A classic RPG remake, a new Metroidvania, and Season 2 of Last Epoch are this week’s games

It’s Friday, it’s warm (well, it’s warm here), and it’s a holiday weekend, so let’s take a look and see what’s new and notable in gaming for the long weekend. This week we’ve got a remake of an old classic (LUNAR Remastered Collection), a dark fantasy Metroidvania with Souls-like elements (Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree), and it’s the start of Season 2 for action RPG Last Epoch (a title I’ll spend a little more time talking about this week).

Let’s just dive right into it!

Classic RPG Action: LUNAR Remastered Collection

LUNAR and LUNAR 2 were both RPGs that I immediately recognize from my time as a youth; yet I didn’t get to play either of them, and until a few weeks ago I hadn’t thought about them in ages. Originally a Sega CD title, LUNAR released in 1992 (and LUNAR 2 in 1994), using the power of the Sega CD to push forth graphics that were pretty mind blowing at the time. So what does that mean now, in 2025? Glad you asked! The developers behind the remake have taken the time to go back over the graphics, giving us nicer HD spritework for this release; as well, some of the voice casting has been redone to help better reflect the characters in both adventures. LUNAR especially was given a nice Quality of Life pass, including a combined inventory for your entire party, and customizable CPU behavior on individual party members.

Don’t dig the updates? You can switch between Remastered Mode and Classic Mode if you just want to play the game in 4:3 with CRT options, to give yourself that nostalgic feeling.

Get LUNAR Remastered Collection for $50 on Steam.

Witch Souls: Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree

Mandragora was a title that somehow slipped completely past my radar! Calling itself a Metroidvania Souls-like, Mandragora has you picking from one of six classes at the start of the game to create your Inquisitor, whose single goal in life is to enforce the King’s Will — well, until now, anyhow. With the realm of Faelduum balancing on the knife’s edge of ruin, your hesitation and a fleeting act of defiance puts you down a path that will alter the fate of the realm, for good or for bad. With a story written by Brian Mitsoda (perhaps most well known for being a writer on Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines) and music by FILMharmonic Orchestra Prague, the story and the music should be both engaging and moving. With six entire talent trees to pick from, crafting of equipment, and an adjustable difficulty level, Mandragora may just be the Souls-like winner of the week.

Get Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree for $40 on Steam.

Season 2 and You: Last Epoch

Last Epoch, for those who are unaware, is an Action RPG in the same vein as Diablo 4. Originally met with some divisiveness during its early access period (and for complete transparency, I also really did not enjoy it during early access) the launch of Last Epoch was equally as rough: the game’s servers could not keep up with the demand of the playerbase, and online play was a frustrating experience — and that’s not to mention that the game wasn’t complete, released with only the first few Acts.

“But Chris,” I hear you say, “You’re doing a really bad job selling this game.”  You’re right, disembodied voice — I haven’t explained why I think you should give it a try. I’m getting there!

Season 2 for Last Epoch has added in a ton of new features. Much like in Diablo 4, Season 2 of Last Epoch introduces a new mechanic: memory amber. As you work your way through the game you will run into the new faction, The Woven, who allow you to use the Monolith of Fate to run one of two new events: Tombs, or Cemeteries of the Erased. Both of these events are procedurally generated and are the fastest way to earn memory amber — but perhaps even better, at the end of these event zones you can use the Woven Enchanter to create a Heretical Idol, a powerful relic that can continue to be upgraded as you play.

Additionally, the Sentinel class has been completely reworked for season 2, and the Rogue class was given a new ability: heartseeker. While the Rogue class’s Marksman mastery had a great deal of AOE damage within its toolkit, it didn’t have a great heavy-hitting single target ability, and that’s what heartseeker aims to be: the Patriot Arrow, if you will, that can hit a target — curve back around and hit it again — and repeat. If the rework and ability changes weren’t enough, they’ve also added in better inventory management (including crafting materials going into storage automatically, instead of taking up space), and the developers have been open to making changes the community has been asking for, even when they went against their original game design philosophy (so now you can respec, even though originally the developers were against the idea).

Get Last Epoch for $35 on Steam.