5 April 2025 Japanese games you should check out

2025 has already been a solid year with big releases like Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition (finally free from the Wii U!) and Monster Hunter Wilds. However, there’s still plenty more to come, big and small.

Below are just 5 of the games releasing during April 2025 that we think you should check out. This includes both a mix of old titles coming back, and some wild new entries.

The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy-

The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- brings more weird characters from the minds of Danganronpa creator Kazutaka Kodaka and Zero Escape creator Kotaro Uchikoshi. In fact, most of the key players behind Danganronpa are back for The Hundred Line, with Rui Komatsuzaki’s familiar artsyle and stylish tunes by Masafumi Takada.

While not a death game per se, The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- features 15 students as they battle for survival. They’ve been enrolled in the titular Last Defense Academy, tasked with facing waves of invaders over the next 100 days. Takumi Sumino, once an average teenager, must now take charge of the school’s defence, making use of each classmate’s abilities to survive.

It’s certainly a different take on the killing games of Danganronpa, now with some strategy gameplay breaking up adventure segments. What makes things even more intriguing is the promise of 100 endings, though whether many of these are mostly the same with slight variations remains to be seen.

The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- launches April 24, 2025 for Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam. The current Steam demo lets you play the first seven days for free, with saves transferring over to the full version.

All in Abyss: Judge the Fake

Balatro’s rise as one of the titans of 2024 has unsurprisingly inspired a number of indie titles going into 2025. However, most have aimed more towards other types of gambling, like pachinko for Peglin and Dungeons & Degenerate’s blackjack shenanigans.

All in Abyss: Judge the Fake takes things back to poker, this time with battles to the death between a prodigy gambler and a host of cheating witches. Asuha Senahara must learn new skills and uncover the witches’s fraudulent plays to stand a chance, climbing up from the abyss that is “The City”.

Rather than a roguelike, All in Abyss: Judge the Fake features a full story mode and the ability to play freely to improve your skills between key encounters. It’s a stylish twist on texas hold ’em that looks to offer something different from Balatro, or really any other game on the market.

There’s a PC demo for this one too, which received some improvements to gameplay systems earlier in 2024. Alongside PC, All in Abyss: Judge the Fake is also set to launch on PS5 and Nintendo Switch April 9, 2025.

Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds Ultimate

Phantom Breaker has had a weird history in the west, with the main game initially never releasing here despite plans to localise it. Instead, its brawler spin-off Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds managed to release globally, offering fun co-op gameplay with some Science Adventure cameos appearing later via DLC.

Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds Ultimate is the latest version of this spin-off title, bundling up all the DLC and some new content into one package. Online has also been upgraded to include cross-platform play, with an increased six player co-op limit (up from four in local co-op).

As with the last two games on our list, Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds Ultimate has a demo via Steam. The full game launches for PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series on April 17, 2025. A physical release for Switch and PS5 will also happen on the same day.

Lunar Remastered Collection

Another release that’s not strictly new, but one that includes a game that never made its way to Europe in any form before now. Lunar Remastered Collection includes slightly adjusted versions of both Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete and Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete. While the former released here eventually via Lunar: Silver Star Harmony on the PSP, this is the first time we have proper access to Lunar 2.

Both titles are classic PS1 RPGs — technically Mega-CD games, though the versions here are based on the PS1 remakes — offering charming linear narratives. RPGs have definitely come a long way over the years, but it’s still nice to go back and play through some of the classics.

Lunar Remastered Collection launches April 18, 2025 for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam. Physical copies are also planned for PS4 and Switch.

Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero

While the others are “new” releases in one form or another, Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero is instead a delayed release for PC. Having already released for PS4, PS5, and Nintendo Switch in January, PC gamers can finally take a look at this SRPG sequel.

Releasing over two decades after the original Phantom Brave, The Lost Hero sees the return of Marona and her Phantom companion Ash. This time, she’s off to save the world from ghost ships that a wreaking havoc across the seas.

The first game’s major mechanic of binding Phantoms to objects in each map makes a return, giving them different stats and positioning. You’ll also be able to combine them with items known as Gadgets, or Marona herself to unlock powerful abilities.

It’s definitely a more light-hearted title when compared to the original, especially with modern NIS’s use of 3D models instead of sprites. However, there should still be the depth and grinding potential you’ve come to expect from their SRPG releases.

Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero hits PC on April 24, 2025.

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And those are 5 Japanese games releasing during April 2025. We’ll certainly be checking out at least a few of these, so make sure to come back next month for our impressions!

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