Over the last two weeks of December, we announced the winners of the First Annual SwitchRPG Awards in a variety of categories. Today, our series concludes with the final announcement with our pick for the 2018 RPG of the Year!

Since announcing all our nominees earlier this month, our staff has had an amazing time walking through a year’s worth of zany adventures, epic quests, challenging battles, and quiet character moments that have inspired these awards. Each game in each category has reminded us what we love so much about RPGs and why these titles inspire such passionate communities. RPGs engage players on every level, challenging our skills, intellect, and emotions – expanding our horizons and helping us to engage with the world in a different way. Today’s winner for RPG of the Year is the game our staff thought best exemplified these qualities. This is the RPG that stood above the rest in 2018, well worth going back to years in the future, for old players and new.

The Nominees

Diablo III: Eternal Collection

Octopath Traveler

Xenoblade Chronicles II

Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana

And the Winner Is…

Xenoblade Chronicles II

Here it is – our pick for 2018 RPG of the Year. Xenoblade Chronicles II released on the very first day of judging – December 1, 2017 – and has remained a fixture of the SwitchRPG community ever since. This game features a long, sweeping story, interesting characters, a stellar combat system, beautiful visuals, a blistering, metal-inspired soundtrack, and hundreds of hours of available content. Without a doubt, Xenoblade Chronicles II stands as a perfect picture of what a modern RPG looks like.

Community Pick: Octopath Traveler

Whereas yesterday’s award for Best Budget RPG was the most hotly contested among SwitchRPG staff, the community pick for RPG of the Year was easily one of the hottest contests in the community poll. Both Xenoblade and Octopath went back and forth with the lead throughout the polling period, until finally Octopath Traveler pulled ahead in the end, coming out with 47% of the vote (compared to Xenoblade’s 41%). Square Enix’s first HD-2D title was by no means undeserving, with its beautiful visuals and soundtrack, excellent iteration of traditional turned-based battles, and great character work across its eight individual stories.

That’s a wrap! It’s been an honor to walk through this year’s best RPGs with both the SwitchRPG staff and community. A big thanks to everyone who participated in this process. Let us know what you think about our pick in the comments, or tell us what games you are looking forward to in 2019. We’ll see everyone next December for the Second Annual SwitchRPG Awards!