Monthly Archives: May 2019

Ragachak’s Top 5 RPGs That Deserved a Sequel

by Jason Parker (Ragachak)

7th Saga Editorial 2

There are several RPGs that frankly, didn’t get a fair shot at getting a series, or even a sequel! There is a lot to be said for being able to wrap up a story in one game, but what if we just want more of that universe? My first thought was “RPGs that needed good sequels”, but that was far too easy, and not quite defined enough. So today, we’re going to talk about RPGs that frankly needed/deserved some sequels for us to delve into. But first, of course, a few honorable mentions. Technically, 7th Saga had a sequel in Japan – Mystic Ark. I do not believe it was a direct sequel, in terms of continuing the story, but it was still a game we did not receive, so I wanted to mention it.

Lufia 2 - Give Me Your Energy

For those who fight.

I also wanted to highlight Crystallis, one of the first major open-world style RPGs on the NES, and one that while I did not spend a lot of time playing as a kid, I know a few folks that have some mighty good/bad memories of this one. In the more modern front, The Last Remnant and Lost Odyssey are both two epic, sprawling games that could have done more with their worlds that were crafted. But man, was Lost Odyssey ever one of the most depressing stories I’ve ever played! I wish the Lufia franchise had received some truly great sequels, worthy of the first two games. Moving to the Gameboy was not the right call, friends. Had they waited until the GBA/DS? That would have been another matter entirely. The Lufia 2 remake on DS does not count.

RPGs That Deserved Sequels Inindo

Few games confused me quite like this. But I liked that.

5. Inindo: Way of the Ninja (SNES/PC): Now technically, there was another Inindo, Shinobido: Way of the Ninja, but I do not believe it is a true sequel. It was not published by the same company/publisher and came more than a decade later. Inindo: Way of the Ninja was a new direction for Koei at the time. It was still a strategy game, which by then they were known for, but instead, it was also an RPG. Players controlled an Iga ninja, whose goal was to assassinate Oda Nobunaga. However, you only had until 1601 to complete the task and the game begins in 1582. This game was so damn challenging and so fascinating. It’s a historical fiction assassin game, way before the Assassin’s Creed franchise came to be. I would have liked to see more in this series by Koei, where someone tries to change history and alter the course of events for various motives – love, revenge, greed. Visually it wasn’t the best, but there’s so much that could be done with the franchise now. It was incredibly challenging, deep, and was a new direction for Koei. I wish they would have kept up with it.

RPGs that deserved sequels Eternal Sonata

Whenever someone asks me my favorite 360 RPG, it’s always this one.

4. Eternal Sonata (Xbox 360/PS3): I understand that this is a sort of hard one to justify since Eternal Sonata was the fever dream of composer Chopin. As he died, so did this beautiful dream world, but what if that didn’t have to be the case? What if this world was a shared hallucination, or if it were real? This game had so many memorable characters and moments and was probably the first RPG on the Xbox 360/PS3 to get genuine emotion out of me. It was beautiful visually and musically, and while Chopin was no longer a part of the world, due to his death, I have to ask: What if this world were real? What if perhaps Chopin was just a visitor, and other people could get sucked into this fantasy world on their deathbed? That’s sort of dark, but it’s paired neatly with such a vibrant, colorful world. If you didn’t play this game, shame! This is one that deserves a Steam port.

Robotrek - Mayor

Oh, that wacky Mayor.

3. Robotrek (SNES): Wait, Robotrek? Of course! The game is known as Slapstick in Japan but came to us as Robotrek. It was an RPG that was humorous and weird, in a time where most RPGs were pretty grimdark and serious. In Robotrek, you dealt with a group of hackers, where it was never really quite clear who the leader was. Hell, you even get the Leader Badget at one point. It was wacky, ridiculous, and you got to build your own robots, give them awesome programs, and fight frankly silly and stupid enemies. It still held a lot of charm and challenge, and with the aspect of traveling to other worlds, there’s a ton you could do with Robotrek. Seriously, this game was hilarious and awkward, but it deserved more, it deserved better.

