jrpgs
In Real Life

Box Catches Cat, With A Final Fantasy Twist

I’ve always wanted to headline an article “Box Catches Cat”. Now, finally, my moment has arrived, thanks to YouTuber SirAshquatch. It’s nice to see someone else agrees that many of life’s most triumphant moments deserve their own victory music.

4 May 2013

Nintendo

JRPG Censorship Is Such A Silly Thing

For as long as there have been Japanese role-playing games, there has been censorship. Since the NES days, Nintendo and other big Japanese companies have been quick to stamp their big black bars on anything that might be considered offensive to Western sensibilities: alcohol, religion, sex, octopus statues, whatever. And JRPGs have been the biggest victim of this misguided crusade.

20 April 2013

PC

Ode To The JRPG Mini-Game

During the two-and-a-half decades I’ve been playing JRPGs, I’ve learned three important lessons: 1) If an NPC tells you a rumour, it’s true; 2) All valuables are hidden in bookshelves; and 3) Mini-games are always better than real games.

14 April 2013

PC

11 Indie JRPGs On My Radar

Here at Random Encounters, we spend a lot of time talking about big JRPGs — the Final Fantasys, the Dragon Quests, the Taleses. NOT TODAY. Today we’re going to talk about the smaller ones.

16 March 2013

PC

Turn-Based Combat Is The Best Kind Of Combat

Oh boy, here we go. If I’m gonna take over Jason’s column for a week, that means I’m gonna talk about Japanese role-playing games. And if I’m gonna talk about Japanese role-playing games, that means I’m gonna talk about one of their defining characteristics: turn-based gameplay.

9 March 2013

PC

Proof That Western Gamers Really Do Want Japanese RPGs

Does the world still care about Japanese role-playing games? Do people still want to buy them? Do they still deserve our attention? Ask your average gamer — or your average game developer — and they’ll tell you that the JRPG is a dying genre.

26 February 2013

Nintendo

Fire Emblem: Awakening Has One Hell Of A Grand Finale

The grand finale of Fire Emblem: Awakening made me feel things. Emotional things. In fact, it made me feel so many things it kinda knocked me out. This was unexpected.

16 February 2013

In Real Life

10 Modern JRPGs Worth Playing

Let’s make something clear. Japanese RPGs are not dead. They have never been dead. They will not be dead any time soon.

5 February 2013

PlayStation

The Curious Case Of Ni No Kuni’s Unpleasant Battle Music

The first time I heard the battle music in Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, I thought “Ugh.” That’s never a good sign. In a Japanese role-playing game like Ni no Kuni, the battle music is arguably the most important music in the game.

23 January 2013

PlayStation

12 Things You Should Know About The Stellar, Stunning Ni No Kuni

You are perhaps wondering whether or not you should play Ni no Kuni, the RPG by Level-5 and Studio Ghibli that comes out today on PlayStation 3. Let me put it simply: Yes. Ni no Kuni is a fantastic game.

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