https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/ rpg-o-mania's news RSS feed! en-us https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3NzYxMDUzODMuaHRt More wallpapers. More Phantasy Star!But this time, it's about mobile wallpapers. You can download them here if you like: Mobile Phantasy Star.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3NzU1MDA3MTcuaHRt After a request on the Videospielgeschichten Discord, I started a new project: The Phantasy Star wallpaper series.You can check them out here: Phantasy Star IV wallpapers.I started with desktop wallpapers, but I will add mobile wallpapers soon!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3NzI5NzUwNDIuaHRt You know the saying, "never meet your heroes"?As I like to ignore sayings, I met my heroes and asked one of the gaming journalists I always liked for his style and competence, Thomas Nickel, if he could write something for little rpg-o-mania here.And so he did - a wonderful little retrospective / review about Final Fantasy V.I added it in "reviews", even if the article could also very well be a part of our "retrospective" section- but eh, it fits both, so I linked to the review from retrospective, and decided to not add a rating.It's a great read.Many thanks, Thomas!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3NzIzODcwNDYuaHRt Thank you so much for trying out "Fight!!". I've seen there have a LOT of characters been created.Based on the feedback I got, I made two changes:1. On Level 4, if your character levels up and is of the offensive type, they will get a more powerful "Blaze 2" spell. This one will deal 20 damage.2. The three strongest enemies have been a bit debuffed.If you already have a character that is on Level 5 or more, they will not get the Blaze 2 upon level up. If you do not want to create a new character, get in touch with us using the "Interact" form and I will enable Blaze 2 for your character if you tell me your token and your name.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3NzE3Njk3MzcuaHRt Now for something completely new! If you click onto the "Fight!!" entry in the navigation menu, you will switch over to our very first "game" (take that term with a truckload of salt): "Fight!!".It is a very simple, very short and presumably easy turn based fight engine where you can do some battles with your character.I had this idea for that game for quite some time now. If you're visiting rpg-o-mania, you're probably interested in old turn-based RPGs. And most modern engines in various games are so overly complex.Not "Fight!!". Attack, use magic, that's it. No criticial attacks, no potions, no complex mechanics, just you, some enemies, and experience points. Go from battle to battle, and with every Level your stats will be restored. If you have any questions, feel free to get in contact using the "Interact" contact form.I will expand the number of enemies from time to time. The ones that are in the first batch are enemies I designed when I was 13. So that's kind of a throwback too :DAnd disclaimer: For the cover art shown here, I used generative AI. I wanted to have an 80s style inspired cover art. But all the artwork of characters and monsters has been done by me!I also opted for a hand-drawn look instead of pixels.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3NjgyNDk2NTUuaHRt Some bad games can have good art too, right?The game we're covering today isn't necessarily bad, but it has some uncanny predatory mechanics woven into it.Anyway, it's about War of the Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, and it has some nice artworks from various games. So now it has its own gallery.Compared to other gallerys on the web, I removed the shadow on the feet for every image. posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3Njc3MTg0MjcuaHRt Happy new year! Sort of... belated.No new content yet, but I sat down with my trusty IDE to implement some new features.First of all: Public comments! We're starting this out in the "Interact" page, but I plan to roll them out on every subsite here. If you want to see the public comments we received so far, you can watch them here:Interact - Public Comments.If you write a comment there, I can decide to release it. If you want to send me some thing in confidence, I won't publish the comments. I have to check every single one :)Other than that, our galleries received a slight overhaul where they also display the date of the respective file now.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3NjY1MTMxNTguaHRt Square Enix provided some great images about the newish game "Octopath Traveller 0".It's a HD2D game, so it's no really my cup of tea (although the "create your own character" feature seems interesting).Anyway, there's loads of great new art in our Octopath gallery.Some of the pictures are so huge that they broke my upload script :DAside of that, I wish you happy holidays (if you celebrate them) and some great days with your loved ones!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3NjQ4NzY0NTUuaHRt After I converted my 1997 tracks, I thought that I should also give the music tracks I did in the early 2000s some love.And here they are - Tracks from the 2000s, a collections of music I made between 2002 and 2006.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3NjM4MDkwNzYuaHRt I reworked the whole music section a little. This area was neglected for some time, aside of our "20 years of rpg-o-mania" album in 2019. But then again, video game music as downloadable files is kind of a thing of the past (like this whole site here, hehe).I decided to give the digital tracked music a bit of an explanation, and provided some application download links for midi files, as MacOS can't play that out of the box anymore.And I added a new album, Tracks of 1997, where I converted some of the digital tracked files I made into MP3 and now provide them for download.I also uploaded them on SoundCloud, so you can listen to it directly in your browser.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3NjM0OTY5NjEuaHRt Oh my - TWO news entries on a day! Who thought about that.Recently, while browsing reddit, I stumbled upon the great works from the Breath of Fire fans (or rather, Odin Ryu), who also hosts this very great website Dragnier.It is a great source for everything Breath of Fire and should absolutely be supported.This is why I added the site to our Links page.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3NjM0NTQyMDAuaHRt Breath of Fire's original artist, Tatsuya Yoshikawa, shared some nice Breath of Fire artwork on his Social Media account. Since they're Breath of Fire related and Capcom allowed me to share Breath of Fire artwork, I added them to our Breath of Fire gallery.I just love the artstyle of Mr. Yoshikawa!