- Feature
Mana, Music, and Majesty: The Aesthetic Beauty of Secret of Mana’s Soundtrack
Secret of Mana is a controversial game. While it is often remembered for its beautiful design and gorgeous pixel art, gamers also deride its confusing combat system, poor pacing, and overall lackluster gameplay. Lying underneath these sometimes divisive elements is a key component of the game’s over… Read More »- Review
Nitro Gen Omega
Mechs and anime share a bond as inseparable as Saturday mornings and sugary cereal. Developer DESTINYbit leans heavily into this classic synergy with Nitro Gen Omega, a turn-based roguelike RPG oozing a specific brand of weekend magic. The game thrives on its visual flair, utilizing fluid, stylish a… Read More »- Music Review
Prescription for Sleep: Ocarina of Time
Hey! Listen! Scarlet Moon Records’ prolific jazz duo GENTLE LOVE is back with their first-ever all-Zelda album, Prescription for Sleep: Ocarina of Time. GENTLE LOVE is saxophonist Norihiko Hibino (composer on much of the Metal Gear Solid series) and pianist AYAKI (who has performed on series like Et… Read More »- Article
- Preview
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales Hands-On Preview! Zelda? Secret of Mana? Or Something More?
HD-2D style games since the original Octopath Traveler have changed how we view retro-style titles from bigger publishers such as Square Enix. HD-2D not only looks great, but also scratches the old school sprite JRPG itch many of us have had since the end of the SNES and PS1 era. And since its debut… Read More »- Feature
The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales Producer Naofumi Matsushita Q&A
As part of our The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales preview, I also had the opportunity to send in some questions to producer Naofumi Matsushita. As always, I would like to thank him for his time in answering our questions, as well as the Square Enix staff who translated the Q&A. RPGFa… Read More »- Article
- News
RPGs Coming This Week, May 17–23, 2026 – Zero Stars for Coffee
That’s right, we’re leading off this week with a reference to all three major releases this week shoehorned into the implication that my Starbucks Rewards star count is zero. But actually it’s like 400 and I need to redeem some stars before they take them all away. That aside, any talk of some of ou… Read More »Music Review
Octopath Traveler 0 Original Soundtrack
When Square Enix announced Octopath Traveler 0, my first read was that they took the mobile game Champions of the Continent and un-gachafied it. That, on its own, would be a grand achievement. Even though I loved my 100+ hours played in Champions, a true single-player campaign sounded like a great i… Read More »- Episodic Review
Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail Patch 7.5 – Trail to the Heavens
In the past, I’ve talked about what the final patch of a Final Fantasy XIV expansion typically feels like. There’s one last dramatic encounter that culminates in a flashy fight, a new (or newly revealed) character appears to entice the Warrior of Light to travel to wherever the next expansion takes… Read More »- Music Review
Final Fantasy VIII Original Soundtrack
I’m not sure if I have mentioned this before, but Final Fantasy VIII is my favourite Final Fantasy. I adore its more realistic take on the party members, I eat up the weird story (despite its quirks and plot holes), and I appreciate how much the game experiments with its mechanics and tries to shake… Read More »- Feature
RPGFan Chapters Pairing: Pentiment and The Name of the Rose
When I joined RPGFan early last year, one of my earliest assignments was to review the Switch release of Obsidian Entertainment’s medieval murder mystery adventure, Pentiment. I loved the game (as did my fellow RPGFan staff), though I thought it would appeal more to readers than to gamers. I remembe… Read More »- Review
Vultures – Scavengers of Death
Tension arising from unknown variables. Foreboding atmosphere. Moment-to-moment tactical decision making. These elements form the foundation of any good survival horror game, yet they could just as easily describe the nail-biting experience of playing an engrossing turn-based strategy title. Team Vu… Read More »- Article
- Random Encounter
- Podcast
Random Encounter 347 – Darkness and Retro Light
On this episode of Random Encounter, it’s all about the aliens! First up, Directive 8020. The latest game in Supermassive Games’ The Dark Pictures Anthology series, 8020 brings choice-based horror movie vibes into space. Pulling from the classic horror sci-fi films The Thing and Alien, did this inte… Read More »- Review
Directive 8020
The evolution of games whose core appeal centres on the strength of their narrative is astounding to me, whose first experiences with gaming involved extremely basic, text-only adventures. Playing Directive 8020 in 2026 feels like magic sometimes, a scientific miracle bringing my disparate interests… Read More »- Article
- News
RPGs Coming This Week, May 10th–16th, 2026 – Anime, Space, and Horror
