Ni no Kuni is finally out in America, and the podcast crew takes an in-depth look at Level 5's latest epic. Following a spirited debate and brief analysis of video game commercials for some reason, Stephen and Rob throw down on Path of Exile. Oh, and there's an epic amount of news to talk about, so somebody give John a nice pat on the back for organizing all of this madness! Featuring: Robert Steinman, John, McCarroll, Stephen Meyerink, Derek Heemsbergen Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email...
Feb 02, 2013•1 hr 34 min
Our first ever Music of the Year show, featuring some of our favorite tracks from the year. Stay tuned after the show for our interview with Casey Ormond, arranger of the Piano Collections Final Fantasy XII album! And if you like the show, be sure to let us know! Featuring: Stephen Meyerink, Derek Heemsbergen, Patrick Gann, Don Kotowski Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email us: [email protected]
Feb 01, 2013•2 hr 16 min
2012 has finally come to a close, and thankfully the Mayans weren't right and the world keeps turning. But before we start talking about 2013, join us for a look back at some of the major releases of last year with a bit more time and perspective on our side. Of course we've got some crazy predictions for 2013, so be sure to listen and tell us in a year just how wrong we were! Featuring: Robert Steinman, Stephen Meyerink, Derek Heemsbergen, Kyle E. Miller Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Emai...
Jan 16, 2013•1 hr 43 min
It's the last episode of the year, and we decided to go out with a bang by inviting long time editor John Tucker to the podcast. He's got some Paper Mario to talk about, and then John, Derek and Stephen completely steal the show to gush about Crimson Shroud. There's quite a bit of news to finish out the year, however, including a story that Rob and Stephen have been DYING to talk about... Featuring: Robert Steinman, John McCarroll, Stephen Meyerink, John Tucker, and Derek Heemsbergen Questions? ...
Dec 29, 2012•1 hr 17 min
Time to upgrade your social link! We've got lots to say about Persona 4: Golden on the Vita followed by a brief talk with Kyle about his trip to Baltimore and the world of Tamriel in The Elder Scrolls Online. Featuring: Robert Steinman, John McCarroll, Stephen Meyerink and Kyle Miller Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email us: [email protected]
Nov 28, 2012•1 hr 24 min
The release of Virtue's Last Reward gives the podcast crew another chance to gush over visual novels (999 included, of course), while Pandas invade World of Warcraft to... do whatever it is pandas do. Following some news, Stephen picks the brains of Phoenix Online Studios Cesar Bittar and Richard Flores to talk about Cognition. Featuring: Robert Steinman, John McCarroll, Stephen Meyerink and Derek Heemsbergen Special Guests: Cesar Bittar, CEO of Phoenix Online Studios, Richard Flores, CTO of Pho...
Oct 31, 2012•1 hr 51 min
Let the looting begin! Borderlands 2 is out, and our podcast crew has opinions. But that's not all this week. We've also got Realms of Ancient Wars and Ragnarok Online to round out the first of the big Fall releases. John also has some news coming out of Bioware that is both sad and exciting at the same time! Whatever could it be?! Featuring: Robert Steinman, John McCarroll, Stephen Meyerink and Derek Heemsbergen Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email us: [email protected]
Oct 10, 2012•1 hr 21 min
Well, we actually made it to fifty episode. Bet no one saw that coming. But we have no room for a clip show with The Last Story, Darksiders 2, Guild Wars 2, and all sorts of news going on these days. We also have some fellow editors putting in brief appearances to talk about their favorite RPG memories (spoiler: lots of people like Chrono Trigger), and we hope to maybe continue with this in the future. Here's looking forward to fifty more episodes! Featuring: Robert Steinman, John McCarroll, Ste...
Sep 19, 2012•1 hr 47 min
We decided to get one more leisurely episode in before the craziness of the fourth quarter starts to take over. Dave leads off with some final thoughts on The Secret World, Rob fends off the zombie apocalypse (TM) while talking about the first two episodes of The Walking Dead, and John throws down with Persona 4: Arena. Dave also pulls double duty as our podcast economist and tries to make sense of all the stuff going on with The Old Republic and Zynga. Finally, we've got an interview with game ...
Aug 16, 2012•1 hr 50 min
The podcast crew continues to fight back the record setting drought with a focus on great gaming experience. Rob and John spent some time in The Secret World, and John also pulled double duty by partaking in some Rainbow Moon with resident gaming lover Stephen. Meanwhile, some relatively minor news accompanies a major rumor on a supposedly troubled project. Featuring: Robert Steinman, John McCarroll and Stephen Meyerink Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email us: [email protected]
Jul 28, 2012•1 hr 28 min
The summer heat has kicked in, but that just means more time to stay in the air conditioning and play some great RPGs. Stephen comes armed after a harrowing experience with the Japanese beta of Phantasy Star Online 2 (keep in mind we didn't know about the US release when we recorded), while John brings the critters of Pokemon Conquest to destroy the armies of feudal Japan. Meanwhile, Rob's been playing some Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (way to stay current), and, of course, Zack brings the news,...
