There’s no denying that 2026 has been a pretty big year for gaming. We got the first Pokemon life sim, a new Resident Evil, and of course, the upcoming release of GTA 6. But as huge as 2026 has been, I can’t help but feel a little more excited about 2027. I’m admittedly not a huge Grand Theft Auto fan, so the remainder of 2026 looks a little empty for big games I’m personally excited to see. The same can’t be said for 2027, however. As someone who has long adored JRPGs, I’m looking at next year’s slate of new releases with a lot of enthusiasm. It’s going to be a massive year for JRPG fans, and I couldn’t be more excited.
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Square Enix in particular is going pretty hard in 2027, with two of the publisher’s most highly anticipated releases on the way. And of course, Pokemon Winds and Waves is also expected to drop sometime next year. Though it’s hardly confirmed, there are some pretty big rumors about a new Persona in 2027, as well. Basically, if you love a good JRPG, next year is probably going to be great for your gaming life and hard on your wallet. Here’s how things are looking so far, and we haven’t even had The Game Awards yet.
Square Enix Is Giving Us Two Highly Anticipated Games in 2027
Few JRPGs have been as highly anticipated as Kingdom Hearts 4. After years of waiting, with relatively few updates, Square Enix has finally confirmed that Kingdom Hearts 4 is coming in “late 2027.” Even better, the developers are extremely confident that the game is going to meet this deadline and will not be delayed. That means we’re finally getting the next installment in Sora’s story next year. Kingdom Hearts, along with Final Fantasy, was one of my earliest introductions to JRGPs and Square Enix. The games are incredibly nostalgic for me, and I’m eager to see what’s next for the franchise.
Dropping Kingdom Hearts 4 would honestly make it a big year for Square Enix fans in and of itself. But that’s apparently not enough for the JRPG juggernaut. The third and final installment in the Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy is also set to release in Spring 2027. Since Final Fantasy 7: Remake arrived in 2020, fans have been waiting to see the full trilogy brought to life. And next year, we’ll finally get the conclusion to the epic, expanded version of the story that turned many people into lifelong Final Fantasy fans. As someone who first met Cloud in Kingdom Hearts, I’m a little bit amused that his reimagined story will end the same year we get Kingdom Hearts 4. But even without that personal connection, getting both in one year is pretty huge.
Both Kingdom Hearts 4 and the final game in the Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy will be pretty huge releases for 2027. These Square Enix franchises have massive fanbases who’ve been eagerly waiting for the next installments in the series. Since Kingdom Hearts 4 got a confirmed release window, the original games have shot back up the Steam charts as fans revisit the story or play it for the first time. And I won’t be surprised if many people have been waiting to start the Remake trilogy until the whole story is available. Next year, it finally will be, which I guess is my cue to finally finish my Rebirth playthrough.
Pokemon Winds and Waves Is Almost Here, and I’ve Got High Hopes
Pokemon is kind of its own thing, more often defined as a creature-collector or monster-hunting game. But at its core, it is a JRPG. It’s a role-playing game from Japan, after all, and it uses the kind of turn-based combat that many consider a staple of JRPGs. This year has already been pretty big for Pokemon, with the franchise celebrating its 30th anniversary. In some ways, it’s hard to imagine that 2027 could be bigger. But the arrival of Gen 10 is kind of a big deal, in good ways and bad. It’s been 4 years since Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. The last main series game got a pretty mixed reception from fans. So, expectations are high for Gen 10, and many hope to see Game Freak course-correct from some of the issues in Gen 9.
Personally, I liked a lot of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Yes, the performance issues were frustrating, and the open world felt pretty empty. But the move away from a linear narrative to three unique, interwoven stories was a fun one. Plus, Gen 9 gave us Arven and his good boy Pokemon, not to mention Penny and her love of all things Eevee. And of course, Lechonk is a perfect Pokemon design. With Pokemon Winds and Waves coming out on the Switch 2, I’m really hopeful that it will look and feel a lot better than its predecessor, while bringing over some of the things that made Scarlet and Violet feel fresh after years of formulaic Pokemon games.
We don’t have a release window for Pokemon Winds and Waves just yet, though fall 2027 feels likely given past main series release dates. Hopefully, it will be spaced out a bit from Final Fantasy 7: Revelation and Kingdom Hearts 4. Even if it is, 2027 is shaping up to be a busy year for JRPG enthusiasts, in the best way. And we probably don’t even have all the releases and reveals that will eventually fill out the 2027 JRPG release calendar at this point. Now we just have to figure out how to fit all these brand-new game releases into our budgets.
