(s) Archive

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 since… Read More »

There’s a scene early on in Sega’s cult classic RPG, Skies of Arcadia, that’s always stuck with me. After rescuing the mysterious girl Fina from the clutches of the Valuan Armada, an empire that’s looking to rule the world with an iron fist, the two plucky heroes, Vyse and Aika, join their newly rescued friend at the highest point of their home, Pirate Isle. Together, the three of them look out at the endless sea of clouds, tinged with a warm glow as the sun sets. Fina, a sheltered descendent of an ancient civilisation called Silvites, is mesmerised by its beauty. Vyse agrees with her, and starts an impassioned speech with these words as he stares out towards the sky:

A little something different this week: We look at 5 PlayStation RPGs which are unique and interesting in ways that may be off-beat, but are hard to find elsewhere.

Leona McCallum I first played Persona 2: Innocent Sin back in 2009-ish when the game wasn’t even available in English. I relied on a fan translation to see me through, which I’m sure only added to the enigmatic allure the game held over me. I didn’t always fully understand it—especially not that first playthrough—but I… Read More »

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. Back in the late 90s, there weren’t a lot of ways to play Japanese games and know what you were doing. Fan patches… Read More »

If sophisticated strategy RPGs and Machiavellian political tales are relevant to your interests, you may want to keep an eye on Scarlet Republics; a grid-based tactical RPG inspired by Japanese favorites, classic WRPGs, and grim fantasy novels.

Ten years ago, the national discourse about video games was pretty negative. Every time something terrible happened, politicians were quick to point to video games as a key cause. Gaming was blamed for everything from school shootings to a decline in teen attention spans. Back then, few were pointing to the positives of our beloved… Read More »

Inspired by classic Zelda titles, Dwerve is a top-down action RPG featuring strategic tower defense combat and copious amounts of dwarves, trolls, and violent gadgets. Travel through a charming pixel graphic world, descend into puzzle-filled dungeons, and operate a range of peculiar traps and turrets in intense subterranean warfare!

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. Wild ARMs is a beloved but fairly defunct series these days. Published in the early days of the original PlayStation, it was one… Read More »

The first vending machine was invented by Hero of Alexandria in the 1st century CE, using a counterweight system to dispense holy water to temple visitors who deposit a coin, to prevent visitors from taking too much holy water from the fountains unsupervised. Today, vending machines are devices of convenience, made so there are fewer… Read More »

Peter Triezenberg Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga is a very influential game from my childhood that helped bridge the gap between the world of Super Mario I was already familiar with and my future obsession with role-playing games. There’s a reason my old forum handle was IhaveFURY! While I’ve since gone back and played some… Read More »

When I was a small child, I would often bring my rodent companions along on vacations. A succession of hamsters, a pair of gerbils…but sadly, not one capybara. Now, thanks to the magic of video games, I can finally live out my dream. Embark on a treasure hunting journey with your capybara friend in The Girl from Arkanya, a new top-down action RPG featuring vibrant pixel graphics, Zelda-inspired gameplay, and a sufficient amount of large South American rodents.

Jo Padilla “When you lack a silver spoon, you fashion one of steel.” As I look back on Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, it’ll be with this line firmly emblazoned unto my mind. This is a story of class and ethnic conflict, of land and blood. At a time when the JRPG was not… Read More »

Exploring creepy, decaying mansions is a highly enjoyable past time. For me, it’s been a life-long hobby that started with the likes of Maniac Mansion and the NES port of Uninvited.

Fellow wizards and/or other magical beings! I have conjured up a delightful new game for you in the form of Arcadia Fallen, a modern day fantasy visual novel full of magic and romance. Set against a cozy Scandinavian backdrop reminiscent of the Atelier series, you play as a young alchemist entangled in a war between the magical and the mundane. Practice your alchemy skills, flirt with attractive wizards, and perhaps even save the world!

The beloved Ultima series has inspired a considerable number of spinoffs and unofficial successors over the years, likely enough of them to form their own RPG genre. I, for one, am okay with this. If you happen to feel the same, then allow me to introduce you to Corven – Path of Redemption, a new open-world RPG sure to please fans of the classics.

I happen to enjoy the bizarre gothic stylings of a certain director whose name rhymes with “Jim Blurton.” If you’ve also heard of this obscure chap, I invite you to enter the world of Whateverland, a new point-and-click game heavily inspired by his unique visual style.

Michael Sollosi Yakuza 0 is a misleading title, because it’s not about yakuza and doesn’t have zero of anything. Yakuza 0 is a game about machismo, loyalty, excess, and capturing a specific place at a specific time. That place is Japan and that time is the economic boom of the late 1980s, and it’s a… Read More »

Existence under white supremacy is exhausting. It’s a sentiment I’ve been able to vocalize for years and a feeling I’ve known long before I caught grasp of the vocabulary. Achievement for a non-white person in the United States is seen as an incursion, an affront to the very institutions this crumbling society draws its power… Read More »

RPGFan: The original Brigandine released over two decades ago, yet it still has a passionate following. What was it that prompted the team to return to the world of Brigandine? It has actually been a dream of mine to be on the Brigandine team since I started at Happinet 22 years ago. The Legend of Forsena was released at the… Read More »

Hello, RPG friends! If you enjoy tabletop games and Japanese strategy classics such as Final Fantasy Tactics and Disgaea, I have some news for you! Based on a homebrew tabletop campaign, Externus — Path of the Solari is an upcoming strategy RPG full of sinister religious organizations, impressive comic book-style character art, and at least one anthropomorphic, spear-wielding corgi (though I’m secretly hoping there will be many, many more).

If you’re reading this, you know video games are great for lots of things: exploring vast landscapes, giving us a feeling of accomplishment, providing an escape from a difficult day, and even socializing with our friends. Without leaving the comfort of our home, we can experience incredible joy just from picking up a controller. Over… Read More »

Michael Sollosi Mother 3 has mystique. This sequel to a beloved SNES RPG (EarthBound, the artist formerly known as Mother 2) was never officially localized in English, and as a result feels like a game that was kept from players worldwide instead of shared and celebrated. Which is odd, because Nintendo has no qualms about including Lucas… Read More »

“…you must remember that the political development of the masses proceeds not in a direct line, but in a complicated curve. And is not this, after all, the essential movement of every material process?” ~ Leon Trotsky, History of the Russian Revolution The rag-tag revolution opposing the monolithic tyrant is a classic and favorite story… Read More »

A bewitching forest gently illuminated by the light of a full moon. Red-eyed shadow creatures arising from the mists. The sound of wolves off in the distance. And nearby, the smell of delicious perogies. From the developers of 2017’s atmospheric indie game The Mooseman comes Black Book, a haunting adventure RPG based on Slavic mythology.