- Article
- Rhythm Encounter
- Podcast
Rhythm Encounter 141 – Best PSP RPG Music
Part two of our handheld RPG music celebration continues — and concludes — today! Last time, we brought you some of our favorite tracks from Nintendo DS RPGs, and this time we talk about the DS’ competition, the Sony PSP. The PSP was a haven for RPGs, especially considering its support of playing PS… Read More »- Article
- News
RPGs Coming This Week, 8/11/24
Our low-key summer continues in this edition of RPGs Coming This Week with three games that, in different ways, encourage players to slow down and smell the roses. They aren’t necessarily slow-paced, but I think they exude late-summer vibes. I… don’t know where I’m going with that, but allow me to… Read More »Feature
Origins Game Fair 2024
Origins Game Fair, as suggested in our feature last year, seems to be undergoing some changes. If you’re an Essen or GenCon attendee, you might not know what I’m referencing, as these conventions seem to have bounced back to normal since the pandemic, per my conversations with others this year. The… Read More »- Review
Echoes of the Emergent
I’ve become pretty tired of post-apocalyptic stories because they typically tread the all too familiar ground of human-against-human conflict. For this reason, I treasure the rare story that looks at this genre from a different perspective. Echoes of the Emergent is a prime example of exec… Read More »- Article
- News
Monolith Soft’s Xenoblade Team Is Hiring for a New RPG
Two years have passed since Xenoblade Chronicles 3 launched worldwide and over a year since the release of DLC Future Redeemed. Developer Monolith Soft is ramping up for their next title, and they are looking to increase the size of their team! Monolith Soft Director Tetsuya Takahashi himself wrote… Read More »- Article
- News
Fate/Extra Record Launches in 2025
Four years after the initial reveal, developer Type-Moon has announced a 2025 console and PC release for Fate/Extra Record, the remake of the PlayStation Portable RPG Fate/Extra. It will launch for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam. The announcement was made during the… Read More »- Article
- News
The Final Fantasy I-VI Pixel Remasters Are Getting Physical Reprints
A year after copies quickly sold out online, Square Enix has announced that physical reprints of Final Fantasy I-VI Pixel Remaster Collection on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch are now available to pre-order at the Square Enix Store, Amazon, Best Buy, and GameStop for $74.99 USD. This second print… Read More »- Review
Hakuoki: Chronicles of Wind and Blossom
Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom is undoubtedly a familiar name to visual novel and otome fans, especially given the popularity of the game’s anime adaptation. It’s a quintessential romance VN in many respects, with several well-developed relationships against feudal Japan’s historical backdro… Read More »- Article
- News
New Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom Trailer Tours Hyrule
With Link missing, who will save Hyrule from the shadows of danger? Why, Zelda, of course! Her name has always been on the cover, after all. In the latest trailer to The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Nintendo provides a tour of the various realms of Hyrule, as well as how to traverse them. Summ… Read More »- Article
- Retro Encounter
- Podcast
Retro Encounter 429 – Final Fantasy Series Tier List
A, B, C, D, FF3 / Feels like a mid-rank to me Very few podcast, article, or video topics on the internet get folks more enthusiastic or more up in arms than tiers, lists, or a combination thereof. On today’s emotional episode of Retro Encounter, four panelists play a fantasy-draft style game to plac… Read More »- Article
- News
Alabaster Dawn Is Radical Fish’s Follow-Up to CrossCode
German developer Radical Fish Games has announced their second major title Alabaster Dawn, slated for Steam Early Access release in 2025. A reveal trailer featured below showcases vibrant, 32-bit-style character sprites engaging in precision action combat across top-down 3D environments. Previously… Read More »- Feature
The Droids You’re Looking For: The Top 10 RPG Robots
One of my favorite archetypes in sci-fi is the artificial or constructed sentient being. They go by many names, including robots, droids, automatons, and synths. I am fascinated by exploring the complexities and moral dilemmas of interacting with an artificial being. There is no shortage of memorabl… Read More »- Episodic Review
Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail
“All good things come to an end.” Final Fantasy XIV players experienced this in 2021 when the game’s aptly named fourth expansion, Endwalker, wrapped up the long-running story that began with the original 1.0 release in 2010. But because this is an MMO we’re talking about, Endwalker was not the end… Read More »- Article
