a group of knights on a quest to defeat the evil Queen Morgana and rescue King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. This game handles a lot like Secret of Mana and Zelda. However, there is one big difference, it has a very high difficulty level. The game itself includes all of the characters present in the Sunday morning cartoon. This overhead RPG is not for the faint of heart and requires a lot of patience.
Secret of Evermore (Square):
Coming out in June will be the long awaited sequel to Secret of Mana. However, this game is not based on a Japanese game, it is 100% made in the USA. The American division of Square decided to make a game that is completely original. This means that the humor is American based and not Japanese. For example your character makes many references to B-rated movies. Secret of Evermore is full of SGI-rendered bosses and backgrounds. The gameplay is supposed to be very much like its predecessor. This is Square Soft of America's first RPG and it looks like a hit!
Lufia 2 (Taito):
Lufia 2 is pretty much like its predecessor with a few changes such as the battle scenes. They still use the icon controls system, but the graphics have been improved and now there is depth to the battlefield. The enemies are visible though so you can try to avoid them. So far, the storyline is somewhat unclear, but the rumor is that Lufia 2 is the prequel to Lufia. The release date on this one is still unknown at this time.
Chrono Trigger (Square):
I'm sure just about everyone has seen the pics on this awesome RPG. But to me the most interesting thing about this game is its story, you can travel throughout time interacting with people and participating in past events and the cool thing is what you do affects the future. This means that you can really foul things up and make the game a lot harder for yourself. I will definitely keep you updated on this game as we approach its release in September!
As I receive more information, I will be sure to update my lists and next time I will start covering RPG's for all the other systems as well.
Brandish (KOEI)