RandomNPC - Video Game RPG Reviews, Editorials, and Features

Asda Story, perhaps most famous for its offer of $30 for those players who found it wanting during its beta period, is a game hampered by a large number of bugs, a very poor translation, and an uninspired overall design. Asda Story is one of the more “Me Too” free MMOs on the market today, offering bland combat, very basic quests, and little or no story. There are a few bright spots, as Asda Story does offer some unique variations on player interaction and sports an interesting visual style. But for the most part, Asda Story really shows its youth - there’s not enough content, not enough polish on the translation, and, at the moment, not a lot of reason to play it. Continue reading ‘Asda Story - Staff Review’ »

These days, remakes are all the rage, and many of them are finding their way onto Nintendo’s dual-screened portable juggernaut.  These transitions typically mean new features as well as the expected boosts in graphics and sound, but they also mean comparisons to games that have been released years and sometimes even a decade after the initial release of the source material.  In this light, remakes are unique in that they must compete with games of the past, present, and future in a modern day setting, yet Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen for the DS manages to hold its own. Continue reading ‘Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen - Staff Review’ »

For fans of mecha anime, there are few series that lend themselves better to an RPG than Zoids. With such a broad assortment of Zoid frames and equipment, it seems a natural choice for a TRPG. With Zoids Assault, the net result is a mixed bag that does some things extremely well, and some things not as well as a fan might hope. Continue reading ‘Zoids Assault - Staff Review’ »

Nearly five years ago, gamers first got a crack at Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, a quirky TRPG set in the Netherworld. This game mixed a unique blend of humor with tactical combat and defied many of the common conventions of RPGs and of games in general. There really isn’t anything quite like a Disgaea game, and now the series makes its debut on the PlayStation 3 with Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice and improves on the formula in nearly every way. Continue reading ‘Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice - Staff Review’ »

With Disgaea 3 on shelves, we thought we’d drop in and chat with the fine folks behind the game. We were fortunate enough to have some of our questions answered by Jack Niida, Marketing Manager for NISA; Souhei Niikawa, Producer and writer for the Disgaea series; and Steve Carlton, Disgaea series editor with some extra input from the Disgaea 3 dev team. Continue reading ‘Disgaea 3 Interview’ »

It is a story for the ages, repeated in mead halls and around campfires for generations. It is the story of one who ascends to near-godhood on the driving forces of hype. His armor gleams like the luster of filtered screenshots. His voice resounds with the thunder of a thousand preview trailers. At the pinnacle of his glory, the world holds its breath and waits for his first majestic assault. Continue reading ‘Too Human - Staff Review’ »

RandomNPC’s staff discusses how the site got started, its first year, and its future. Continue reading ‘RandomNPC’s First Birthday Podcast’ »

 

 First Birthday: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

(Most of) RandomNPC reflects on their first RPGs and what got them into the genre.

When moving from a bustling city to a quiet rural town, one would usually expect life to become more peaceful, but this isn’t the case in Persona 4. Instead, the main character’s arrival is followed by news of a scandal, and later, a murder. Rather than worry too much about that, he quickly makes a few friends and hears an interesting rumor regarding TVs and rainy days at midnight. While investigating, he and his friends instead find a connection between this strange phenomenon and what has now become a string of murders. Discovering that they may have the power to help the would-be victims, they set out to prevent as many casualties as they can while solving the surrounding mysteries and attempting to catch the culprit. Continue reading ‘Persona 4 - Staff Import Review’ »

It has been rightly said that every book written represents the death of a perfect idea. This principle can easily be applied to video games, and perhaps none embody this like the obscure Russian first-person survival game Pathologic. With a haphazard English localization, a dated engine and very unforgiving gameplay, Pathologic lacks even the cult status to be salvaged from the bargain bin. The tragedy in this is that the game deserves a look by anyone who ever claimed to support the idea of video games as art, for few other games to date have been as bold, uncompromising and mature. Continue reading ‘Blurring the Line: Pathologic - Staff Review’ »

Final Fantasy IV is a classic RPG that has seen release on five different gaming platforms, so remaking a game that has been played by so many, and often played so many times by those people, is a particularly difficult challenge. How does one make a game that is so familiar to its fans seem fresh and new while retaining the nostalgic feel at the same time? Fortunately, the DS remake of Final Fantasy IV exceeds expectations and is a new yardstick by which to measure remakes in the future. Continue reading ‘Final Fantasy IV - Staff Review’ »

When you’re a kid, summer vacation is the best time for swimming, riding bikes, and playing outside until after sundown. But for Luso, the main character of Final Fantasy Tactics A2, summer vacation is about leading a clan, fighting monsters, and saving another world. It is the making of an epic “How I Spent My Summer Vacation” essay. Continue reading ‘Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift - Staff Review’ »

I had a chance to sit down with Peter Molyneux, the man behind the upcoming Fable II. Fair warning, there are a lot of details, plot and otherwise, and it’s a fairly long read. Continue reading ‘Fable II Demo, Interview with Peter Molyneux’ »

Etrian Odyssey II: Heroes of Lagaard is a dungeon crawler that seeks to induce nostalgia for the very earliest RPGs; games that, if given half a chance, would happily hand a player their own teeth in a bag. The game’s designers have succeeded in producing a tough, classically-styled RPG, but its high level of difficulty, slow-paced plot, and one-dimensional cast is going to make it fairly impenetrable to anyone without a pre-existing love of dungeon exploration and turn-based combat. As far as dungeon crawlers go, Etrian Odyssey II is better than the vast majority, but this particular sub-genre remains a very insular and traditional one, and Etrian Odyssey II isn’t going to change any of that.

Continue reading ‘Etrian Odyssey II: Heroes of Lagaard - Staff Review’ »

RandomNPC had a chance to sit down with Koji Igarashi of Castlevania fame. Continue reading ‘Interview with Iga’ »

After sitting through the Microsoft Press Event, and thinking about it over a tasty beef bowl at Yoshinoya, here is my summary and impressions of the event. Be warned, this is a long read.

Continue reading ‘Microsoft Press Conference Impressions’ »