Highlight Archives | Page 8 of 34

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 »

Crowdfunding Chronicles: The Dawn’s Circle

Posted by Tina Olah on December 31, 2024

It’s a well-known fact that colorful alien worlds are one of my weak points; bring me all the games with glowing plants, crystal deserts, and Roger Dean-inspired rock formations! Thankfully, this month, I’ve found a neat little indie title that fulfills this particular checklist—introducing The Dawn… Read More »

Rhythm Encounter 151 – Slay the Princess with Composer Brandon Boone

Posted by Patrick Gann on December 30, 2024

WARNING: This episode contains major spoilers for Slay the Princess, so listen at your own risk if you have not yet played the game! Every now and again at Rhythm Encounter, we have the chance to bring on a special musical guest. For today’s episode, RPGFan Music editor Patrick Gann sits down with B… Read More »

Retro Encounter Final Thoughts — Dragon Quest III

Posted by Zach Wilkerson on December 29, 2024

Aleks Franiczek The original NES/Famicom version of Dragon Quest III is such a legendary game that I decided it’s the version I would spin for this podcast. To ground myself in historical context, I also dabbled in the original versions of its two predecessors beforehand. This turned out to be a goo… Read More »

Retro Encounter 449 – 2024 Year in Review

Posted by Michael Sollosi on December 28, 2024

Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time. 2024 is (finally) behind us, and there is plenty to talk about. In one of the strongest years for RPGs in recent memory, five Retro Encounter panelists bring ten games to show and tell in discussing a few of their favorite RPGs of the calendar year. F… Read More »

Harvest Moon 64

Posted by Joshua Lindquist on December 25, 2024

I was hesitant to revisit Harvest Moon 64 after playing and reviewing the original Harvest Moon last year. Harvest Moon had been a mostly new experience for me, but I spent dozens of hours playing Harvest Moon 64 as a kid. Thankfully, Harvest Moon 64 has aged much better than its predecessor, and I… Read More »

Random Encounter 312 – RPGFan’s Most Anticipated Games of 2025

Posted by Jonathan Logan on December 23, 2024

In our final Random Encounter of 2024, we’re diving into the games we’re most excited to play in 2025! Every December, RPGFan unveils one of our biggest features: a list of the most anticipated games for the year ahead. What better way to close out 2024 than by joining our panel on Random Encounter… Read More »

A Tale of Two Game Awards: The Value of Wins and Announcements

Posted by Tim Rattray on December 22, 2024

RPGs are winning big at game award shows in 2024. Let’s first take a second to bask in this. The first major showing was the Golden Joystick Awards, hosted by the ever-charismatic Ben Starr (you know him as Clive Rosfield from Final Fantasy XVI). These fan-voted winners included multiple nods for Fi… Read More »

Retro Encounter Final Thoughts — The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

Posted by Michael Sollosi on December 22, 2024

Jono Logan Do you remember the experience that solidified your love of video games? For me, it was The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past on the Super Nintendo. When released in the early days of the SNES, it exemplified everything this new generation of 16-bit gaming could be. Building on everythi… Read More »

Rhythm Encounter 150 – Name that (RPG) Tune

Posted by Mike Salbato on December 21, 2024

Retro Encounter can’t be the only one making quiz show episodes. Rhythm Encounter had to get in on the action to celebrate our 150th episode milestone! Which of course means making our contestants identify songs, composers, and more across five themed rounds. Who will triumph? Feel free to play alon… Read More »

RPGFan Games of the Year 2024: Readers’ Choice Voting (Closes December 27th!)

Posted by Zach Wilkerson on December 20, 2024

As we look ahead to 2025, which is absolutely packed with games we’re excited about, it’s time for us to take a look back at the year behind us, which has also had its fair share of excellent games! As I write this, we’re closing in on the end of our staff voting and top games lists, which mean… Read More »

Retro Encounter 448 – Dragon Quest III Part II

Posted by Michael Sollosi on December 19, 2024

Life is like a hurricane / Here in Townburg Dragon Quest III’s open-ended exploration and high-stakes story comes to a conclusion for our four intrepid panelists, who struggled through volcanoes, ghosts, and unchecked capitalism to obtain the six orbs and take on Dragon Quest III’s final run of anta… Read More »

Paper Perjury

Posted by Audra Bowling on December 18, 2024

Paper Perjury is a visual novel mystery game that wears its inspiration on its sleeve. Simply looking at screenshots and trailers, one can tell that the developers are fans of Capcom’s beloved Ace Attorney series. Yet any game that mirrors another so closely is liable to get scrutinized. Does Paper… Read More »

RPGFan’s 30 Most Anticipated Games of 2025

Posted by Zach Wilkerson on December 17, 2024

I think I might say this every year, but 2024 sure has been a great year for RPGs, hasn’t it? Sure, a few games have dominated the conversation, but there is just so much quality, depth and breadth throughout the genre that I truly do think it might be one of the best years from the genre ever. Admi… Read More »

Random Encounter 311 – Merry Game Awards 2024!

Posted by Jonathan Logan on December 16, 2024

On this episode of Random Encounter, we’re chatting about gaming’s biggest night: The Game Awards 2024! After a few rocky years, The Game Awards have finally hit their stride for their 10th anniversary. There were some astonishing reveals, wonderful tributes, and a surprising amount of empathy for t… Read More »

Remember Your Oath! Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana Hands-On

Posted by Abraham Kobylanski on December 16, 2024

It’s a great time to be a fan of Ys. With Ys X: Nordics arriving a couple months ago, Nihon Falcom decided it’s also the right moment to take a trip into the chronicles of Adol Christin’s earlier adventures. Tracing its origin back to Ys III: Wanderers from Ys over 35 years ago, Oath in Felghana is… Read More »

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