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In summer of 2014, Rhythm Encounter episode 18 was all about town themes. Today, a coincidentally exact 100 episodes later, we finally revisit the topic with more favorite RPG town theme music. This time around, we have games that span quite a range, from the early 90s to just last month, with four new-to-Rhythm Encounter games making their debut, …

Don't be a D-Ratio. Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter doesn't want you to have an easy time. A remarkable blend of PS2 visuals, tactical combat, rogue-like elements, and horror atmosphere set to a Hitoshi Sakimoto soundtrack, the fifth game in Capcom's signature turn-based RPG series is as unique as it is challenging. Three RPGFan staff of various exp…

On this week's Random Encounter, we're delving into two recent farm-sim RPGs, exploring if they bring anything new to the genre. First, Niki takes us through the remaster/remake of the classic DS farm-sim Rune Factory 3 Special. Is there anything genuinely special about it, or should you stick with more recent entries of the series? Following that,…

The only podcast here is ours. And you can be its early witness! Final Fantasy XVI, one of the most-anticipated Square-Enix games of the 2020s, finally launched worldwide in June. And now, almost three months later, at least four RPGFan staff have finished playing and want to start talking. From favorite characters and fights to the future of Final…

When it comes to Final Fantasy music, for every "One-Winged Angel," there are a dozen lesser-known songs in a given game that don't always get their deserved time in the spotlight. Today's panel came loaded with eight songs they feel are overlooked, underrepresented, and, yes, underrated from across the Final Fantasy series. So take a seat, Sephiro…

She'll take you for a ride on a wagon train to Zoombiniville It's back to school week here at Retro Encounter, where we stay retro but mostly avoid RPGs in a discussion of classic edutainment games, from The Oregon Trail to Sim City 2000. Who among our illustrious panel dreamed of being on the Carmen Sandiego PBS show? Which educational game most d…

On this week's Random Encounter, we're blasting off to new galaxies and sailing through enchanted seas with two of the most anticipated RPGs of 2023! First, Noah navigates the cosmic expanses of Starfield, Bethesda's highly anticipated space exploration RPG. With the expectations of Skyrim in Space ringing in everyone's ears, does Starfield end up …

On Rhythm Encounter, we have celebrated several consoles' RPG music, including the SNES (Episode 89), NES (Episode 73), and Genesis (Episode 92). Isn't it about time the original PlayStation got some love? It's hard to understate the tectonic shift in RPG releases in the West that began during the PSone's lifetime, and there is a treasure trove of …

Time to go work on Retro Encounter! We're back with our discussion of the second half of Disco Elysium. This week we dive into some of our favorite late-game side quests, go over our favorite conversations with our neckties, and discuss the fabulously strange ending. Did we get Kim to like us? Do we continue to be a disaster cop? Are Phasmids real?…

On this week's Random Encounter, we're diving into the realms of fantasy and musical adventure! First, Abe takes on the epic challenge of reviewing Baldur's Gate III, the long-awaited CRPG sequel that brings Dungeons & Dragons to life! With intricate storytelling, deep character customization, and intense tactical combat, does it roll a nat 20? The…

To the dungeon with you! But don't worry, we'll be there with you. Dungeons are a staple of most RPGs, and good music can elevate the experience of any dungeon, even the dreaded sewers. Why we have never had a dungeon-specific episode before now, we couldn't tell you, so today we make up for it, featuring games dating back as far as 1988 all the wa…

This is the face of a late-stage Retro Encounter enthusiast. This week we get together to discuss a game inspired by Dungeons & Dragons, despite a complete lack of any dungeons or dragons: Disco Elysium. Listen in as we discuss the wild humor and politics of this strange, amazing video game, and find out just how many bad choices we can make while …

On this week's Random Encounter, we're stepping into the wrestling ring and exploring an anti-RPG! First, Neal gets into his tights and fights for the title with WrestleQuest, a pixel RPG that echoes the golden era of professional wrestling. Filled with iconic wrestles and thrilling moves, does it pin Neal's attention? Then, Ben explores the myster…

Have you ever wanted an inside look at what it's like to write covers from classics like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI, perform, and run a stream/YouTube channel? Then this episode is for you. It's another special interview episode here on Rhythm Encounter, and we're fortunate to be joined by talented pianist, streamer, and arranger Kara Comp…

Off my podcast, jester. The commissioner sits there. It's fantasy draft season! And, well, it's been a while since our last draft episode, and even longer since we've drafted characters from the biggest RPG series around. So, we decided to pull a new panel together to engage in some Retro Encounter rules-based discussion nonsense with a supersized …

On this week's Random Encounter, we're looking at a lost Nintendo game, and what might become one of the greatest RPG soundtracks of all time. If you are from the West, you may not have heard of Marvelous: Another Treasure Island. This late-era SNES/Super Famicom title was never localized, but it had a massive impact on gaming history, especially f…

