Highlight Archives | Page 23 of 42

RPGs Coming This Week, 8/25/24

Posted by Gio Castillo on August 25, 2024

In this short and sweet edition of RPGs Coming This Week: two unlikely sequels! We’re unreasonably excited for both of these, and here’s why you should be too! Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club – August 29th (Switch) Who would have guessed that Nintendo would resurrect the Famicom Detec… Read More »

Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht

Posted by Zek Lu on August 24, 2024

Xenosaga Episode I is an enigma of a game—it is a product of its era while at the same time being incredibly ambitious, even by modern standards. Released in early 2002 in Japan and just a year later in North America, it is a spiritual successor to the cult classic Xenogears and a spiritual pr… Read More »

Gestalt: Steam & Cinder

Posted by Dom Kim on August 24, 2024

The first thing that will catch most peoples’ eyes with Gestalt: Steam & Cinder is its flawless polish. It certainly was for me when I booted up the game for the first time. I found gorgeous pixel artwork in every corner of Gestalt’s steampunk world accompanied by some of the smoothest animation… Read More »

RPGs and Emotions: Mental Health Awareness Month Reflections

Posted by Hilary Andreff on August 23, 2024

Mental Health Awareness Month occurs in May, and wow did it pass quickly this year. It hardly seems like enough time for a topic so vital for so many. Beyond this, addressing mental health need not be limited to a specific month, especially when we as a society sorely need to shift our view and way… Read More »

Fairy Tail: Dungeons

Posted by Abraham Kobylanski on August 23, 2024

Full disclosure: I hadn’t read or watched anything Fairy Tail until recently. After watching a few episodes of the anime … I still wasn’t a fan. Like many anime series, however, the IP seemingly would lend itself well to a video game. Then again, anime-to-video game adaptations have a mixed record… Read More »

Retro Encounter 431 – Dragon Age: Inquisition Part I

Posted by Michael Sollosi on August 22, 2024

An Inquisition that everyone saw coming. Retro Encounter played the first two Dragon Age games in the last nine months, so naturally there would come the time to finish the fight. Dragon Age: Inquisition escalates and expands the conflicts and concepts of the first two Dragon Age games, from t… Read More »

Black Myth: Wukong

Posted by Jerry Williams on August 20, 2024

A Souls-like based on the characters from a historic novel from 16th-century China that has the quality of a AAA title? Try to make me not play this game. Well, you’re too late because I’ve beaten it despite a frustrating final chapter, and I loved it! Most of the time. If you’re a fan of Nioh—and I… Read More »

Random Encounter 303 – Anthropomorphic Crime Fighting

Posted by Jonathan Logan on August 19, 2024

On this episode of Random Encounter, we’re chatting about some of video game history’s most prolific anthropomorphic animal crimefighters! First up, Jono binge-plays the brand-new remaster of the third season of Telltale Games’ Sam & Max series: The Devil’s Playhouse. Lovingly remastered by Skun… Read More »

RPGs Coming This Week, 8/18/24

Posted by Gio Castillo on August 18, 2024

In this edition of RPGs Coming This Week, our low-key summer starts to sizzle with three titles that have generated quite a lot of buzz. I’d rather not waste any time, so let’s just dive in! Black Myth: Wukong – August 20th (PS5, Windows) The gaming industry’s long streak of Journey to the West adap… Read More »

Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon

Posted by Scott MacDonald on August 17, 2024

I don’t envy developers who remake games, especially those that gamers consider landmark, genre-defining masterpieces like Shining Force. Remakes are all about balance: highlight the good, minimize the bad, and carefully add new content that doesn’t pull focus from what made the original special. Th… Read More »

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate

Posted by Abraham Kobylanski on August 16, 2024

Go ninja, go ninja, go! If you ever wished Hades’ Zagreus had been green, then Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate might be your slice of pizza. Hades, a groundbreaking game as a niche roguelike, was surprisingly a supergiant success, so it’s no surprise there would be attempts to emulate… Read More »

Persona 3 Reload: Episode Aigis Hands-On Preview – The (Better) Answer?

