- Review
People of Note
A popstar, a rocker, a DJ, and a rapper walk into a random encounter… No, this is not the start to a terrible joke, but rather the start of the incredible combat system in developer Iridium Studios’ cross-genre RPG musical People of Note. When I demoed the game and met its director, Jason Wishnov, a… Read More »- Article
- News
Village in the Shade To Bring Seeds & Spookiness This Fall for Consoles & PC
NIS America and developer Nippon Ichi Software have announced that Village in the Shade is headed westward this fall, with a release in Japan on July 30th. The stylised farming simulator — known in Japan as Honogurashi no Niwa — will launch for PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 1 & 2, and PC via St… Read More »- Music Review
Guitar Cover Collection from Square Enix Music Channel
If you haven’t been following their work over on YouTube, Square Enix has been championing the VGM community with their aptly named SQUARE ENIX MUSIC Channel (no, you don’t need to shout that). There are two thousand-plus videos with everything from mood playlists to orchestra concerts to “Video Sou… Read More »- Article
- Preview
PAX East 2026 – Spirit Rancher’s Spirit-Fueled Farming is a Refreshing Change of Pace
Farming sims are only getting more popular as time goes on, across the indie space and with larger developers. After spending some time with Yangyang Mobile’s Spirit Rancher at PAX East, I think the devs are onto something good. Like any other expanding genre, it’s important for newcomers to offer s… Read More »- Article
- Preview
PAX East 2026 – Brigandine Abyss Hands-On: Hexagonal Strategy
Don’t play strategy RPGs at a convention. That’s not a slight against Brigandine Abyss or NISA’s booth — I’m glad and surprised the semi-recently announced title was on hand and in English. But in a show floor filled with people either passing by or waiting to play, probablyjudgingmyeverymoveovermys… Read More »- Article
- News
RPGs Coming This Week, 4/5/26 – Popplio of Note
Look, I don’t always have to include a Pokémon reference in these titles, but if they’re gonna keep releasing new or updated games in the series lately, I have no problem going back to the well. Beyond a new kind of Pokémon title, our lineup of RPGs Coming This Week include a musical-themed turn-bas… Read More »- Article
- News
Stranger Than Heaven Brings History & Haymakers Together in New Trailer
Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has unveiled a new trailer for Stranger Than Heaven, their upcoming standalone (aka non-Like a Dragon) game. The trailer was shown at the latest Xbox Partner Preview, revealing that the game would span five historical periods. Check it out below! Stranger Than Heaven Five Eras R… Read More »- Article
- News
Pokemon Champions Brings Battles To Nintendo Switch 1 & 2 on April 8th; Mobile Devices Later This Year
The Pokémon Company has announced that spin-off battler Pokémon Champions will launch on April 8th for Nintendo Switch 1 & 2, with confirmation that it will release on mobile devices later this year. The announcement was accompanied by a lengthy overview trailer showcasing how and where players… Read More »- Feature
Aether & Iron Dev Interview – PAX East 2026
The first thing we did at PAX East 2026 was chat with some of the devs from Seismic Squirrel about their debut title, the just-released Aether & Iron. We came in loaded with questions from Jerry Williams, based on his time with the game, and thanks to Narrative Director Tyler Whitney and Product… Read More »- Article
- Preview
PAX East 2026 – High Times: Crafting Donuts & Moods
I have a soft spot for the fascinating intersection of food/drink service and visual novel (thanks, Since Coffee Talk and VA-11 HALL-A). After spending half an hour with High Times at PAX East, I continue to enjoy this particular setting/gameplay blend. A donut shop sim mixed with a dating sim may h… Read More »- Review
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days is something of an odd duck in the Kingdom Hearts series. Taking place directly after Kingdom Hearts and running parallel to Chain of Memories, 358/2 Days instead focuses on Roxas, the briefly encountered protagonist of Kingdom Hearts II’s opening hours. 358/2 Days stands o… Read More »- Article
- Preview
Solasta II Early Access Review
After roughly fifteen hours with its Early Access build, it’s safe to say Solasta II is shaping up to be a better version of its predecessor. The developers have clearly invested time in refining the graphical fidelity with a shift to Unreal Engine 5, expanding the range of roleplaying systems, and… Read More »- Feature
Is Drakengard “Good”? (An Anti-Review)
I was thinking of writing a retro review of Drakengard. Then I realized I would have to assign a final score. Multiple scores, in fact: Graphics, Sound, Gameplay, Story, Controls… you know, the tried-and-true review measurements. I’ll be honest. If I approached this scoring with the mindset that I… Read More »- Article
- Preview
