Zack’s Top 10 RPGs of All Time

Originally Posted on  September 3, 2013: Link.

Starting off at a young age, RPGs have been a big part of my life and something I have fallen in love with in every facet. Whether its the focus on character development, the sense of adventure and exploration, or the satisfaction of becoming so overpowered as to grind my enemies into dust, there’s a lot to enjoy from this genre that has continued to evolve over the years.

For some insight into my tastes, I have always enjoyed works that focus on their story and writing, the development of the characters in that story, the strength of the soundtrack, and what it offers in terms of content. This also tends to go the other way: if I don’t care about the characters, I don’t have the capacity to care about the story.

Zack’s Best of E3 2013 Awards

Originally Posted on  June 26, 2013: Link.

2013 marked the fourth time I have been to E3, and it quickly became the most exciting. I have been shaken up before, but this year was complete sensory overload. There are new consoles coming out, developers are starting to really get the hang of the latest technology available on the different platforms, mobile is finally starting to look like something worth caring about, and the RPG genre really looks like it will hit its peak once again over the next 18 months.

With all of that in mind, I would like to share with you the games that I felt were the most exciting and the most promising of many that were out there during the event. Before we get started, let me make this clear – I did not get to see every single game on the show floor or in the closed meeting rooms. That includes titles like Dark Souls II and what Natsume was showing their booth (sorry, guys!). However, from the several that I did have a chance to see, I felt I made the right decisions. Please enjoy!

Eight Steam Greenlight games you should support

Originally Posted on  April 21, 2013: Link.

Don’t let anyone tell you that there are a lack of RPGs on the PC. There are plenty out there – you just have to find them and support them. Take for example Steam Greenlight. It’s a service from Valve where developers try and get their games on to their digital distribution platform by courting interest from the community. In order to do so, viewers decide to rate a game up or down based on the content the creators share with them. Those that meet a certain threshold of votes are then filtered by Valve to determine what games are appropriate enough to be on their service, and then they help the developers bring their titles to the online market.

Even More RPGs to watch for this year

Originally Posted on  January 28, 2013: Link.

As I mentioned in my previous article, there are many games that I would not have been able to cover due to the fact that it would, 1) make the article way too long for consumption, 2) make me completely burn out by attempting at providing both the synopsis and words about each and every single game.

Regardless, I would like to make up for that by providing (most of) the rest of what is on offering for 2013. I will be giving basic information, such as the expected release date, platforms, and name of the developer like in the original piece, but will only be providing a short summary instead of a full rundown. If you are interested in any of these games below, chances are we will be covering them in the coming months!

The Upcoming RPGs of 2013

Originally Posted on  January 22, 2013: Link.

Whether you’re into Western RPGs, Japanese RPGs, dungeon crawlers, hack-and-slash, beat ’em ups, tactical, strategy, or whatever else you can think of, this year will have a wide assortment of games to indulge yourself with in each of these categories. My goal with this article is to run over a couple dozen of those games, providing a brief summary of the game  along with some reasons why you may want to check it out yourself. Think of it as a small compendium for what 2013 has to offer.

Top 9 RPG Tunes of All Time

Originally Posted on December 26, 2010: Link.

Video games have been a big part of my life ever since I was a little kid. Back when I was about 2-3 years old, my mother bought me and my siblings a NES. Soon, we got an SNES, then a Gameboy, Nintendo 64, PlayStation, and so on and so forth. From those humble beginnings, I cultivated a tremendous amount of respect for not only the games themselves, but the story and the music that stayed in my memory to this day.

Throughout my college years, I made it a purpose to go back and play a lot of these RPG titles, especially the ones I had not played until completion or had only watched a brother or a friend play. And yet, still those nostalgiac feelings remain. I still can’t play a game that does not sustain a solid bedrock of a narrative and great compositions. Those two I place on the highest echelon for whether or not I can recommend it to my friends (gameplay of course being third, but that only supplements these two in my opinion).

E3 2009 Wrap-Up: Roundtable Discussion

Originally Posted on June 7, 2009: Link.

Hello there everyone! Welcome to what we hope to evolve into a series of discussions among the staff about many different topics, all having to do with the gaming industry and its effect on the RPG genre. My name is Zack, and I will be joined today by Roger, Ken, Miguel, and our great and all-powerful leader and founder of RPGSite, Alex! Let us begin.