I get my weapon from Guijin and defend the village from bandits and the living dead...Wait, what?

Here you will find out that the people in Jade Empire (both good and bad) are quite possibly the most sociable people I have ever encountered in a video game. Oh, and here you will meet your "rival", Goa the Lesser. He's an ass.

My quest to continue playing underrated games has lead me to play one of my favorite game, Jade Empire! Here you learn the different character classes, learn about the dialogue and explore the martial arts school. AMAZING! 

Jade Empire is an action role-playing game developed by Canadian developer BioWare and first published in 2005 by Microsoft Game Studios as a worldwide release for the Xbox. Jade Empire follows the style of the Wuxia genre within a mythical setting inspired by ancient China. The player, who can be either male or female, progresses through an adventure based on traditional martial arts and can discover and develop new fighting styles:martial arts, weapon styles,magic styles, support styles, or transformation styles. Combat is not turn-based, but is in real time, granting players control over how and when characters dodge or attack

• A slight change of pace for this review, as it is a video and not a podcast.
• A brief history of the Dungeons and Dragons Cartoon is presented.
• Acererak says Tom Hanks should have gotten an Emmy for his role in the movie, Mazes and Monsters.
• The basic plot of the Dungeons and Dragons Cartoon is discussed.
• The Dungeons and Dragons Cartoon will be examined in terms of protagonists, antagonists and episodes.

Grumpy RPG Reviews: Dungeons and Dragons Cartoon, Part 1

The first episode of Digital Addiction is here! Solid Jake shows you the most addictive games of the past years. Today, he turns his gaze onto Squaresoft's venture into the action-RPG genre. Does it withstand the test of time, or has it aged like milk in the sun?

Follow me on Twitter! @SolidJakeDA 

Another Top 5 of mine!

While many games have cute enemies to make you smile, these are the enemies that make you feel like a real bitch when you lose to them.

    The sequel to Mother and the only entry in the series to be released in America, Earthbound has garnered much praise among RPG and SNES fans, proclaiming it to be among the system’s best games. Released in 1995, its success in America was limited; causing fans to latch onto it in an effort to claim it deserved greater success. Whereas Mother on NES was more simplistic due to the choice of platform and technology of the time, is it right to view Earthbound in the same regard? Does it truly deserve its reputation right alongside classics such as Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI?

    Earthbound opens in the town of Onett, located in Eagleland, which is believed to be a parody of the United States. Much as in the first game, our hero of Ness (a bit more subtle in this game) is suddenly awakened by a troubling vision. Rising to investigate a sudden disturbance outside (in his pajamas no less), Ness is urged by his neighbor to check out the meteorite that crashed in the hills just north of his house. Setting out to explore with his friends in tow, the game begins.

    There is one quick caveat before I talk about graphics. I always try and consider a game’s visuals independently of others, especially given the year a game comes out. On the other hand, I understand the validity of such comparisons. When you judge a system’s graphical strength, you inevitably have to consider the standout games and keep them in mind when considering other entries, especially if their genres or visual style is similar.



    Having said this, Earthbound’s graphics are NOT good. Contemporary reviews in Gamepro and EGM were quite right to point out its limitations, only to be subject to ridicule by ardent supporters of this game throughout the Internet. The truth is, graphics shouldn’t matter as much as they do, but they also shouldn’t be dismissed outright if bad and endlessly overpraised if they stand out. To that end, Earthbound has bad graphics, but only on the surface…

    While the visuals can’t hold a candle to most SNES games, it is the world they create that makes them memorable. As Earthbound continues the series pedigree of being set in an average American suburb, you can see charming details everywhere. From the enemy design to familiar parochial stores taking the place of RPG staples such as the inn and weapon shop, Earthbound is a game that is full of clever details, if you take the time to look for them.