PAX East 2026 – Disgaea Mayhem Hands-On: Frenetic Fan Service
One of my highlights at PAX East 2026 was stopping by the NIS America booth and getting some hands-on time with Disgaea Mayhem and Brigandine Abyss. More on the latter in another article, but if you’re curious how Disgaea’s first foray into action RPG territory fares, you’re in the right place! Disg… Read More »- Review
Gnosia
Ever since playing Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney in 2005, I’ve been hooked on adventure games and visual novels. Whether it’s Ace Attorney, Monkey Island, or Broken Sword, I can never get enough of them. The best way to make me fall in love with one of these games is by combining a strong cast of cha… Read More »- Review
Felvidek
Sometimes, all a game needs to work is confidence in its scope and vision. That’s the highest praise I’d shower on “15th-century Slovakia JRPG” Felvidek. Sure, it’s another turn-based RPG made with RPG Maker. It’s fairly short and doesn’t bring anything new to the genre mechanically. But what it doe… Read More »- Review
Life is Strange: Reunion
The journey that the Life is Strange series provides its fans has been a long and winding one, filled with storms both in-game and out. With the IP belonging to publisher Square Enix, we’ve seen development shift from French team Dontnod Entertainment (Life is Strange 1 and 2) to American devs Deck… Read More »- Article
- Random Encounter
- Podcast
Random Encounter 344 – Life is Strange: Carmageddon
On this episode of Random Encounter, we talk about cars ramming one another and time travel. And no, for once, this isn’t a Back to the Future reference (although it could be)! First up is Matt chatting about the big grand finale of the Life is Strange franchise, Life Is Strange: Reunion (although w… Read More »- Article
- News
RPGs Coming This Week, 3/29/26 – Puzzling Decopunk Fishbowls
Look, I’ll say this upfront: I love the lineup we have for RPGs Coming This Week, er, this week, but I don’t know how to connect them in this intro in a simple way! Aether & Iron and Granser give us strong showings for those seeking a new CRPG or JRPG, respectively. Meanwhile, if you’re in the m… Read More »- Article
- Preview
GreedFall: The Dying World Impressions
After a lengthy stretch in Early Access, GreedFall: The Dying World has now reached its full release. During development, the project went through several iterations and even adopted a new title to more clearly position itself as a prequel to GreedFall. Expectations were understandably high: the fir… Read More »Music Review
NieR Re[in]carnation Original Soundtrack: The People and the World
Released exactly one year after the NieR Re[in]carnation servers were shut off, NieR Re[in]carnation Original Soundtrack: The People and the World contains all of the music for the third and final season of the mobile title. I have been methodically working my way through all of the NieR Re[in]carna… Read More »- Review
Aether & Iron
Despite how deliciously macabre and heart-wrenching noir can be, we see so few in the gaming landscape. Rich with rain-soaked, harsh realities, a down-on-their-luck detective battles their troubled past when a dame clad in fire-red walks through their door (dames—always dames). Well, have no fear, b… Read More »- Review
Otome Daoshi -Fighting for Love-
Round one, begin! It’s once again time for the kingdom of Kayu’s Tournament of Valor, in which every participant believes in the motto of might makes right. A young Daoshi-in-training named Shunlin accompanies her grandfather Lihong and childhood friend Haoran to the martial arts spectacle, but the… Read More »- Article
- Retro Encounter
- Podcast
Retro Encounter 482 – Pentiment
Retro Encounter is the only reason to do anything in this life. This week on Retro Encounter, we dive into the 2022 Obsidian masterpiece Pentiment, a game about murder, religion and the stories we tell about those things. Is there a right answer? Who do we accuse? Why are Socrates and God on the sam… Read More »- Article
- Preview
Tokyo Indie Games Summit 2026 Overview & More Hands-On Impressions
The scale and stakes of video game development have seemed to become unsustainably large in recent years, with many RPGs, say, requiring hundreds of millions of dollars and years of manpower from huge teams. While I’m certainly not one to say no to a feast, I find it’s the small appetizers that I wa… Read More »Twitch
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Dragon Quest VII Reimagined
Wednesday, April 8
5:30 pm PT
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Dragon Quest VII Reimagined
Thursday, April 9
5:30 pm PT
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Trails Beyond The Horizon
Friday, April 10
1:00 pm PT
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Trails Beyond The Horizon
Saturday, April 11
1:00 pm PT
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Dragon Quest VII Reimagined
Sunday, April 12
1:00 pm PT
Tune in on Twitch
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