Podcast(s) Archive
Retro Encounter 207 – Fire Emblem: Three Houses Spoilercast
Fire Emblem: Three Houses made a huge splash among RPG fans in general and Fire Emblem fans in particular in July 2019, and a few months later we’re ready to dive deep into a spoilercast all about it. Favorite characters, the nuances of different story paths, and more all take center stage in this f… Read More »
Retro Encounter 206 – Wild ARMs 3 Part II
The second half of Wild ARMs 3 is loaded with hidden puzzle rooms, secret bosses, unidentified flying objects, and story surprises. Wild ARMs 3 has many hidden depths buried in its post-apocalyptic sands, and Retro Encounter’s panel is ready to dig in. So is Wild ARMs 3 good, bad, or ugly? Listen to… Read More »
Retro Encounter 205 – Wild ARMs 3 Part I
Wild ARMs fans can’t agree which game is the best in the series, but Wild ARMs 3 won a public poll held earlier this year, so that’s the Ramen Western our two Retro Encounter panelists are taking on. Post-apocalyptic cowboys, shamanistic magic, and an excess of JRPG statistics populate this PS2 gem,… Read More »
Retro Encounter 204 – DS Encounter
Retro Encounter celebrates Nintendo’s massively successful handheld in a new console-dedicated episode! Melodramatic lawyers, gentleman professors, Square-Enix remakes, and even rotoscoped detectives get their shine in this episode celebrating as many D.S. acronyms as we can remember. So which Drago… Read More »
Retro Encounter 203 – Which Dragon Quest Is Dragon Best?
With Dragon Quest XI’s Switch version on the horizon and Dragon Quest Builders II in the rearview mirror, two of Retro Encounter’s distinguished Dragon Quest dilettantes delve into the entire series catalogue. Eventually, the dynamic duo determine Retro Encounter’s official favorite Dragon Quest. Do… Read More »
Retro Encounter 202 – RPG Villains: Luca Blight
Luca Blight, the mad dog of a bad prince from Suikoden II, is one of the most memorable villains of Japanese RPGs, and Retro Encounter is bringing back the RPG Villains format to celebrate, analyze, and reproach him. What was Luca’s most horrible act? Could Luca have joined the heroes in different c… Read More »
Retro Encounter 201 – The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel Part II
In their second exploration of The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel, a panel gets deep into Erebonian politics, giant robots, and school dances. Plot twists, connections to other Trails titles, and more take center stage at the Thors Military Academy festival. Who’s the cutest couple at the sc… Read More »
Retro Encounter 200 – The Retro Encounter Awards
Retro Encounter celebrates 200 episodes with its very own awards show! Five panelists discuss more than twenty awards subjects, except they aren’t beholden to particular years, specific genres, or common sense. The categories, winners, and panelists follow no rules at all except “Must either be unde… Read More »
Retro Encounter 199 – The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel Part I
Retro Encounter braves their second Falcom journey of 2019 with The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel, an epic tale of generations of war, an economic class divide, and questionable school field trips. Four panelists of Trails veterans and newcomers tackle the fan-favorite RPG with enthusiasm f… Read More »
Retro Encounter 198 – Trials of Mana Part II
Four Retro Encounter panelists each finished Trials of Mana (maybe more than once) and there is plenty to discuss. The game hits its non-linear middle chapter and choice-determined finale, and everything from elemental weaknesses to class changes to endgame loot hunting comes up. Beat up those Benev… Read More »
Retro Encounter 197 – Summer Nights
Three RPGFan panelists spend a warm July evening reminiscing about the games of summer. Games played durring summer break from school, games that have a summery feeling, or even games tied to specific middle-of-the-year-in-the-northern-hemisphere memories. This episode covers an enormous range of to… Read More »
Retro Encounter 196 – Trials of Mana Part I
Seiken Densetsu III spent more than two decades on lists of “great Japanese RPGs that never left Japan,” until June 2019. It was added to the Retro Encounter schedule minutes after the announcement during E3 2019. A month after that fateful Nintendo Direct, four Retro Encounter panelists have played… Read More »
Retro Encounter 195 – Worst in Show
It’s fun to talk about what you love, but almost as much fun to wallow in shared disdain. For this episode of Retro Encounter, four panelists discuss their LEAST favorite games in a few of their favorite series, from Kingdom Hearts Re:Remakes to flawed first or second games of legendary JRPG series… Read More »
