Highlight Archives | Page 28 of 31

System Shock (Remake)

Posted by Jerry Williams on June 7, 2023

If you’re anything like Stephen Hawking, artificial intelligence quakes you. I’m more of an eerie tremors guy. For those of us who’ve played System Shock, the Richter scale may be a digit or two higher. These geology metaphors doing it for you? Well, they shouldn’t because the System Shock remaster… Read More »

Retro Encounter Final Thoughts: Lost Odyssey

Posted by Zach Wilkerson on June 6, 2023

Peter Triezenberg Lost Odyssey is a special game. While it doesn’t necessarily bring anything new to the table, it’s an exemplary RPG made by experienced developers and talented artists. Much praise has been given to the Thousands Years of Dreams, and they’re indeed beautiful, but I’m in love with t… Read More »

25 Years, 25 RPG Moments

Posted by Zach Wilkerson on June 5, 2023

Get this, folks: RPGFan is in its 25th year as a website! 25 years of reviews, news, features, and all kinds of other RPG coverage. As a person who has been following the site almost since the beginning it both blows my mind and makes me feel very, very old. So, we’ll be bringing you a sequence of f… Read More »

Rhythm Encounter 110 – Melodious May Music (in June)

Posted by Mike Salbato on June 5, 2023

We interrupt the expected “Musical RPGs” episode with a quick listen to some recent music, just as we did earlier in the year with episode 101. With new Zelda and Final Fantasy XIV music that came our way in May, Mike had to share those. But there’s several other notable indie projects to share too,… Read More »

RPGs Coming This Week, 6/4/23

Posted by Gio Castillo on June 4, 2023

On this edition of RPGs Coming This Week, we’re bringing three atmospheric, dialogue-heavy RPGs/adventure titles with distinct art styles. Ugh, I love it when weeks have themes. Let’s get started! Loop8: Summer of Gods – June 6th (PS4, XB1, Switch, Windows) Set in an alternate universe threatened by… Read More »

Monster Menu: The Scavenger’s Cookbook

Posted by Abraham Kobylanski on June 3, 2023

Hungry for something different out of your RPGs? Perhaps Monster Menu: The Scavenger’s Cookbook is more your flavor. When you come across monsters in games, if your first thought is, “how do they taste?” a la Snake in Metal Gear Solid 3, this might be your new craving. But is Monster Menu a sweet tr… Read More »

Etrian Odyssey III HD

Posted by Ben Love on June 3, 2023

Few titles embody the ingenuity and novelty of the Nintendo DS as well as the Etrian Odyssey series. The series takes the classic dungeon-crawling formula of games like Ultima and Wizardry and updates it with colorful anime-inspired visuals and pumping tracks composed by the great Yuzo Koshiro. Howe… Read More »

Lamplight City

Posted by Audra Bowling on June 2, 2023

The larger the light, the greater the shadow it casts. Such is the case for the “Lamplight City” in the indie graphic adventure of the same name. The Nintendo Switch port of Lamplight City by developer Grundislav Games and publisher Application Systems Heidelberg takes place in New Bretagn… Read More »

Retro Encounter 375 – Lost Odyssey Part II

Posted by Zach Wilkerson on June 1, 2023

Its gifts were mixed with good and evil both. This week we bring our panelists back together to discuss to discuss the second half of Lost Odyssey. While were were all pretty positive on the first half, some of us really like the latter portions, and some of us really don’t. Did we do all the sidequ… Read More »

Kartia: The Word of Fate

Posted by Noah Leiter on May 31, 2023

I keep a copy of The Sky: The Art of Final Fantasy front and center on my bookshelf. This is because the revolutionary character designs of Yoshitaka Amano fill me with wonder and inspiration; I even like to use his drawings as templates when I occasionally get the urge to draw. Imagine my pleasant… Read More »

Star Trek: Resurgence

Posted by Audra Bowling on May 30, 2023

Let me start this Star Trek: Resurgence review by saying I am familiar with the Star Trek universe. Since my mother is an avid fan of the sci-fi series, I’d catch episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager growing up. My favorite… Read More »

Random Encounter 270 – The First Stirrings of Not-E3

Posted by Jonathan Logan on May 29, 2023

On this week’s Random Encounter, we’re seeing the beginnings of the Not-E3 season! If you’re a video game fan, it’s getting close to the most wonderful time of the year! There are slightly under two weeks until Summer Game Fest, but we still have a ton of news to discuss from Wednesday’s PlayStation… Read More »

Final Fantasy II (Pixel Remaster)

