Highlight Archives

Slay the Princess: The Lost Cuts

Posted by Patrick Gann on January 24, 2025

Unused and early concept tracks from Slay the Princess? Don’t mind if I do! Seriously though. It is rare for a composer to pull back the curtain and share what didn’t make it past the cutting room floor with listeners. If there’s any game where I appreciate the endeavor of documenting the draft, in-… Read More »

Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero

Posted by Sean Cabot on January 23, 2025

I’ve been a fan of Nippon Ichi’s output for most of my life, especially their Disgaea series. Its particular flavor of zany anime humor and action was incredibly formative for me, and I remain fond of it to this day. But Disgaea was only one of the several RPGs they produced, many of which only saw… Read More »

Metaphor: ReFantazio Original Soundtrack

Posted by Patrick Gann on January 22, 2025

When Metaphor: ReFantazio launched in late 2024, I was immediately smitten. However, I was less smitten with the woefully incomplete Special Soundtrack: pay 150 USD for the game’s limited edition, get a two-disc set of music when the full OST is actually five discs. Not exactly a winner in my book.… Read More »

Piano Cover Collection from Square Enix Music Channel

Posted by Patrick Gann on January 21, 2025

For the past few years, Square Enix Music has been producing some exclusive arrangement/performance content on their YouTube Channel. Then, for the 2024 Fall Tokyo Game Show, Square Enix compiled 15 piano solo performances from their channel and put them on one CD. That CD is, of course, Piano Cover… Read More »

Random Encounter 314 – The Switch 2 is Real (and Other Stories)

Posted by Jonathan Logan on January 20, 2025

On this episode of Random Encounter, Jono is back to chat with the panel about two recent big January releases! First up, Wes has managed to fight through hundreds upon hundreds of foes to deliver their verdict on Dynasty Warriors: Origins! This latest entry in the long-running series dramatically c… Read More »

RPGs Coming This Week, 1/19/25

Posted by Gio Castillo on January 19, 2025

In this edition of RPGs Coming This Week, our slate is populated by all manner of rereleases. From the latest high-profile PC port to a remake of an under-the-radar indie title, the industry continues churning out the good stuff, even if most of it isn’t new new. So, join me as we inspect the latest… Read More »

Freedom Wars and the Not-So-Delicate Art of Player Disempowerment

Posted by Pete Leavitt on January 18, 2025

Freedom Wars does nearly everything right thematically. From the first moments, you’re slapped with a million-year sentence for a mysterious crime you allegedly committed. You must now live out your sentence in a post-apocalyptic penitentiary known simply as The Panopticon. A notice explodes onto th… Read More »

The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II Preview (Part 2) + 2 Demos Coming

Posted by Zek Lu on January 16, 2025

Thanks again to the wonderful team at NIS America, we got a second exclusive sneak peek at The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II. As mentioned in our first preview, even though the first Trails through Daybreak only just arrived in July, its sequel is already on the horizon. As devoted Tr… Read More »

Retro Encounter 451 – Final Fantasy IX Part I

Posted by Zach Wilkerson on January 16, 2025

Doesn’t it feel nice to listen to Retro Encounter under the stars? This week, the new host and a few huge fans dive into the first half of Final Fantasy IX. How does this classic hold up? Do we like the combat? Which monster doesn’t like Vivi very much? Listen in to find out! Featuring: Zach Wilkers… Read More »

Demonschool Q&A with Creative Director Brandon Sheffield

Posted by Aleks Franiczek on January 15, 2025

I had a great time with the Demonschool demo over the summer, so it was a pleasure to interview the school’s principal game’s creative director (and founder of Necrosoft Games) Brandon Sheffield. We conducted the Q&A over email, where Sheffield revealed some fun and intriguing insights into the… Read More »

Tales of Graces f Remastered

Posted by Paul Skevington on January 15, 2025

Even before Tales of Graces f Remastered, approaching the Tales series in 2025 feels like a monumental task. Now in its thirtieth year, it spans multiple titles with some gated behind older, potentially less accessible hardware. Tale of Graces f Remastered forms part of Bandai Namco’s ongoing effort… Read More »

Lunar Remastered Collection Launches April 18th

Posted by Tin Manuel on January 14, 2025

Publisher GungHo has announced that Lunar Remastered Collection will be released on April 18th for PlayStation 4 (with PS5 compatibility), Xbox One (with X|S compatibility), Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam. In addition to the digital version, series illustrator Toshiyuki Kubooka’s new cover art fo… Read More »

