(s) Archive
2021-01-07
Blitzball. A smile has cracked across someoneās face, and only because the word is written in isolation. Blitzball. An annoyed player resets their PlayStation, determined to beat the Luca Goers in the finals. Blitzball. A silly laugh is shared between two star-crossed lovers, neither aware of truths above their knowledge. Blitzball. A small fishing townā¦ Read More »
2020-12-31
Included among my approximately 4,296 hobbies is browsing through comic book websites and gazing in wonder at the preview art of rarely-translated European graphic novels. A few exquisitely-drawn tomes have even ended up on my bookshelves; so when I first noticed Vesper: Ether Saga on Kickstarter, my curiosity was definitely piqued.
2020-12-30
Around the mid-2010s, a niche JRPG series began to pick up steam and quickly became (in)famous around the JRPG world. That series was Hyperdimension Neptunia, whose main selling point was its cute characters and commentary on the gaming industry. For most critics, the series was nothing more than a mediocre RPG series that managed toā¦ Read More »
2020-12-17
Welcome to RPGFan’s Most Anticipated Games of 2021, where we take a look at some of our most anticipated titles for the upcoming year! When we put together our list of the Most Anticipated Games for 2020, there were some clear, AAA titles that we knew we couldn’t miss. That might not be as trueā¦ Read More »
2020-12-09
What are you trying to prove? It’s a question I’ve been asking myself a lot lately, and one that feels particularly important right now. That’s probably why Something Classic Games‘ Shadows of Adam struck such a chord with me: it asks the same thing. What are we trying to prove? Who are we proving itā¦ Read More »
2020-12-03
Iām sure at least three or four of you out there have played both Chrono Trigger and Dark Souls, perhaps even wondered what would happen if you were to mix the two. If so, Chrono Sword may be the answer to your question; a Souls-like action RPG with isometric pixel graphics and a strong narrative that blends time travel with a gothic fantasy world.
2020-12-02
Prologue Long, long ago, there was an idea for an RPGFan feature series that centered around books. Absolute cheese novel adaptations of games, game/novel pairings…basically the intersection of interactive fiction and print fiction. Multiple writers expressed interest and the idea grew. What you see before you is the latest chapter in that venture, and whatā¦ Read More »
2020-11-29
Peter Triezenberg Final Fantasy X-2, as a story, is such an anachronism. It is both too weird to be a sequel to Final Fantasy X, and also not weird enough to stand on its own. There are glimmers of potential scattered throughout the game’s plot, such as themes of civil unrest, rebuilding in the wakeā¦ Read More »
2020-11-25
The majority of JRPGs we’ve played, including the iconic classics, could theoretically boil down to this basic formula: A ragtag party of adventurers saves the world from an evil god-tier supervillain and everyone lives happily ever after. This is just like the childhood stories we were told that were rife with āhappily ever afterā endings. As weā¦ Read More »
2020-11-20
Flashback Friday is a weekly column that focuses on fond memories in RPGs. Please be advised that spoilers about the series in question may be present and will not necessarily be marked. RPGs have never featured heavily in the arcades. Sure, thereās a handful like Golvellius, but theyāre a rare breed. That’s not surprising, givenā¦ Read More »
2020-11-13
Up here in Canada, we used to have a department store chain called āSimpsonās.ā No, it wasnāt related to the then-unborn animated sitcom of the same name. It was more akin to Sears or Hudsonās Bay.
Downtown Toronto is home to the Eatonās Centre, an absolutely enormous mall complex that spans several city blocks and throbs at the heart of the cityās shopping districts. Itās dominated by H&M and Uniqlo these days, but when I was a wee lad, Simpsonās made up a decent block of its sprawl.
2020-11-04
Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter isn’t the “Dark Souls of JRPGs,” though there are quite a few comparisons that can be made to From Software’s recent work. It is an incredibly ambitious title a decade or more ahead of its time in numerous ways. While many of its elements can be found in modern gamesā¦ Read More »
2020-11-03
On its surface, Quintet’s 1992 action RPG Soul Blazer appears similar to any other Zelda-inspired game of the early ’90s. Originally titled Soul Blader in Japan, the game sits apart from its contemporaries thanks to its focus on life, death, and human nature, along with the religious overtones accompanying such themes. While Blazer’s follow-ups (Illusion of Gaia and Terranigma) have richer character development and symbolism, as well as more refined gameplay concepts, this title is no less important to the mythos of the loosely connected trilogy.
