(s) Archive
2025-04-25
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 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 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 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. 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. 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 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. 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 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 »
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. 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. 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. 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. 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 »
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 »
2025-04-04
While Blades of Fire was only announced earlier this year, it’s gracing PCs and consoles next month. This adventure title from developer MercurySteam (creators of my beloved Metroid Dread, but that’s neither here nor there) is built around an interesting concept: What happens in a medieval world ruled by a dangerous Queen when she curses… Read More »
2025-03-20
Michael Sollosi Tales titles are typically reliable RPG comfort food. You go on a journey for a few dozen hours, get to know a group of quirky anime teenagers, and save the world while navigating a world full of color and made-up nonsense words that explain the setting’s unification of technology and magic. Tales of… Read More »
2025-03-19
As a little kid growing up on the PlayStation 1 and my father’s NES, I was accustomed to replaying the same short experiences again and again. Not knowing how to work a memory card—and fearful of overwriting dad’s Metal Gear Solid save—I was content to start my handful of games fresh each day. If it… Read More »
2025-02-26
Hello RPGFriends, and welcome to 2025’s first installment of Crowdfunding Chronicles! Today we present the Kickstarter debut of a title which may be familiar to some of our readers; Alterium Shift, a SNES-inspired 2D-HD RPG featuring brisk turn-based combat and an epic journey through parallel dimensions.
2025-02-08
Winner: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Writeup by Jerry Williams I’ve been to a few Distant Worlds concerts in my time, which is a celebration of the Final Fantasy series’ suite of outstanding compositions and arrangements played by a full orchestra near you. I get decent seats but never felt the need to splurge on premium… Read More »
Winner: Koromaru (Persona 3 Reload) Writeup by Aleks Franiczek The votes are in: you simply can’t beat a good boy. And between Koromaru’s loving loyalty, bright personality, and fierce battle power, a boy doesn’t get much gooder. Atlus is arguably the king of mascot characters but, to be honest, I find most of them annoying.… Read More »
Winner: Metaphor: ReFantazio Writeup by Sean Cabot There are a few JRPGs from the past few years whose handling of prejudice and slavery never sat well with me. Cliche and underdeveloped core themes overshadow any insightful points. Metaphor: ReFantazio touches upon common elements related to these topics, but only as much as it needs to. The… Read More »
Winner: Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII Rebirth) Writeup by Abe Kobylanski We all had an idea of how Final Fantasy VII Rebirth would end and that Sephiroth would have a role in that ending. In the prologue, Cloud recalls a moment where he was assailed by a terrifying act of cruelty, and from that point, Sephiroth’s… Read More »
Winner: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Writeup by Tim Rattray This game’s localization aren’t sick. When localization is clearly undercooked, we endlessly mock it (see above). In the original Final Fantasy VII’s case, this occurred because it was handled primarily by one man in a short timeframe. These mishaps are far less common now, thanks to… Read More »
Winner: Metaphor: ReFantazio Writeup by Des Miller Initially, it was easy to write off Metaphor: ReFantazio as just fantasy Persona. Yet within minutes of the game starting, Metaphor quickly proved itself as more than that. The narrative shows its teeth early on with the focus on classism and racism, the cast is incredibly strong with… Read More »
