Highlight Archives | Page 2 of 23

The Case of the Golden Idol

Posted by Tim Rattray on September 19, 2024

The Case of the Golden Idol is a master of other developers’ craft. I don’t mean this in any derogatory way, as this detective adventure takes the best elements of its inspirations and reshapes them into a package that outclasses the originals in many ways. Just make sure to play the original PC rel… Read More »

Retro Encounter 435 – The Case of the Golden Idol

Posted by Michael Sollosi on September 19, 2024

One more thing, there are a couple of loose ends I’d like to tie up. Nothing important, you understand. The Case of the Golden Idol made a splash in 2022, with its compelling murder mysteries, political intrigue, and puzzle adventure gameplay. It also has a decidedly retro look to it, so naturally a… Read More »

Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven Demo Impressions: Glimmering a Remake!

Posted by Patrick Gann on September 18, 2024

In about a month, Square Enix will publish Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven, a full 3D from the ground up remake of the 1993 original Romancing SaGa 2. As a long-time SaGa series fan, I was eager to get a taste of what this particular remake was about. And, thanks to a new demo that Square Eni… Read More »

The End of Service: A NieR Re[in]carnation Postmortem Retrospective

Posted by Patrick Gann on September 18, 2024

[Note: This feature is intentionally spoiler-heavy, and assumes cursory knowledge of the DrakenNieR universe. This article aims to give players who missed their chance to play NieR Re[in]carnation a synopsis of the game’s three story arcs.] In 2021, live service mobile game NieR Re[in]carnation laun… Read More »

Castlevania Dominus Collection

Posted by Zach Wilkerson on September 17, 2024

Metroidvanias can be a tough sell for me. Part of that is because after playing Hollow Knight, the bar is almost impossibly high, but frankly many of them feel a little same-y to me. Walk down a corridor, explore a little, fight a boss, get a power up, explore the area you couldn’t explore before, f… Read More »

Cat Quest III

Posted by Jerry Williams on September 16, 2024

I reviewed Cat Quest II back in 2019, and my impressions were: “This is a good game.” Easy, slappy, and aesthetically pleasing with tons of puns, I had little ill to speak of the furry escapade. With much to improve on, I was excited to try Cat Quest III, because all the developers had to do was enh… Read More »

Random Encounter 305 – Random Book Club – Legends of Localization Book 3: Undertale

Posted by Jonathan Logan on September 16, 2024

On this episode of Random Encounter, Jono and Hilary geek out over a fantastic book focusing on the localization of beloved indie RPG, Undertale. Video game localizations have come a long way since the days of spoony bards. When we usually think about game localization, we think Japanese to English.… Read More »

RPGs Coming This Week, 9/15/24

Posted by Audra Bowling on September 15, 2024

In this edition of RPGs Coming This Week, the selection is so diverse that I truly struggle to come up with a common thread. Uh, all of the new games come from indie(-ish) developers, I guess? Cop-out, I know, but I just think this is one of the stronger weeks we’ve had in a long while, and you shou… Read More »

Persona 3 Reload: Episode Aigis -The Answer-

Posted by Aleks Franiczek on September 14, 2024

Persona 3 FES was a formative gaming experience for me, and I absolutely loved the treatment Atlus gave it in the recent Persona 3 Reload. The remake did an exemplary job preserving the core experience of the original while refreshing it with a slick coat of paint that provided a new sheen for its o… Read More »

Monster Sanctuary

Posted by Mark Roddison on September 13, 2024

Over the years, the monster-collecting RPG genre hasn’t interested me in the same way single-character RPGs or CRPGs have. I’ve dabbled in Pokémon/Nexomon and briefly toyed with the newer Palworld, but none stuck. Although it’s been out for four years, Monster Sanctuary not only had me wanting to co… Read More »

Retro Encounter 434 – Firewatch

Posted by Michael Sollosi on September 12, 2024

We didn’t start the fire Firewatch is the only release of indie game studio Campo Santo, but made quite an impact when it came out in 2016. Four Retro Encounter panelists played Firewatch recently, and today discuss everything from Firewatch’s quotidian gameplay, clever use of anticlimax, and fabulo… Read More »

Celestia: Chain of Fate

Posted by Audra Bowling on September 11, 2024

Arguably, Celestia: Chain of Fate is a lighthearted fantasy visual novel with some otome undertones. With twenty relatively sizable chapters telling its tale, the game takes time to find its footing, but a decent, character-driven tale exists here for those with patience. I became attached to the wo… Read More »

