Feature Sub-Page Archives | Page 13 of 15

History of the RPGFan Logo: Part 3 (2015–2018)

Posted by Mike Salbato on September 18, 2018

Finally, we arrive at today’s logo and where the RPGFan identity (and logo) is going in the near future. Part 1: 1997–2007 Part 2: 2007–2015 Part VII: Strip It Down (2015–2018) There are many rules and guidelines in logo design, and one really good one to follow is to create something that works in… Read More »

History of the RPGFan Logo: Part 2 (2007–2015)

Posted by Mike Salbato on September 18, 2018

Our journey continues with the biggest shift in the look of our logo since the beginning, when we introduced a new font and shield in 2007–2008. Part 1: 1997–2007 Part 3: 2015–2018 Part V: Charlemagne, King of Logos (2007–2008) Now we’re talking. In 2007, I finally sat down and came up with a standa… Read More »

Year of the Dog 2018: The Best RPG Dogs (Part 2)

Posted by Alana Hagues on August 8, 2018

We aren’t done yet! Here are even more of who we consider the best RPG dogs. Go to Part 1 Mabari Hound/”Dog” (Dragon Age: Origins) by Tina Olah The Mabari War Hound. A mighty battle dog of ferocious appearance (somewhat resembling a very large pit bull), rumored to have descended from wolves…in ad… Read More »

Hylian Highlights: Celebrating The Legend of Zelda | Spectacular Sidekicks

Posted by Stephanie Sybydlo on April 29, 2018

Look, we can say we love Link all we want, but with the exception of a cartoon and CD-i series of games we don’t discuss, Link is intentionally a blank slate for us to define as a hero. As such, characterization and narrative in Zelda comes from the rest of the cast. Often that can be Zelda herself,… Read More »

Hylian Highlights: Celebrating The Legend of Zelda | Superb Sidequests

Posted by Stephanie Sybydlo on April 29, 2018

No Zelda is complete without both simple and elaborate sidequests. There are plenty of small ones: little things Link can do that can lead the way to new discoveries or fun rewards. But then there are the really in-depth ones, like some of Majora’s Mask’s questlines, or the world-scouring collect-a-… Read More »

Hylian Highlights: Celebrating The Legend of Zelda | Enigmatic Easter Eggs

Posted by Stephanie Sybydlo on April 29, 2018

We debated whether these were really “secrets” or “easter eggs,” but whatever you call these things, they’re but a handful of examples of the Zelda series’ wonderful attention to detail and things you sometimes have to really go out of your way to find. Sometimes your curiosity leads to reward in th… Read More »

20 Years of Milestone RPGs (Page 2)

Posted by Michael Sollosi on April 25, 2018

< More on Page 1 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998) The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time’s (OoT) iconic status is rooted in what it meant for both the franchise and the industry as a whole. Link’s transition into the 3D era on the Nintendo 64 presented an opportunity — really a necessity… Read More »

Hylian Highlights: Celebrating The Legend of Zelda | Outstanding Overworlds

Posted by Stephanie Sybydlo on April 22, 2018

Zelda’s many games don’t always take place in Hyrule. Especially in the games that don’t feature the Link-Zelda-Ganon trinity, our green-clad hero ventures somewhere different, like in Majora’s Mask, Link’s Awakening, and the excellent Oracle games. It’s also nice that even if most of the… Read More »

Hylian Highlights: Celebrating The Legend of Zelda | Bombastic Boss Battles

Posted by Mike Salbato on April 22, 2018

As we’ve talked about in other sections, the Zelda series is big on tradition: It’s why Gohma appears in more games in the series than most bosses. But there’s great and inventive boss encounters, whether you’re fighting Ganon again or some of these big baddies below that we’ve only seen o… Read More »

Hylian Highlights: Celebrating The Legend of Zelda | Memorable Music

Posted by Stephanie Sybydlo on April 15, 2018

You know your series has winning compositions when you can rearrange, remix, reorchestrate, and re-release themes composed 30 years ago, and still make them sound fresh and exciting. We don’t need to introduce anyone to the main theme song of Zelda, but from the NES titles to Breath of the Wild, the… Read More »

Hylian Highlights: Celebrating The Legend of Zelda | Delightful Dungeons

Posted by Mike Salbato on April 15, 2018

What’s a Zelda game without labyrinthian dungeons? Well, okay, it’s Breath of the Wild. But until the Switch game came and turned convention on its head (in a good way), every game in the series was home to usually eight or nine dungeons, usually built around a theme — there’s often “the fire one,”… Read More »

Hylian Highlights: Celebrating The Legend of Zelda | Masterful Mechanics

Posted by Stephanie Sybydlo on April 8, 2018

It’s not just clever items that provide the Zelda series with some of its innovation and charm, but also clever use of gameplay mechanics. Some of these are very much Zelda traits, like the transformational masks in Majora’s Mask. Breath of the Wild’s gear and stats are to be expected in m… Read More »

Hylian Highlights: Celebrating The Legend of Zelda | Incredible Items

Posted by Stephanie Sybydlo on April 8, 2018

The Zelda series is one built on tradition: Even Breath of the Wild features some classic ones in new wrappers. The inventive items that return in each entry are dear to many of us. And while we appreciate the classics like the bow and arrow, boomerang, and magical rods, we mostly wanted to focus on… Read More »

