(s) Archive
2022-12-14
Welcome to RPGFan’s 35 Most Anticipated Games of 2023! You might notice that we added about..oh I don’t know, five more games than normal this year. But the reality is that 2023 is absolutely packed with games we want to play, both the AAA and indie variety alike. Frankly, it’s amazing time to be an… Read More »
2022-12-12
Last week, thanks to the lovely people at Square Enix, I had the opportunity to get some hands-on time with Forspoken, which you can read about here. I also had the privilege of speaking to and interviewing Takefumi Terada (Co-Director), Takeshi Aramaki (Head of Luminous Productions and Director), and Raio Mitsuno (Creative Producer) of the… Read More »
2022-12-07
Final Fantasy V-VIII covers a lot of ground graphically and features a wide variety in narrative and gameplay styles. Many of them have also been released several times on several different consoles. Many people consider VI or VII their favorites, so there are some frontrunners here. See if they appeal to you! Final Fantasy V… Read More »
The FFIX–XII era saw a lot of change for the Final Fantasy series, not only in terms of hardware to develop for but in story and game design directions as well. This gives us a collection of fascinating and perfectly imperfect entries to look at. This also means that one of them is likely to… Read More »
Now let’s turn our attention to recent happenings in the Final Fantasy universe and toward the future with Final Fantasy XVI. ONWARD! Final Fantasy XIII Original Release: 2009, Sony PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Xbox 360Also Released On: Microsoft Windows, iOS and Android (Streaming) What it’s about: Let’s avoid most of the proper nouns, or we’ll… Read More »
To call Final Fantasy a titan of the RPG world is a profound understatement. For many, it is the RPG series. For many others, it used to be. Some consider it a home for tradition, others an experimental playground. It’s a series that’s as divisive as any, but one that nonetheless keeps breaking sales records… Read More »
2022-11-26
Once upon a time, in a magical RPG realm not unlike the colorful lands of Paper Mario, a brave adventurer known as Flynt Buckler made his way to the Sleepy Castle to fight his long-time nemesis, a sinister dragon named Tinder.
2022-11-23
Relationships are fascinating in that they’re all kinds of wonderful but can be messy and complicated as well. Human existence is all about relationships. We harbor relationships with our parents, siblings, extended family, friends, colleagues, first dates, lovers, neighbors, the world, ourselves, and everyone and everything else I’m too lazy to list. Relationships play crucial… Read More »
2022-11-09
In early 2019, Chained Echoes exploded onto Kickstarter with a final total more than double the original goal: a pretty impressive result for solo developer Matthias Linda. If you don’t know what Chained Echoes is, then go watch this trailer. We’ll wait. Seeing the game in motion proves that Linda understands classic JRPGs and knows… Read More »
2022-11-05
Upon beginning Pandora’s Tower in earnest, one soon uncovers many thought-provoking themes like gender roles, religious vegetarianism, loyalty, and more. As the plot progresses, the wider mysteries of the world promptly fall into the background. The game’s more intimate themes do far more to capture the imagination and inquiry of the player than the setting’s political backdrop… Read More »
2022-11-01
In the past two decades, Inon Zur has made a reputation as a strong, reliable, and innovative composer in the game music industry. He has worked on major titles within franchises such as Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, and Dragon Age and has come to define the soundscape of one especially interesting adventure game series: Syberia.… Read More »
2022-10-27
Strap on your jetpack for a vibrant anime RPG mixing sci-fi with real world science! Arriving in 2023, LunarLux will take players to a stylish pixelated world inspired by Mega Man Battle Network, starring a lineup of colorful characters that could fit right in to a Studio Trigger production.
2022-10-26
“Games shouldn’t be political.” “The main character being a woman/person of color/queer isn’t realistic.” “Sad, they’re pandering to SJWs/Woke gamers instead of focusing on making games.” You’ve probably heard one or all of these “critiques” of games and developers who try to be inclusive. Whether it’s on social media, in the comments section of a… Read More »
2022-10-19
Below, you’ll find our ten best games released on the PS3 (and not the 360). There are notably more Japanese games on this list, and the PS3 has more solid RPGs than a lot of people give it credit for, so we have a ranked list of 10 for you! 1) Persona 5 Written by… Read More »
Many see the “PSWii60” era as a bit of a dark age for RPGs, and there’s certainly something to that. There were fewer releases and many developers, particularly in Japan, struggled to transition to HD. Nonetheless, there were plenty of excellent games in the genre we love, and some of them are downright classics. And… Read More »
And here’s the end of our list! The Xbox 360 had comparatively fewer “exclusive” RPGs, so we decided to limit the list to five. But there are still some all-timers here that are worth checking out even today! Give our list a look below. 1) Tales of Vesperia Written by Wes Iliff Tales of Vesperia… 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 didn’t expect was how well it would hold up, or how well a few small quality of life… Read More »
2022-10-01
Yakuza Gaiden | Spin-Offs To Watch Out For (And Play): Aside from the several mainline games, the Like a Dragon/Yakuza series also touts a sizable collection of exciting spin-offs! RGG Studio takes advantage of the creative freedom offered by spin-offs by inventing wild (even for Yakuza) scenarios. Much of the mainline cast is reused in… Read More »
The Yakuza/Like a Dragon series is kind of like potato chips: Once you play one, you’ll want to play them all! You’ll be stunned at how readily you’ll jump from one 60-hour epic game to the next without a second thought. And if you ever get tired of the critical path of any of them,… Read More »
Hey, Does This Seem Like A Lot? Try Judgment! There are times when we all get a little tired of our daily routines and want to switch things up. It seems like RGG Studio reached that point back in the late 2010s, deciding that it was time to stretch their muscles and create a brand-new… Read More »
2022-09-23
The debut project from Montreal studio BlindCoco, Gales of Nayeli, brings you a strategy experience inspired by Fire Emblem and Shining Force.
2022-09-21
Last year, Kitfox Games released Boyfriend Dungeon, a title that allows you to live the ultimate human fantasy. Who doesn’t want to live in a lazy beach town with all the amenities anyone could ever ask for — a place where some people (and vampires) can turn into weapons you wield to fight evil presences… Read More »
2022-09-07
RPGFan: Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption is arguably the most RPG entry in the series to date, but you’re currently working on a shorter story in the same setting with a summer theme. Summer Daze at Hero-U: Tilly’s Tale is more of a visual novel. We’ve been anticipating it for a while, as visual novels are… Read More »
Long ago, there was a beloved adventure game series called Quest for Glory, the product of husband and wife team Lori and Corey Cole. It was incredibly fun and took stat boosting and class mechanics from tabletop RPGs and blended them with point-and-click exploration and action RPG combat long before others were melding those ideas.… 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 for… Read More »
