The Monster Hunter Stories series has come a long way. Starting as a multimedia project with the first 3DS game and a tie-in anime, the series doubled down on delivering a high-quality monster-taming RPG experience with 2021โs Wings of Ruin, expanding the scope of the game while maintaining the apprโฆ Read More »
For years, Iโve podcasted. Now, let those podcasts show their worth! This week on Retro Encounter we’re discussing the first half of the first game localized to the West ofย that most famous SRPG series: Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade. Does the host jive with the squares and the RNG? Do we even discโฆ Read More »
In the pantheon of high fantasy strategy RPGs, few series have clung to their roots with as much persistence as the Disciples range. Ever since Disciples: Sacred Lands launched in 1999, Nevendaar has felt like a setting perpetually stuck in the final five minutes of an apocalypse. Disciples II: Darkโฆ Read More »
The horror-adventure genre has to be one of the hardest to create within. Unlike horror movies, which can be humongous cash cows thanks to low budgets and cheap thrills, horror-adventure games require a delicate balance between strong game design and immersion. Rely too heavily on gamification, andโฆ Read More »
Have you ever seen Gus Van Santโs Psycho? In the late ’90s, director Gus Van Sant embarked on a cinematic experiment: He would remake Alfred Hitchcockโs 1960 horror masterpiece Psycho. However, unlike most remakes that reimagine the story, his Psycho would be a shot-for-shot copy, only in colour witโฆ Read More »
Wow, what an interesting shared theme among our four RPGs coming this week. Well, three RPGs and an adventure game. From the long (loooooong) awaited release of the latest game from the developer of The Binding of Isaac, to a horror adventure, a dark and heavy strategy game, and… well, Yakuza isn’โฆ Read More »
Nearly a year ago, when Nintendo announced the impending release of the Nintendo Switch 2, one of the big announcements was the arrival of GameCube titles to the Nintendo Classics online service. Eagle-eyed RPG enthusiasts may have noticed that during the trailer, a handful of boxarts were shown forโฆ Read More »
While our earlier coverage of yesterday’s Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase covered Square Enix’s several appearancesโspecifically Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales, and Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curseโthere was far more to see! So let’s do a quick rundownโฆ Read More »
Not only did Final Fantasy VII finally bring the iconic series to a unified worldwide release staggered throughout the year 1997. It also, more importantly, brought JRPGs into the Western zeitgeist. Reviewing Nobuo Uematsuโs original score for FFVII is akin to reviewing the soundtrack to The Empireโฆ Read More »
Edmund McMillen became a name synonymous with indie developers โmaking itโ after he met overwhelming success with Super Meat Boy, originally a Flash game in 2008. Then along came The Binding of Isaac, which McMillen couldn’t seem to get away from for a time due to its popularity. Aside from outstandโฆ Read More »
This morning’s Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase didn’t seem that packed with RPG and adventure game updates at first, but as it went on, I lost track of how many times I thought, “oh, this is also in our coverage at RPGFan.” We will get to more developers as well, but Square Enix alone featured a trโฆ Read More »
During this morning’s Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase, we got our first look in a while at The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales, showcasing the different time periods, and specifically how the same areas look at each point in time. As a major Chrono Trigger and Zelda fan, it finally dawneโฆ Read More »
There is no shortage of Earthbound-inspired games that seek to grab the attention of nostalgia-filled RPG fans. This only escalated with the release of Undertale in 2015, which is now so horrifyingly long ago that it apparently qualifies as retro itself. Console gamers have long been deprived of a kโฆ Read More »
Nioh is my favorite Soulslike series of all time. Few games have ever rewarded mastery the way the seriesโ previous entries did, and even now, I struggle to think of another action RPG that offers the same sense of control once everything clicks. So, going into Nioh 3, my expectations were personal.โฆ Read More »
On this week’s Random Encounter, it’s all about games featuring cause and effect! First up, Audra is here to chat with us about the time-travelling, Souls-like sequel to 2019’s Code Vein: Code Vein II. Though it can occasionally feel like being trapped in a time loop while playing against a Souls-liโฆ Read More »
Sometimes I think I played a different game when people talk about the original Dragon Quest VII. What do you mean it’s too long? You want fewer islands? Okay, sure, I could do with things going a little faster in the beginning, but that’s part of the beauty of Dragon Quest VII: it takes its time. Iโฆ Read More »
Much of the joy I derive from playing indie RPGs comes from seeing how independent developers remix familiar mechanics and classic presentation towards a singular purpose that a larger studio or publisher would never touch. Many big productions are so focused on appealing to everyone that they lackโฆ Read More »
While our RPGs coming this week column technically includes anything coming out between February 1st through the 7th, it seems most publishers have their eyes firmly set on Thursday, as three of our four titles this week all launch on February 5th! With a new entry in a small-but-popular Souls-likeโฆ Read More »
2023โs Lies of P, a dark, Souls-like twist on Carlo Collodiโs classic 1883 novel The Adventures of Pinocchio, is all about exploring what it takes to turn a cold, mechanical heart into something human. Sure, some of that involves slaying giant, demented puppets and zombified beasts to an epic, dreadโฆ Read More »
As a teenager, I pilgrimaged to the Nintendo Store in New York City with my parents as part of a family vacation. My most distinctive memory of that visit is of โTerraโs Themeโ blaring inside, and of my father, a gamer but certainly no RPGFan, whistling the iconic melody. Thatโs the compositional poโฆ Read More »
On this week’s episode of Retro Encounter, we discuss something that has only been awarded once at RPGFan: a perfect score. So, each panelist brings on one game they think deserves a perfect score and defend it against the panel. But there can be only one! Who will be our winner? Listen in to find oโฆ Read More »
One of my favorite things about smaller games is their willingness to embrace off-the-wall mechanics and take quirky concepts as far as they will go. While big and even mid-budget games are so focused on appealing to the largest number of players possible by iterating on proven ideas, small developmโฆ Read More »
I love indies because they can do almost anything, any way. Triple-A titles can break from the pack, but most of their qualities are time-tested and safe; after all, there is investorsโ money on the line. Indies come with dreams, vision, and minimal worries about risk. Thatโs how we get titles likeโฆ Read More »
Hello, fellow RPG fans! This week we have a pair of offbeat indie titles you may want to keep an eye on, plus a decidedly larger title with vampires or something. So whether you’re into open world anime soulslikes, British comedy adventure, or dancing robots, the RPGs coming this week don’t lack inโฆ Read More »
After hearing about publisher Boss Fight Books from podcasts and reviews (like Alana Haguesโ review of BFB title Final Fantasy VI) over the years, yet somehow never picking up one of their titles, I jumped at the opportunity to review their newest addition to their vast library of documentary-styleโฆ Read More »
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