RandomNPC – Video Game RPG Reviews, Editorials, and Features

With the land of the rising sun having seen Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver release just this last week, the world of Pokemon is alight with the changes that have been made to the movepools of various critters. So for this week and next, we’ll be taking an in-depth look at exactly what HG/SS is changing, and who benefits the most. We begin with Pokemon who learn new moves by level up and breeding! (more…)

One of the more unexpected evolutions introduced in Diamond and Pearl, Dusknoir is an even more dangerous version of Dusclops, a Pokemon with some already impressive defenses. What Dusknoir offers over Dusclops is primarily a much improved offense, an undeniable blessing given that Dusclops’ offense was roughly equal to that of a wet noodle. On the whole, Dusknoir fills much the same role that Dusclops did in R/S/E, blocking Rapid Spin and offering team support in the form of status effects. The creepy cyclops’s increased offense gives it a bit of a new lease on life, though, alongside its more unusual options, in the form of strange support moves like Gravity and Trick Room. (more…)

Today’s Pokemon reminds me of one of my favorite things about Pokemon games – the sheer weirdness of it all. In what other game could you find a psychic coconut tree? Or for that matter, a steel penguin? And not just one, but two animate blobs of poisonous slime? I never get tired of the knowledge that, should the desire strike, I could pit a small blue lungfish against a pink bulldog in a dress in a battle for domination. And so in the spirit of the bizarre, we look at the ambulatory egg-sprouting coconut tree that is Exeggutor. (more…)

And here we have it, the last four comics of Final Fantasy XII. I hope you’ve enjoyed them as much as I enjoyed running for my life from Flans and Malboros in order to bring them to you. We’re looking to make this a semi-regular feature here on RNPC, although due to some technical difficulties there may have to be some slight changes in the overall style. (more…)

Ladies and gentlemen, the comics roll on. This slice of gameplay included smarmy Flans, filthy statues, and face-stabbings. Enjoy! (more…)

The latest issue of Famitsu included a rather surprising article, revealing the existence of Persona 3 Portable. A PSP remake of the popular Playstation 2 RPG, Persona 3 Portable will include a new female character with a Persona that looks shockingly similar to the main character’s Persona, Orpheus. Other additions include entirely menu-based navigation outside of Tartarus, and a new male assistant for Igor.

Persona 3 Portable has a Japanese release date of November 1st.

Over the last couple of weeks, I did something I thought I would never do: play through Final Fantasy XII. I played the game when it first came out, but quickly got bogged down in frustration with the very hands-off combat system. But, in honor of our second year (and the, er, somewhat lacking spate of current releases), I decided to give it another shot.

In order to give myself a little extra incentive to finish, I drew a one-panel comic for every in-game hour I played. This format will be familiar to anyone who’s read John Campell’s Hourly Comics.  (more…)

Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria has an impressive set of credentials to recommend it. Possessing a high-energy, yet tactically challenging combat system, an unexpected epic symphonic soundtrack, some truly impressive visuals, and a sharp, well written story, Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria is a remarkable title which should appeal to a wide variety of gamers. However, those expecting an experience similar to Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth will be disappointed, as most of the gameplay mechanics that made it so unique have been gutted or outright omitted. There are also a few problems with stiff animation, poor lip sync, and a bit of excess deus ex machina late in the plot, but the game offers an entertaining and thought-provoking take on the Valkyrie Profile world to those willing to accept the changes it makes to the series. (more…)

This week, we have another reader request. Rather than looking at another absurdly powerful or abundantly useful Pokemon, we’re going to be taking a look at a critter whose usefulness ranks somewhere between a baking sheet made of chocolate and a glass hammer. This is a Pokemon unafraid to stand up and boldly proclaim, “No, I really can’t.” A critter of such stunning uselessness, of such unabashed failure, that it only just beats out Kricketune. Ladies and gentlemen… I give you Ledian. (more…)

