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Jan 15, 2025 | 
rpgfan.com | Aleks Franiczek
I had a great time with the Demonschool demo over the summer, so it was a pleasure to interview the school’sprincipal game’s creative director (and founder of Necrosoft Games) Brandon Sheffield. We conducted the Q&A over email, where Sheffield revealed some fun and intriguing insights into the design concepts and aesthetic inspirations that informed Demonschool‘s appealing blend of Shin Megami Tensei‘s horror-tinged demon hunting, Persona‘s social management, and air-tight tactics combat.
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Dec 15, 2024 | 
rpgfan.com | Aleks Franiczek
âIf we lived forever, maybe we’d have time to understand things. But as it is, I think the best we can do is try to open our eyes and appreciate how strange and brief all of this is.â – Edith FinchWarning: This article spoils the heck out of this game. Want some spoiler-free coverage? Check out our review here. The term âwalking simulatorâ is divisive for many videogame lovers. Even the name came about as much as a term of disparagement as a descriptive genre label.
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Oct 29, 2024 | 
rpgfan.com | Zach Wilkerson |Michael Sollosi |Aleks Franiczek |Peter Triezenberg
This is awkward. I’ve been a vocal disdainer of Kingdom Hearts video games for over 20 years, and my feelings on the series didn’t change much when I finally finished the first one in early 2019. But now I’ve played a second Kingdom Hearts game, and it’s good. I approached Kingdom Hearts II with as open a mind as I could muster, and once the game begins in earnest and Sora was in new clothes and finding new keys, it’s banger straight up.
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Oct 24, 2024 | 
rpgfan.com | Michael Sollosi |Aleks Franiczek |Zach Wilkerson |Paul Dennis
Article / Highlight · Podcast · Retro Encounterby , , and on October 24, 2024I learned to live half alive / Now you want me one more timeRetro Encounter’s host demonstrates contrition in today’s episode, admitting on-air that there’s at least one good Kingdom Hearts game out there. The panelists also discuss their favorite boss fights, Disney worlds, and character struggles of Kingdom Hearts, which might differ if you’re playing on Normal, Proud, or Critical.
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Oct 17, 2024 | 
rpgfan.com | Michael Sollosi |Aleks Franiczek |Zach Wilkerson |Paul Dennis
Article / Highlight · Podcast · Retro Encounterby , , , and on October 17, 2024In the night I hear ’em talk / The coldest story ever toldKingdom Hearts II, one of the most celebrated sequels in the Square Enix catalog, finally gets an episode (the first of two!) on Retro Encounter. Within, we discuss the game’s dynamic combat, the earnestly made Disney worlds, and plenty about Kingdom Hearts II‘s mysterious black robed mostly-antagonists.
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Sep 28, 2024 | 
rpgfan.com | Aleks Franiczek
Beware! This article contains spoilers for NieR: Automata. This August, I had the pleasure of attending and presenting at Replaying Japan, an academic conference bringing together Japanese and non-Japanese scholars to share research related to Japanese games and the culture surrounding them. This year’s conference took place at the University at Buffalo, SUNY (North Campus) in the United States.
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Sep 19, 2024 | 
rpgfan.com | Michael Sollosi |Aleks Franiczek |Jonathan Logan
Article / Highlight · Podcast · Retro Encounterby , and on September 19, 2024One more thing, there are a couple of loose ends I’d like to tie up. Nothing important, you understand. The Case of the Golden Idol made a splash in 2022, with its compelling murder mysteries, political intrigue, and puzzle adventure gameplay. It also has a decidedly retro look to it, so naturally a few of us wanted to play it.
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Sep 14, 2024 | 
rpgfan.com | Aleks Franiczek
Persona 3 FES was a formative gaming experience for me, and I absolutely loved the treatment Atlus gave it in the recent Persona 3 Reload. The remake did an exemplary job preserving the core experience of the original while refreshing it with a slick coat of paint that provided a new sheen for its outdated presentation and more frustrating or obtuse mechanics. My fond memories felt respected and my modern sensibilities appeased. A winning result. Yet something was missing.
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Sep 12, 2024 | 
rpgfan.com | Michael Sollosi |Aleks Franiczek |Jonathan Logan |Rob White
Article / Highlight · Podcast · Retro Encounterby , , and on September 12, 2024We didn’t start the fireFirewatch is the only release of indie game studio Campo Santo, but made quite an impact when it came out in 2016. Four Retro Encounter panelists played Firewatch recently, and today discuss everything from Firewatch‘s quotidian gameplay, clever use of anticlimax, and fabulous dialog both in writing and performance.
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Sep 8, 2024 | 
rpgfan.com | Michael Sollosi |Aleks Franiczek |Rob White |Zach Wilkerson
Article / Highlight · Podcast · Retro Encounterby , , and on September 7, 2024The Dark Souls of Retro Encounter fantasy drafts FromSoftware has produced an excellent run of fantasy RPGs since 2009’s Demon’s Souls, to which point its extended family of action RPGs comprises a genre all its own. And of course, if you can organize RPGs into a series, then Retro Encounter will attempt to draft them in time for American football season. So which player seizes Anor Londo in the first round?