Posted by Scott Clay on August 15, 2024

See the video version of this preview below to see the game in action! Thanks to the great people at Atlus, I recently had the privilege of trying out a small portion of the upcoming DLC for Persona 3 Reload, Episode Aigis. Episode Aigis is often known by its original name, … Read More »

Retro Encounter 430 – DLC Encounter

Posted by Michael Sollosi on August 15, 2024

This episode free with the Podcast of the Year edition Downloadable content used to be a video game luxury, but in 2024 it’s an inevitability. But while day-one patches, frivolous additions, and pay-to-win models are frustrating or bad, sometimes an RPG’s extra content is worth your time and hard dr… Read More »

Dustborn

Posted by Audra Bowling on August 14, 2024

The power of language can be either divisive or unifying. The adventure game Dustborn explores both facets through its compelling narrative, ultimately celebrating words’ incredible power for good even in light of the damage they can just as readily do. You’re probably well aware of the discourse su… Read More »

Visions of Mana Hands-On: A Beautiful Return to Form

Posted by Izzy Parsons on August 14, 2024

Who had the majestic return of the Mana series on their 2024 bingo card? I certainly didn’t. And yet, I’ve spent nearly eight hours with Visions of Mana, and I couldn’t be happier with its direction. Visions of Mana is Mana at its utmost, a game oozing with charm, vibrancy, and an underlying melanch… Read More »

Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse Remastered

Posted by Jonathan Logan on August 14, 2024

When Telltale Games first landed the Sam & Max license after the unjust cancellation of Sam & Max: Freelance Police by Lucasarts, adventure game fans had hopes that the result would harken back to the very heights of the genre’s golden age. Well, Telltale dramatically exceeded our expectatio… Read More »

Dream Tactics

Posted by Mark Roddison on August 13, 2024

After several months of playing some rather mature, hefty strategy RPGs, it’s a nice diversion to go back and play Dream Tactics. This card-based tactical RPG has been sitting in my Steam account for a while, and the cheerful pixel graphics and lightweight story are very reminiscent of the GBA era,… Read More »

Rhythm Encounter 141 – Best PSP RPG Music

Posted by Mike Salbato on August 12, 2024

Part two of our handheld RPG music celebration continues — and concludes — today! Last time, we brought you some of our favorite tracks from Nintendo DS RPGs, and this time we talk about the DS’ competition, the Sony PSP. The PSP was a haven for RPGs, especially considering its support of playing PS… Read More »

RPGs Coming This Week, 8/11/24

Posted by Audra Bowling on August 11, 2024

Our low-key summer continues in this edition of RPGs Coming This Week with three games that, in different ways, encourage players to slow down and smell the roses. They aren’t necessarily slow-paced, but I think they exude late-summer vibes. I… don’t know where I’m going with that, but allow me to… Read More »

Echoes of the Emergent

Posted by Tim Rattray on August 9, 2024

I’ve become pretty tired of post-apocalyptic stories because they typically tread the all too familiar ground of human-against-human conflict. For this reason, I treasure the rare story that looks at this genre from a different perspective. Echoes of the Emergent is a prime example of exec… Read More »

Hakuoki: Chronicles of Wind and Blossom

Posted by Audra Bowling on August 9, 2024

Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom is undoubtedly a familiar name to visual novel and otome fans, especially given the popularity of the game’s anime adaptation. It’s a quintessential romance VN in many respects, with several well-developed relationships against feudal Japan’s historical backdro… Read More »

Retro Encounter 429 – Final Fantasy Series Tier List

Posted by Michael Sollosi on August 8, 2024

A, B, C, D, FF3 / Feels like a mid-rank to me Very few podcast, article, or video topics on the internet get folks more enthusiastic or more up in arms than tiers, lists, or a combination thereof. On today’s emotional episode of Retro Encounter, four panelists play a fantasy-draft style game to plac… Read More »

Alabaster Dawn Is Radical Fish’s Follow-Up to CrossCode

Posted by Claton Stevenson on August 8, 2024

German developer Radical Fish Games has announced their second major title Alabaster Dawn, slated for Steam Early Access release in 2025. A reveal trailer featured below showcases vibrant, 32-bit-style character sprites engaging in precision action combat across top-down 3D environments. Previously… Read More »

Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail

Posted by Caitlin Argyros on August 6, 2024

“All good things come to an end.” Final Fantasy XIV players experienced this in 2021 when the game’s aptly named fourth expansion, Endwalker, wrapped up the long-running story that began with the original 1.0 release in 2010. But because this is an MMO we’re talking about, Endwalker was not the end… Read More »

Crowdfunding Chronicles: Tako no Himitsu: Ocean of Secrets

Posted by Tina Olah on August 6, 2024

Heavily inspired by Quintet classics, Golden Sun, and even drag culture, I’m proud to present Tako no Himitsu: Ocean of Secrets, a new action RPG follow-up to 2021’s Save Me Mr. Tako.

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