A podcast appears! Fight? Spell? Parry? Item? JAM. The music of Dragon Quest, largely composed by the late Koichi Sugiyama, combines a classical sensibility with a flair for the dramatic, with tracks ranging from serene world map tunes to pop-inspired tracks for naming your hero. And let's not forget the timeless fanfare, one of the most recognizab…

Life... Dreams... Hope... Where do they come from? A new episode of Retro Encounter of course, that's where! We're back this week to dive into the second, more ruinous half of Final Fantasy VI. After the relatively structured and straightforward pacing of the first half, the latter portions of Final Fantasy VI are certainly much more open, and quit…

On this week's Random Encounter, we're finally breaking free of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Not-E3, and Final Fantasy XVI! Time to talk about some (other) games! First up, Audra delights in the RPG crossover to end all RPG crossovers, The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie. Probably not the game you want to try to get into the Tra…

It's time to get down! In this panel, the Rhythm crew has selected some favorite jazz and funk tracks in RPGs. Not styles of music that first come to mind when thinking of RPGs, and indeed, that's part of their charm and effect! How have game composers and arrangers adopted these styles while arranging or used them to build on the game itself? We c…

Think a "podcast" like ours could help you out in your quest? In honor of the recent release of Final Fantasy XVI, we got a few of our panelists together to play through the SNES classic Final Fantasy VI. Some of us have played it a million times, some of us are just running through it for the first, and we chat about everything from the story to t…

On this week's Random Encounter, we're talking about Final Fantasy XVI! It's been six years since the last numbered Final Fantasy game, but the wait is finally over, and Final Fantasy XVI has finally arrived! There's so much to talk about that we're dedicating an entire episode to it, hosted by our FFXVI reviewer, Zach! Whether you've just started …

What defines a musical game? Videogames, and RPGs especially, are known for using a musical score to enhance the experience, so what parameters really define "musical games" and make their use of music especially notable? Today, our Rhythm panel is going on a journey to look at a wide variety of music that we feel fits into this category to tease o…

What the hell, Yoko Taro? After our recently published "25 Years, 25 RPG Moments" feature, we decided to get the crew at Retro Encounter together to talk about some of the moments that made us laugh, made us happy, and most importantly, the ones that wrecked us. What moments did we choose? Which ones did we miss? Who got too emotional to talk for a…

On this week's Random Encounter, it's all about Not-E3! If you're a video game fan, Not-E3 week is like Christmas, Easter, and Halloween all rolled into one! Though a few shows are still coming up next week, the big ones are all finished, and our panel is here to discuss the massive amount of RPG and adventure game news and trailers that dropped! I…

We interrupt the expected "Musical RPGs" episode with a quick listen to some recent music, just as we did earlier in the year with episode 101. With new Zelda and Final Fantasy XIV music that came our way in May, Mike had to share those. But there's several other notable indie projects to share too, so enjoy what we're listening to, and let us know…

Its gifts were mixed with good and evil both. This week we bring our panelists back together to discuss to discuss the second half of Lost Odyssey. While were were all pretty positive on the first half, some of us really like the latter portions, and some of us really don't. Did we do all the sidequests? Do the excellent short stories make up for t…

On this week's Random Encounter, we're seeing the beginnings of the Not-E3 season! If you're a video game fan, it's getting close to the most wonderful time of the year! There are slightly under two weeks until Summer Game Fest, but we still have a ton of news to discuss from Wednesday's PlayStation Showcase and Thursday's Marvelous Game Showcase, …

Welcome to our long-awaited followup to 2014's Theme Park episode! Episode 21 of Rhythm Encounter was all about character themes, and we knew it was time to do this topic again, because there has been no shortage of characters with their own themes in RPGs since then. We've got Dragon Quest, Dragon Age, and even games without dragons in their names…

On this Saturday's emergency Random Encounter, we're discussing The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom! We've assembled a panel of three people who loved Breath of the Wild, one who liked it, and one who just wasn't a fan. The plan was to meet up to talk about the entirety of TOTK, beginning to end. Unfortunately, that plan ran directly into a m…

Okay it might not be called Final Fantasy XIII, but... This week on Retro Encounter, three first-timers get together to discuss Mistwalker's Xbox 360 cult classic Lost Odyssey. It certainly has some big names behind it, and we want to find out if it lives up to the previous works of the masters. How does it hold up? How brown can one game get? Does…

On this week's Random Encounter, we're talking about two highly anticipated sequels (although one is slightly more anticipated than the other). First up, Jono and Mike share their initial impressions of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, the long-awaited direct sequel to 2017's Breath of the Wild. Does it meet their sky-high expectations? A…

On this week's Random Encounter, we're talking about a highly anticipated piece of DLC and a very highly anticipated remake (that we were never quite sure we would EVER see)! First up is Caitlin talking about the Horizon Forbidden West DLC, Burning Shores. In it, we visit the post-apocalyptical ruins of Los Angeles, but do Aloy's Hollywood dreams l…

Thou shalleth listenen to thisen episode. Luckily, you won't hear any conversations about broken Early Modern English, because this time we're not talking about the original. Instead, we have a spoiler filled chat about Octopath Traveler II, a sequel that our panel loved even more than the first game. How does the game look? What about that combat?…

