If you’re looking for something new to play this fall but can’t quite decide what to dive into, these free demos might help you make up your mind. They run the gamut from traditional turn-based RPG to action roguelike and mech RPG-lite. Best of all, nearly all of them let you carry over your progress from the free demo to the full paid game if you end up taking the plunge. Most of them are also available across nearly ever console.
Digimon Story: Time Stranger
I recently had the opportunity to go hands-on with Digimon Story: Time Stranger for a couple of hours at PAX West and was pleasantly surprised by just how good it looks, sounds, and plays. It’s a crunchy turn-based RPG that seems like it’ll have a lot of Digimon-customizing depth to mine, but with the aid of some streamlining including a fast-forward option for battles. The demo takes place at the beginning of the game, sets up its central mystery, and introduces you to most of the basic systems. If you opt to keep playing, you can pick up right where you left off in the full release next month.
Release Date: October 3
Platform: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree
Imagine Hades but you control two characters instead of just one and you get a sense of the chaos and potential of Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree. Choose a team of two from an assortment of guardians, each with their own abilities and each controlled by a separate thumbstick. If you make it to the end, a guardian must be sacrificed and is removed from your pool of fighters until the evil you’re fighting is sealed away for good. There’s a fair bit of town-building, build-crafting, and weapon-crafting on top of this loop, making Towa and the Guardians far and away one of the more interesting mashups I’ve played this year.
Release Date: September 19
Platform: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, Switch 1, Switch 2
Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter
The first game in the super-awesome but very convoluted Trails series is getting a remake and it’s almost out. Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is a modern 3D overhaul of the 2006 isometric PSP RPG. It’s basically taking the world and story of the original and grafting it onto the more current gameplay systems from the recent Trails Through Daybreak games, including a hybrid of turn-based and real-time action combat options. If you’ve always been curious about Nihon Falcom’s long-running science fantasy series but couldn’t figure out where to jump in, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is meant to be the lifeline for you. It might not be as easy to hop into from a gameplay perspective as the original, but the presentation and everything else is a lot prettier and more streamlined.
Release Date: September 19
Platform: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, Switch 1, Switch 2
Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion
What if you combined Armored Core with Xenoblade Chronicles? It sounds like a match made in open-world mech RPG heaven, right? Based on my early time with Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion, the sequel to the Switch exclusive doesn’t entirely deliver on that promise but there are definitely more than a few flashes of brilliance. Titanic Scion has you taking big robot suits through sprawling environments to kill enemies and upgrade your powers, culminating in the occasional big boss fight. The scope is way more massive than in the original, which means it’s not necessarily doing any one thing very good. For anime mech-heads, though, it’s definitely worth a look. What it lacks in cogent storytelling and environmental detail, it makes up for with some really excellent mech progression and customization gameplay.
Release Date: September 5
Platform: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, Switch 1, Switch 2
Persona 3: ReloadÂ
The best Persona is finally coming to Switch 2! Persona 3: Reload hit PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC last year, where the demo has been free for a while now. But the announcement of a port for Nintendo’s newest portable has brought a free demo to Switch 2 as well ahead of launch next month. Hang in there! The opening of Persona 3 is one of the slowest among the series’ modern entries, and the dungeon-grinding mechanics can get tedious at times. But the music, characters, and later game are all top-notch. If the other Persona games haven’t gripped you, Reload might have what you’ve been missing. There’s a bit more old-school dungeon crawling in it and the story is darker, more unsettling, and, in my opinion at least, ultimately more engaging.
Release Date: October 23
Platform: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, Switch 2