Posted by Jerry Williams on May 28, 2023

Final Fantasy is one of those untouchable series. Score a game too low, and meet the rage of the masses. A 7.8 would be unthinkable. The most acceptable departure from this precept is Final Fantasy II. By reputation alone, I have avoided this game, deciding to spend my time elsewhere; I knew, at som… Read More »

RPGs Coming This Week, 5/28/23

Posted by Gio Castillo on May 28, 2023

This edition of RPGs coming this week is for the cult fans, the real ones who kept their favorite niche franchises alive long after their makers had moved on. Today, System Shock and Etrian Odyssey diehards are rewarded with signs of life. Will we see new entries in these series one day? Who can say… Read More »

LIVE A LIVE

Posted by Des Miller on May 25, 2023

To this day, the SNES era is considered the golden era of RPGs. Beloved fan favorites such as Secret of Mana and Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars stand side-by-side with “Best RPG” chart-toppers such as Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI. That said, some of the system’s most beloved RPGs… Read More »

Ib (Remake)

Posted by Des Miller on May 25, 2023

When it comes to indie horror adventure games, Ib is a cult classic. With clear inspirations from 2004’s bizarre horror-adventure game Yume Nikki, Ib helped usher in a golden era of RPG Maker horror games — including some of my favorites such as The Witch’s House and Mad Father. Originally, Ib relea… Read More »

Parental Guidance: A Parent’s Guide to Kingdom Hearts

Posted by Monica Rose on May 24, 2023

The Kingdom Hearts games have been around for over twenty years now. Odds are pretty good that you’ve at least heard of them, or your kids have pointed one out at the store because they want the game with Mickey Mouse on the cover. Seems like a no-brainer purchase, right? If it has Mickey on it, it’… Read More »

Dungeon Drafters

Posted by Jerry Williams on May 23, 2023

A roguelike deck builder strategy RPG hybrid? It must be my birthday. My favorite genres all rolled up into one with a charming, colorful cartoon aesthetic and tile-based movement glory. Dungeon Drafters makes a powerful case for genre melding with its highly customizable gameplay, minigame variety,… Read More »

Rhythm Encounter 109 – Character World: RPG Character Themes II

Posted by Mike Salbato on May 23, 2023

Welcome to our long-awaited followup to 2014’s Theme Park episode! Episode 21 of Rhythm Encounter was all about character themes, and we knew it was time to do this topic again, because there has been no shortage of characters with their own themes in RPGs since then. We’ve got Dragon Quest, Dragon… Read More »

Final Fantasy XVI Preview: The First 5 Hours

Posted by Scott Clay on May 22, 2023

Disclaimer: This is a special version of the game made for media to experience, and content may differ from the final version. FINAL FANTASY XVI © 2023 SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved. Thanks to the amazing people over at Square Enix, I got another chance to play Final Fantasy XVI. This ti… Read More »

Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord

Posted by Neal Chandran on May 22, 2023

Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord, a new RPG from Idea Factory, is the sequel to Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force — an expanded remaster of the original Fairy Fencer F. Fairy Fencer F was a mediocre RPG with great music but Advent Dark Force was a tenfold improvement and the definitive version of Fairy… Read More »

RPGs Coming This Week, 5/21/23

Posted by Gio Castillo on May 21, 2023

All right, we’ve had our monthly lull week. It’s back to regularly scheduled programming on RPGs Coming This Week. We’re taking a look at a diverse set of titles, including some on the adventure side of things and some on the tactics side. Without any further ado, let’s begin! Miasma Chronicles – Ma… Read More »

Winter’s Wish: Spirits of Edo

Posted by Audra Bowling on May 21, 2023

Otome visual novels that dive into various Japanese historical periods aren’t anything new. Nightshade and Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei are examples of this type of VN, although the prolific Hakuoki series is the most well-known. Set in a feudal shogunate-run Japan back when the city of Tokyo… Read More »

Random Encounter 269 – Ain’t Nobody Crying in This Kingdom!

Posted by Jonathan Logan on May 20, 2023

On this Saturday’s emergency Random Encounter, we’re discussing The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom! We’ve assembled a panel of three people who loved Breath of the Wild, one who liked it, and one who just wasn’t a fan. The plan was to meet up to talk about the entirety of TOTK, beginning to e… Read More »

Ranking the Mainline Final Fantasy Games

Posted by Aleks Franiczek on May 19, 2023

Final Fantasy XVI is just around the corner, and it’s the first mainline Final Fantasy release in almost seven(!) years. That’s the longest wait between mainline entries in the series yet. Like many of us, I’ve been inclined to reflect on the legacy of these games, and the little ranking demon in my… Read More »

Highlight(s) Archive