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Quest 64 (Holy Magic Century in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, Eltale Monsters in Japan) is a single-player role-playing video game developed by Imagineer and published by THQ. It was released for the Nintendo 64 in 1998 and was the first role-playing video game released for the system in the United States. After Quest 64's moderate financial success, a sequel was in consideration by the devel...

Like anything, the jRPG genre has evolved over time. Let's talk about some of the aspects of jRPGs that have changed as this genre has aged.

Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation, titled Dragon Warrior III when initially localized to North America, is a role-playing video game developed by Chunsoft and published by Enix. It is the third installment in the Dragon Quest series and was first released for the Famicom in Japan and later for the NES in North America. The game saw an enhanced remake for the Super Famicom in 1996 and the Ga...

In this side quest, the guys tackle a difficult question. What exactly is a jRPG? There's so much grey area in the genre, especially now when every game seems to have "RPG elements", so the conversation is more about "what sort of games can you expect us to review on this podcast?"

Final Fantasy Legend III, known in Japan as SaGa 3: Jikuu no Hasha, is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Game Boy. The third entry in the SaGa series, it was released in Japan in 1991 and in North America in 1993. A later edition released in North America in 1998 through Sunsoft. A remake for the Nintendo DS was released in 2011 by Square Enix, remaining exclusive...

It's been several years since this project began, let's see what constant exposure to new jRPGs has done to the guy's lists of favourite games. This episode is a bit longer than normal, just because there are so many games to talk about.

Robotrek, known in Japan as Slapstick, is a role-playing video game (RPG) for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It was co-developed by Quintet and Ancient and published by Enix in both Japan and North America in 1994. Set on the fictional planet Quintenix, the game puts the player in control of a budding robotics expert who is the son of a famous inventor. As its Japanese name implie...

The guys played another non-jRPG, although it's still very Japanese. Let's talk about the amazing NES game River City Ransom.

Final Fantasy Adventure, known in Japan as Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden or simply Seiken Densetsu, and later released in Europe as Mystic Quest, is a Final Fantasy spinoff and the first game in the Mana series. Published by Square in 1991 on the Game Boy, it saw a North American re-release by Sunsoft in April 1998. Originally developed under the name Gemma Knights, it features gameplay ro...

Let's talk about how the jRPG genre deals with the topic of romance. Let's talk about good examples, bad examples, and how frequently there are no examples at all.

Final Fantasy V is a fantasy role-playing video game developed and published by Square in 1992. It is the fifth main installment of the Final Fantasy series. The game first appeared only in Japan on Nintendo's Super Famicom. It has been ported with minor differences to Sony's PlayStation and Nintendo's Game Boy Advance. An original video animation produced in 1994 called Final Fantasy: Legend of t...

What are the tropes that you just know are going to be in any jRPG game? The stuff we don't even make jokes about anymore? Let's examine some, and hear some examples of games that try to subvert them.

Breath of Fire II is a role-playing video game developed and published by Capcom. First released in 1994, the game was licensed to Laguna for European release in 1996. It is the second entry in the Breath of Fire series. It was later ported to Game Boy Advance and re-released worldwide. The game was released on Wii's Virtual Console in North America on August 27, 2007. In 2013, it was released for...

Jeff and Russ review a spinoff game of a jRPG they haven't even reviewed yet. What happens when you make a Dynasty Warrior style Persona game? Pure magic.

Grandia is a role-playing video game, developed by Game Arts and published by Entertainment Software Publishing for the Sega Saturn console as the first game in their Grandia series. Released in Japan in 1997, the game was ported to the PlayStation in 1999, with an English version of the game appearing on the platform in North America in the following September by Sony Computer Entertainment, and...

Welcome to a bit of a thought experiment. If Jeff and Russ were to make a jRPG, what exactly would be in it? What systems would they use? What types of characters? What kind of setting?

Live A Live is a 1994 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Famicom. The title remains exclusive to Japan, though it was given a fan translation by the online group Aeon Genesis. The game follows seven distinct scenarios scattered across different time periods, with two more unlockable scenarios linking the narratives together through the recurring antagonist Odio...

This final part of the Dragon Quest series review covers the 10th and 11th game, as well as discussing some of the spinoff series.

In this penultimate episode of the Dragon Quest series review, Jeff and Russ discuss the 7th-9th games of the series.

In the second part of the Dragon Quest series review, Jeff and Russ discuss the 4th-6th games of the series, known as the Zenithia Trilogy.

The first in a four part discussion of the Dragon Quest series. In this episode Jeff and Russ discuss the first three games, also known as the Erdrick Trilogy.

It's time again to look back at the last 9 games Jeff and Russ played. Talk about what worked, what didn't, and what tropes we encountered along the way.

Phantasy Star II, "Phantasy Star II: At the End of the Restoration") is a science fantasy role-playing video game developed and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis. It was released in Japan in 1989, North America in 1990, and in Europe in 1990. It was later ported to a variety of different platforms. An updated remake, Phantasy Star Generation 2, was released for the PlayStation 2 in 2005 in Ja...

Final Fantasy IV, known as Final Fantasy II for its initial North American release, is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Released in 1991, it is the fourth main installment of the Final Fantasy series. The game's story follows Cecil, a dark knight, as he tries to prevent the sorcerer Golbez from seizing powerf...

Golden Sun is a 2001 Japanese role-playing video game developed by Camelot Software Planning and published by Nintendo. It was released in August 2001 for Nintendo's Game Boy Advance, and became the first installment in the Golden Sun series. The game is notable for certain distinctive game elements, such as the use of special Djinn that empower the player and can be used against enemies. Golden S...