    Speaking of the enemies, they are definitely the area that benefits most from this game’s design and unique sense of humor. From New Age Retro Hippies to Unassuming Local Guys to Annoying Old Party Men (who grumble about today’s youth!), they are very funny. Their somewhat simplistic design belies their very nature and just how much fun they are.

Also, don’t be fooled by the psychedelic backgrounds in battles. They serve no purpose but to distract the player from the simple interface. The game would have been better off with backgrounds based on the areas you fight in. It might have even made up for the average and small overworld sprites.



Music is once again composed by Hirokazu Tanaka and Keiichi Suzuki, with a new artist in Hiroshi Kanazu. Despite the modern setting, most of the music follows the traditional archetypes of the genre. You have the peaceful themes of Onett and Twoson, the mysterious themes of the game’s prologue, fast paced battle themes such as Battle against Mechanical Enemies, and then there is the ambience.

I’m not a fan of ambience, as even though it is meant to create a mood, music doesn’t need to limit itself to background ambience and nature sound to convey emotions or a setting. Belch’s theme is a great example of this failing in Earthbound, consisting most of weird clicks and tapping like sounds. If the goal was to convey the mysterious nature of Belch’s factory operations, it wasn’t very effective. It just made me scramble for the mute button. Also, the final boss’ music is acclaimed, but it was surprisingly dull to me. Maybe this is the hype speaking, but the music is not what comes to mind when you think of the nature of the encounter, especially if you’ve never played the game before.

Earthbound’s score also stands out with its nods to pop music. Be it the Champs’ Tequila with Battle against Weak Enemies or Chuck Berry’s Johnny B. Goode with the Fight against Johnny/New Age Retro Hippie. It’s a great little touch that makes the game all the more charming, but is also rumored to be among the reasons Earthbound hasn’t seen a rerelease in North America or on the Virtual Console. Nintendo is concerned about the litigious nature of people in the United States and would rather play it safe, at least until they decide to edit the game or something similar.

Sound effects are simple but charming and work just as well as the humor to create a unique experience. From the ever satisfying sound of a SMASH hit to Belch’s Burps to the sound accompaniments of various enemy attacks, Earthbound is a standout at a time when RPG’s often had rather generic sound effects. Even in a game as great as Chrono Trigger, you have to admit the sound effects mostly felt like an afterthought.



The most basic part of Earthbound is its gameplay, being mostly identical to the first game as well as the Dragon Quest series, with the battle scenarios looking identical. It isn’t necessary to comment on this decision really, but it does feel surprisingly sterile for a man as creative as Itoi.

Anyway, you fight enemies, gain experience, and learn magic from leveling up and so on. It’s as ordinary as can be, but it doesn’t make it bad, just don’t except it to stand out. I see the rolling HP system not as innovative but as more of a crutch to rely on when you encounter those enemies with oddly powerful attacks; too bad more enemies didn’t require the strategy of using the PSI shields or suchlike. Having to use defensive strategies regularly is still all too rare in most RPG’s and Earthbound really missed an opportunity with its failure to capitalize on the large number of enhancement spells you learn, especially as it is a necessity in the other games in the series. There I go again…

All else aside, Earthbound is still an enjoyable game to play. The characters might be mostly archetypes, but the game’s strengths allow me to ignore or downplay some of its notable failings. I could mention some other criticisms, but it would be leading away from my attempt to review the game objectively.

Bottom-line, Earthbound is a memorable game, for better or for worse, and an essential game for fans of RPG’s, SNES games, or retro games. If you are truly interested in my views on Earthbound, consider coming to my planned panel on the game at MAGFest 2012 in January. It’s going to be a debate on the merits of the game, with Roo of the Clan of the Gray Wolf so far confirmed!

- Ugly Bob
-Check out Elder-Geek.com!

Story- being a Nintendo game it not much in the sense of story. Its just a boy who is chasing his dream to become a pokemon master.    

Graphics- It actually has very nice graphics for the Game Boy.

Music- Excellent music, my favorite being the music is the theme of Route 11.  

