Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger Collide In New JRPG You Can Play Free

Published Sep 18, 2026, 11:00 PM EDT

Chris is a Gaming Editor at ScreenRant. He has been a professional writer since 2009, and has written for top TV, comics, movie, and video game outlets like Engadget, Polygon, Destructoid, and more. He brings with him an expertise in every game genre, no matter how niche or mainstream.

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Final Fantasy helped usher in a completely new era of JRPGs. It was one of the most successful franchises of all time in its initial run, and by the time Final Fantasy 4 hit the SNES, tons of global fans were already waiting to see what would come next.

While it would take a while for the West to properly play Final Fantasy 5, Final Fantasy 6 continued that stellar run, and inked the series into the history books forever. When Final Fantasy 7 hit, the rest was history.

Now, a game aims to revisit that incredible era of JRPGs, and you can check it out for free on Steam.

Revisit The Classic JRPG Era

Live now on Steam with a free demo, Forge of the Fae (developed by Datadyne LLC and published by Deck13) aims to combine classic JRPG elements with a gorgeous art style. You play as Fiora, a "brilliant young inventor," as she attempts to make sense of a series of disappearances in her region. There's plenty of drama (including a miners' strike), and mercenaries to fend off to protect them.

As people disappear slowly, Fiora's quest becomes more urgent, and to make matters worse, you'll need to tangle with various elements of Celtic folklore. To fight them, you'll use a Mechanical Faerie and Arc Crystals to create items and wield magic.

Here's the quick pitch from developer Datadyne LLC: "Forge of the Fae is a story-rich pixel RPG inspired by Celtic folklore. Journey through a mysterious world, master the ARC Crystal System to unleash powerful magic, and face dangerous Fae in fast-paced, turn-based battles where your choices shape destiny."

Combat is a major pillar of the game, and the idea is that "everything connects" to everything else. That includes skills, spells, and passives, leading to more build variety. If you work hard enough, you can create combos and build your own "battle style" through Arc Crystals.

The vibe the team is going for is "easy to pick up, but deeply rewarding to master." That includes an elemental weakness system, which is key to many classic JRPGs.

Forge Of The Fae Is Free To Try Now

If you're interested, there's a playable demo available now, though the game currently doesn't have a release date or window outside of 2027. It recently hosted its alpha, which went over well, with a major update on development in March: "This Alpha version contains about one third of the full game, with additional content, the rest of the story, music, and remaining areas being reserved for the Beta and future releases of the game. We're very excited to hear back from players, and we will continue to stay focused through the rest of development."

If you're a JRPG fan, make sure you check out Forge of the Fae on Steam. It's doing a lot of things right, especially since it's trying to recreate a classic RPG experience from the era of Chrono Trigger, but with its own spin. If the system is as deep as promised, it could become a modern classic.