There are plenty of fantasy game series out there in the world, and the genre has long since been home to many projects in the gaming industry, even long before the boom caused by The Lord of the Rings in the early aughts and the second peak caused by Game of Thrones in the 2010s. Many JRPG series started in the ’90s and are still going today, with Final Fantasy being a good example of this, despite its name. Some game series in the fantasy genre are the most well known in gaming right now, but plenty are underrated too.

Sure, everyone knows about the award-winning Baldur’s Gate, Witcher, and Elder Scrolls series, three of the biggest RPGs to have ever come out of the western market. The East have contributed plenty to the genre too, from the aforementioned Final Fantasy to Capcom’s work with the Monster Hunter series, and while these are brilliant to go to, they are also partly responsible for many series not getting the attention they deserve. The wonderful thing about the fantasy game genre is its versatility too, and there’s a game for everyone in the genre.

Owlcat’s Pathfinder Series Is Perfect For CPRG Lovers

A Great Game For Enjoyers Of Baldur’s Gate 3

The CRPG is one of the oldest genres in gaming and is finally getting the widespread love it deserves thanks to the immense success of Baldur’s Gate 3, but while Larian has shown it is the gold standard when it comes to CRPGs, it isn’t the only one. Owlcat, a smaller indie studio based in Cyprus, has been making a name for itself for fans of CRPGs, and its Pathfinder series could be perfect for those wanting to dive deeper into the genre after playing BG3. It’s also perfect for veteran CRPG fans too.

The Pathfinder games use the TTRPG system of the same name, using its first edition, which isn’t too dissimilar to D&D 3.5e and should be at least somewhat familiar to BG3 players. It’s more of a classical CRPG, with some incredible art, a lot of reading, and a constant, isometric view; however, it does have a feature that makes it perfect for fans of the new and the old. Old CRPGs are typically real-time with the ability to pause, while newer titles are only turned-based, but what makes Pathfinder great is that players can do both.

Pathfinder 1e is based on D&D 3.5e in response to the Open Game License restrictions introduced by D&D 4e.

At any point, players can switch between turn-based and real-time, and the Pathfinder games add an extra element by having some sort of management system. In Kingmaker (the first game), players are able to build up their own country and shape it as its ruler, while Wrath of the Righteous allows the player to control an army for a crusade. The Pathfinder series has all the romance that players have come to expect, thanks to BG3, fun combat, effective visuals, and should be on a wishlist for all CRPG fans.

4Suikoden Is A Massively Underrated JRPG Series

Taking JRPGs To China

Custom image by Katarina Cimbaljevic

While it isn’t as popular today as Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest, the Suikoden series is one of the best around, being loosely based on the classical Chinese novel, Shui Hu Zhuan. This gives it a fairly unique setting as far as JRPGs go, which usually tend to be based in some kind of medieval European setting, but with Suikoden 1 & 2 getting a remaster earlier in the year, it is the best time to check the series out. With Expedition 33 making people remember how much they love turn-based JRPGs, playing Suikoden in 2025 just feels right.

While not as famous as Chrono Trigger, Suikoden 2 specifically should be a mandatory game for anyone who calls themselves a fan of JRPGs, being widely considered as one of the best games in the genre alongside the golden Final Fantasy era, and for good reason. While a little rough around the edges, Suikoden 1 is a great title too, and while the first two games are the ones that everyone talks about, Suikoden 5 is also another gem. 3 and 4 aren’t bad either, although not quite to the same standard as 2 and 5.

Suikoden Tierkreis is a spin-off made for the Nintendo DS that is set in a separate world, with multiversal storytelling being a big part of the game.

Suikoden is known for its massive casts and the players are able to recruit large numbers of characters (108 specifically, a number important to Chinese Buddism and Taoism), something not really seen in other JRPGs, although this doesn’t mean players can’t connect to these characters. The world and story of Suikoden has helped it earn its cult following, and while there are some dated mechanics, and the combat is a little basic by modern standards, the series deserves more love. With the remasters, now is the time to get stuck into Suikoden.

