Say hello to Episode 5 - Ormond Alliance.

We were really glad to get Casey back on the show. What are your favorite tracks from the Ivalice games?

(I'm trying to stoke the fires of discussion, okay!?)

Episode 4 is live.

"Phantasy Stars Universe, it will shine onnnnnnn~"

OH FUCK YES. Just got around to watching the clips. I LOVE the dark, 90s feel of that boss track.

I'd wait. It may not be "full" remake, but they did completely redo the character models and all of the textures. The difference is staggering if you look at them side-by-side. There's also the International Sphere Grid and the Dark Aeon fights to look forward to. :)

Since we're now three episodes strong, Stephen and I figured it was time to make a thread for Rhythm Encounter. Feel free to discuss our latest topics here, give us suggestions/feedback, share your fond (or not-so-fond) memories, or whatever you like!

Rhythm Encounter Podcast Page | iTunes Page | RSS Feed

Our most recent episode, Flights of Phantasy, is a look at the classic Phantasy Star series. Please listen and let us know what you think!

I tried to turn this around. I really did.

You know what Final Fantasy X, X-2, XIII, and XIII-2 all have in common?

I like all of them!

Seriously, though, while I agree that X-2's "secret ending" retroactively mitigated the impact of X's ending (and the same goes for XIII and XIII-2), I enjoyed playing all four games. I'm really excited to jump into X and X-2 again.

Casey Ormond, arranger/performer of the FFXII Piano Collections album and Valkyria Chronicles Piano album, just uploaded a piano arrangement of "Memorizing" on SoundCloud. It's absolutely delightful.

https://soundcloud.com/casey-ormond/memorizing

That screenshot comparison has me salivating. I cannot WAIT for this.

I was also not incredibly fond of Bastion's gameplay-- everything else was neat, but it didn't click with me as a game. The music and art direction for Transistor are much more in line with my tastes. Plus, it has a female protagonist that doesn't look like a sex object. Woohoo!

I'm still working on this too, but my progress was halted for a while by Atelier Ayesha. Now that I'm back on it, I made it to Labyrinth 3, and the enemies aren't giving me as much trouble as I expected them to. I replaced my Medic with an Arcanist, which still feels really weird, but I'm starting to get the hang of my new party dynamic. I miss Revive, but that's about it.

I'm excited to keep going! I have a feeling this game is going to be my standby for quite a while to come.

Wow, perfect timing. New heroine is cute. It's kind of comforting to know that we can expect an annual Atelier game at this point.

Hey, look, a review.

I suspect most of you have either gotten the game or made your decision about it already, but for the few people still waiting (like you, Royal), perhaps my review will ease that pain a tiny bit. :D

^ What he means to say is The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky. Super charming old-school JRPG with really strong characters and an incredibly "alive" world. The full story spans over three games, and continues into a number of pseudo-sequels as well. Unfortunately, only the first chapter has been released in North America, and we haven't heard word about the rest, but chances are we've gotta get them in some form eventually. (Note: I am being ridiculously optimistic, haha.)

I also recommend Ys SEVEN and Ys: The Oath in Felghana, the latter moreso than the former. They're both great action RPGs, but if that's not up your alley, Trails is a safe bet for a turn-based RPG.

I am so behind this.