To be the sad man / Behind Mako eyes Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, one of the most anticipated RPGs of 2024, reimagines many of the most dramatic and emotional moments of Final Fantasy VII, form Cloud’s flashback to Barret’s hometown and beyond, in a segmented open world environment driven by a mix of action combat and classic Final Fantasy ATB. Four Retro Encounter panelists -slash- Final Fantasy VII aficionados recently finished FF VII Rebirth, and reacted with a mix of joy, frustration, and confusion. We break down those feelings and more in today’s Retro Encounter! Featuring: Michael Sollosi ..read more

Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER is the long-awaited sequel to 2015’s indie adventure 2064: Read Only Memories. 2064 introduced players to a more introspective cyberpunk story with all manner of character types represented (because representation matters). NEURODIVER takes us back into that vibrant world with a brand new story and characters, though some old friends do return. The game’s Steam page says that those new to Read Only Memories can easily dive in, while series fans can enjoy nods and references to the previous game. As someone who, sadly, did not play 2064, I easily got into this thr ..read more

Fallout 3 was a landmark game. It emerged at a time when high fantasy primarily represented 3D open-world roleplaying games and shifted the genre’s possibilities. There had been some alternative settings at the time, but Bioshock euphoria dominated the cultural zeitgeist. In 2008, large, first-person game worlds with a distinct level of verisimilitude existed in the domains of a select few: Bethesda’s own Elder Scrolls series, smaller studio efforts like the Gothic series, or older offerings like Deus Ex. Even these compatriots failed to match the level of graphical fidelity and thematic inten ..read more

The Rhapsody trilogy recently had its 25th anniversary, yet for 24 of those years, we’ve only been able to play one of the three games. Thanks to Nippon Ichi Software’s recent push to remaster, re-release, and localize their back catalog of games, fans of the original wondrous musical adventure are finally able to play these entries in English. With the previous games being the most charming RPGs I’ve ever played, my expectations for the third entry in the series have been high. While Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure and Rhapsody II: Ballad of the Little Princess were linear adventures with a sma ..read more

Publisher ATLUS and developer Studio Zero have announced an exclusive livestream to showcase the upcoming stylish fantasy RPG Metaphor: ReFantazio on April 22nd at 3 pm PT/ 6 pm ET. Director Katsura Hashino will present never-before-seen gameplay and development updates. The broadcast will debut live on ATLUS West’s official YouTube channel, with dubbed audio and English subtitles. Metaphor: ReFantazio Screenshots ATLUS just keeps going at it with stellar releases this year. So far, fans have enjoyed Persona 3 Reload—a ground-up remake of Persona 3—and Vanillaware SRPG&nbs ..read more

War. War never changed. Fallout 2 never got an expansion pack.  A lot has changed since Fallout 2‘s 1998 release, even in the world of the Fallout series. It is a product of its time in that, along with Diablo, Fallout and its sequel set the tone in a new way for modern CRPGs, feeding into the series cousin and successor, the legendary Baldur’s Gate. Instead of drawing on Western fantasy, as most of the RPGs before it, Fallout 2 continues the degenerative path blazed by its predecessor in a mix of sci-fi and futuristic fantasy now known as postapocalyptic. It’s weird to think about F ..read more

On this episode, ex-Random Encounter host Greg Delmage returns to share his film expertise while chatting about the new Fallout TV show! Video game adaptations are hot right now, and Amazon has just dropped what might be the best one yet: Fallout! Based on the long-running RPG series, Fallout, the show is an exploration of the far future after a nuclear war in the 21st century destroyed all of civilization. With a pitch-perfect mix of dark humor, brutal violence, and a retro-50s future aesthetic, Fallout translates everything we love about the games into a brand-new, in-continuity story set in ..read more

On this edition of RPGs Coming This Week: an expansion to 2023’s biggest JRPG (er, depending on who you ask), and a diverse slate of indie titles with some sizable buzz behind them. Let’s get into it! Dream Tactics – April 15th (Switch, Windows) Dream Tactics is a cute GBA styled tactics RPG, with card combo based combat. You know that situation where you can’t sleep, and you end up viciously destroying your pillows in rage and frustration, spreading their insides throughout the room? No, just me? Well anyway Dream Tactics is kind of like that, except cosier, with cards and cute magical girls ..read more

When I first heard about it, I wasn’t sure what to make of the free-to-play mobile game Love and Deepspace. On paper, I find many of its separate components appealing. It’s a sci-fi otome with a mix of FMV dialogue cutscenes, a visual novel-style presentation, a surprisingly robust action RPG combat system, and some entertaining minigames. But do the gacha elements ultimately do the title in? Having spent significant time with Love and Deepspace, I’m pleasantly surprised at how entertaining I found the experience; however, that experience isn’t without caveats. Love and Deepspace&nbs ..read more

CRPGs were going through a difficult time in 1997.  Once the darling of PC video game enthusiasts, computer roleplaying games were approaching the status of a dead genre by the mid-90s. The popularity of the Ultima series had fizzled out, and stunning JRPGs like Final Fantasy VII on consoles and first-person blockbusters like Quake on PC were reigning supreme. But thankfully, that state of affairs perfectly set the stage for an unexpected comeback story. 1997’s Fallout was a game that no one saw coming, not even its publisher. Its modest sales success sp ..read more