Retro Encounter Final Thoughts(s) Archive
2024-09-06
Audra Bowling I still have fond memories of my first Dragon Age: Inquisition playthrough, so I was thrilled when the opportunity to revisit the game right before the looming release date for Dragon Age: The Veilguard presented itself. Iāll always have a nostalgic soft spot for BioWare games, and I am pleasantly surprised to findā¦ Read More »
2024-07-31
Dom Kim I must confess that I feared how this playthrough for Retro Encounter would turn out. It had been years since I last booted up Dark Souls, and having recently gone on a month-long Elden Ring spree both preparing for and playing through the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC I couldnāt help but wonderā¦ Read More »
2024-07-03
Claton Stevenson My first impressions of Grandia II was initially to cringe, particularly at the abrasive and often misogynistic sass coming out of main protagonist Ryudoās mouth. Thankfully, though, Ryudo is quickly given opportunities to soften and grow, as the narrative reveals more about his life and relationship to the conflict between Valmar and Granas.ā¦ Read More »
2024-06-12
Michael Sollosi Before starting Omori, I knew it by reputation. This is an RPG about trauma and depression, and it handles those two topics earnestly in the form of a retro-styled RPG. But Omori is also considerably more.Ā Sadness, joy, and anger are status effects-slash-status buffs that are employed both positively and negatively. The worldā¦ Read More »
2024-05-08
Audra Bowling The first Arc the Lad game was a brief, enjoyable foray into an interesting video game world that could only do so much with its limitations. While playing it, I felt both enjoyment and underwhelmed in equal measure. But then I tried its sequel, and I fell in love with another SRPG seriesā¦ Read More »
2024-04-03
Michael Sollosi Final Fantasy IVĀ was my first RPG; I played at a sleepover with two other friends in 1993 or 1994. It was my gateway into all RPGs, and as a result feels like a genre staple. ButĀ Final Fantasy IVĀ is so obviously influential to Square(soft)ās future output and to RPGs in general, that those feelingsā¦ Read More »
2024-03-03
Michael Sollosi When I played Dragon Quest XI in 2018 I was awestruck. Everything from the gameās expressive monster animations to the snappy turn-based combat to the fairy tale story was pure, distilled Dragon Quest, but in a modern presentation so gorgeous I could scarcely believe it. But would my favorite RPG of the 2010sā¦ Read More »
2024-01-28
Aleks Franiczek As someone who loves to play videogames that try something different narratively, mechanically, and thematically, my exposure toĀ Love-de-LicĀ and theirĀ oddball development legacy across multiple studiosĀ has been long overdue. Iām glad I finally got aroundĀ moon: Remix RPG Adventure, the game that started it all, and was able to have such a thoughtful discussion about itā¦ Read More »
2023-12-24
Michael Sollosi Why do nearly all RPGs, even the ones with elaborate character creation systems, always start the same way? There are many sensible reasons for this, but I appreciate how Dragon Age: Origins rejects that idea outright. Just after character creation, the player chooses one of six different Chapter 1’s to begin the story,ā¦ Read More »
2023-12-05
Michael Sollosi Bloodborne is a revelation. An intense action RPG with incredible freedom and drama, draped in a blood-soaked Gothic aesthetic that’s brutal and beautiful, Bloodborne‘s environments, boss fights, and hidden secrets get more fascinating by the minute. Bloodborne is the game that gave us the term “Soulsbourne,” as it has all the hallmarks ofā¦ Read More »
2023-10-24
Michael Sollosi This is my first time playing Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure, and, well, the highest compliment I can give is that it goes down smoothly. Rhapsody is fast-paced, easy to understand, and so breezy that I wonder if it was a little too easy? Rhapsody has a cute premise (a village girl falls inā¦ Read More »
2023-10-01
Aleks Franiczek Breath of Fire: Dragon QuarterĀ is a rare RPGs that dares to look outside of its genre for inspiration and hammers it down with a distinct vision. From that standpoint, itās really the opposite of the rest of theĀ Breath of FireĀ series, which was content to play within the common JRPG standards of the 1990sāwithā¦ Read More »
2023-08-27