20 Years of Essential RPG Soundtracks (Part 2)

Posted by Mike Salbato on March 28, 2018

Welcome to Part 2! Below you’ll find our selections for the last decade, and believe me when I say some of these choices made it in by only one or two staff votes: There were some really close calls, but all that means is that we’re fortunate enough to have a ton of great music in our games. Note: E… Read More »

20 Years, 20(ish) Still-Wanted Localizations (Part 2)

Posted by Mike Salbato on February 28, 2018

Part 2 of our Still-Wanted Localizations feature includes “The Big One,” and likely some games you may be surprised to see! More Games in Part 1! The Love-de-Lic Trilogy: Moon, UFO: A Day in the Life, Lack of Love Writeup by Robert Fenner Love-de-Lic may have only released three games over the cours… Read More »

Memoria: Our Favorite Final Fantasy Memories and Moments – Final Fantasy Mystic Quest

Posted by Marcos Gaspar on February 20, 2018

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest: Musical Awakening by Marcos Gaspar I was around five years old when I played my first ever Final Fantasy game (suitably, Final Fantasy). I remember spending hours each day playing as much of it as I could understand until I hit a wall I couldn’t climb: Gurgu Volcano. I st… Read More »

Memoria: Our Favorite Final Fantasy Memories and Moments – Final Fantasy Tactics

Posted by Michael Sollosi on February 20, 2018

Final Fantasy Tactics: Learning Through Failure by Michael Sollosi The first time I played Final Fantasy Tactics, I died right away, attempting Chapter 1, battle 1. And battle 2. And battle 4 (Dorter Trade City took me a couple of tries). And many battles thereafter. It wasn’t because these fights a… Read More »

The Best RPGs of 1998: Part 2

Posted by Mike Salbato on January 31, 2018

Seriously, how did 14 games of this caliber all launch between late September and December? Some of these Best RPGs of 1998 are often still cited as some of Nintendo, Konami, Square Enix, and BioWare’s finest. The Best RPGs of 1998: Part 1 Fallout 2 September 30th, 1998 Writeup by John Tucker The or… Read More »

Memoria: Our Favorite Final Fantasy Memories and Moments – The Final Fantasy Legend

Posted by Robert Fenner on January 20, 2018

The Final Fantasy Legend: I Like to Picture Jesus in a Tuxedo T-Shirt by Robert Fenner Yeah, it’s actually a SaGa game, but we didn’t know that at the time. The Final Fantasy Legend was not the first turn-based RPG I’d ever played, but it was the first I’d ever owned. At age 5, I was proba… Read More »

Memoria: Our Favorite Final Fantasy Memories and Moments – Final Fantasy XIII-2

Posted by Mike Salbato on January 16, 2018

Time Paradox by Nathan Lee I don’t remember the circumstances of why I picked up Final Fantasy XIII-2. I had never played a Final Fantasy game before (besides a little bit of FFIII which I did not enjoy), and did not even play XIII. I think the reason was either I was in my experimental phase of gam… Read More »

Memoria: Our Favorite Final Fantasy Memories and Moments – Final Fantasy XIV

Posted by Mike Salbato on January 9, 2018

Final Fantasy XIV Memories: (Feel) (Think) (Hope) (Tell) by Mike Salbato I talk about Final Fantasy XIV everywhere that I can on RPGFan, but if I have to pick one moment, one thing in the game that sticks with me as a defining experience, it remains to this day the final battles in The Final Coil of… Read More »

Memoria: Our Favorite Final Fantasy Memories and Moments – Final Fantasy XV

Posted by Mike Salbato on January 9, 2018

Final Fantasy XV Memories: Super Eos Bros. by Peter Triezenberg It’s more-or-less impossible to divorce Final Fantasy XV from its inordinately long development. I was in seventh grade when this game was first announced as Versus XIII, and by the time the game was in my hands, I had graduated from co… Read More »

Memoria: Our Favorite Final Fantasy Memories and Moments – Final Fantasy XIII

Posted by Peter Triezenberg on January 5, 2018

Final Fantasy XIII: Blinded By Lightning by Peter Triezenberg Final Fantasy XIII is a difficult game to defend. It’s got serious problems, born from its tumultuous development and a lack of oversight from the developers. Yet, it’s also the first game I played on a newly opened PlayStation 3 back in… Read More »

Memoria: Our Favorite Final Fantasy Memories and Moments – Final Fantasy XI

Posted by Derek Heemsbergen on December 29, 2017

Final Fantasy XI: Camaraderie by Derek Heemsbergen I lost a lot of my life to Final Fantasy XI. Then again, I lost a lot of my life to every Final Fantasy that came before it, too. I spent much of my childhood and adolescence immersed in RPGs, drinking deep of their narrative draughts to escape the… Read More »

Memoria: Our Favorite Final Fantasy Memories and Moments – Final Fantasy XII

Posted by Robert Steinman on December 29, 2017

Final Fantasy XII: Better Late Than Never by Robert Steinman Final Fantasy XII should have been the Final Fantasy game made for me. It had the director of Tactics, a fantastic new artstyle, and a complicated new battle system based around strategy and careful planning. I was super excited to play it… Read More »

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