Controls- Very basic, plain and simple.

Gameplay- It's a rock/paper/sizzors RPG. The battle system is not for everyone.

In this episode we take our first look at the world of Dark Heresy.

I'm not what you'd call a huge Harry Potter fan, I haven't endulged myself in the lore of the creatures and the wizards or the intritace hidden toilet system of Hogwarts (you know it has to exist!), but I'll be the first to admit that I've cherised the franchise. However, in my honest opinion, the dramatic change of style and atmosphere after the third entry and onwards didn't work for me. I know many people loved the fact that everything became so dark, so mysterious, and so rich with detail.

But that's not what I loved about the first, second and third movie (and the books they're based off, I should assume, though I've only read two and a half). What I loved was (no pun intended) the magic. The fact that it was so lighthearted and childish. Then along comes number 4, and everythings suddenly so serious and depressing. Only a Yuleball once and some love-stories to lighten the mood slightly. The Weasley House is blown up, a whole bunch of characters are killed off (Sirius Black, Dumbledore and a fucking Weasley twin? Seriously?), etc. etc.

As we all know, the games as of late haven't been... impressive. The earlier games atleast tried to make an effort to offer something to the player, but alas, it didn't work out that well.

An MMO based on the series? Hmm...

It could work very well. Just imagine getting to attend Hogwarts, so to speak, picking which house you'd be sorted into (faction system?), choosing what you want to be good at (Neville was good at plants, perhaps you could be good at something of a similar nature?), gaining new kinds of options as you level up, the posibilities are practically endless!

What the...how does an RPG Shooter count as edutainment?!

Like my sense of humor? Follow me on Twitter @demoversi.

Also, I have a fanpage on Facebook now!

Starwish can be played for free here. Don't have a Kongregate account? Sign up for free here and give Demo pointless points!

WARNING: The following rant has rampant spoilers for Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, the Ultima series and various other RPGs.

We have all heard the cries before: "We want choices that actually mean something!", "We want choices we make in games to matter!" etc.  These calls have been yelled at almost every RPG (and other games) that touts "choice" as an important part of the gameplay and storytelling, however when you actually play the game all choices you make have very minor effects such as small text changes, missing NPCs or other such small details and any large story twists and reveals feel railed and somehow clunky for a game touting choice. Yet these games still sell extremely well and generally have several sequels. You wonder why a game that clearly has not delivered on its promises is doing so well and how there is even a sequel? It is very simple. Sadly, the people who actually MEAN these things are in a vast minority. Players who want REAL choice in their games are very rare. What most people are saying is "We want more choices that lead to us winning!", "We want choices that determine which good ending we get!".

In this short rant I would like to present my view on what real choices are in games, how they affect the medium and why choices that actually matter will never appear in them.

Cause and Causality

There are two types of choices that a game can have which can be defined as "meaningful": The type that affects the gameplay and the type that affect the actual player.

Let us first discuss choices that affect the gameflow directly. These choices determine how the events further down the plot will unfold and how the world changes with your actions. These are the choices that determine which companions will live or die, what will happen once the adventure is over and are generally fairly numerous throughout modern RPGs.

Possibly the only time when it is acceptable to mix history lessons with video games

A podcast review of the terrible 2E D&D module, Castle Greyhawk.

Right click here to download and save.

The simple and unassuming flumph, serenely floating in a serenity all its own. With an appearance akin to an airborne jellyfish with googlie eyes, they are both unimposing and ridiculous so flumphs are the often target of ridicule and physical attacks by those who believe there will be no reprisals. How wrong such assumptions are…

A podcast review of the 1E D&D module, Expedition to the Barrier Peaks.

Right click here to download and save.

A podcast review of the Tomb of Horrors series... with special guest, Acererak.

Right click here to download and save.

For those who have seen the Record Of Lodoss War TV series, you might remember the little bonus bits at the end of each episode of "Welcome To Lodoss Island" where the cast was redone in superdeformed mode, also known as chibi form. In this manga though, the whole original tale of Lodoss War is redone in a comical parody by the series creator, Ryo Mizuno.