Rhythm Encounter 152 – New Year, New Music

Posted by Mike Salbato on January 13, 2025

Between our recent milestone of 150 episodes and the start of a new year, we will have some fun changes coming to Rhythm Encounter, starting with this episode. New games and music release all the time that don’t always fit with our episode themes. Starting today, we will release a “new music” episod… Read More »

Dynasty Warriors: Origins

Posted by Wes Iliff on January 13, 2025

It’s a weird experience when one of your favorite series is the industry’s favorite punching bag. Dynasty Warriors endures all manner of accusations of laziness and thoughtlessness that boil down to a belief that the series was born stagnant. Some of that reputation has been earned. Still, fans will… Read More »

RPGs Coming This Week, 1/12/25

Posted by Kyle Cantelon on January 12, 2025

In this action-packed edition of RPGs Coming This Week, we get the first in a promising series of Tales remasters, plus a new entry in the preeminent musou series. Also, two standout indie releases that are varying degrees of roguelike! Let’s go ahead and dive in, shall we? Final Knight (Entering Ea… Read More »

Rise of the Ronin

Posted by Tom Naylor on January 11, 2025

At first glance, Rise of the Ronin may seem like Japan’s answer to 2020’s Ghost of Tsushima, and while there are definitely numerous comparisons to draw between the two, Team Ninja’s odyssey through mid-19th-century Japan stands firm as its own beast, overdelivering on its promise of the first open-… Read More »

Are You Part of Their World or Just Expected to Save It? Reporting on Progress in EarthBound and Fallout

Posted by Nick Mangiaracina on January 8, 2025

Did you know that hotels used to provide a newspaper at your door every morning? The practice started in the first half of the 19th century and technically still exists, though you won’t find a newspaper at your door anymore. Instead, you most likely have to ask for a newspaper at the front desk. In… Read More »

Xuan Yuan Sword: The Gate of Firmament

Posted by Paul Skevington on January 7, 2025

Xuan Yuan Sword: The Gate of Firmament is the latest entry in the long-running Xuan Yuan Sword series from Softstar Entertainment, with the first game appearing in 1990. Until this point, I have never given it a try. Our very own Audra Bowling reported a positive experience with the most recent titl… Read More »

Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana

Posted by Abraham Kobylanski on January 6, 2025

The Ys series keeps on rolling, as Nihon Falcom delves into its back catalog to bring us Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana on consoles for the first time. Memoire’s key differentiator is offering an upscaled version for modern TVs, but it also provides a few new features from the remake released 20 y… Read More »

Random Encounter 313 – Jono-Less Encounter

Posted by Jonathan Logan on January 6, 2025

On this first episode of Random Encounter for 2025, Jono is missing, and it’s up to the panel to find him! Just kidding; we aren’t a semi-educational game from the 1990s. Jono has bronchitis this week, so it’s up to the brand-new full-time host of Retro Encounter, Zach Wilkerson, to fill in for him!… Read More »

RPGs Coming This Week, 1/5/25

Posted by Kyle Cantelon on January 5, 2025

In this edition of RPGs Coming This Week, we hit the ground running in 2025 with a strong mix of old favorites and new concepts. Expect this to be a recurring theme throughout the year — tons of remasters and remakes are coming, but fresh titles will never be in short supply. It’s good to be back, d… Read More »

Mario & Luigi: Brothership

Posted by Tim Rattray on January 4, 2025

Mario & Luigi: Brothership, what to do about you? I love Mario RPGs. I was elated to close out 2023 with a remake of one of my most-replayed games in Super Mario RPG, finally got to play the classic Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door with its Switch release, and have a fondness for early Mario… Read More »

Breath of Death VII: The Beginning: Reanimated

Posted by Neal Chandran on January 3, 2025

2024 has been my year of playing remakes, remasters, and re-releases of games I never played or never finished for various reasons. The latest entry on that list is Breath of Death VII: The Beginning: Reanimated, ShadowLayer Games’ full remake of Zeboyd Games’ indie darling that I never played the f… Read More »

Retro Encounter 450 – Thank You, Good Night, and Good Luck

Posted by Michael Sollosi on January 2, 2025

“Saying goodbye doesn’t mean anything. It’s the time we spent together that matters, not how we left it.” In a reminiscence-heavy episode of Retro Encounter, four panelists discuss the podcast’s origin story, recording process, and favorite episodes and memories of nearly ten years of podcasting. Lo… Read More »

Beloved Rapture

Posted by Audra Bowling on January 1, 2025

Life can be cruel, and the world is often unfair. These sentiments can break us, or we can try to power through and find the good amidst the turmoil and despair, clinging to it as best we can. Doing so with those we trust who can look out for us and vice versa makes all the difference. Such is the p… Read More »

Highlight(s) Archive