Retro Encounter Final Thoughts(s) Archive
2021-08-29
Michael Sollosi Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne‘s reputation precedes it. This is the PS2 RPG for “hardcore gamers,” while Personas 3 and 4 are for players who cared more for living through an anime series set in a Japanese high school with some demon summoning on the side. I am more the Persona type. I… Read More »
2021-08-08
Hilary Andreff I had some concerns going into ‘Ladies Otome Month,’ namely “What if this really doesn’t click with me?” and “What if I can’t find anything interesting to say? I’m not thirsty enough for this.” Luckily, those concerns were unfounded, and I even found some comfortable familiarity among the Shinsengumi with my slight martial… Read More »
2021-06-27
Eva Padilla Knights in the Nightmare is one of the strangest, most baffling titles I’ve ever played. It has the soul of an experimental indie title of today wrapped in that nostalgic PSP SRPG glow. And, despite this playthrough becoming a more of a sample than the plunge I had hoped for, I can still… Read More »
2021-05-25
Alana Hagues Prior to these episodes, I’d played four numbered Dragon Quest games, and two spin-offs. Nothing about Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen should’ve been surprising, right? This is a series that has built its reputation on consistency, and Dragon Quest IV has all of those typical Dragon Quest hallmarks. And most of this game is exactly that! The… Read More »
2021-05-02
Alana Hagues I started my Suikoden journey only two and a half years ago for this very podcast. Before these episodes, I’d only played the first two games (of which Suikoden II has become one of my all-time favourites), and with Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes on the way, this felt like the perfect time to jump into the next game… Read More »
2021-03-29
Eva Padilla Muramasa: The Demon Blade is a game that surprised and delighted me frequently, and not in many of the ways I initially guessed. Certainly, there was “Backgrounds are stunning” and “That is the best-looking, gosh-darn dango I’ve ever seen.” But then in comes “This game has 4 DLCs on Vita, and each one… Read More »
2021-03-01
Kaleb Curry Radiant Historia is not Mega Man Battle Network. That may seem obvious to most, but to me—a decade younger and craving some more of that sweet, sweet MMBN action—it was a deal-breaker. I played 15 minutes of this lovely game and then never gave it a second thought for ten years, all because… Read More »
2021-02-02
Tyler Trosper Monolith Soft has become synonymous with the Xeno games, whether it’s the Xenoblade series or, to a lesser extent, Xenosaga. However, GameCube owners know of another RPG series by the famed company created in conjunction with tri-Crescendo: Baten Kaitos. Seventeen years after my initial playthrough, my return to the first game in the… 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 wake… Read More »
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 the Phantasy Star games. Picking up Phantasy Star IV 27 years after it first came out, it struck me just how fresh it felt, even today. The End of the Millennium is a breezy… Read More »
2020-09-27
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 »
2020-09-04
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 »
2020-08-05
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 »
2020-06-28
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 »
2020-05-31
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 »
2020-04-29
Greg Delmage I’m pretty certain it was about 7 or 8 years ago I first gave Soul Blazer a shot, and it didn’t take much to convince me this game was neat. Here I had found a clear SNES gem I had missed out on! Though much of the story is rather simple on the… Read More »
2020-04-05
Michael Sollosi I didn’t play Tokyo Mirage Sessions until this year, in large part because I never owned a Wii U and the Switch port was exactly the opportunity I was waiting for. I was hesitant at the pastel rainbow of a game cover and the promise of a soundtrack loaded with J-Pop, but the… Read More »
2020-03-10
Zach Wilkerson I don’t replay games much anymore. Sure, when I was younger, I’d play every RPG I got my hands on at least half a dozen times. But now, I have papers to grade, new games to review, and the occasional dish to wash. As the cliché goes, there’s just too much to play,… Read More »
2020-02-03
Leona McCallum It’s no secret to anyone who knows me well enough that Suikoden might just be my favourite JRPG series of all time. Political plots, fantastically nuanced characters, and addictive game mechanics are just the perfect combination to me, and Suikoden V does not disappoint on that front. Following what I would consider the… Read More »
