Retro Encounter Archives | Page 8 of 14

Retro Encounter 255 – Persona 2: Innocent Sin Part II

Posted by Zach Wilkerson on September 24, 2020

In the final episode of Persona Month, we gather again to discuss the end of Persona 2: Innocent Sin. Discussion topics include the continuously terrible dungeons, childhood trauma, Adolf Hitler, and Jesus. Somehow, we try to make sense of all those things on this episode. Yes, this game goes some p… Read More »

Retro Encounter 254 – Persona 2: Innocent Sin

Posted by Zach Wilkerson on September 17, 2020

This week on Retro Encounter, four panelists get together to talk about Persona 2: Innocent Sin, the PS1 RPG that we never saw until its PSP remake over 10 years later. Topics include the engaging characters, the less than engaging combat, and somehow…disaster bisexuals. Don’t ask. Just listen. Be… Read More »

Retro Encounter 253 – Persona Playlist

Posted by Michael Sollosi on September 10, 2020

Rhythm Encounter is back for the first time since 2017! (This is a different podcast entirely). But in a Grand Cross of a cosmic coincidence, Rhythm Encounter’s return occurs during Retro Encounter’s Persona Month, so we (Retro) chose to do an episode all about the music of the Persona series to cel… Read More »

Retro Encounter 252 – RPG Villains: The Persona 4 Killer

Posted by Michael Sollosi on September 4, 2020

Persona 4 stars a group of meddling teenagers (and one bear) determined to bring a serial killer to justice, but what makes that killer tick? Retro Encounter jumps into the TV World and journeys into the mind of a murderer in a new episode of RPG Villains. The identity of Persona 4’s cul… Read More »

Retro Encounter 251 – RPGFan Quiz Show The Third

Posted by Michael Sollosi on September 2, 2020

This. Is. RPGeopardy! RPGFan is hosting a third quiz show in which four RPGFan staff compete for absolutely nothing at all in a trivia competition where the clues are (mostly) all about RPGs. Retro Encounter’s most frequent host wrote the rounds, so don’t be surprised to hear multiple Dragon Quest(i… Read More »

Retro Encounter 250 – Listener Mailbag Returns

Posted by Michael Sollosi on September 1, 2020

Retro Encounter just hit a new milestone, and that means another self-congratulatory gimmick episode. Retro Encounter solicited listener emails all summer, and today we read and react to all that we received. At episode’s end, we pick five games from the listener suggestions to be part of a new list… Read More »

Retro Encounter 249 – Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga Part II

Posted by Michael Sollosi on August 29, 2020

Retro Encounter draws their shared adventure in the Beanbean Kingdom to a close in this podcast episode, discussing Luigi’s solo missions, the collection of the Beanstar pieces, the brothers’ journey through Joke’s End, and confronting the final villains in a surprising moment of body horror. Today,… Read More »

Retro Encounter 248 – Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga Part I

Posted by Michael Sollosi on August 10, 2020

Retro Encounter tackles the 2003 GBA classic Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga this week, and the panel is divided on whether the game’s timed-hits combat, silly humor, and early-aughts dungeon puzzles have aged well or poorly. The panel is unanimous on Superstar Saga’s treatment of coffee and… Read More »

Retro Encounter 247 – Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together Part II

Posted by Michael Sollosi on July 30, 2020

Retro Encounter’s journey to unite the Valerian isles, expel the manipulative Knights Loslorien, and stave off invasion from a hell dimension comes to a close, with the messy conclusion to Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together. Collectivist vs. Individualist ideals, how characters are treated in diffe… Read More »

Retro Encounter 246 – Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together Part I

Posted by Michael Sollosi on July 23, 2020

Five years after podcasting about Final Fantasy Tactics, Retro Encounter tackles Yasumi Matsuno’s prior magnum opus, Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together! We discuss the Super Famicom classic’s multi-layered, politics-heavy story, fascinating class system, and key differences between the PS1 and PSP… Read More »

Retro Encounter 245 – Trials of Mana Revisited

Posted by Michael Sollosi on July 17, 2020

Two Trials of Mana scholars from 2019’s Retro Encounter episodes return for a revisitation on the 1995 classic, specifically in the context of its 2020 remake. We talk visual upgrades, new classes, and some questionable English-language voice acting in a 1-year podcast anniversary all about a 25-yea… Read More »

Retro Encounter 244 – Three Truths and a Lie

Posted by Michael Sollosi on July 9, 2020

Who will win? Only The Shadow knows. In this episode, we may talk about marine life, Final Fantasy VI, our deepest, wettest fears, and of course, a gross bucket of worms. Featuring: Michael Sollosi, Mike Salbato, Zach Wilkerson, Peter Triezenberg; Edited by Michael Sollosi