The Banner Saga Series Makes Choices Really Matter

And These Choices Carry Over Naturally From Game To Game

The Banner Saga series has become an indie darling for a reason, and the trilogy is criminally underrated for what it brings to the fantasy genre. It has gorgeous, hand-drawn art and a breathtaking world that conveys its scale in such a beautifully haunting way. Before the first Banner Saga, there weren’t really any games like it, and with turn-based, tactical games on the rise after Expedition 33 and Baldur’s Gate 3, it’s as good a time as any to visit the world of Banner Saga.

The game is essentially broken up into two parts. One part is the traversal, traveling across the world of Banner Saga by leading a caravan of civilians across a dying world where the sun won’t set, and the player must make decisions about what is best for the caravan. These decisions can have painful consequences, and it feels like there are an infinite number of possibilities throughout the Banner Saga trilogy. The other part is the combat, which is tactical and sometimes very cruel.

The biggest part of what makes the Banner Saga series so special, other than its stellar art, is the consequences of the player’s actions.

The biggest part of what makes the Banner Saga series so special, other than its stellar art, is the consequences of the player’s actions. Characters will die, and a lot might not get a ceremonious farewell before being cruelly taken from the world. These same characters can grow a lot throughout the game too, and the harshness of this helps with the cruelty of the dying world. Banner Saga doesn’t pull any punches, and in an industry where too many games are playing it safe, it’s a breath of fresh air.

The Darksiders Series Is A Hack-And-Slash Icon

A Massively Underrated Series

The Darksiders series sits in this strange era between when hack-and-slash games began to die out and the revival that is being seen today with the likes of Stellar Blade and Khazan. Still, it shouldn’t be overstated how great this series is, allowing players to take control of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, with each game having a different Horseman. Ever since Darksiders 2, it feels like the series has always entered a state of limbo before getting another title, and with a rumored Darksiders 4, it could be the perfect time to try the series out.

A part of what makes Darksiders great is the Biblical world and storytelling, being technically a kind of urban fantasy, but almost all the conflict happens between the biblical figures of heaven and hell. It’s a little Diablo in that regard, with a very strong art design that has helped all the games in the series gel together well. All four titles in the series uphold a level of consistent quality that isn’t typically the norm, even the top-down spin-off Gensis, and it’s this level of quality that keeps players coming back.

With tight hack-and-slash combat, an over-the-top world where everything feels larger than life, and a decent amount of puzzle solving sprinkled in, there is plenty to do in Darksiders, to the point where there is almost something Zelda about the dungeon and boss design. There’s a reason why the fans have kept with the series, despite its ebbs and flows in and out of being dormant. With the hack-and-slash revival going on right now, a Darksiders 4 would fit neatly into today’s market.

Soulcalibur Deserves The Love And Budget Tekken Got

One Of The Greatest Fighting Game Series Ever

The story of Soulcalibur is somewhat of a sad one, and its slow descent into obscurity has only made the nostalgia for it stronger. Soulcalibur is a fighting game series set in a fantastical version of middle-age Europe where all the characters bring different fighting styles to the table with different weapons. Its weapon-fighting system, guest characters, and great visuals for the time made it groundbreaking in the early 2000s, especially Soulcalibur 2, which many consider the best in the series.

While I have strong nostalgia for Soulcalibur 3 in particular, the series has always been known for breaking new ground, from making customizable characters in 3, to amazing 3D graphics in 1, and the ring-out system introduced in Soulblade. This ground-breaking approach stopped by Soulcalibur 4, and the series is still paying for it today despite a reboot. Still, with Street Fighter, Tekken, and literally anything Arc System Works makes getting all the plaudits, it shouldn’t be forgotten how wonderful Soulcalibur was, with its unique stages and tight combat.

More importantly than this, Soulcalibur was outrageously fun, taking characters from all over the world to show off the different weapons from that culture. From Mitsurugi’s Japanese katana, to Siegfried’s German zweihander, it did feel that the series paid attention to the cultures they included while adding in fantastical elements to make the larger-than-life personalities work. While Soulcalibur is a fighting game franchise, it should also be remembered as a great fantasy game series and, thanks to the Switch 2’s GameCube classics, modern audiences can play the all-time great that is Soulcalibur 2.