- News
You Can Pre-Order Physical Editions of Slay the Princess – The Pristine Cut
Many RPGs put you in the role of rescuing princesses. However, Slay the Princess throws the gender stereotype out the window by giving you the task to, well, you know the title. Reviewers, including our own Jerry Williams, were wowed by this surreal visual novel last year. It’s hitting consoles digi… Read More »- Article
- News
Kickstarter for Shin Megami Tensei the Board Game Launches September 10th
During the recent Gen Con 2024, publisher Icrea announced details of an upcoming board game iteration of the long-running Shin Megami Tensei series. Officially titled Shin Megami Tensei the Board Game, the tabletop version will feature an intricate demon summoning and fusion system — a core feature… Read More »- Article
- News
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team Coming To Nintendo Switch Online on August 9th
Nintendo has announced that Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team will be available for the Switch Online service on August 9th. The announcement came via Nintendo of America’s Twitter/X account last week. https://twitter.com/NintendoAmerica/status/1819176417118081202 Players with a subscription… Read More »Feature
Crowdfunding Chronicles: Tako no Himitsu: Ocean of Secrets
Heavily inspired by Quintet classics, Golden Sun, and even drag culture, I’m proud to present Tako no Himitsu: Ocean of Secrets, a new action RPG follow-up to 2021’s Save Me Mr. Tako.- Article
- Random Encounter
- Podcast
Random Encounter 302 – A Trip to Steamy London Town
On this episode of Random Encounter, we’re chatting about heisting steam-powered robots and the foggiest post-apocalyptic city you’ve ever seen. First up, Ben embraces his inner robot pirate with the sequel to 2015’s TRPG, SteamWorld Heist, SteamWorld Heist II. The latest entry in the multi-genre St… Read More »- Article
- News
Solve Dark Mysteries in Gritty Neo-Noir Adventure Kill the Shadow
Publisher 663 Games has announced the neo-noir narrative adventure Kill the Shadow will be coming to PC via Steam in late 2024. A reveal trailer (below) showcases decidedly low-pixel 2D sprites atop a claustrophobic, 3D-rendered urban dystopia. Kill the Shadow is the debut title for Chinese develope… Read More »- Article
- News
RPGs Coming This Week, 8/4/24
In this edition of RPGs Coming This Week, indie titles again dominate the slate. Who’s complaining? Couldn’t be me, especially considering the level of quality we’re dealing with here. Let’s dive in! Fields of Mistria (Entering Early Access) – August 5th (Windows) Fields of Mistria is a cozy farm si… Read More »- Review
Papers, Please
Let’s cut to the chase: you don’t need me to tell you that Papers, Please is great, nor does the game need my validation. There’s a reason this immigration officer role-player is widely considered one of the most influential and flat-out best indie games ever made. Yet, with over a decade… Read More »- Review
Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure
A growing trend, especially among the indie community, is kid-friendly gaming with some meat. My five-year-old instantly fell in love with Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure when she saw it. “Dad, can I sit on your lap?” And off we went. While I wouldn’t call any of the puzzles in this game five-ye… Read More »- Article
- News
Isekai Visual Novel Moonless Moon Releases August 8th
Japanese developer Kazuhide Oka and publisher Kamitsubaki Studio have announced that Moonless Moon will launch on August 8th for PC via Steam. The adventure visual novel will have language support for Japanese, English, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese. See whether you want to add this to… Read More »- Review
SteamWorld Heist II
When SteamWorld Heist first came out in 2015 on the 3DS, I was blown away by how inventive and polished the game was. Capitalizing on the surprise success of SteamWorld Dig and the renewed interest in turn-based strategy games driven by the revival of XCOM, the small team at Image & Form (now Th… Read More »- Article
- Retro Encounter
- Podcast
Retro Encounter 428: Undertale Revisited
Despite everything, it’s still Retro Encounter. Over six years ago, we got together to chat about the instant indie class, Undertale. But, Undertale’s staying power is so strong that we decided to get together and chat about it again, this time with an all new panel. Is Papyrus still delightful ever… Read More »- Article
- Rhythm Encounter
- Podcast
Rhythm Encounter 140 – Best Nintendo DS RPG Music
It’s a handheld celebration! We had so much fun with our Game Boy Advance music episode last fall, we’re back for two more handheld episodes, starting with the Nintendo DS! Nintendo’s little experimental handheld made waves upon its announcement, and once the dust settled on many gimmicky titles, so… Read More »- Feature
