It's not uncommon for modern RPGs to claim retro inspiration, but it's a completely different story when you're interested in the era you're watching, like When the Light Dies. After successes Unbeaten and The story of an ordinary man, When the Light Dies is the fifth title from Gemelle Games, and like the games above, it's a 2D old-school RPG deliberately made to reflect the style of the SNES. Final Fantasy games. This is not an estimate based on visuals either When the Light DiesThe Steam page specifically mentions this era Final Fantasy games as a callback, which is potentially perfect for players who crave that kind of old-school experience.
When the Light Dies is built around a five-man active party, a Predictive Charge Turn Battle System designed with mid-combat customization in mind, and customization that allows players to choose the order in which skills are learned. His Steam The page also lists side quests, secret rooms, difficulty options, and the number of explorations at the end of the game, giving some of the same ingredients that defined the older Final Fantasy games.
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When the Light Dies is aimed squarely at the SNES Final Fantasy Crowd
When the Light Dies begins with Rick, a mercenary whose botched commission has him to blame for much more than just a lost paycheck. According to the game's Steam page, a woman named Anna is chained to a possessed knife that drags her into darkness, and once that light goes out, she will be destroyed.
Who is that character?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Start
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Easy (7.5s) Medium (5.0s) Hard (2.5s) Permadeath (2.5s)
This sets Rick and his unlikely crew on a race to discover what the artifact possesses and how to free Anna from it, with the group itself sounding more like a classic awkward collection of older RPG problems: a woman with no experience in battle, her jilted lover, that lover's reluctant butler, and a mage who's been out of the game for 92 years. It's a strange, dramatic, and oddly specific setting, which is exactly the kind of thing that can bring retro-inspired RPGs closer to the SNES. Final Fantasy era than a simple 2D art style ever could.
Key features When the light dies
- PREDICTIVE TURN BITS – Adapt your strategy to the evolution of battles.
- PERSONAL COMBAT BONUSES – Earn rewards by defeating individual characters.
- ACTIVE PARTY OF FIVE CHARACTERS – Build on wider combat roles.
- PLAYER CHOSEN SKILL ORDER – Decide how many abilities are unlocked.
- FOUR LEVELS OF DIFFICULTY – Easy, Normal, Hard or Legendary.
- OPTIONAL CHARACTER RENAMING – Edit the page names if necessary.
- THREE QUESTION REWARD BONUSES – Choose bonuses after completing three tasks.
- 10 HOURS OF RPG RUNNING – Play a compact adventure.
- SIDE QUESTS AND SECRETS – Find more content and hidden rooms.
- END GAME EXPLORATION NUMBER – Trace completion detection.
When the Light Dies it may be deliberately designed in the 2D old-school RPG style of the Super NES Final Fantasy games, but the premise of the game already does a lot of heavy lifting there, seeing a mercenary drawn into a problem far beyond the job he was paid to do. Rick isn't some world-saving hero by default, but a mercenary simply trying to clean up the aftermath of a failed commission, only for that failure to threaten Anna's life through a possessed knife that drags her further into the darkness.
With the tiniest of clues at the start, they must discover what possesses the knife and how to free Anna from it. And they don't have much time, less than they think.
That setup everything but the screams Final Fantasy because it has the kind of melodramatic fantasy hook that the era often thrived on—a mercenary lead, a cursed artifact, a woman's life intertwined with a supernatural threat, and a cast of people who sound completely unprepared for the journey ahead. Coupled with a 2D art style, turn-based combat, and a five-character active party, When the Light Dies' premise gives its SNES Final Fantasy more support for the comparison than mere visual similarities could provide.
The five-character party When the Light Dies might be his strongest comeback yet
What can be in the end When the Light DiesThe strongest return, however, is his five-figure active side. A lot of modern RPGs still use party-based combat, but often limit the lineup to three or four active characters at a time, which can make some party members feel irrelevant if stats and abilities aren't balanced. However, if you let five characters fight at once, When the Light Dies giving battles more room for “greater strategic choice,” according to the Steam page.
The nearest old school Final Fantasy this is the game Final Fantasy IVwhich allowed players to have five active party members in battle. Final Fantasy 5 and FF6on the other hand, he limited that number to 4. Even so, active RPG parties are pretty much unheard of these days, unless the game is deliberately going back in time to a classic design.
When the Light Dies it also uses what Gemelle Games calls the Predictive Charge Turn Battle System, though the Steam description only gives a general sense of how it works. In essence, instead of asking players to commit to an action before knowing how a turn will play out, the PCTB system has them strategize to adapt their strategy to how the battle unfolds. This hints at a more reactive form of turn-based combat where the flow of combat between turns matters, but the Steam page stops short of explaining the exact mechanics behind it.
When the Light Dies seems to be made for players who miss smaller RPGs
In an industry where open-world RPGs (or at least massive ones) are becoming more of an expectation and standard, there is still an audience looking for smaller, more contained RPG experiences, and it seems When the Light Dies fits the bill. According to the game's Steam page, it's expected to offer around 10 hours of playtime, which immediately separates it from many modern RPGs that require players to commit tens, if not hundreds, of hours before they even see the credits. This shorter run time might actually be one of its bigger strengths as well When the Light Dies it apparently offers side quests, secret rooms, and a number of end-game explorations that could make it full overall.
A lot of explorations await you – at the end of the game you will get a number of explorations. Will you win bragging rights or decide you just have to do better next time?
Of course, older RPGs weren't always short, and some required a significant investment of time, but many of them managed to keep their sense of scope contained enough to keep the focus on the narrative. Anyway, When the Light Dies it features a clear story, quest, turn-based combat, optional exploration, and a running environment that makes it easy to complete the journey without feeling like a second job. For players who want an old-school RPG feel without committing to a massive modern campaign, its smaller scale might be worth it.
When the Light Dies can fill a very specific niche in RPGs
Of course, When the Light Dies has yet to prove that its old-school inspiration makes 10 hours of gameplay worthwhile. Retro RPGs live or die by pacing, party chemistry, combat rhythm, and whether their smaller worlds are still worth exploring. Even so, it seems to have a solid foundation. An active party of five characters, turn-based battles, skill order customization, side quests, secret rooms, and a compact running environment point to a game that knows exactly what type of player it's trying to appeal to—and that's okay.
That player might be someone who misses the SNES Final Fantasy era without necessarily wanting a massive modern RPG that takes over 100 hours to get anywhere. When the Light Dies It seems to be made for anyone who wants a defined party, a dramatic fantasy hook, and a route that can be completed in a weekend for dedicated players. If Gemelle Games can pull these pieces together, it could be one of Steam's more interesting options for players looking for a smaller RPG with an older soul.
When the Light Dies launches on Steam on May 28, 2026.