Whether you know him from his legendary work on Final Fantasy Tactics or elsewhere, odds are you at least know composer Hitoshi Sakimoto's name. And while he often gets talked about for his work in those Ivalice titles like FFT, Final Fantasy XII, and Vagrant Story, Sakimoto has worked on a fascinating variety of game soundtracks, dating back to 19…

On this week's Random Encounter, we're looking at two games (technically, 11 games) that bring us fully into cyberspace! First, Peter downloads his thoughts on the new visual novel based on Disney's Tron franchise, TRON: IDENTITY. Does it capture the cyber-magic of the classic 80s film and its 2010s follow-up? Then, Abe confronts the monumental tas…

It's time to make history! This week, we're revisiting one of our favorites: Persona 4 Golden. After all, with the new release on modern consoles and Wes' glowing review for us at RPGFan, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to revisit some of our old friends. But there's an even better reason we're revisiting this classic! We're also joined by s…

At Rhythm Encounter, we've created episodes around seasons in the past — Episode 6 was about summer, while Episode 23, Winter Warmer, was popular enough that we revisited winter in Episode 59. And yet, we've somehow never had episodes about spring or fall/autumn. Well, today we address one of those missing seasons, with four panelists and eight son…

On this week’s Random Encounter, we’re talking about two games that, frankly, we can’t believe exist. Many of us expect certain game series to “stay in their lane.” Mega Man is a platformer. Doom is an FPS. Metroid is, well, a Metroidvania. But when a series tries something completely different in a new genre, the results can vary in quality. Audra…

In preparation for April Fool's Day, someone at RPGFan suggested we finally tackle a long-standing idea: a joke episode that features only chocobo music from Final Fantasy. We loved the idea, but then a funny thing happened — a perfectly normal episode celebrating Nobuo Uematsu's iconic theme and its many, many iterations over the years. The idea w…

More brutal murders than John Wick and more mistaken identities than Twelfth Night. Ryu Ga Gotoku: Ishin! plays fast and loose with the events of Bakumatsu Japan, with multiple historical figures assuming second personas, a legendary alliance forged through a drunken brawl instead of careful diplomacy, and much more than can be contained in a mere …

On this episode of Random Encounter, we’re talking about how to introduce your children to video games, specifically RPGs. We’re far away from the 1980s, back when most parents saw video games as a “fad” or “waste of time.” Instead, parents nowadays see games as a legitimate form of entertainment at worst and an art form at best. So, how should par…

Kamurocho has nothing on the mean streets of 1860s Kyo. Ryu Ga Gotoku: Ishin! was probably a lost cause to most fans of the Like A Dragon / Yakuza series, but Sega shocked everyone last year with the announcement of a full remake of the 2014 historical fiction samurai drama to arrive in February of 2023. RPGFan had at least four panelists eager to …

There is nothing quite as exciting as having a composer as a guest on Rhythm Encounter. After offering much praise for Chained Echoes and its soundtrack, we wanted to get to know up-and-comer Eddie Marianukroh, the composer of said game. In today’s episode of Rhythm Encounter, we talk to Eddie regarding his work as a composer, and ask him to share …

All RPGs and no fighting games makes Jack a dull boy. We don't *solely* play RPGs here at RPGFan, and today is exactly the podcast to express that. Four RPGFan panelists discuss a few of their favorite games that can't be classified as RPGs with even the most liberal interpretation of the term, from crossover fighters to atmospheric horror to block…

On this episode of Random Encounter, we're diving into some recent non-RPG Final Fantasy spin-offs! First up, we have the first console entry in the long-running Final Fantasy rhythm game series, Theatrhythm Final Bar Line. Offering over 380 songs from every Final Fantasy game (with more songs from other Square Enix series on the way), it could be …

Today we enter the realm of video game fantasies, but not Final Fantasies. Remakes are a regular part of the video game release schedule in the 2020s, and here at Retro Encounter we have a few ideas on a few that should come soon. A PS2 rogue-like, a Squaresoft RPG never released in Japan, and some Game Boy Color classics are only a small sample of…

With eight mainline entries, six side stories, and an entire spin-off series, Yakuza/Like a Dragon has an incredible history behind it. And what’s even more incredible is the stunning quality of music that comes with each new title. Since 2005, Yakuza has been gifting us pulse-pounding boss tracks, jaw-dropping series themes, and some of the best t…

E-I-E-I-oh boy I almost went to bed without watering the corn. Oh, hello. On today's Retro Encounter, we're breaking out the farm equipment and digging into the ever-growing farm simulation genre. Many of them overlap with RPGs, especially as modern games have expanded their systems beyond crops, animals, and relationships, offering combat systems …

On this episode of Random Encounter, we're talking about two big recent RPGs, Octopath Traveler II and Like a Dragon: Ishin! When the original Octopath Traveler came out in 2018, we'd never seen anything like its HD-2D art style. Now, Square Enix is back with a sequel, Octopath Traveler II, that addresses many of the criticisms leveled at the game …