Retro Encounter Final Thoughts: Dark Souls
Dom Kim I must confess that I feared how this playthrough for Retro Encounter would turn out. It had been years since I last booted up Dark Souls, and having recently gone on a month-long Elden Ring spree both preparing for and playing through the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC I couldn’t help but wonder… Read More »- Article
- News
Visions of Mana Spices Up Combat With Elemental Vessels; Demo Available Now
The Mana series is back with a whole new entry! While the story in Visions of Mana is a perfect entry point for newcomers, old fans will feel right at home with the action combat, bright visuals and the return of elementals. Furthermore, you can give it a try right now in the recently dropped demo!… Read More »- Review
Tengoku Struggle -Strayside-
Cultures and religions around the world have vastly different ideas of what Hell is, who goes there, and what it looks like. Adding to its extensive mythos requires enough familiar elements that players recognize Hell but enough new twists to warrant yet another reimagining. Tengoku Struggle -Strays… Read More »- Article
- News
RPGs Coming This Week, 7/28/24
Welcome to RPGs Coming This Week, the column that increasingly covers titles from all over the world, and boy do you love to see it. The second golden age of RPGs is international! This week, we’re discussing new releases made not only in Japan and the US but also China and Argentina. Let’s dive in,… Read More »- Review
Vay
Vay is not a game I expected to see revived in 2024. This Sega CD title was localized by Working Designs in 1994, but despite it having nifty animated cutscenes, it could not escape the looming shadow of console darling Lunar: The Silver Star (also localized by Working Designs). Vay had a mobile por… Read More »- Review
Bomberman Quest
Bomberman Quest is the result of throwing Bomberman into one of the Gameboy Legend of Zelda games. It’s a mashup of Bomberman’s bomb-based gameplay with Zelda’s structure and mechanics, which becomes evident about two minutes into playing it. Since this is a mashup, the game deserves a hybridized na… Read More »- Article
- Retro Encounter
- Podcast
Retro Encounter 427 – Dark Souls Part II
What is bravery without a dash of recklessness? Five Retro Encounter panelists recently finished the first Dark Souls, and it’s every bit as impressive, intense, and moving today as it was in 2011. Today the panel talks about the game’s undercooked second-half environments, the fully-realized… Read More »- Feature
The Classic RPGs that Skipped Europe
I got my first console back in the late nineties when I was around twelve — a PS1. In the preceding months, I spent hours thumbing through gaming magazines and getting excited about specifically playing Final Fantasy VIII (which was due out soon) and Final Fantasy VII (which I’d bought a magazine wa… Read More »- Article
- News
2D Zelda-Like Castaway Launches August 16th
Lunark developer Canari Games has announced Castaway, a top-down action-adventure title, is releasing worldwide on August 16th for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam. This charming bite-sized game features pixel art visuals and is heavily inspi… Read More »- Review
Stellar Blade
NieR: Automata is one of the most influential games of the previous generation and one of my favorite games of all time. So, when a NieR-like game gets announced, I sit up and listen. When Stellar Blade was revealed in 2019, it quickly slotted itself into my most anticipated list. Every trailer pain… Read More »- Article
- News
Digital Devil Saga 1 & 2 Soundtracks Now Available to Stream
Atlus has announced that the original soundtracks for its cult-classic RPGs Digital Devil Saga and Digital Devil Saga 2 are now available on music streaming services. This release commemorates the series’ 20th anniversary. The music has been consolidated into one playlist with a total of 139 songs.… Read More »- Article
- News
9 R.I.P. Spooks Up Eligible Bachelors on October 15th
Look out, it’s a scary… boyfriend? Idea Factory’s upcoming spooky otome game, 9 R.I.P., launches on the Nintendo Switch digitally and physically on October 15th. Physical copies will be available in standard and limited editions. Dive into the world of handsome, spooky spirits in the trailer below… Read More »- Article
- Random Encounter
- Podcast
Random Encounter 301 – Oy “Vay,” We Could Use a Vacation to Hinterberg
On this episode of Random Encounter, we’re diving into a magical alpine journey and revisiting a classic RPG. First up, Abe joins us to discuss Dungeons of Hinterberg. This action RPG with Zelda and Persona-like elements is set in a beautiful Austrian resort town, combining combat, puzzles, and soci… Read More »- Article
- News
