RPGaymer

It's Fates time, my dudes. And it's about to get real ugly. Fire Emblem: Fates is a pretty polarizing entry. In some aspects, it's a mechanically sound, highly engaging game while still managing to be a mess of a plot. In order to tackle such a chaotic game, it's time to bring in a little bit of chaotic energy. Anyone else ready for the Professor Bopper + SpeedyHawk Dual Strike?

It's time for us to continue our run-through on the Fire Emblem series and this time we're hitting two games in one. Path of Radiance is coveted as one of the best (if not the best) Fire Emblem and it super sucks that it's system-locked (looking at you Intelligent Systems). It's hard to pin down a singular reason as to why this game was so successful (deep characters, rich lore, an...

Fire Emblem Sacred Stones is the worst Fire Emblem in the series......said no one ever. All jokes aside, Sacred Stones is an incredible entry and often hits the top of most of Emblemer's Top 3 lists. What is it about this entry that makes it so appealing? Is it Eirika and Ephraim's diverging paths? The split promotion choices? Or just the fun, ol' GBA animations? In order to tackle thi...

Season 3 might be over but that doesn’t mean we’re going to stop talking about your favorite games! One of the most gracious groups of content creators I’ve had the opportunity to work with is hands down the Fire Emblem community. In season 2, we blazed through the entire Fire Emblem series, but now is the perfect time to tackle each game individually! Fire Emblem Engage might be the most recent t...

It’s been a long time coming but we’ve finally reached the season 3 finale of RPGaymer. What better way to close out the season than to talk about America’s favorite pastime: RPG Mini Games. From Blitzball to Gwent, mini games have been a staple in the foundation of good gaming experiences. Sometimes you just need to take a breather from saving the world to catch a fish or race some chocobos… and...

Castlevania is another one of those series that has been around since the dawn of console gaming. Tales of Belmonts, whips, vampires, and crypts. The notoriety of its design grew so large that it even spawned its own sub-genre. Though the series has turned to dust, its image has been resurrected by many spiritual successors which carry on the incredible legacy. Drop in and give a listen on why the...

The Legend of Zelda series has had its fair share of styles, but none contain as much whimsy as The Minish Cap. MC was released in 2004 but has recently resurfaced on the Nintendo Switch Online. On this episode of Bonus XP, we go over why this entry in the Zelda pantheon deserves a lot more praise for its accomplishments. Get your Kin Stones ready and fuse with us as we discuss how this tiny tale...

How many times have you been galavanting about on a world map only to be jumped by 3 over-leveled dragons that make chopsticks out of your bones? Or have you been in a cave where every 10 steps you run into the exact same group of monsters you just fought? Encounters come in many shapes and sizes, but true game design only happens when they’re curated by game developers to give an appropriate chal...

You won’t need to use the boost to get through this episode of RPGaymer! Star Fox 64 is a certified banger. Nintendo’s first foray into 3D may have had its fair share of clunk, but you can’t deny that they nailed this one. It’s one of those pinnacle titles on the N64 that not only was super innovative for its time but also still holds up as an incredible game today. So make sure to barrel-roll you...

The Super Nintendo is easily the best system ever made, right? No? 😂 For many of us who grew up in the 90s, the SNES was the first system that let the world know that video games could transcend being purely medias of basic entertainment. Stories got better. Graphics got prettier. And, music tracks, well… they be bumping. It’s truly quite a feat to discuss all of the SNES’ accolades, so this time...

We all hate status effects, right? There’s nothing worse than being caught in the middle of a dungeon without any antidotes to cure your poison. They can single-handedly turn mild encounters into merciless romps. But would video games be interesting if we removed status effects completely? Do they serve a grander purpose in game design that we don’t actually realize? Gatherer rounds kiddos. It’s t...

You can never have enough Legends of Zelda content, right? This time on Bonus XP, we're highlighting oldie and genre-defining goodie: Ocarina of Time!

Working in the gaming industry is a dream for so many people. You get to play games for a living, what's not to love, right? Hosts Casey, Jason, and special guest Brendan Hesse from The Crawl all have unique experience writing and creating video game content like reviews, social media posts, YouTube Videos, and more. With their powers combined, they bring the inside scoop on what it's like...

