Is Rise of Rebellion "the most interesting action RPG in the world" – the game that developer Hytacka, a former Dark Souls 3 DLC designer according to Automaton, hopes to create? No, definitely not. But it is an interesting action RPG, which is a pretty good start for this ambitious quest.
There's an updated demo for Rise of Rebellion in Steam Next Fest, and given its lead creator's apparent history (not to ignore co-developer Mitsunagi), I had to try it. It's janky as hell and nowhere near ready for launch – either this is a very old build or the game's 2025 release date is mighty optimistic – but I have a soft spot for weird Japanese action games and I think it's worth 30 minutes of your time. My focus with Steam Next Fest is usually highlighting standout indies, and we've got plenty of that elsewhere with more on the way, but somehow this month's demo blowout has become a good source of bizarre-o action RPGs like this Game of Thrones tie-in.