RPGs that deserved sequels Vagrant Story

This game just oozed “cool”.

2. Vagrant Story (PSX): The Playstation was apparently home to “Games that deserved more”, and enter the Squaresoft addition to this list, Vagrant StoryVagrant Story was developed by the team that put together Final Fantasy Tactics, and it shows with the color palette and the storytelling. Vagrant Story stood out amongst its peers at the time and was an incredibly difficult puzzle/action RPG. The notion of the main character being a murderer, who couldn’t come to grips with the horrible things they’ve done? That’s beautiful. It was a risk, it was an amazing risk. You don’t really learn a whole lot about Ashley Riot (the main character) that I remember. But this is an incredible world that again, goes to waste by not using it further. It really feels like it could belong to the world of Ivalice (Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy XII) but as I understand, it is not. Vagrant Story does not get enough love as a timeless RPG and could see a great deal done with the world they built.

Legend of Dragoon Review - Winglies

HOW COULD YOU?! THINK OF THE WINGLIES!! …What were the Winglies again?

1. Legend of Dragoon (PSX): Legend of Dragoon was going to have a sequel, but it wound up being canceled because of reasons. But whenever I talk to someone about RPGs, invariably, this one comes up. Especially people who didn’t like Final Fantasy/Dragon Quest, they typically go “But what about LoD!? That was amazing!” and they aren’t wrong. Legend of Dragoon and it came right during the “Boom Period” of RPGs in the late 90s/early 2000s. It used an amazing turn-based combat system that also had real-time events, where you had to time your button presses just right to get the most out of battle. Then there were the awesome Dragoon forms, where characters had badass armor and wings. Perhaps it’s the nostalgia, but I think if Legend of Dragoon could have received a sequel, it would have done fairly well if for no other reason, the people nostalgic for the original. The timing of the combos was pretty frustrating, but I think that’s more of a hardware limitation more than anything. On the PS2/3/4, it could have been so much better. Legend of Dragoon is a true classic, and from a company not really known for ground-breaking RPGs. It didn’t have the most compelling story, but it was coming out around the same time as again, Final Fantasy IX, Diablo II, and Grandia II.  There were so many series that were already established at that time, so it was hard to really give Legend of Dragoon a fair shake.

What games do you think deserved more of a shine? I’d love to hear about it below!

Railroad Corporation To Release in May 2019

Iceberg Interactive and Corbie Games announced today that their train tycoon strategy game Railroad Corporation will hit Steam’s Early Access Program soon. On May 27th, players who dream of running a locomotive business while also exploring scenic 19th Century North America, Railroad Corporation is for you. Today’s video shows off the new gameplay, to prepare players for the Golden Age of Steam.

“Allowing players to play the game in Early Access ensures that we can focus on improving the game in advance of the full release later this year,” says Yurij Ishchuk, CEO at Corbie Games. He adds: “Since the game is unique in that it incorporates both strategy and tycoon elements, as well as a multiplayer mode, we want to make sure that we listen to the community’s feedback in order to develop the best possible version of the game for the full release”.

Railroad Corporation Features:

  • A wide selection of trains: Choose from a variety of different and historically-accurate locomotives, depending on their maximum pulling mass, speed, and mileage, along with their respective upkeep cost.
  • Geographical impact: Get an idea on how soil type, elevation and geographical features such as rivers can impact your railroad construction.
  • Realistic Missions: Explore the extensive and historically accurate 19th-century missions.
  • Diverse Companies: Begin working for a company on your journey towards running your own corporation.
  • Fierce Competition: Learn how the stock market influences the value of your and your competitor’s companies.
  • Multiplayer mode: Compete against other players in the quest towards building the most successful railroad corporation

Descenders 1.0 Arrives on Xbox Game Pass and Steam

Descenders is a downhill biking game from RageSquid and No More Robots, and it has officially left Early Access on Xbox and Steam. This release adds a host of new content, including the online multiplayer modes. Descenders bring fast-paced action that’s easy to learn but hard to master to both the Steam platform and is free to Xbox Game Pass subscribers. Players can race with friends through over 8 billion levels, across nine unique worlds, and unlock new bikes, kits, accessories and mutators for Descenders.