Welcome to a special Mother’s Day edition of RPGs Coming This Week! Well, as long as your mom is into sci-fi survival horror (with turn-based OR adventure gameplay) or young people beating up other mecha from the cockpits of their own mecha. And while that notion would once have seemed preposterous,… Read More »Feature
Crowdfunding Chronicles: Petrichor
Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the space bear Jobert and his unusual companions. Their mission: to explore the cosmos in search of an ideal houseplant. Crowdfunding Chronicles proudly presents Petrichor, an adorable Earthbound-inspired space adventure with delightful 3D graphics… Read More »- Article
- News
Mina the Hollower Launches on May 29th for Consoles and PC
Yacht Club Games has announced that Mina the Hollower will launch digitally on May 29th for PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 1 & 2, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam and the Humble Store. Yacht Club’s mouse adventure was originally slated for release last Halloween, and when they had to delay it,… Read More »- Review
Pillars of Eternity (Turn-based)
Already considered a modern CRPG classic (and responsible for an underrated sequel and gorgeous spin-off), Pillars of Eternity has been freshened up once more with a new turn-based patch. Almost from the beginning, a decent portion of fans called for such a feature. Given the success of the turn-bas… Read More »- Article
- News
The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero and Trails to Azure Coming to PS5 & Switch 2 This Fall
NIS America and Nihon Falcom have announced that The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero and The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure will release on Nintendo Switch 2 and PlayStation 5 sometime this fall. Two trailers accompanied the announcement, showcasing a snapshot of what players might expec… Read More »- Article
- Retro Encounter
- Podcast
Retro Encounter 485 – Final Fantasy VIII Part I
I dreamt I was a podcast host. On this week’s episode of Retro Encounter, a panel of four veterans and one newbie take advantage of Zach’s absence to play the controversial but undeniably stylish Final Fantasy VIII. How do we feel about its unconventional design and storytelling choices? Is the cast… Read More »- Feature
RPGFan Chapters Review: Boss Fight Books ‘Dragon Age II’ by Charlotte Reber
“A deadline, a narrative mode, and a setting.” These guiding factors and a slew of practical constraints were the foundation of what would result in Dragon Age II, perhaps the oddest release in BioWare’s storied catalog and certainly of the beloved fantasy IP. Not odd in the way of Anthem’s misguide… Read More »- Article
- News
Xbox and Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios To Unveil New Details on Stranger Than Heaven on May 6th
SEGA and Xbox have announced a joint showcase for Stranger Than Heaven, the upcoming game developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio. The showcase will air on May 6th at 4:00 pm PT/7:00 pm ET/May 7th at 8:00 am JST/1:00 am CEST on YouTube (as seen below) and the official Xbox Twitch channel. Ryu Ga Gotoku… Read More »- Review
Shadows of the Afterland
Looking at and listening to Shadows of the Afterland, one may think they’ve traveled back to 1988, to the heyday of point-and-click adventure games from the likes of Sierra Entertainment and LucasArts. The experience of playing it, though, is far smoother and easier than those games it harkens to, f… Read More »Alabaster Dawn Hands-On: Modern Retro Done Right
Retro done right is somehow surprisingly difficult. For decades, developers have attempted to capture the magic of yesteryear through visuals, music, and game design. Pixels may have charm, but recycled game design rarely lands, as—and I know some will hate reading this—old game design has been left… Read More »- Article
- News
RPGs Coming This Week, 5/3/26 – Classic & Modern
This edition of RPGs Coming This Week really captures the range of titles we cover at RPGFan, with only one turn-based RPG, alongside a long-awaited action RPG, and two solid-looking throwbacks to classic PC gaming in very distinct flavors. Take a look below at this week’s highlights! As for me, I’m… Read More »Music Review
Chrono Trigger Orchestral Concert -Melodies Across Time-
An orchestral concert for Chrono Trigger, you say? Sounds like a lovely affair! But, wait a second… is Square Enix really doing a full orchestral arrange album for this classic game less than ten years after their last one? Yes. Yes they are. Not only that, but this new Melodies Across Time album… Read More »Twitch
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Dragon Quest VII Reimagined
Wednesday, May 20
5:30 pm PT
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Dragon Quest VII Reimagined
Thursday, May 21
5:30 pm PT
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Trails Beyond The Horizon
Friday, May 22
1:00 pm PT
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Trails Beyond The Horizon
Saturday, May 23
1:00 pm PT
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Dragon Quest VII Reimagined
Sunday, May 24
1:00 pm PT
Tune in on Twitch
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