Arc seeking Ark While it was a launch title for the PSOne in Japan, Arc the Lad was something of a swan song by the time it finally released in the West. It also stands as one of the final works of the now-defunct Working Designs localization company. Today our four panelists dig into this hidden classic, Finding equal parts joy and frustration in something of a proof of concept for its own sequel. Love Arc the Lad? Never heard of it? There’s something for everyone in today’s Retro...

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, from 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 / FF VII aficionados recently finished FF VII Rebirth, and reacted with a mix of joy, frustration, and confusion. We...

Retro. Retro never changes. But boy, long-running RPG series sure can! Back when a small group of developers at Interplay Productions released Fallout in 1997, I'm sure they couldn't imagine they were setting the foundations for one of the most iconic RPG series of all time. From its humble beginnings as an isometric CRPG to Bethesda's first-person RPG take on the series, Fallout has gone through several genre and tonal shifts over the years. And with the first season of a brand-new Prime...

Warriors! Come out and play~~~ Omega Force, a subsidiary of Koei Tecmo, has made a name for itself over the past 25 years with dozens of entries into its Musou series, Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors in particular. Today, a Retro Encounter panel discusses Musou's origins as historical sims, its litany of different series, and its later evolution as a video game sub-genre Today, the larger Omega Force family includes Musou entries for Zelda, Dragon Quest, Persona, and many other beloved...

I’ll see you on the dark side of the moon.  Retro Encounter sees Final Fantasy IV through to its logical conclusion, from journeys to the center of the earth to heartbreaking family reunions, then, Alice, you’re going to the moon. Four Retro Encounter panelists talk the second half of Final Fantasy IV, including the changes made to the Pixel Remaster and Nintendo DS versions. Lali Ho!  Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Aleks Franiczek, Lucas Greene, Zach Wilkerson; Edited by Michael...

I am not my Dark Knight’s keeper Final Fantasy IV is a 1991 RPG full of colorful characters and high drama. But how does it hold up after 33 years of perspective? Four Retro Encounter panelists who grew up (separately) playing Final Fantasy IV give the classic SNES RPG another look (together), discussing everything from the opening cutscenes to Kain’s second betrayal. Or is it his third betrayal? Eventually you lose count.  Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Aleks Franiczek, Lucas Greene, Zach...

The real Infinite Wealth was the friends we made along the way.  Ichiban Kasuga returns in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (Ryu Ga Gotoku 8 in Japanese), teaming up with former Like a Dragon protagonist Kazuma Kiryu in a wild turn-based open-world RPG set in both Japan and Hawaii. Four RPGFan staff, all of whom highly anticipated Infinite Wealth prior to its release in January, are ready to bring all of their thoughts and feelings into the Sujimon Arena, from the worst marriage proposal of...

Can you SMELL what the Hawke is cooking?  Dragon Age II had a mixed critical reception back in March of 2011, so we’re giving it a fresh perspective in March of 2024. Today’s Retro Encounter panel makes an exodus to Kirkwall to determine how they feel about DA2’s excellent characters and dialogue juxtaposed with DA2’s one-city setting and rigid timeframe? Listen and find out!  Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Audra Bowling, Aleks Franiczek, Wes Iliff; Edited by Michael Sollosi Opening and...

If I could turn back time / If I could find a way Four RPGFan staff played through Dragon Quest XI this month, and it left them full of feelings. But were those feelings satisfying or wanting? How did they find DQ11’s notorious third act? Spoiler alert: this is a wonderful video game, despite what other RPGFan podcast hosts might say.  Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Gio Castillo, Wes Iliff, Tin Manuel; Edited by Michael Sollosi Opening and ending music by Miles Morkri Get in...

I love it when villagers rhyme / it makes me as glad as a slime Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age was hailed as an instant classic when it launched worldwide in 2018, and with more than five years of perspective our panel agrees. They discuss Dragon Quest XI's charming characters, rock-solid mechanics, and (unfortunately) repetitive music in today's episode of Retro Encounter, in which Jade kicks some fools and Rab remembers things past.  Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Gio Castillo,...

Rock the Dragon Kazuma Kiryu starred in at least a dozen video games in the last eighteen years and experienced a remarkable fictional life. In today’s podcast, two of RPGFan’s most enthusiastic Like a Dragon advocates examine the life and times of the Dragon of Dojima, as part of Retro Encounter’s Year of the Dragon celebrations.   Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Jonathan Logan; Edited by Michael Sollosi Opening and ending music by Miles Morkri Get in Touch: RPGFan.comRPGFan Shop Email us:...

Opinions are like cats. The internet is full of them.  We mostly fall into conventional wisdom here on Retro Encounter when it comes to what games deserve celebration and which games do not (there will not be an episode on Beyond the Beyond anytime soon), but we don’t always go with the grain. Five panelists each share two of their more offbeat, uncommon RPG beliefs, ranging from a certain series needing to reboot to several games being just too damn long.  Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Audra...

Should we double check the envelope? We’re in the middle of entertainment awards show season, and it’s high time Retro Encounter decides a worthy ballot for the RPGs with the best characters, music, visuals, gameplay, and story. But to make things interesting, we’re drafting four games for each category, and no RPG can be drafted more than once. Does that make sense? If you listen to the episode, then all will become clear!  Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Aleks Franiczek, Jimmy Turner, Zach...