Retro Encounter 243 – RPG Villains: Pokey Minch

Posted by Michael Sollosi on July 3, 2020

Pokey Minch is a major villain both Earthbound and Mother 3, and somehow reminds you of every kid you ever hated in grade school as well as billionaire fascists of both fiction and history. In this episode we dive deep into Pokey Minch’s journey, motivations, and unusual traits. This is RPG Villains… Read More »

Retro Encounter 242 – Yakuza 0 Part II

Posted by Michael Sollosi on June 26, 2020

Our panel has reached the end of Yakuza 0, and with it comes new beginnings for the Dragon of Dojima and the Mad Dog of Shimano. Four panelists discuss Yakuza 0 for another full episode, and there is enough drama for two games and foreshadowing for six more in the crime story’s dramatic conclusion.… Read More »

Retro Encounter 241 – Yakuza 0 Part I

Posted by Michael Sollosi on June 18, 2020

Yakuza 0 is a game about violence. And honor. And… real estate? Yakuza 0 tells a compelling crime drama about the intertwining tales of series hero Kazuma Kiryu and fan favorite villain Goro Majima in 1988, 17 years before the story of the first Yakuza game, but you’re forgiven if you can’t be bot… Read More »

Retro Encounter 240 – Best Console for RPGs Tournament Part II

Posted by Michael Sollosi on June 13, 2020

Retro Encounter’s Tournament of Consoles continues, whittling down a list of eight to a single champion. Three PlayStations, three Nintendo handhelds, one Super 90s machine, and whatever the hell you’re supposed to call the Switch are our final eight gladiators in our console colosseum, but only one… Read More »

Retro Encounter 239 – Best Console for RPGs Tournament Part I

Posted by Michael Sollosi on June 4, 2020

Retro Encounter’s host misses being able to watch sporting events while playing RPGs on a 3DS or Vita, so he gathered a panel of five panelists to hold a replacement tournament. Seventeen video game consoles are considered for the title of Retro Encounter’s Favorite Console On Which to Play RPGs, bu… Read More »

Retro Encounter 238 – Mother 3 Part II

Posted by Michael Sollosi on May 28, 2020

Our panelists experienced Mother 3 to its dramatic conclusion, and in doing so dug an egg out of the trash, frolicked through a field of sunflowers, and located seven golden needles. It’s Earthbound callbacks, theories about razors and bananas, and a lot of shed tears in part 2 of our Mother 3 episo… Read More »

Retro Encounter 237 – Mother 3 Part I

Posted by Michael Sollosi on May 21, 2020

Mother 3, a Japan-only Game Boy Advance RPG, the final game in Shigesato Itoi’s trilogy, the subject of many direct questions to Reggie Fils-Aime. We won’t say exactly how, but four Retro Encounter panelists played Mother 3 over the month of May and have a lot to talk about, including (but not limit… Read More »

Retro Encounter 236 – Game Boy Advance Encounter

Posted by Michael Sollosi on May 14, 2020

The Game Boy Advance was a huge success for Nintendo in the early 2000s, giving the world five Pokemon games, three Fire Emblem games, the first Mario & Luigi RPG, and so much more. Four Retro Encounter panelists gab GBA on today’s episode of Retro Encounter! Listen to us discuss all the Game Bo… Read More »

Retro Encounter 235 – Final Fantasy VII Remake Spoilercast

Posted by Michael Sollosi on May 11, 2020

Is Final Fantasy VII Remake the most-anticipated RPG in history? Are the character portrayals up to high fan expectations? Was the combat too opaque? Why is it called Final Fantasy VII Remake without clarifying that the game is releasing in multiple parts? All of these questions and more, asked and… Read More »

Retro Encounter 234 – Castlevania The Animated Series

Posted by Zach Wilkerson on April 30, 2020

The panelists of Retro Encounter are stuck at home, and at least four of them decided to watch the Castlevania animated series available on Netflix. The cartoon is loosely based on the events of Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse and Castlevania: Curse of Darkness, and our podcast is loosely based on… Read More »

Retro Encounter 233 – Soul Blazer Part II

Posted by Hilary Andreff on April 23, 2020

Aurora borealis? At this time of day? Localized entirely in the Freil Empire? Yes! But all our panelists had to wait until the World of Evil near the end of the game to see it. And in many ways, it is a riveting, yet quickly escalating conclusion as we make our way through the second half of this ol… Read More »

Retro Encounter 232 – Soul Blazer Part I

Posted by Hilary Andreff on April 16, 2020

The group hunts out monster lairs around the globe to some amazing slap-bass tunes as they discuss the very well-received early Quintet RPG Soul Blazer…and discover the importance of waiting at the title screen for game intros on some of those old titles. This segment of our divinely inspired adve… Read More »

Retro Encounter 231 – Mental Health, Self-Care, and Gaming

Posted by Hilary Andreff on April 9, 2020

Retro Encounter is a little more serious than usual this week, as five panelists discuss video games as escapism, video game characters with whom we identify, and specific emotional attachments to video games, in the context of mental health and self-care. It’s an episode full of personal stories an… Read More »

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