2020-10-31
Halloween is upon us, and parts of the world celebrate the darker days with costumes, candy, superstition, and scares. Alongside skeletons, pumpkins, and other monsters, one iconic piece of the Halloween mythos is the vampire. “Vampire” is a catch-all term for dozens of folkloric monsters from all over the world, with the unifying factor beingā¦ Read More »
2020-10-30
Flashback Friday is a weekly column that focuses on fond memories in RPGs. Please be advised that spoilers about the series in question may be present and will not necessarily be marked. The Saturn is a criminally overlooked system, all of which is SEGAās own fault. Despite having an incredible libraryāmuch of which has neverā¦ Read More »
From Italian studio Sezhes comes Evolution : Versicorae Domlion, a gothic horror RPG mixing classic 90ās style gameplay with visual novel elements. Pack a stylish hat and travel back to May of 1938; specifically, to the fictional town of Gris, a place brimming with classic architecture, stylish attire, and grotesque Lovecraftian monstrosities. Fun times!
2020-10-27
Historians are folklorists, repositories for tales of continental turtles and apocryphal victories alike. Over time, our stories naturally become mutated, transfigured into forms they were never meant to take. When strangled by tradition, history becomes the patron saint of orthodoxy, standing in opposition to growth and necessary change. And it is within Ishgard, a towering, gothic city-state in Final Fantasy XIVās first expansion, Heavensward, where history is brought to trial with superb detail and dynamism.
2020-10-25
Alana Hagues Being a SEGA kid growing up, I was always disappointed that I never got a chance, or made the time, to play any of theĀ Phantasy StarĀ games. Picking upĀ Phantasy Star IVĀ 27 years after it first came out, it struck me just how fresh it felt, even today. The End of the MillenniumĀ is a breezyā¦ Read More »
2020-10-23
Flashback Friday is a weekly column that focuses on fond memories in RPGs. Please be advised that spoilers about the series in question may be present and will not necessarily be marked. A fair note: This one deals with some heavy material regarding depression and family. If youāre okay with that, proceed. In 1999, Iā¦ Read More »
2020-10-21
Every October, I spend approximately 16 hours trying to decide which spooky games to play; next year, I hope to add Scarlet Hollow to my list. A horror-themed visual novel from comic creator Abby Howard, Scarlet Hollow takes you to a gloomy Appalachian town featuring exquisitely detailed hand-drawn backgrounds, a diverse selection of love interests, and perhaps even an alpaca or two.
2020-10-16
Flashback Friday is a weekly column that focuses on fond memories in RPGs. Please be advised that spoilers about the series in question may be present and will not necessarily be marked. āIāll use it later.ā āIāve got to save it for the boss.ā āThere might not be another, so Iāll keep this until Iā¦ Read More »
2020-10-14
The Last Remnant respectfully disagrees with convention. Released in 2008 and directed by Hiroshi Takai (Final Fantasy XVI), The Last Remnant sees the player as general of their own army. Each individual in your army possesses their respective stats, equipment, and skills with progression and growth for all three. Although Rush, the gameās protagonist searching for his kidnapped sibling, can be personalized as you please, the hundreds of other potential members of your army retain control over their load-outs.
2020-10-09
Welcome back for our final selections, this time leading all the way up to last year! While many of us have affection for the classics in our first list, there’s no doubt that RPGs are alive and well looking at all the modern masterpieces on today’s list. Thanks so much for reading everyone! What doā¦ Read More »
2020-10-08
Welcome to day two of our Defending Champions feature. The 2000s was an interesting time of transition from more traditional RPGs to the often experimental, and everything in between. Be sure to check back tomorrow to see the results for 2010-2019!
2020-10-07
Dragon Quest was first released in 1986 in Japan. Although it never took off in the United States and wasn’t the first RPG ever released, there’s no question that DQ helped define what JRPGs are today. So in honor of Dragon Quest, we decided to look back at our favorite RPGs of each year sinceā¦ Read More »