Jul 11, 2012•1 hr 27 min
Another year, another E3 come and gone in the gaming world. While it may not have seemed like there were a lot of RPGs on display, our intrepid reporters scoured the show floor to bring you all of the latest info. From the first Skyrim expansion to a game in which a young child tries to kill people (seriously!), this year's expo had a wide range of titles to choose from. Join the regular crew and various special guests as we do our best to talk about all of the E3 insanity! Featuring: Robert Ste...
Jun 21, 2012•2 hr 21 min
Join RPGFan Editor-in-Chief John McCarroll as he talks Gungnir with Richard Rodrigues and Aram Jabbari of Atlus. Note: This is the same interview available at the end of Random Encounter Episode 45. We've added a separate download option for your listening convenience. Featuring: John McCarroll, Richard Rodrigues (QA Lead, Atlus), Aram Jabbari (PR Manager, Atlus) Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email us: [email protected]
May 30, 2012•26 min
Looks like Hell has finally frozen over. Blizzard unleashed Diablo 3 a little over two weeks ago, and the podcast crew has been tearing through the armies of the Burning Hells with reckless abandon. What do they think about all of the connection issues? What about the auction house? Is the game even good? After that, the crew wades into a title that Rob can't pronounce or spell with Gungnir, and there's certainly some sad news to talk about following the closing of 38 Studios and Big Huge Games....
May 30, 2012•2 hr 3 min
As part of the ArenaNet studio visit that took place one month ago, Rob was able to participate in two roundtable interviews on the upcoming Guild Wars 2. Unfortunately, we were unable to get you the interviews due to technical difficulties... until now! The first interview is with Lead Content Designer Colin Johanson and Lead Game Designer Eric Flannum, and is followed by an interview with ArenaNet President Mike O'Brien and Producer Chris Whiteside. There's a lot of interesting discussion in h...
May 23, 2012•1 hr 12 min
Ya know what's a good idea? Let's send the biggest MMO-hater on the site out to Seattle to check out Guild Wars 2. It may sound like a recipe for disaster, but Rob came back with a huge smile on his face and a desire to play more of the innovative title due out later this year. In addition, John found a surprising amount of quality listener mail, giving us the oppourtunity to hold our very first Q and A session! How freakin' sweet is that?! Zack brings it all home with his usual news roundup, in...
May 05, 2012•1 hr 18 min
It's spring time and allergy season has hit the podcast crew like a ton of bricks, but that won't stop us from talking about some great JRPG releases! We finally have Xenoblade in America as well as Tales of Graces f to satiate us during these sneeze filled months. There's also a lot of Kickstarter stuff to talk about in news, leading to the revival of some well loved franchises (yay for Shadowrun!). Featuring: Robert Steinman, John McCarroll, Stephen Meyerink, Derek Heemsbergen and Ashton Liu Q...
Apr 11, 2012•1 hr 31 min
The release of Mass Effect 3 sure has sent some shockwaves through the industry, and the podcast gang is no exception. Join the crew of Random Encounter as they talk about the crew of the Normandy and the finale to BioWare's epic. We delve into spoilers from about the 37 minute mark until 1 hour 20 minutes in, so avoid that if you're worried about spoilers. But do come back! After John's journey through news, Atlus representatives Aram Jabbari and Scott Williams join us to talk about the soon to...
Mar 21, 2012•2 hr 10 min
You can't say we don't listen to the fans. Wait, that double negative has me all confused now. Anywho, the podcast crew wades into the JRPG space this week with a look at Hyperdimension Neptunia MK2 and (one of Stephen's favorite games) Tales of the Abyss. The conversation ends up completely off track when Rob and John focus on what draws them into a video game. Zack returns from his college adventures to talk news, and the whole crew agrees that we should have probably trademarked the name Rand...
Mar 01, 2012•1 hr 25 min
Remember when the first quarter was a slow time of the year? Yeah, fat chance of us getting a break around here with these major releases! Final Fantasy 13-2 is here and ready to usher in the New Year with moogles, time travel, and the cast of Kingdom Hearts. Wait, what? We brought Derek back on the show because, well, he found every freakin' doodad in the game! That's dedication, folks! After that, we head straight into the fantasy realm of Amalur, as Stephen spent the better part of the week s...