We're continuing with the Dragon Quest train, but this time, we're going to dive a little deeper into arguably (but not really arguably) one of the best RPGs ever made. From the well-rounded cast of characters to the vibrant visuals, Dragon Quest XI should be a staple in every RPG lover's library. Heavy spoiler warning on today's episode! It would be impossible to talk about this i...

Not many games are as addictive as Roguelikes. The hook. The loop. The death. Repeat. Roguelikes and Roguelites have been around for quite some time now and have broadened into as much of a subgenre as RPGs. They are equally as frustrating as they are enjoyable (looking at you Darkest Dungeon 👀). I’m still waiting on someone to make one mega Roguelike by combining all the genres. Can’t wait for P...

GC Vazquez & Cullen are back yet again to talk even more about Dragon Quest! This time we're taking a deep dive into the side games, like Monsters, Heroes, Swords, and Builders. Plus, we even spill some behind-the-scenes tea about Dragon Quest's former music composer.

Dragon Quest is the childhood bedtime story of video games. Each entry is filled with the utmost comfort and familiarity, packed with adorable characters and creatures. All of its stories are parables of hope when things feel hopeless. With over 40 games in its complete library, Dragon Quest is easily one of the best series ever made. It’s about time we took a deep dive into this epic series! In o...

In honor of the upcoming release of Legends of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, we decided to give you a dose of one of our favorite entries with everyone’s favorite Hylian Hero. Released in ‘91, A Link To The Past may be among the oldest entries in the franchise, but don’t let its age fool you, she’s still a beaut. Grab yourself a fresh glass of LonLon milk and gather round as we share some great mem...

The original PlayStation is likely the most loaded system in terms of RPGs. From titles like Legends of Dragoon, Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy 7, and so many more, this system was known for housing banger after banger. I’m honestly surprised it took us this long to talk about how the PS1 era was one of the most influential eras in all of gaming. But here we are, gushing about our childhood, our fave...

Apparently, we can’t get enough of Final Fantasy 9 because here we are analyzing, not only one of the best Final Fantasy characters but one of the best RPG heroes of all time. Kicking off our very first Bonus XP character analysis, there’s no better character to talk about than everyone’s favorite Black Mage: Vivi. From his adorably whimsical design to his existential character arc, Vivi is easily...

You know that feeling you get when you achieve something? Like, doing something over and over again until you see results? Isn’t that feeling great? Obviously by ‘achieving something’, I mean leveling up. And by ‘over and over again,’ you know I’m talking about that 400th slime you just slaughtered. Isn’t grinding for experience fun? 😅 There’s something about seeing stats go up that gives us that...

With the Mario movie finally upon us, we wanted to take a moment and pay homage to this titan of a series! Mario 64 was certainly not our first Mario game, nor is it the best of the series, but it is still iconic. Mario's first foray into 3D might be a little rough by today's standards, but the memories we have of playing this game are irreplaceable.

Bad games. We’ve all played them. From the clunkiest platformers to the junkiest battle systems, bad games always find their way into innocent gamers' hands.  There are so many ways to determine if a game is bad. Do you look at reviewer scores? Do you stop playing it once it is no longer fun? Are some of the mechanics too ‘out there’ that they break the experience? Gather round kiddos as we br...

Yesterday, we were blessed with a 10-minute trailer for the upcoming Legends of Zelda game, Tears of the Kingdom. Today, you’re being blessed as Patrick and Jason are doing their due diligence and recorded a Hype or Ripe episode discussing all of the exciting goodies that appear in this trailer and all of the potential flops. This trailer not only offered is a glimpse of new areas for Link to expl...

Hold on to your job hats folks because we’re in for a heck of a ride! First and foremost, we are pleased to announce our very first guest of the season, part-time hero, full-time YouTube sensation, KBash! Every video game content creator has that special someone who laid the groundwork in inspiring them to take the plunge into blazing their own video game review trail. KBash is one incredible guy...