The game’s deep physics system and tight controls allow players to string together incredible trick combos, as you make your way down the mountain and attempt to reach the bottom with as few scratches as possible. Procedurally generated worlds mean that no two runs are ever the same, with special challenge nodes to discover, and nerve-racking Boss Jumps that truly sort the casuals from the pros.

Kerbal Space Program Announces New DLC – Breaking Ground

Kerbal Space Program Breaking Ground

Kerbal Space Program: Breaking Ground is the next PC expansion for the space flight simulator, and will be available on May 30th, 2019. This new expansion will have players tackling unique challenges with new content and additional equipment. This equipment will let players conduct an array of scientific experiments and access intricate robotic parts, which can, in turn, be used to create inventive crafts.

The expansion also adds surface features, populating the game’s landscape with meteors, mineral formations, and craters to explore and study, while Kerbals will be perfectly dressed for their upcoming missions with a sleek new futuristic space suit. The expansion will be available for 14.99, and more information can be found here.

Spacelords – Spacelords Identity Update Launches

Spacelords has a new major update dropping today – Spacelords Identity!  In this update, the Space Shop shows up to offer cosmetics for the various Spacelords characters, to ensure no two characters look the same. There are also new emotes, skins, and even a Space Disco, where teams can groove together in style. This update also improved Adventure, offering monthly rewards, individual scores based on player performance, and the Featured Player highlight, that shows off the most heroic deeds in the game.

Identity is a step forward in Spacelords’ transition to the free to play business model, offering an exciting range of optional cosmetic items to the growing Spacelords community,” commented Enric ÁlvarezGame Director.

“This update is just the second milestone in our ambitious Spacelords’ Roadmap, and we will continue to add top quality content to Spacelords in the coming months based on the players’ feedback.”

Tabletop Gods Prepares To Launch This Month

Tabletop Gods

Other Ocean Group announced today that their arcade action/RTS/tower defense hybrid, Tabletop Gods is getting ready to leave Early Access. The official launch date will be on May 16th, 2019. This time in Early Access was used to make fixes and improvements, to make the game as sharp and playable as possible. A new faction and battlefield were both added, as well as improved units, new spells, traps and so much more. To celebrate the impending launch, Tabletop Gods will be on sale for 25% off on May 9th on Humble Store, May 16th for Steam. These are limited-time prices, however (Retail: 19.99 USD). Tabletop Gods also has Oculus Home and Viveport for Virtual Reality with HTC Vive, Windows Mixed Reality, and Oculus Rift + Touch with Xbox controller support; Other VR platforms including PSVR are planned to follow.

In Tabletop Gods you play the role of a god vying for power. Gather your devout mortal followers and face-off against other players on desktop PC or in VR (Oculus Rift, HTC Vive or Windows Mixed Reality) as you lead your army across tabletop battlefields in frenetic, arcade-style strategic battles. Tabletop Gods matches are three rounds, with a goal of destroying the opponent’s Stronghold (or at least destroy more of theirs than yours), and each round lasts 3 minutes. Players can secretly set traps between rounds as well as swap out spells. A refilling mana system will be the source where you deploy units. There are also Human, Demon and Undead factions to pick from.

Features:

  • Human, Undead and Demonic Governance factions
  • Castle Grounds, Nether Realm and Void Temple Tabletop battlefields
  • Powerful spells
  • Killer traps
  • Single and Multiplayer Gaming
  • Achievements and Leaderboards
  • Localization into French, Italian, Spanish, German, Korean and Mandarin
  • Playable on PC, in Virtual Reality on HTC Vive, Windows Mixed Reality and Oculus Rift or Crossplay between platforms
  • Tightened up graphics on level 3
  • Much, much more!
  • Why are you reading this and not playing Tabletop Gods?