Retro Encounter thought that a game of "Wed, Bed, Behead?" was too disturbring for a G-rated program, so we added an explicit tag and removed murder. Three RPGFan panelists put forth sets of hypothetical bachelors and bachelorettes and play a 1970s Dating Game remade for the 2000s. Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Stephanie Sybydlo, Peter Triezenberg
AI: The Somnium Files was one of the understated hit visual novels of 2019, except that the game's tone and story is anything but. Five Retro Encounter panelists break down Kotaro Uchikoshi's wild dream-dropping murder mystery talking about its characters, themes, moments, and abundance of porno mags. Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Caitlin Argyros, Alana Hagues, Leona McCallum, Tyler Trosper
Our three Stars of Destiny return for Part 2 of our Suikoden V game journal episode! Come listen to our panellists dissect every inch of this PlayStation 2 gem and maybe the rest of the Suikoden series while they are at it. Featuring: Leona McCallum, Tris Mendoza, Zach Wilkerson
Almost two years since our first Suikoden game journal, we return to the series with three dedicated fans of the series. Our three panelists all agree Suikoden V is a return to form after the fourth entry, with arguably the finest cast in the whole series. Join us as we discuss the first half of the game, the Queendom of Falena, argue over the best characters in the game, and wax poetic about Sialeed's sparkling personality. Featuring: Zach Wilkerson, Leona McCallum, Tris Mendoza
Retro Encounter welcomes a special guest for the first time in its brief history, with Robert Boyd and Bill Stiernberg of Zeboyd Games visitng to discuss their latest RPG, Cthulhu Saves Christmas. The Zeboyd duo discuss their ten-year careers in indie game development alongside pricing strategies, finding time to play video games as busy adults, and their future plans. Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Greg Delmage, Jonathan Logan, Robert Boyd, Bill Stiernberg
Retro Encounter recorded podcasts on over a dozen PlayStation games over the past five years, so naturally we have some ideas about which are the best and worst. On the first Retro Encounter episode of 2020 four panelists rank their favorite PlayStation One games, and discuss the list of ten. Which is really a list of fourteen. We're not great at counting. Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Audra Bowling, Alana Hagues, Zach Wilkerson
The final Retro Encounter episode of 2019 is a celebration of the year that was, in which five panelists detail over a dozen new RPGs they played in the preceding twelve months. Afterwards, the panel shares role-playing game regrets and resolutions for 2020, for auld lang syne. Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Alana Hagues, Nathan Lee, Jo Padilla, Peter Triezenberg
Ghost Trick's second half has twists, switcheroos, and some Very Good Animals and we're here to discuss all of it. Alternate timelines, supernatural magic, and prognostication of how painful a t-shirt gun is each get their moments in a very tricky episode of Retro Encounter! Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Jonathan Logan, Jo Padilla
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is an offbeat adventure game from the creative team behind Capcom's Ace Attorney series. A ghost named Sissel wakes up above his dead body, and decides to solve his own murder. From there a tale of using supernatural ghost powers to save murder victims and thwart international conspiracies begins, using only GHOST and TRICK buttons on the Nintendo DS touchscreen. Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Jonathan Logan, Jo Padilla
Retro Encounter brings back its homage to Ask Me Another in a new quiz show for the end of 2019! Two new contestants, two returning contests, one new host, and sixty new questions are here to play, and the topics range from Suikoden characters to Zelda dungeons to professional wrestling. We got weird this episode. Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Hilary Andreff, Alana Hagues, Leona McCallum, Mike Salbato, Zach Wilkerson
We're back for part 2 of our Vagrant Story discussion! Our two panelists go over the Vagrant Story endgame, Ashley Riot's motivations, and the future of Vagrant Story in today's episode. There are some kind words about Yasumi Matsuno and some less-kind words about block-pushing puzzles. Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Jo Padilla
Vagrant Story is an experimental, cinematic RPG of the year 2000 with a battle system that's complicated both to navigate and explain. Fortunately, today's podcast goes deep into the presentation and mechanics of this Squaresoft classic, from graphics to gameplay and from Rosencrantz to Guildenstern. Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Jo Padilla
EarthBound got mentioned on a stream, Kat and Sollosi had a short discussion, and a podcast was born. Two panelists from Retro Encounter's 2017 EarthBound episodes join with two relative newcomers to the RPGFan staff for an all-new EarthBound discussion, which connects Super Smash Brothers to One Piece to Undertale to the Charlie Brown & Snoopy Show. Good talk. Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Hilary Andreff, Katherine Kortvely, Jo Padilla
We're back for the second half of Retro Encounter's journey through the world of the first Grandia! Our pair of panelists discuss the rambunctious Rapp, the secrets of Alent, and what Baal and his cronies are up to. Featuring: Zach Wilkerson, Hilary Andreff
In a very unusual episode of Retro Encounter, the host selfishly combines two of his longtime obsessions: Final Fantasy and fantasy football. Four panelists attempt to draft Final Fantasy characters into an ultimate Final Fantasy team, purely for fun and not competition (publicly), but each panelist is certain his team was the best (privately). Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Greg Delmage, Kyle Seeley, Peter Triezenberg
Grandia, the Saturn classic later ported to PlayStation, saw new life in 2019 with ports available for Switch and PC. Two Retro Encounter panelists check and see if the Game Arts opus holds up, examining its intriguing battle system, long and winding dungeons, and relentless optimism. Featuring: Zach Wilkerson, Hilary Andreff
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening is a beloved 1993 classic with a recent 2019 remake. We wanted to discuss it in detail on a podcast, but we did so back in 2018! Hence the "revisited" in this episode title and also the emphasis on that recent remake and the future of Zelda. Today's Retro is all about the past, the present, and the future, all about a game with zero time travel. Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Jonathan Logan, Mike Salbato
Fire Emblem: Three Houses made a huge splash among RPG fans in general and Fire Emblem fans in particular in July 2019, and a few months later we're ready to dive deep into a spoilercast all about it. Favorite characters, the nuances of different story paths, and more all take center stage in this fantasy drama of a strategy RPG. Say goodbye to weapon triangles and hello to the latest Retro Encounter episode! Featuring: Nathan Lee, Katherine Kortvely, Kyle Kortvely, Leona McCallum
The second half of Wild ARMs 3 is loaded with hidden puzzle rooms, secret bosses, unidentified flying objects, and story surprises. Wild ARMs 3 has many hidden depths buried in its post-apocalyptic sands, and Retro Encounter's panel is ready to dig in. Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Jo Padilla
Wild ARMs fans can't agree which game is the best in the series, but Wild ARMs 3 won a public poll held earlier this year, so that's the Ramen Western our two Retro Encounter panelists are taking on. Post-apocalyptic cowboys, shamanistic magic, and an excess of JRPG statistics populate this PS2 gem, and what RPG uses a Wild West setting better? Nobody. Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Jo Padilla
Retro Encounter celebrates Nintendo's massively successful handheld in a new console-dedicated episode! Melodramatic lawyers, gentleman professors, Square Enix remakes, and even rotoscoped detectives get their shine in this episode celebrating as many D.S. acronyms as we can remember. Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Audra Bowling, Stephanie Sybydlo, Peter Triezenberg Get in Touch: Email us: retro@rpgfan.com Twitter: @rpgfancom Related Links: RPGFan.com...
