The release of the Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection allows veterans and newcomers alike to once again delve into the depths of the Yggdrasil Labyrinth by giving the first two games in the series a fresh coat of HD paint. You set out from the little town of Etria or the bustling peak of High Lagaard… Read More »
The course of true love rarely runs smoothly. If you throw in the apocalypse, you’re fighting an uphill battle to get a date. Horror action RPG Eternights encourages you to form bonds and potentially find love, largely succeeding by being an entertaining and surprisingly uplifting experien… Read More »
On this edition of RPGs Coming This Week: a metric ton of releases. Seriously, this is the biggest week we’ve had for new games since April. It’s an exciting time, so let’s keep this preamble extra short! Eternights – September 12th (PS5, PS4, Windows) Eternights is a post-apocalyptic horror action… Read More »
I have been fascinated by Harvest Moon ever since reading about it in Nintendo Power magazine, but that fascination surprises me even today. I was busy trying out my first RPGs and trying to finish The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past before Zelda 64 was due to release; still, the game about gett… Read More »
She’ll take you for a ride on a wagon train to Zoombiniville It’s back to school week here at Retro Encounter, where we stay retro but mostly avoid RPGs in a discussion of classic edutainment games, from The Oregon Trail to Sim City 2000. Who among our illustrious panel dreamed of being on the Carme… Read More »
Fae Farm, developed and published by Phoenix Labs, is a farming life-sim dungeon-crawling hybrid and reminds me that we need a new genre name. Since the advent of the farming sim genre with the original Harvest Moon, straight through to the beloved Stardew Valley, simply calling these games “farming… Read More »
When you find a formula that works, it makes sense to stick with it. Sustaining successful elements keeps many series going, and Rune Factory is no exception. It’s no surprise, then, that another classic Rune Factory game has been remastered to join the series’ modern lineup. Rune Factory 3 Special… Read More »
The last time I reviewed a Science Adventure game, I closed my thoughts by stating, “If [Mages] can get back to what they do well, with mind-bending plots and intriguing characters, they might get me back. Maybe.” Yep. Here I am again. Despite my frustrations with recent entries in the series, parti… Read More »
On this week’s Random Encounter, we’re blasting off to new galaxies and sailing through enchanted seas with two of the most anticipated RPGs of 2023! First, Noah navigates the cosmic expanses of Starfield, Bethesda’s highly anticipated space exploration RPG. With the expectations of “Skyrim in Space… Read More »
Monochrome Mobius: Rights and Wrongs Forgotten is a Japanese RPG by the creators of Utawarerumono, a multimedia project that began as a series of visual novels. Its tale technically occurs between Utawarerumono: Prelude to the Fallen and Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception. I say technically because Mo… Read More »
On this edition of RPGs Coming This Week: the biggest Xbox game of 2023, easily. We certainly will discuss that game, but I contend that the release schedule of the next few days is incredibly solid. Every one of these upcoming games deserves time in the spotlight, and we’re more than happy to give… Read More »
Shifting sands can reveal hidden, lost treasures. But they can also, disappointingly and just as quickly disappointingly, reveal nothing of great import. Open-world co-op RPG Atlas Fallen falls into neither category. Instead, the swirling desert sands making up much of the game’s world rev… Read More »
Starfield is one of the finest playgrounds ever conceived in videogames, and it is a standout title in — and apt reflection of — Bethesda Game Studio’s entire catalog of incredible games. It not only lives up to its own “irresponsibly large” expectations, but it even lives up to a decade of collecti… Read More »
The reset concept is vital in otome visual novel Norn9: Var Commons, where an elite few must decide the entire world’s fate. In a way, its fandisk—entitled Norn9: Last Era—explores that concept further by attempting to reset your viewpoints on the base game itself in numerous ways. It is a more subs… Read More »
Five years ago, the very first game I reviewed for RPGFan was a little indie game called Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass. And let me tell you, it was a doozy. You play as an 8-year-old exploring his dreamworld, trying to take down the “Pulsating Mass” threatening him, his family, and the entire world.… Read More »
For Anglophone Falcom fans, patience is less a virtue and more a premise. In modern times, the distinguished developer’s bread-and-butter is Trails, an ongoing chronicle as legendarily loquacious as you’re liable to find in the RPG genre. Series diehards devour it. Every entry builds onto a single c… Read More »
On Rhythm Encounter, we have celebrated several consoles’ RPG music, including the SNES (Episode 89), NES (Episode 73), and Genesis (Episode 92). Isn’t it about time the original PlayStation got some love? It’s hard to understate the tectonic shift in RPG releases in the West that began during the P… Read More »
On this edition of RPGs Coming This Week, we bring grid-based battles, musical numbers, and one of the biggest indie titles of the year. Let’s get into it! Untamed Tactics – August 28th (Windows) First up is Untamed Tactics, a strategy RPG from the minds behind real-life card battler Untamed: Feral… Read More »
Elohim Eternal: The Babel Code is a pleasant surprise. I stepped into the game without expectations, finding a solid traditional RPG. With lore rooted in years of systematic research into Judaism, Christianity, and ancient Babylonian, Sumerian, and Egyptian religions, Elohim Eternal: The Babel Code… Read More »
Long before the near overwhelming damage numbers of Disgaea and the panel combo chaos of La Pucelle: Tactics, Nippon Ichi Software developed a charming little game named Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure. Rhapsody was a cute, brief adventure rife with amusing jokes and heartwarming songs. Having release… Read More »
Time to go work on Retro Encounter! We’re back with our discussion of the second half of Disco Elysium. This week we dive into some of our favorite late-game side quests, go over our favorite conversations with our neckties, and discuss the fabulously strange ending. Did we get Kim to like us? Do we… Read More »
I absolutely LOVED pro wrestling when I was a kid. Those larger-than-life WWE personalities I reverently watched on TV were like superheroes come to life. I outgrew pro wrestling as I got older, but it recaptured my adult attention when I became friends with an aspiring pro wrestler during the 2010s… Read More »
The Outer Worlds, like many of its ancestors in the narrative-driven RPG sector, is a game about choice — the choice between right and wrong in an outer space technofuture. Fittingly, the ultimate version of The Outer Worlds is called Spacer’s Choice Edition. This collection for PC and current… Read More »
On this week’s Random Encounter, we’re diving into the realms of fantasy and musical adventure! First, Abe takes on the epic challenge of reviewing Baldur’s Gate III, the long-awaited CRPG sequel that brings Dungeons & Dragons to life! With intricate storytelling, deep character customization, a… Read More »
It’s time again for another edition of RPGs Coming This Week. As always, we bring a solid range of titles from VNs to MMOs to SRPGs. Let’s dive in! Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure – August 22nd (Windows) Guild Wars 2 is alive and well in 2023 with the fourth expansion Secrets of the Obscure. Pl… Read More »
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