Fill my heart with Retro / And let me play RPGs forevermore We're back this week to discuss the second half of Moon, a game that parodies RPGs so much it almost becomes an Adventure game. How does the second half of the game compare with the first? Did we get all the love? Just how many frustrating minigames can one man take? Listen in to find out! Featuring: Zach Wilkerson, Aleks Franiczek, Ben Love; Edited by Zach Wilkerson Opening and ending music by Miles Morkri Get in...

FOUR HUNDRED BABIES If you’ve listened to a Retro Encounter multiple of 50 before, you know that the panel is going to come up with a public poll for a future Retro Encounter episode. This time around, we’re having a shark party! The panel will “invest” in pitches from twelve Retro Encounter panelists from past and present in a game inspired by a certain entrepreneurial television show. It took 8 years and 8 months, but Retro Encounter made it to 400 episodes.  Time to get this party...

Bubby, if you ain't got Retro Encounter, you'll stop breathing and pass the heck out. After waiting over two decades, we finally got a localization of this quirky gem, Moon: Remix RPG Adventure. So, we got three of our panelists to discuss the first half of the game. We talk about the odd gameplay mechanics, just how many times we passed out before we figured out the Love system, and the games Moon went on to inspire. Listen in to find out what we thought on its opening hours! Featuring: Zach...

Movin’ to the country / I’m gonna eat a lot of Toadstools Super Mario RPG turned 27 in 2023 (!), and to celebrate, Nintendo and ArtePiazza released a snazzy new remake. Three Retro Encounter enthusiasts discuss the new remake’s new look, gameplay adjustments, and breezy difficulty, as well as Mario RPG’s influence over the intervening decades.  Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Jimmy Turner, Zach Wilkerson; Edited by Michael Sollosi Opening and ending music by Miles Morkri Get in...

2023 and Me  In true RPGFan podcast fashion, Retro Encounter always looks back. In an annual tradition since 2015, a Retro Encounter panel examines the previous year of RPGs and highlights a few favorites. What RPG is labeled a platonic ideal? What two 2023 downloads might be among the best DLC of all time? How about that Baldur’s Gate 3? All of this and more in the final Retro Encounter episode of 2023!  Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Aleks Franiczek, Jonathan Logan, Zach Wilkerson; Edited by...

I'm a sucker for a good podcast! 25 years ago, RPGFan started life as LunarNET, and five years before that, Lunar: The Silver Star released in the West. So, in honor of that, we got four of our resident Lunar fans together to chat about the various versions of Lunar: The Silver Star.  Are we fans of the Working Designs localization? How does the combat hold up? Are Jessica and Kyle the best couple in the series? Listen in to find out! Featuring: Zach Wilkerson, Ben Love, Noah Leiter, Scott...

Quest Like A Dragon!  One Warrior, one Rogue, and one Mage separately traveled across Ferelden to recruit allies in order to stop a Darkspawn Blight, but how did it go for them? Our panelists explored the diverse societies presented in BioWare’s dark fantasy RPG this month, but to what ends? Listen and find out why Dragon Age: Oranges’s narrative is so engrossing, this podcast forgot to discuss combat!  Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Aleks Franiczek, Wes Iliff; Edited by Paul Dennis Opening...

Dungeons and Darkspawn Dragon Age, a standout mini series from BioWare's golden age of RPGs, is a blend of high fantasy, dark fantasy, politics, and dating sim that made a big splash in 2009. Two Grey Warden veterans and one Dragon Age neophyte form a Retro Encounter panel to take on the Darkspawn Blight, save a group of mages, and confirm that Dog is a very good boy. Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Aleks Franiczek, Wes Iliff. Edited by Michael Sollosi Opening and ending music by Miles Morkri....

I think I heard a shot. We finished Bloodborne! Four very enthusiastic hunters suffered through hunters, Great Ones, Street Sharks, and many other horrors to conquer this PS4 classic. So what are our favorite bosses? What the hell does Insight do? How many times do we mix up "Great Ones" with "Old Blood?" Listen to learn! Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Gio Castillo, Aleks Franiczek, Zach Wilkerson. Edited by Michael Sollosi Opening and ending music by Miles Morkri. Get in...

Bleeding its horror / Creating my structure Welcome, good hunter! Retro Encounter discusses a From Software Souls-like in detail for the first time, with the Playstation 4's Bloodborne. Four panelists discuss the city of Yarnham, trick weapons, the Souls formula, and more in this episode about a bloody excellent video game. Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Gio Castillo, Aleks Franiczek, Zach Wilkerson. Edited by Michael Sollosi Opening and ending music by Miles Morkri. Get in...

Back in the 90s and early 2000s, the localization of JRPGs was never a given. We RPG fans would often wait with bated breath, a copy of GamePlayers or Electronic Gaming Monthly in hand, hoping Squaresoft and other Japanese publishers would announce they were bringing their incredible games to the West. And more often than not, we would be disappointed. While many of these untranslated games have slowly made their way to our shores over the years in the form of remakes and collections, there...