RandomNPC – Video Game RPG Reviews, Editorials, and Features

Final Fantasy XIII has been a long time coming, and there’s little doubt that some people are going in with certain expectations. The fact that it’s also the first main series Final Fantasy game for the current generation likely only adds to this. To the extent that it’s possible, one has to put that aside and focus on the game for what it is rather than thinking about the rest of the series. Final Fantasy XIII is rather unlike anything else in the series anyway. Of course, it certainly has its fair share of staples such as chocobos, cactuars, and tonberries in the game, but the gameplay emphasis is very different. Exploration is all but ignored for the most part, and dungeons are the game’s clear focus. Towns are almost non-existent and functionally replaced by shops that can be accessed from save points while inns are rendered obsolete by auto-healing. Bits of story are delivered at very specific intervals, and the pace is carefully controlled to a large degree by a number of design decisions such as most dungeons being purposely linear. (more…)

Happy Halloween! We’ll have Halloween-themed content all day~

After receiving a radio transmission and heading through a swamp, the hero finds him or herself inside a rather large mansion and face to face with a friendly Ghoul in a rather bad situation. Raider-like enemies will be invading at any moment, and despite a healthy supply of video cameras that give him a small command post of sorts, the mansion is in a very sorry state and these foes have no problem busting down the rotten walls in order to accomplish their goals. Of course, this isn’t a typical Ghoul. He has turrets, attack dogs, and a fair bit of extra firepower too, but he could still use a hand. The player is thus conscripted and charged with various tasks that range from fending off hoards of enemies as they bust their way in to igniting explosives in order to seal up holes. (more…)

White Knight Chronicles is one of those games we heard about a lot a while back, then…not so much. The biggest draw, or at least what set it apart, was the hero’s ability to become a huge knight and fend off giant enemies in a clash of massive scale. Of course, the real question is how well this actually plays out. (more…)

Things started off promising enough. Fights with dragon-like beings are rarely dull. I think this particular part of the demo would’ve come off a lot better had it not been passed off as a tutorial/minigame though, or really the only combat I saw in the 20-30 minutes that I was able to play before our next appointment. (more…)

The demo of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days puts the player in control of Roxas and was divided into two playable missions that took place in Twilight Town and Agrabah respectively. Each mission comes with its own brief cutscenes, objectives, and rewards. (more…)

In today’s update: White Knight Chronicles, Mass Effect 2, and Fallout 3: Broken Steel. (more…)

Greetings all. Did you ever wonder what our thoughts on the latest events in the RPG world were? What about our thoughts on games that we were playing but hadn’t beaten and reviewed or were simply playing on the side? Well, here’s your chance to get in on that information. It’s not just that though, no. We’ll also be posting our thoughts on non-RPGs, game industry related stuff, and maybe even allow you to see some behind-the-scenes workings. While most of us will probably focus a bit more on RPG-related material, anything game related is fair game. No pun intended. You can check them out here or check the side bar on the right side of the page for the latest updates. Oh, one note though: they’ll be less formal than the content that goes on the main site, so our quality guidelines won’t be quite as high.

In today’s update: Shining Force Feather, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time, Disgaea 2 Portable, Suikoden Tierkreis, Dragon Quest V, From the Abyss, Star Ocean Second Evolution, Super Robot Taisen K, .hack//Link, Blazer Drive, and Fragile. (more…)

In today’s update: Mario and Luigi 3, Devil Survivor, Phantasy Star Portable, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Sora No Tankentai, Phantasy Star Zero, and Dragon Quest IX. (more…)

In today’s update: Mimana Iyar Chronicle, Valkyria Chronicle, Sacred Blaze, Mario and Luigi 3, Blue Dragon: Behemonth of the Otherworld, Star Ocean: The Last Hope, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time, Final Fantasy XIII, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Little King’s Story, Star Ocean Second Evolution, and Fable 2: Knothole Island. (more…)

In today’s update: Harvest Moon: Sugar Village, Fallout 3: Operation Anchorage, Fable II: Knothole Island, and Dragon Quest V. (more…)

In today’s update: Dungeons and Dam, Disgaea 3, Disagea 2 PSP, Phantom Brave Wii, 7th Dragon, Blazer Drive, Demon’s Soul, Phantasy Star Zero, Ragnarok Online DS, Sacred Blaze, Star Ocean: The Last Hope, Summon Night X Tears Crown, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time, Tales of Hearts, and Dragon Quest IX. (more…)

In today’s update: Phantasy Star Zero, Fragile, Destiny Links, and Fable II. (more…)

In today’s update: Tales of Hearts, Ragnarok Online DS, Sacred Blaze, and Phantasy Star Zero. (more…)

In today’s update: Blazer Drive and Mega Man Star Force 3. (more…)

As you’ve no doubt guessed by the lack of video reviews, we are once again experiencing technical difficulties. We seem to be having poor luck here. First it was a problem with Windows, then it was with the backup computer’s hard drive, and now it’s with the capture device itself. We’ve been running through the troubleshooters and had a few rounds with tech support, but as of today it’s officially dead. We’ll be getting a replacement asap and will have videos going up soon after, as we’ve already gotten a lot of work done on them before the hardware died. We apologize for the delay.

In today’s update: Harvest Moon: Welcome to the Wind Bazaar, White Knight Chronicles, and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time. (more…)

In today’s update: Legends of Dawn, Devil Survivor, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time, and Blood of Bahamut. (more…)

A Crystalline Prophecy – Ode of Life Bestowing™
Illustration Katsuya Terada
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