In the first volume, the first half of the OVA series is redone telling how the inept knight wannabe Parn and his friends seek to bring down the chaotic plans of the troublemaking witch Karla. She has taken over the body of a gorgeous priestess, and the dwarf Ghim and his sorcerer friend Slayn wish to free her from the deceased witch's control. Running into the farcical King Kashew, Parn teams up with him in an effort to rescue the fair Princess Fiana, who falls head over heels for Parn's stout priest friend Etoh. In the end, a major battle goes on between Lodoss and their neighboring island of Marmo. But Karla's plans to involve both kingdoms fails, and Ghim's friend is freed from her. The second volume takes place two yeara later where Parn and Deedlit head off to King Kashew's kingdom, only to find it involved in a civil war with a neighboring tribe who are using a powerful efreet to try and take over the desert. Deedlit makes a pact with a powerful djinn to stop them. There are some serious bits of people dying in this chapter, but still done in a spoofish manner.

Welcome To Lodoss Island is a really funny manga, but mostly intended for the enjoyment of those who have already sampled one of the previous Lodoss anime or manga titles. Artist Rei Hyakuyashiki does great work at making our favorite fantasy heroes look stupid and clutzy. Definately look it up!

A podcast column discussing blacks in role playing games.

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This was a great manga, although technically not a "manga" persay since it comes from Korea. Myung-Jin Lee did a fabulous job on the art. This takes place in a sci-fi version of the Norse legends, sort of like Reign The Conqueror is a sci-fi version of Greek mythology.

The goddess Fenris has been reborn in the body of a human sorceress. She is being stalked by an ambitious Valkerie. Fenris runs into the might young warrior Chaos and his friend, the enchantress Iris. They bring her back to Iris' city of Fayon in the kingdom of Midgard. But Fenris soon learns she has ties to Iris. Plus, the scantily-clad thief Lidia hopes to gain the favor of Chaos, and joins the others on their quest.

This series has alot of cool graphics and great design. Of course, more people are familiar with the Ragnarok Online gaming community(and its crappy anime TV series spinoff)that was based on the manga. But check out the original manga as its far better than any of the other adaptations.

Though February is Black History month in America, over the last 21 days I have not seen any discussions in the gaming blogosphere of blacks in gaming as characters, the product of black writers and artists or gaming as something in which blacks might be interested. This week I will make an effort to broach. Today, the G.C. blog features black character in art and videos on black gamers and black cosplayers. On Wednesday my podcast column will discuss the issue.

A podcast review of the Book of Erotic Fantasy.

Right click here to download and save.

The son of gods, Cupid is the personification of physical love, affection and related feelings and actions. He fell in love with a mortal man at some point. This went better than anyone could have expected, so much so that malign gods intervened out of boredom and their own inherent malevolence. They blinded Cupid’s lover, cast him back into the mortal world from where he came and hid him whereabouts from Cupid. Since he lost his lover, Cupid continues to ensure the love goes around, though there is now an edge to Cupid he did not previously possess.

Cupid write up by the G.C. Cupid art by the talented Rob Torno.

Today's episode topics are none talking characters, tough skin and cannibalism.

Remember to post question in the comments section or PM me on this channel to have a chance for your question to be answered in the next episode.

The point of this blog is to introduce the RPG Fanatic to the TGWTG community.

Strategy guides have a history nearly as long as video games themselves. These hint books were often helpful, and sometimes terrible. Here is my list of 5 that stand out, and 5 that DON'T.

Still not feeling too hot, so here's another supplement.  On a very cautious basis, I'm going to start heading INTO THE FUTURE!  There are 37 games this year.  This was one of the toughest years I've encountered so far...possibly the toughest.  In advance, I'd like to say that making the top 5 list this time around was NOT easy and as a result, a lot of great games totally tied for multiple places.  This was a year of many highly successful RPGs.

