Following up last year’s Naruto RPG comes the next in the series, this time taking things in a slightly different direction. Rather than pick up where the first game left off, Naruto: Path of the Ninja 2 takes place at some unknown period after the first game, quite late in the anime series, with a side story not found in the anime. This time around, Naruto and allies must collect five mirrors in order to seal away a being of great evil that has begun to break free. Continue reading ‘Naruto: Path of the Ninja 2 - Staff Review’ »
Harvest Moon is celebrating its tenth birthday this year — no small feat for any franchise — and Natsume is celebrating that anniversary with their latest addition to the series, Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness for the Nintendo DS. Like most Harvest Moon games, Island of Happiness is quite lengthy. After thirty hours of gameplay I managed to make it through the first year of the game. Since here at RandomNPC we believe that an informed review can only be accomplished by playing a game through to its end, I thought I would offer an impression of Island of Happiness based on the first year of the game, in advance of a full review, which will come at a later date. Continue reading ‘Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness - Impression’ »
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’ »
In a period when many developers shy away from trying new things and instead hold to tried and true formulas for RPGs, games that wander off the beaten path are few and far between. Odin Sphere is one of these few. The game suffers from significant slowdown in some areas and a less than original battle system, but it also offers gorgeous graphics and a deep, memorable storyline. It’s a game that’s taken chances, and most of these pay off to create a game that, though not without rough edges, is a breath of fresh air in the genre. Continue reading ‘Odin Sphere - Staff Retroview’ »
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’ »
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’ »
Widely considered the crown jewel of the Castlevania series and a classic of gaming, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night took what had been a very traditional side-scrolling platformer series, shifted the gameplay focus to exploration, and infused it with RPG mechanics. Symphony of the Night was a significant change to the series, moving it towards more RPG-influenced gameplay, a trend which has increased as the series has gone on. Time has not been particularly kind to this game, as later entries in the series eclipse it in terms of having deeper gameplay and plot, but with such fluid animation and a wonderful soundtrack, the game still has something to offer the modern gamer. Continue reading ‘Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - Staff Retroview’ »
The Fire Emblem series makes its triumphant return to consoles with the only entry to grace the GameCube, Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. The tried-and-true mechanics return with a whole new race of characters to make one of the best RPG experiences to ever grace the console. Continue reading ‘Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance - Staff Retroview’ »
Fire Emblem is among the longest-running RPG series today, and though each new game brings a new plot and characters, each one holds on to nearly the same mechanics. In Fire Emblem, it is a given that if characters die, they are out of the game. Permanently. One can also count on the fact swords beat axes; axes beat lances; and lances beat swords. And, interestingly enough, all weapons will break if used a set number of times. These are truths remain constant and set up the basis for Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones. Continue reading ‘Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones - Staff Retroview’ »
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’ »
With six games to its name in North America (five regular games and one spinoff: Suikoden Tactics), the Suikoden series had been a staple of the RPG genre — if a bit of a dark horse. Suikoden V is a solid addition to the series as well as a great place for players who’ve never tried the series to get their feet wet. And while the game may not appeal to those interested in a highly complex battle system, Suikoden V is an absolute gem for story gamers, and offers memorable characters, a rich plot and a chance to experience a conflict that moves beyond the typical black and white save-the-world plot of many an RPG. Continue reading ‘Suikoden V - Staff Retroview’ »
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’ »
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’ »
Under normal circumstances, when a Japanese company releases an expansion for a game, the rest of the world is left out of the loop. Thankfully for us in North America, Persona 3 FES is a rare exception to the rule. Offering a number of changes to Persona 3, FES adds some nice bonuses to the initial package, while adding on a good deal of new content and doing some overall re-balancing. FES’s changes range from the nice but inconsequential (new costumes), to the significant (an all-new 30 hour epilogue), to the inexplicable (Mara), but overall, FES is a solid and worthwhile addition to Persona 3.
Continue reading ‘Persona 3 FES - Staff Review’ »
The Wild ARMs series has never been known for stellar quality, but the games — excluding the second installment, which left many fans with PTSD — are still the objects of affection for many RPG connoisseurs. Naturally, players have certain standards and tolerances when it comes to Wild ARMs games. They know they aren’t getting a perfectly polished game, just an above average one that gains appeal largely from nostalgic references.
So when a longtime fan recognizes that the newest Wild ARMs title isn’t up to the series’ standards, you know it’s bad.
Continue reading ‘Wild ARMs XF - Staff Review’ »
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