With Dragon Quest XI's Switch version on the horizon and Dragon Quest Builders II in the rearview mirror, two of Retro Encounter's distinguished Dragon Quest dilettantes delve into the entire series catalogue. Eventually, the dynamic duo determine Retro Encounter's official favorite Dragon Quest. Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Zach Wilkerson Get in Touch: Email us: retro@rpgfan.com Twitter: @rpgfancom Related Links: RPGFan.com...
Luca Blight, the mad dog of a bad prince from Suikoden II, is one of the most memorable villains of Japanese RPGs, and Retro Encounter is bringing back the RPG Villains format to celebrate, analyze, and reproach him. What was Luca's most horrible act? Could Luca have joined the heroes in different circumstances? Is Luca Blight the true villain of Suikoden II? All of this and more in today's episode of Retro Encounter! Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Leona McCallum, Zach Wilkerson Get in Touch: Email...
In their second exploration of The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel, a panel gets deep into Erebonian politics, giant robots, and school dances. Plot twists, connections to other Trails titles, and more take center stage at the Thors Military Academy festival. Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Caitlin Argyros, Alana Hagues, Zach Wilkerson Get in Touch: Email us: retro@rpgfan.com Twitter: @rpgfancom Related Links: RPGFan.com...
Retro Encounter celebrates 200 episodes with its very own awards show! Five panelists discuss more than twenty awards subjects, except they aren't beholden to particular years, specific genres, or common sense. The categories, winners, and panelists follow no rules at all except "Must either be under RPGFan's coverage or pertaining to Devil May Cry 5." Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Alana Hagues, Stephanie Sybydlo, Peter Triezenberg, Zach Wilkerson Get in Touch: Email us: retro@rpgfan.com Twitter: ...
Retro Encounter braves their second Falcom journey of 2019 with The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel, an epic tale of generations of war, an economic class divide, and questionable school field trips. Four panelists of Trails veterans and newcomers tackle the fan-favorite RPG with enthusiasm for good dialog and thirst for cute moms and dads. Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Caitlin Argyros, Alana Hagues, Zach Wilkerson Get in Touch: Email us: retro@rpgfan.com Twitter: @rpgfancom Related Links: ...
Four Retro Encounter panelists each finished Trials of Mana (maybe more than once) and there is plenty to discuss. The game hits its non-linear middle chapter and choice-determined finale, and everything from elemental weaknesses to class changes to endgame loot hunting comes up. Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Greg Delmage, Alana Hagues, Zach Wilkerson Get in Touch: Email us: retro@rpgfan.com Twitter: @rpgfancom Related Links: RPGFan.com...
Three RPGFan panelists spend a warm July evening reminiscing about the games of summer. Games played durring summer break from school, games that have a summery feeling, or even games tied to specific middle-of-the-year-in-the-northern-hemisphere memories. This episode covers an enormous range of topics, from Blockbuster rentals to a toddlers playing Undertale. Featuring: Marcos Gaspar, Audra Bowling, Kyle Seeley Get in Touch: Email us: retro@rpgfan.com Twitter: @rpgfancom Related Links: RPGFan....
Seiken Densetsu 3 spent more than two decades on lists of "great Japanese RPGs that never left Japan," until June 2019. It was added to the Retro Encounter schedule minutes after the announcement during E3 2019. A month after that fateful Nintendo Direct, four Retro Encounter panelists have played through the first half of SD3, rebranded Trials of Mana. Six heroes, eight spirits, and much more to discuss. Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Greg Delmage, Alana Hagues, Zach Wilkerson Get in Touch: Email ...
It's fun to talk about what you love, but almost as much fun to wallow in shared disdain. For this episode of Retro Encounter, four panelists discuss their LEAST favorite games in a few of their favorite series, from Kingdom Hearts Re:Remakes to flawed first or second games of legendary JRPG series to ill-advised spinoffs. Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Greg Delmage, Peter Triezenberg, Zach Wilkerson Get in Touch: Email us: retro@rpgfan.com Twitter: @rpgfancom Related Links: RPGFan.com...