Veritus

Posted by Jerry Williams on September 10, 2024

For a long while now, indie devs have tried to capture that nostalgia energy in a bottle. Few accomplish this, as nostalgia is less a visual or musical style and more a feeling—a feeling frequently attributed to a person’s situation, developmental age, and artistic needs at that time. Still, a game’… Read More »

Rhythm Encounter 143 – Lo-fi for RPG Fans (Only)

Posted by Mike Salbato on September 9, 2024

With fall (or autumn, if you prefer) around the corner for many of us, it feels like a good time for relaxing music. While we did a pair of episodes focused on relaxing RPG music about four years ago (see Episode 54 and Episode 55), this time, RPGFan’s biggest lo-fi fans got together to listen and c… Read More »

RPGs Coming This Week, 9/8/24

Posted by Gio Castillo on September 8, 2024

In this edition of RPGs Coming This Week, another mega-hit gets a much-ballyhooed expansion, plus a few solid indie titles debut. And also Dragon Quest! It’s a solid mix of games, so let’s get our metaphorical hands in this metaphorical grab bag, shall we? Persona 3 Reload: Episode Aigis – September… Read More »

Retro Encounter 433 – Draft Souls

Posted by Michael Sollosi on September 7, 2024

The Dark Souls of Retro Encounter fantasy drafts FromSoftware has produced an excellent run of fantasy RPGs since 2009’s Demon’s Souls, to which point its extended family of action RPGs comprises a genre all its own. And of course, if you can organize RPGs into a series, then Retro Encounter w… Read More »

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel – Northern War

Posted by Audra Bowling on September 7, 2024

I’ve been fortunate enough to have played a few above-average free-to-play gacha RPGs and the long-running and extensive The Legend of Heroes: Trails series (the latest title of which, Trails through Daybreak, I enjoyed immensely). I was also pleasantly surprised by the anime series The Legend of He… Read More »

Retro Encounter Final Thoughts – Dragon Age: Inquisition

Posted by Michael Sollosi on September 6, 2024

Audra Bowling I still have fond memories of my first Dragon Age: Inquisition playthrough, so I was thrilled when the opportunity to revisit the game right before the looming release date for Dragon Age: The Veilguard presented itself. I’ll always have a nostalgic soft spot for BioWare games, and I a… Read More »

What Remains of Edith Finch

Posted by Paul Skevington on September 6, 2024

You may have heard of What Remains of Edith Finch, and if so, you likely have a good idea of the sort of experience it provides. Sometimes, games rely on complex mechanics to draw the player in. I, like many of us, enjoy getting to grips with shiny new systems, opening them up like magical puzzle bo… Read More »

Ace Attorney Investigations Collection

Posted by Jonathan Logan on September 5, 2024

To paraphrase the famous preamble of Law and Order, “In the Japanifornia justice system, NPCs are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the police and prosecutors, who investigate and prosecute the crime; and the defense attorneys, who defend the obviously innocent suspects.”… Read More »

Date A Live: Ren Dystopia

Posted by Neal Chandran on September 5, 2024

Date A Live is a light novel series that has since been adapted into an anime series, video games, and other multimedia. In fact, the anime just aired its fifth season earlier this year. The popular series, written by Kōshi Tachibana and illustrated by Tsunako (who illustrated many Idea Factory game… Read More »

Journeying through the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters, Part 1: Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II

Posted by Rob White on September 4, 2024

I may likely qualify as a Final Fantasy fanboy. The first console games I played are from the series, and I’d list a couple as my favourite games of all time. I must admit, somewhat controversially, that I haven’t ever completed (or in some cases played at all) Final Fantasy I through VI. I know it’… Read More »

Ranma ½: Treasure of the Red Cat Gang

Posted by Sean Cabot on September 3, 2024

It’s hard to believe, but once upon a time, Rumiko Takahashi’s Ranma ½ was one of the most popular series to grace the emerging Western anime fandom of the ’90s. Ranma’s popularity is important to understand, because otherwise the rationale behind a fan translating the series’ main foray into the RP… Read More »

Random Encounter 304 – Czar of Mana

Posted by Jonathan Logan on September 2, 2024

On this episode of Random Encounter, we’re talking politics! Well, no, not really, but there are some jokes about politics in here… First up, Izzy has played the first new Mana game since 2020’s Trials of Mana remake, Visions of Mana! With spiky hair, lush landscapes, and real-time RPG action, it’… Read More »

RPGs Coming This Week, 9/1/24

Posted by Gio Castillo on September 1, 2024

In this edition of RPGs Coming This Week, we kick off September with a trio of adventure titles! If you’re someone who enjoys intricate stories in games, you may scratch that itch with these games. Let’s dive in! Date A Live: Ren Dystopia – September 5th (Windows) There’s a light novel and anime ser… Read More »

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