Retro Encounter 194 – Until Dawn
Retro Encounter gets spooky in June as two panelists discuss Until Dawn, the 2015 horror-narrative game where everyone can live, everyone can die, and everyone will definitely get chased around a resort cabin by psychopaths and wendigos. It’s a cool game about cold weather in the hot summer for Retr… Read More »
Retro Encounter 193 – Mythology and Folklore in RPGs
Mythology, including everything from fairy tales to foundational beliefs of ancient peoples, has influenced storytelling, literature, and human civilization for thousands of years. Many RPGs are heavily influenced by myth, and on today’s Retro Encounter three folklore enthusiasts talk about mytholog… Read More »
Retro Encounter 192 – Honor Thy Mother and thy Father
RPGFan recently celebrated Mother’s Day and Father’s Day with separate features dedicate to the moms and dads of RPGs, and Retro Encounter is here to piggyback on those pieces like they’re a dad at a swimming pool. Three panelists discuss the best moms and dads of RPGs, from hands-off mothers suppor… Read More »
Retro Encounter 191 – Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Revisited
Retro Encounter did an episode all about Castlevania: Symphony of the Night in late 2015, but back then Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night wasn’t on the horizon and Timespinner didn’t exist in a playable state. With the benefit of hindsight, two longtime Castlevania fans revisit the PS1 nonlinear sid… Read More »
Retro Encounter 101 – Final Fantasy XII Part I
Retro Encounter returns to Dalmasca with Final Fantasy XII, the PlayStation 2 classic recently remastered for PlayStation 4. In this first episode our panelists talk classes, characters, and personal memories of Final Fantasy XII, especially the game’s excellent localization and Vaan’s impressive ab… Read More »
Rhythm Encounter 50 – Hazem Hawash and Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom
Many years later after a very successful Kickstarter campaign, Enigami brings to life Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom, a magical world of vivid sceneries and wonderful, alluring music. Creator and composer, Hazem Hawash, alongside his dedicated team, pored a great deal of love into Shiness, so it was… Read More »
Rhythm Encounter 49 – Mustin and Psychokinetic
It’s safe to say that EarthBound has a lot of fans, and that includes us at RPG…Fan. Bad jokes aside, where there are fans, there’s often a demand for quality arrangements of classic RPG music. Mustin, of Mustin Enterprises (formerly OneUp Studios), and a group of excellent remix producers collect… Read More »
Rhythm Encounter 48 – Braxton Burks on Johto Legends
Pokémon fans have had a lot of music to listen to over the years, but we at RPGFan believe there’s always room for beautiful new arrangements of classic RPG tunes. Apparently the amazing folks at Materia Collective agree, because they’ve launched a Kickstarter to create an hour-long orchestral album… Read More »
Rhythm Encounter 47 – Interlude: Persona 5
Our third interlude is all about the music of Persona 5! With the long-awaited RPG just around the corner, we thought it would be a special treat to share some selections from the amazing soundtrack this time around. So grab your masks and get ready to steal some hearts! Also, on a housekeeping note… Read More »
Rhythm Encounter 46 – Music of the Year 2016: Final Movement
The final movement of Rhythm Encounter’s Music of the Year 2016 extravaganza is upon us. In true MOTY tradition, that means this episode is where we, your hosts, get to share with you some of our favorite music from the past year. We’ve got music from big names like Final Fantasy and Pokémon to indi… Read More »
Rhythm Encounter 45 – Music of the Year 2016: Second Movement
Music of the Year 2016 rolls on! You’re probably reading this on Monday, but where I live, it’s still Sunday, and therefore this is “on time.” Seriously though, we intentionally posted this a bit later in the evening since we wanted to give our import review of NieR: Automata time to shine all weeke… Read More »
Rhythm Encounter 44 – Music of the Year 2016: First Movement
What’s that in the sky? It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s Music of the Year 2016 on Rhythm Encounter! This year we’ve trimmed the fat a little to make each of our three MOTY podcasts a little easier to digest. Our first episode kicks things off with a few of our dedicated staff members sharing the… Read More »