Hilary Andreff Disco Elysium is a game you play when you feel like reading a book. I’ve been reflecting on this comment significantly since we convened and podcasted, and it’s true in many ways. This game requires attention, patience, reflection and promises a range of responses and feelings that match even well-written fiction. Disco Elysiumā¦ Read More »
2023-07-16
Aleks Franiczek Final Fantasy VI has long been my default answer when asked what my “Favorite Game of All Time” is. I hadnāt played through it in over a decade leading up to this podcast, and I was honestly concerned that the experience wouldnāt live up to this legendary status Iāve assigned it. Childhood memories andā¦ Read More »
2023-06-06
Peter Triezenberg Lost Odyssey is a special game. While it doesnāt necessarily bring anything new to the table, itās an exemplary RPG made by experienced developers and talented artists. Much praise has been given to the Thousands Years of Dreams, and theyāre indeed beautiful, but Iām in love with the rest of the package asā¦ Read More »
2022-12-28
Peter Triezenberg Xenosaga Episode I is not a good video game. I feel like I need to get that out of the way: it’s slow, clunky, and needlessly obtuse, with a cumbersome battle system that wears out its welcome even before you realize that there’s only one battle theme for 99% of the experience. Andā¦ Read More »
2022-10-02
Wes Iliff I knew going in what a special game LIVE A LIVE is. After playing it decades ago through a fan translation, getting into an official western release was something to get excited for. What I didnāt expect was how well it would hold up, or how well a few small quality of lifeā¦ Read More »
2022-09-04
Michael Sollosi Final Fantasy XIII was a victim of its own hype. When Square Enix outlined the Fabula Nova Crystallis project in 2006, they committed themselves to (at least) four games of great ambition and promise, but unfortunately none of their development cycles went quite as planned. Final Fantasy XIII is startlingly beautiful, especially forā¦ Read More »
2022-08-10
Michael Sollosi Tales of Xillia has a few things going against it. Its PS3-only release somewhat limits its audience, especially since the PS3 has a weaker overall library of games than the PS2, further scaring players away. But PS3 owners who seek out JRPGs and are at least Tales of-curious series are in for aā¦ Read More »
2022-07-03
Cory Tischbein Playing Suikoden for the first time today is a little strange. Few series can boast a fanbase as devoted, with many claiming that some series entries surpass the heights of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. Yet the series is dead ā and has been for decades now in the U.S. The excitement Iā¦ Read More »
2022-03-01
Jono Logan Going back to the early era of the industry, games based on movies generally had the feeling of cynical cash grabs. The one big exception to this was always Star Wars, which had the full backing of George Lucasā own video game developer, LucasArts. Though they turned out dozens of legendary licensed games,ā¦ Read More »
2022-02-06
Audra Bowling Skies of Arcadia was a title I’d heard a lot about over the years, but like some of those pesky discoveries you search for throughout the game, it always eluded me. That changed with an incredibly kind gesture from our very own Michael Sollosi. While it took me far longer than I care toā¦ Read More »
2021-12-29
Audra Bowling My first exposure to Final Fantasy was the original FFVII on PlayStation. Since then, Iāve been determined to explore the series by playing through every main installment at least once. Yet Final Fantasy V always eluded me. I was never able to get a copy of the PlayStation release, didn’t have access toā¦ Read More »
2021-12-02
Audra Bowling Ys Origin was my first exposure to the Ys series, as I became extremely curious about the action RPG games after a friend couldn’t stop exuding the praises of Ys: The Oath in Felghana to me. Unfortunately, although not a reflection of my enjoyment of the game, things happened around the first timeā¦ Read More »
2021-10-31
Michael Sollosi Cosmic Star Heroine is game of admirable ambition, clearly inspired by many of the most acclaimed 16-bit Japanese RPGs, striving to hit those highs in a brisk runtime with gameplay concepts from a time beyond that golden age of JRPGs. The game looks like a brilliant lost Super Nintendo RPG and feels likeā¦ Read More »
