(s) Archive
2025-06-03
Sharpen your weapons and raise a flagon of mead; Prelude Dark Pain is a new tactical RPG combining the gameplay of Final Fantasy Tactics with the aesthetics of Dark Souls, The Witcher, and Hellboy.
2025-05-31
The energy in the Boston Exposition and Convention Center ballroom was palpable even before the Final Fantasy x Magic: The Gathering panel at PAX East 2025 began. Since the previous card reveals in February, and since the set is due to come out next month, there has been a significant amount of interest and even… Read More »
2025-05-15
Rob White I’ve loved having the opportunity to replay Suikoden II and play Suikoden for the first time with the recent remaster. It has confirmed to me that Suikoden II is still a fantastic game that holds its own even by modern standards. The first game very much feels like a prototype for Suikoden II… Read More »
2025-05-12
In Zek Lu’s glowing review of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, he proclaimed it features one of the most impressive soundtracks he’d ever heard in an RPG. As such, it is an honor to have the opportunity to interview Lorien Testard, the masterful composer behind this unforgettable journey. Patrick Gann shared this admiration in his brilliant… Read More »
2025-05-07
I readily admit that I am a collector of things. If a game I’m excited to play has a special edition, I’ll usually buy it. I like buying K-pop music because of the amazing packaging and photo books. If I discover a new band or musician that I really like, I can’t just buy one… Read More »
2025-04-25
1. Shining Force II I visited my friend’s house and Shining Force II was blaring through the CRT TV speakers with its exquisite battle music as my compadre walked up to orcs and gargoyles in top-down strategic glory. Until then, I had only played traditional RPGs, so this blew my elementary school mind. “What is… Read More »
1. Valkyrie Profile When I discovered RPGs as a child, I experienced simplistic and slow-paced battles with teenage boy protagonists rescuing damsels in distress. I wanted something different and exciting, dark and mature, and wholly unique. Valkyrie Profile granted this in spades and shattered my expectations while showing me that RPGs could be so much… Read More »
1. Pokémon Pokémon has been a defining factor in my life. It got me into anime, it got me into RPGs, it introduced me to new people and, most importantly, it got me through one of the hardest points of my life. Being the video game franchise that means the most to me, I can’t… Read More »
1. Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen Dragon Quest as a series is what drove me to RPGs in the heady days before school, before even knowing to read. The original Dragon Warrior release on NES drove me to learn to read. And it was my continued history with the series that caused me… Read More »
1. Final Fantasy X-2 To some readers this may be a controversial choice, but I proudly stand by it. Apart from the fact we haven’t had a mainline entry with both classic ATB and job systems since, Final Fantasy X-2 ties together multiple interests from my formative teenage years. As a blossoming fan of J-Pop… Read More »
1. Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride Dragon Quest games always have simple core mechanics serving as vehicles for tightly-written fantasy stories, given life by the late Akira Toriyama’s vibrant character and monster designs. I love that every Dragon Quest game has combat and menus from the 1990s or earlier, but stories, artwork,… Read More »
1. Suikoden II If FFVII holds a special place in my heart as my first ever RPG, Suikoden II holds one for being the first I bought with my own money. My sister and I pooled our saved allowance to buy it solely based on its gorgeous cover art and premise. We weren’t disappointed, immediately… Read More »
1. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic When I met my future wife in 2005, the only RPGs I had played up to that point were JRPGs. Furthermore, she did not even know what the term RPG meant (at the time). Both these things changed when we discovered Star Wars: Knights of the Old… Read More »
1. Star Ocean: The Second Story It was summer 2001, my two BFFs went on vacation with their families, and I was left at home with a small TV in my room to watch DVDs and play videogames. A little isolated, but entertained, I devoted myself to the first major RPG I’d play (nay, CONQUER)… Read More »
1. Final Fantasy VI There was a time when Final Fantasy VI was on the shortlist of the greatest games ever, so how could this one from my formative years not influence my tastes? Several of the 14 party members have more development and personality than most solo protagonists. In a way, I feel like… Read More »
1. NieR Over the course of my life, there have only been a handful of games that caused me to shift my paradigm around what I wanted. The 2010 release of NieR showed me the things I wanted in a game that I didn’t even know I wanted. The series’ tradition of excellence continues, but… Read More »
1. Final Fantasy VI Final Fantasy VI came out the year I was born, so suffice to say I didn’t play it on release. I did, however, grow up in a house with two older brothers where the game was heavily in rotation. Before they even trusted me to handle their precious games and pick… Read More »
1. Final Fantasy VII Purchasing a copy of this landmark RPG from my local HMV store in 1997 was a shot in the dark for me. I hadn’t been that aware of JRPGs, or much of the broader Japanese entertainment culture, prior to this act. But the cover looked stylish, and the screenshots on the… Read More »
I think we all remember the game that got us into RPGs. But what about the ones that really set the standard, that taught us what we want, that helped define our tastes? You know, the ones where you thought “oh, I like this” and you keep looking for it afterwards? With those questions in… Read More »
1. EarthBound I don’t think EarthBound was the first RPG I played, but it was definitely one of the first I owned and the first one I remember sinking my teeth into. I saved up a considerable amount of money to buy it and pored over the strategy guide whenever I wasn’t near my SNES.… Read More »
1. Final Fantasy VIII Final Fantasy VIII was my first Final Fantasy game and just happens to be the one that most accurately reflects my tastes in many aspects — the world, story, and gameplay. Due to my age when I played it, you could even say this game helped form my taste in RPGs… Read More »
1. Tales of Vesperia The Tales series has never had the production value of some Square Enix titles, but what they lack in spectacle, they make up for with some of the best casts in the genre. The famous skit feature ensures that you remember every party member and their relationships with each other. There… Read More »
1. Chrono Trigger Chrono Trigger earns instant inclusion on my list as it’s my favorite game, but more importantly, it’s the game that made gaming my hobby and cemented my enduring love for JRPGs. I was entranced when my step-cousin showed me Chrono Trigger on an emulator in the mid-2000s. My understanding of JRPGs amounted… Read More »
1. Fire Emblem If I owe my love of RPGs (and video games in general) to a single game, it’s Fire Emblem. The combination of fantasy setting and in-depth tactical gameplay was unlike anything I had ever seen before, and I fell in love with the robust cast of characters and well-developed setting of Elibe.… Read More »
1. Chrono Trigger Even if I didn’t have a love for time travel tales, Chrono Trigger is always on my list. It is, for me, old-school JRPG perfection, with timeless and gorgeous artwork and music, a cast I overwhelmingly love, and one interesting and innovative gameplay idea after another. Battles take place on the same… Read More »
