tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47325150384348594412024-11-06T02:46:42.032+00:00RPG loving PR stuck at least six-months behind the gaming community.Peter Oliverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518306235778133024noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732515038434859441.post-84639559015242291362011-10-12T16:40:00.010+01:002011-10-13T16:58:57.217+01:00

I've had a favourite RPG merchant for years now. 15 years to be precise. Here's a quote, see if you can guess who it was:"What ails you, my friend?"Got it? Yep, it's Pepin, the mild-mannered healer from Diablo. Responsible for the trading of various healing pots and of course, sorting out whatever it was that was ailing you when you returned to Tristram. I liked the cut of Pepin's jib. He

Peter Oliverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518306235778133024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732515038434859441.post-32084616562945920262011-07-14T21:26:00.006+01:002011-08-23T15:33:13.525+01:00

I conducted a miniature poll on Twitter last night to try and discover who people's favourite JRPG villains were. There were some fairly obvious candidates from the Final Fantasy series in particular but I was heartened to see some JRPG fans pulling less obvious villains from games such as Baten Kaitos and Shadow Hearts. That being said, honourable mentions will go to Emporer Mateus Palamecia (

Peter Oliverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518306235778133024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732515038434859441.post-11290950960781871722011-04-23T11:19:00.005+01:002011-04-23T11:32:48.427+01:00

For the purposes of this post, I’m going to completely ignore Final Fantasy VII as a remake I’d like to see because it goes without saying. There are plenty of other games deserving of a hi-def or up-to-date reimagining and some of the heavyweights have already undergone highly successful updates.Square Enix have arguably led the way in this respect with titles like Final Fantasy III & IV

Peter Oliverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518306235778133024noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732515038434859441.post-42541880003982439262011-04-09T13:56:00.014+01:002011-04-10T18:56:44.158+01:00

I spend quite a sizeable portion of my free time scouring eBay for retro RPGs I can get at a reasonable price. I find the whole activity quite a zen experience and regularly reach inner equilibrium by finding myself a good deal. However, my income is disappointly finite and justifying spending hundreds of pounds for a retro game is not really an option.The most money I have ever spent myself on a

Peter Oliverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518306235778133024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732515038434859441.post-22919397256675075132011-03-31T21:45:00.005+01:002011-03-31T22:30:23.549+01:00

What the bloody hell have I been doing for the past four months? The Octopus has been sat here, thoroughly un-teased since Christmas! Not that such negligence threatened to break the seventh seal or render an apocalyptic tear in the space-time continuum but still, I've failed myself. And my two followers. Will they ever forgive me?It has been ridiculous since getting back from the Xmas break in

Peter Oliverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518306235778133024noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732515038434859441.post-78874360592855195242010-12-09T23:05:00.009+00:002010-12-10T23:30:02.929+00:00

2010 has been the year of the RPG. Fans have literally been showered in love from some of the genre's most prolifically awesome studios.Bioware and Square Enix kicked off the 2010 single player marathon (which according to the EA president is dead by the way!) early on with Mass Effect 2 and Final Fantasy XIII respectively. Hot on their heels were Atlus with Demon's Souls before Square Enix again

Peter Oliverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518306235778133024noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732515038434859441.post-88376988583227607532010-11-30T14:05:00.007+00:002010-11-30T20:14:38.688+00:00

As a teenager, my capacity to waste time was a refined form of artistry. The sheer amount of things I could do to distract myself away from more important things like homework and household chores was staggering. You could hardly call my youth misspent though, I didn't hang around in parks with gangs of other teens drinking White Lightning and yelling abuse at the elderly. No sir. I would be

Peter Oliverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518306235778133024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732515038434859441.post-64529473911157960632010-11-25T16:51:00.011+00:002010-12-17T11:28:31.909+00:00

Last night I indulged in many of our eighth wonder's wares, reading articles pertaining mainly to the downfall of JRPGs. Many writers and forum contributors have hypothesised over why and how they need to be fixed and how pretty much every other genre in gaming, particularly WRPGs, have left the JRPG floundering in their wake for a last gasp phoenix down, in an attempt to prevent them from being

Peter Oliverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518306235778133024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732515038434859441.post-64515954276750648842010-11-18T19:25:00.000+00:002010-11-19T21:12:42.795+00:00

In a previous blog, I started writing some Retro RPG reviews and patted myself on the back for coming up with R³PG (Recommended Retro RPGs) as a way of advising retro RPG lovers looking for some solid retro RPG offerings. It's not quite Retro Gamer but on a regular-ish basis I'm going to write about some of my favourite retro RPGs and why, if you're so inclined, you should play them.Starting with

Peter Oliverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518306235778133024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732515038434859441.post-75989785905497223872010-11-11T13:30:00.000+00:002010-11-15T09:23:36.346+00:00

So, you're a JRPG fan.You've grown up with Final Fantasy, Breath of Fire, Grandia and countless other traditional JPRGs which make use of that tried and tested you hit, I hit turn based combat mechanic. You've wandered the vast expanse of numerous identikit dungeons wincing ever so slightly each time your screen swirls or explodes into yet another random battle. You've become irritable, nay,

Peter Oliverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518306235778133024noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732515038434859441.post-63468708806267195342010-11-08T11:19:00.000+00:002010-11-08T21:20:56.106+00:00

Last week, I made a concerted effort to wrap my head around the ever-changing geography of Ivalice. The conclusion was that, well, there wasn't really one. The maps are deliberately inconsistent and the information in the public domain is scarce. While many fans have tried to fit the maps of each Ivalice Alliance title together, only the FFXII, FFXII: Revenant Wings and overlaying Ivalice map fit

Peter Oliverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518306235778133024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732515038434859441.post-57952120270301769642010-10-31T09:01:00.000+00:002010-11-01T21:57:05.034+00:00

To the uninitiated, Ivalice may sound like an Italian bemoaning a nasty hair infestation, but those more accustomed to Yasumi Matsuno's vision will know it is a mainstay in Final Fantasy folklore as the series' most oft recurring backdrop for all sorts of magical adventures.European gamers weren't officially introduced to Ivalice until June 2000 and even then, could have been excused for missing

Peter Oliverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518306235778133024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4732515038434859441.post-59790041797568972322010-10-05T17:19:00.000+01:002010-10-26T19:54:06.926+01:00

This past week I've loaded up my gaming syringe with a massive dose of Final Fantasy, smacked a vein with my seasoned shoulder button mashers and injected more brand love into my lifestream than ever before. With Final Fantasy: The Four Heroes of Light being practically glued into my DS and a newfound scary obsession with building a PC capable of housing Final Fantasy XIV it's only now that I've

Peter Oliverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09518306235778133024noreply@blogger.com2