Feb 15, 2012•1 hr 29 min
Square-Enix graced the US with the demo for Final Fantasy XIII-2, and it's up to the podcast crew to tear into this mammoth JRPG. Did the developers listen to the complaints from the original game? Will this sequel bring new and old fans to the fold? We may not have concrete answers, but we certainly have some initial thoughts. You also get to hear the beginnings of a retrospective look at the franchise that will (hopefully) take on a larger form down the line. John battles with the recent news ...
Jan 24, 2012•1 hr 40 min
We certainly promised you guys a big end of the year episode, and by God did we ever deliver. The crew starts by sitting down for an in-depth discussion of 2011. From Dragon Age 2 to Skyrim, the podcast gang analyzes the major releases and trends in the genre (and industry) we all love. In the second segment, Rob, John, Kyle and Dave talk about Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, one of the first big RPGs of 2012. Finally, the podcasters take a look into the RPGFan Crystal Ball (TM) and come up with ...
Jan 10, 2012•2 hr 44 min
We certainly promised you guys a big end of the year episode, and by God did we ever deliver. The crew starts by sitting down for an in-depth discussion of 2011. From Dragon Age 2 to Skyrim, the podcast gang analyzes the major releases and trends in the genre (and industry) we all love. In the second segment, Rob, John, Kyle and Dave talk about Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, one of the first big RPGs of 2012. Finally, the podcasters take a look into the RPGFan Crystal Ball (TM) and come up with ...
Jan 10, 2012•43 min
We certainly promised you guys a big end of the year episode, and by God did we ever deliver. The crew starts by sitting down for an in-depth discussion of 2011. From Dragon Age 2 to Skyrim, the podcast gang analyzes the major releases and trends in the genre (and industry) we all love. In the second segment, Rob, John, Kyle and Dave talk about Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, one of the first big RPGs of 2012. Finally, the podcasters take a look into the RPGFan Crystal Ball (TM) and come up with ...
Jan 10, 2012•2 hr 1 min
Our trip through the frozen lands of Skyrim comes to a close with a few final thoughts on Bethesda's epic. But the latest Elder Scrolls title wasn't the only big game to come out in November. Nintendo decided to throw the Wii a going away party in the best possible way with The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. However, that's not all, weary traveler. Rob and Stephen were recently blessed with the Diablo 3 beta, and they certainly have lots to say about the Lord of Terror's return to the land of S...
Dec 12, 2011•1 hr 38 min
Guys! Guys! Skyrim is here! The Bethesda epic we've all been waiting for has finally arrived and the editors of RPGFan are here to share their opinions on the game. Tales of werewolves, assassinations and lots of dragons abound in this weeks episode of Random Encounter! Stay tuned after the show for an interview with Cesar Bittar and Katie Hallahan of Phoenix Online Studios on their upcoming game Cognition. Featuring: Robert Steinman, John McCarroll, Stephen Meyerink and Kyle Miller Special Gues...
Nov 24, 2011•2 hr 3 min
With the horror that is Dark Souls behind them, the editors of RPGFan enjoy a return to some sort of normalcy as John talks The Lord of the Rings: War in the North, Kim and Derek riff on Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny, as Rob sinks his teeth into... more Dark Souls, and Stephen wraps us up with this week's RPG news. Featuring: Robert Steinman, John McCarroll, Stephen Meyerink, Kimberley Wallace and Derek Heemsbergen Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email us: [email protected]
Nov 09, 2011•56 min
Asking how many deaths it takes to beat Dark Souls is like asking how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop. But with the last bonfires well behind them, the editors of RPGFan regain their humanity (and their sanity) and discuss this behemoth of an action/horror RPG. Join us in jolly co-operation as we go over the ins and outs of what makes FROM Software's latest foray into pain simulators oh-so-satisfying. Is the masochism of Dark Souls too much for you? MMOs more your speed...
Oct 28, 2011•2 hr 9 min
Need a break from the constant terror that is Dark Souls? Then have a seat at our bonfire as John recounts his time with Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Kim discusses the recently released Persona 2: Innocent Sin, and the rest of the crew whets their appetites for more Dark Souls. Stay tuned after the show for an interview on Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny with Adam Fitch, Localization Editor at Natsume! Featuring: Robert Steinman, John McCarroll, Stephen Meyerink, Kimberley Wallace and Zachary P...
Oct 12, 2011•1 hr 30 min
Seems like everyone is talking about the JRPG Xenoblade and wondering whether or not we'll see it on domestic shores. Well, the crew of Random Encounter decided to focus on this heavily anticipated title, and reached the consensus that, yeah, it is a pretty big deal. Following an in depth analysis of the title, Derek brings the podcast home with the week's crazy news, including an Old Republic release date, the rabid anticipation of Dark Souls, a Final Fantasy remake, and the delay(?) of Diablo ...
Sep 28, 2011•1 hr 9 min