I apologize, guys. I'm feeling deathly ill, so this will have to do for an update today.  This time around I'm only going to highlight one game per year.  While that may not seem very inclusive the fact is there are some years where there aren't any officially licensed brawlers at all.  Furthermore, the definition of a brawler has become somewhat vague, so as it stands, here's my running definition, subject to change at any time...

There are 21 games.  This is a huge year for adventure games and if you already know about most of these, you'll see why this was a ridiculous hard choice to make for top 3.

There were 17 games this year.  While certain titles were obvious runner ups for me, it took some time to decide #3.  Sure, I already pretty much had in mind what I wanted for the top 2, but the 3rd was especially elusive for a time.  This was an...interesting...year for adventure games.  You'll start to see more and more "pervert" titles on this list.  I mean, sure, I liked games like Leisure Suit Larry, but some of these are just ridiculous.

This time around I will changing things up a bit.  I will only be doing a top 3 for each year and I'm hoping that will suffice as some years have barely any adventure titles released.  I'm also trying to be as accurate as possible, which is proving to be difficult considering most of these are labeled either incorrectly or in poor chronological order on Wiki.  In fact, let me know if something's out of place or missing on these as I've been updating their "official" list with THEIR OWN INFORMATION...so yeah.

Yet another gigantic year for RPGs.  There are 29 games!  This will probably be the last year I do, at least for a while, so let's not wait any longer and just hop right into it.

Dan & Bob from GigaBoots.com check out the free to play Korean MMORPG Vindictus in this Quick Play. Join them as they deal with the wonders of an action-based combat system for a MMO and the technical problems of that!

This was a HUGE year for RPGs, at least if you go off the numbers.  There are 30 games!  This was not an easy pick, so don't think I just randomly selected these.  I almost wish I'd done a top 10 list for this year because a lot of the RPGs are just plain incredible.

There are only 13 games, but I assure you, these are some BIG games.  The other titles are massively overshadowed by the top 5 since the rest range from okay to completely fucking sucks.  I would honestly call this the most bipolar year, because you either played a game that was totally awesome or you didn't and there was very little middle ground.

With the release of Final Fantasy 13 near the beginning of the year, Roleplaying games in general continue to advance in complex battles, plot (arguably), and needless to say, graphics. It’s almost surprising to note that Square, the company behind Final Fantasy, has made more franchises than just Final Fantasy, such as Brave Fencer Musashi, the just as popular Kingdom Hearts franchise, the Mana series, and lastly, Parasite Eve and since it's Christmas time and the game takes place during Christmas, what better way to celebrate than to be scared out of your pants.

1996 was an interesting year given the PS1 started cranking out RPGs.  Not all of them were good, but dammit they tried!  As a result, this is when the SNES really kicked it into full gear to try to compete.  Overall, it was a very good year for console RPGs, but that's not to say there weren't any good PC RPGs.  There were only 15 games, so this should be quick.

This was another easy year.  And yes, I'll likely be annoying PC gamers, but before I do, consider this:  all 5 of the titles selected were either PHENOMENAL or the best of their respective series.  There is literally no reason they should be on the top 5 list and the only one I really feel bad about not including is Breath of Fire 2.  There are 20 games in total, so let's get started!

This is another year where I'm sure PC gamers are going to be pissed with me.  To be honest, I was about ready to call it when I saw the list, but there were certain PC titles I wasn't sure about.  This was a good year for console RPGs and it really shows.  There were 19 games in total and keep in mind that perhaps I can't see some of these titles' charm because I didn't have a PC that could play them and I did have various consoles that could.

This year will be easy.  Why?  Because the only tough part about it is not highlighting certain games I know are great, but not the best.  I went into this one expecting it to be as tricky as the last two years, then realized I knew exactly which 5 should be at the top within 30 seconds.  There are 25 games, but you only need to remember these...