(s) Archive
2022-01-22
Winner: Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker Few other games have led me to tears just by asking a simple question such as “Has your journey been good? Has it been worthwhile?” But Endwalker‘s deeply human and hopeful story reaches out from the screen and touches your heart in ways other video games have tried and failed.ā¦ Read More »
Winner: Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker Masayoshi Sokenās music in Final Fantasy XIV is so iconic that itās practically a character itself, and this is perhaps no truer than in Endwalker. From āFootfalls,ā with its callbacks to leitmotifs from previous expansions, to the theme of Sharlayan and its beautiful vocal variant āFlow,ā Endwalker introduces powerful newā¦ Read More »
Winner (tie): Hootle (Tales of Arise) Mascot characters: you either love them or hate them. If done wrong, they can break the mood of a game (hi, Bienfu from Tales of Berseria). However, the great ones melt your heart every time they are on screen, and thatās exactly what Hootle does in Tales of Arise!ā¦ Read More »
Winner: Final Fantasy VII Remake Episode INTERmission Final Fantasy VII Remake Episode INTERmission is what all DLC should aspire to be. It expands on the base story without feeling like itās a missing piece of the main game. It introduces new combat mechanics that help the brief adventure feel fresh, and the side activities giveā¦ Read More »
Winner: Tales of Arise Tales games institute a new combination of adjectives into their fighting system with every new entry. For Tales of Arise, they’ve gone back to their roots with the name āLinear Motion Battle System.ā Limiting martial artes (not a typo) and spells with MP, SP, TP, or anything else with a P,ā¦ Read More »
Winner: Final Fantasy VII Remake Episode INTERmission Final Fantasy VII Remake certainly piqued many fans’ interests with its new take on the 1997 classic by using Unreal Engine 4 to the fullest. Even though the game is largely defined by the 2020 release, the visual benchmark set was still enhanced in the release of INTERmission.ā¦ Read More »
2022-01-21
Iāve desperately needed gaming this year to compensate as I lacked other forms of entertaining myself. I was quite undecided about how to tackle my year-end rankings, and then an email from Nintendo magically appeared in my inbox: my 2021 year in review summary. āAha,ā I thought to myself. āThese will all be games releasedā¦ Read More »
1. Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker After 2019ās Shadowbringers rocketed Final Fantasy XIV into Game of the Year position (both in our overall awards and my personal accolades), my expectations were incredibly high for Endwalker. And I must admit, part of me expected that Square Enix would not be able to top what had become notā¦ Read More »
As 2021 has come to a close, we look back at another great year of RPGs. While āadultingā saps my precious gaming time away, I still had the luxury of being able to play some great RPGs this year! Here are my personal top five Most Enjoyed Games. 5. Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade Coming freshā¦ Read More »
Despite what you might think, a lot of games released in 2021. The year finished in a blur, for me at least, and I had to refresh myself on what actually came out this year. Top Games of 2021 1. Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy The latest entry in the Atelierā¦ Read More »
I initially thought that the strength of video games in 2021 might make it difficult to choose favorites. Yet, as the year went on, I felt that assessment was getting easier rather than more difficult. I missed plenty of titles in 2021 that Iām aiming to come back to in 2022, especially in terms ofā¦ Read More »
1. Super Robot Wars 30 2021 is the year I got back into anime, and Super Robot Wars 30 is why. I havenāt watched anime in well over a decade, but thanks to Super Robot Wars 30, I have watched (and thoroughly enjoyed) Majestic Prince, am currently watching (and absolutely loving) Gun X Sword, andā¦ Read More »
2021 was difficult in many respects, but instead of burdening yāall with details, Iāll just say that I played way more new games than I usually do to escape the hellscape of the real world. But it still didnāt seem like enough. I did get to at least eight 2021 titles Iād like to discussā¦ Read More »
Top 5 RPGs/Visual Novels: 1. Final Fantasy XIV Granted, I haven’t been able to log in to Final Fantasy XIV since Endwalker dropped due to the congestion issues, but I had a blast this year catching up on the story expansions and switching my characterās job to Samurai. Hopefully, Iāll be able to actually playā¦ Read More »
2021 was an amazing year for RPGs for me. I got surprise new entries in niche series I loved, fantastic follow-ups to long-running series, and gorgeous new IPs. Best Atelier Game / Best Gust Game / Also Best Tomb Raider Game? Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy The Atelier series has beenā¦ Read More »
Game of the Year – Deltarune: Chapter 2 With every new game Toby Fox releases, he successfully iterates on his signature style even more. Deltarune Chapter 2 is as madcap as ever, but in a medium where comedy usually feels forced or unintentional, it is rare to play something so genuinely gut-busting. Maybe this isā¦ Read More »
2021 was a banner year for RPGs that I, Wes, didnāt play. Sure, I made my way around some of the big ones, but all the little hidden gems Iād usually revel in are waiting for 2022 as I spent so much of this year revisiting old favorites for comfort, or via one of theā¦ Read More »
At this point, it feels tired to say that this year was a tough one. But you know what? I think we can all agree that 2021 wasn’t quite the relief we hoped it would be. Nonetheless, the games were once again very good, so we’re happy to finally be able to present our Gameā¦ Read More »
I try to spend some of my free time playing games, and of course, I try to dedicate some of this time to RPGs. The curious thing about me generally, especially this year, is that I didn’t play a single solitary game that came out this year. Most of my game time for this websiteā¦ Read More »
Game That Rises Above Others Award Sorry Monster Hunter Rise, I did love the time I spent with you, but another game with the word āRiseā in its title was just superior. Tales of Arise really was a spectacular game through and through, and shows just how great a game can be if companies takeā¦ Read More »
3. Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart Rift Apart just knows how to have fun. Itās a rather short adventure because of its quick pace, but itās densely packed with pure joy and charm. The roster of weapons and gadgets, most of which use the PS5ās DualSense controller to interesting effect, can be hard to graspā¦ Read More »
Best Collection of Songs About The Happy Turtle Final Fantasy VII Remake Episode INTERmission is probably the best DLC I have ever played. Yuffie controls like my wildest RPG dream, the tag team moves with Sonon speak of interesting developments to the battle system in future Final Fantasy VII Remake installments, and don’t even getā¦ Read More »
There was no shortage of excellent games in 2021, and behind every great game, thereās a great cat. Thus, I present to you my coolest cats and kittens of the year. The issue with ranking them, however, is that all cats are the best, so all my selections are tied for first place. Thus, whenā¦ Read More »
2022-01-11
Made by solo French developer Tryton, Cesspool is a short pixel RPG set in a psychedelic wasteland, bringing to mind quirky and colorful titles such as EarthBound, PokƩmon, and Nadia Was Here.
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 »