This week, we’ll be taking a look at one of the big legendaries of the first generation, part of the elemental trio that forms R/B/Y‘s big triumverate, and one of my favorite stall critters ever. This birdie is surprisingly flexible, able to play defensive roles while still packing quite a punch. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Zapdos. (more…)

This week, we’ll be looking at the anti-Electric Electric-type Pokemon, Ampharos. This mutated sheep hasn’t been getting a lot of respect of late, dropping down to the Never Used tier, so we’re here to clean Amphy up a bit, polish up that rubbery hide, and present it as a shining example of a durable Electric. (more…)

With more than sixty passive abilities and fifty active commands, Devil Survivor offers a heckuva lot of room to maneuver when it comes to character customization. But what to use? This week, we’ll take a look at some useful skills and the combinations that players can piece together. (more…)

As with other Shin Megami Tensei games, demons in Devil Survivor are divided into groups, in this case known as races. Each race has an ability unique to them, called a Racial Skill, which can be some of the most powerful and useful in the entire game. And since players get two demonic allies to a team, these abilities can be combined in some very unusual and useful ways. This week, we’re taking a look at these abilities and offering up some advice as to how players can use them to crush some skulls. (more…)

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor is a game whose ambitious concept tends to be dragged down by a bit of leaden reality. The game presents a highly unique storytelling method, full of branching sub-plots highly responsive to the choices players make, but it can become rather fractured by the time limit imposed on players. The combat system provides a wealth of options, letting players tweak each member’s moveset with a surprising level of control, but the focus on raw levels and the speed by which new demons become old makes it exceptionally difficult to have a consistent strategy. Overall, Devil Survivor is a solid game and a very engaging story, and although it has more than its share of issues, the sense of pressure and the degree to which a player can manipulate the story make Devil Survivor a surprisingly satisfying experience. (more…)

In Pokemon games, there are a few things you can always count on. There will always be eight Gyms, there will always be five trainers to face in the Elite Four, and the first two Pokemon you catch will always be a Normal/Flying bird, and a Normal-type beast. In most cases, these early Pokemon captures can safely be ignored – after all, in three generations, none of the very early Pokemon had ever been worth a second look. And if you only look at Bibarel’s stats, he would seem to continue this trend. However, by abusing Bibarel’s amazing abilities, the goofy looking beaver can actually be very useful, and surprisingly threatening for a creature who was clearly in another county while brains were being handed out. (more…)

I must confess to a fondness for the common hippopotamus. They’re huge, slightly ridiculous, and are quite capable of crushing someone simply by mistaking them for a chair. This week, we’ll be paying tribute to the noble hippo by looking at one of my personal favorite Pokemon; Hippowdon, the giant sand hippo.  (more…)

I recently participated in a Pokemon tournament where the participants were assigned randomized teams, and one of the critters I picked up was Ambipom. Given that most of my team was junk, I had to be very creative in my movesets, and although I didn’t expect Ambipom to be particularly useful, he managed to save me on a number of occasions. So this week is all about everybody’s favorite slightly creepy monkey! (more…)

This week we’ll be taking a look at a popular but largely underutilized Pokemon, Altaria. Perhaps the weakest of the Dragon-types and yet still very viable when used intelligently, Altaria has the movepool, if not the stats, to cause some trouble in its chosen field of play. (more…)

When Pokémon Red and Blue first came over to the States in September of 1998, the popularity explosion came as quite a shock to those unfamiliar with the series. They cried, “What was this game, and why does it keep our children up nights?” Mario never did that — well, not on this scale, anyway.  (more…)

In Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abbadon, you’ll be spending a fair amount of time in the Gouma-Den’s basement, fusing demons with Victor. The process itself is pretty simple, but there are a lot of things you’ll need to know about in order to make the most of the fusion system. So join us as we take an in-depth look at the arcane process of Demon Fusion, and unravel the secrets of Victor’s obsessive-compulsive disorder. (more…)