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3NjI1MTE2MDUuaHRt Today I continued creating the Final Fantasy XIV job icons in SVG and PNG. I still know that there are public git repositories with svg and vector images online, but I still think that having a second source (and, like stated in our copyright comments, you can use it as you please) is always good.So be sure to check back our Final Fantasy XIV job icons.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3NjIzNTYwNjMuaHRt Would you believe it, coming back with content took longer then I anticipated - sorry for that.Aside of rpg-o-mania, I have written a series of German fantasy books which I'm in the process of finishing. That took longer than I initially thought, which extended the time for this article.Ah yes - the update. I composed a very personal approach on a Suikoden retrospective. I also wrote this article over at VSG, there's a link to that in the restrospective.There are also new links available. One to German Nerdjunk and one to the English speaking Retro Replay.Thanks to you all for your patience, but at least we've got lots of new stuff today, eh?posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3NTU1NDg2MzYuaHRt Okay, I updated nothing for 80 days and the reaction was... nonexistant. No one reached out to me.No one asked what was going on.No one reacted to any social media post. Well, two nice people reacted and some people over at reddit.But it is... as if no one is watching this stuff here anymore, except from AI bots.So I call upon you... get in touch with me. Show me that there are still people reading this stuff.Detailed page here.If no one contacts me, I will activate maintenance mode here.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3NDg1Mjg1ODguaHRt I did something :)Recently, I found some scanned artwork from Suikoden, and I thought it would be cool if I'd remove page numbers and so on. So I did. And the images can be seen in the Suikoden gallery.I also thought about artificially upscaling them, but the images turned out to be creepy - and if you want to AI upscale those things yourself, feel free to use any upscaler you want to use, like "Upscayl". posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3NDc5MTU1MDcuaHRt Hello, it's me :)I'm currently in a tight spot, but I thought I'd add some nice art for you.It's about Bravely Default.Some of the artworks have been cut by me and some have the background removed for transparency.So, it's not much, but it's something.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3NDM5NTM4ODAuaHRt It's not so much to update today, but I wanted to send you a sign that I'm still alive.New artwork has been posted to the Final Fantasy XIV gallery and The Final Fantasy VII Rebirth gallery. They consist of some nice key artworks from the Square Enix press site.Aside from that, I'm still playing Suikoden and the ever-present Final Fantasy XIV in my free time. Job and Family keeps me busy enough, though :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3NDI0OTU5MDQuaHRt The Suikoden HD remasters are very much to my liking.Especially the new artwork, drawn by Junko Kawano, is very, very appealing. She still switched from water color to digital painting, sadly, just as she did in Eiyuden Chronicle. But, the avatars are great, and I added them to our recruiting guide. Check it out - I think it's interesting to see the old avatars next to the new ones. Maybe one day I also replace the old ones with higher res images.These images date back to when I first did that guide 25 years ago!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3NDIyMzg3MDYuaHRt Hey Hey Hey!!!!!!Um, well. We have a new gallery of screenshots.Unsurprisingly to anyone even remotely knowledgeable of this website, it's about the Suikoden HD remaster.I honestly like the visuals. More than I like "HD2D". Still, in mobile versions (Steam Deck, Switch), the scaling of the pixels kind of sucks.It's somewhat acceptable, but it could be better with a bit of love put into the scaling at 720p.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3NDExMTI5ODEuaHRt Today it's more than just Final Fantasy XIV job icons! Well, of course, I have some of those here as well, but it's not only that!Would you believe that - there's new Suikoden artwork. And not only that - it's from a new Suikoden game.Suikoden Star Leap - a strange name for a free to play game on a mobile console that has the typical HD2D look. Basically, that ticks all the boxes of things I don't like about a game. But then again, it's a new Suikoden game. And it's not like Suikoden Tierkreis that plays in a new universe, it's indeed a game that runs in the canon timeline.The Suikoden remasters are about to be released soon. I ordered the physical Nintendo Switch version, so I could play it mobile. I'm really curious how this will turn out to be!So that's all of me today. I don't know how many people will read this as I basically ceased all activity on social media, but rpg-o-mania is better than social media anyway :Dposted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MzkyOTQ0ODUuaHRt More Final Fantasy XIV job icons.Check them out here!Other than that, I don't have many news. The Seiken Densetsu 3 article from last week was quite successful, and there will be a German version online at the end of March in the great blog Videospielgeschichten. Check those out too! :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3Mzg4NzY1MDcuaHRt Something different today!Although I have prepared some FF14 job icons, I wanted to write a little article about the circumstances that made the release of the first Seiken Densetsu 3 (Trials of Mana) translation patch so special.You can check it out here: A summer of Seiken Densetsu.If you're in your mid 40s by now and have always been a fan of these games, you might be able to relate :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MzgzMTEzMjIuaHRt More FF14 class icons. I really like rebuilding these icons, just as I did with the Suikoden Runes. I think, after all the FF14-icons are finished, I will do some more runes.Aside from that, I'm still playing Ys X: Nordics. I think I'm still not as excited about that game like I was with its predecessors. But I won't make my final verdict until I finished the game.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MzgwODY5OTEuaHRt And we continue our set of Final Fantasy XIV job icons, today with Gladiator and Paladin.I really try to do all of the job icons and eventually also release all the source files.But for that, I need to find a solution of how to display folder structures in rpg-o-mania directly here.I have ideas, though.Aside of that, with my still-realtively-new job, I'm still in a tight time schedule, but there will be no downtime here :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MzY3OTI4NzQuaHRt As promised, I continued our series of Final Fantasy XIV job icons, with Archer and Bard being added.Archer was especially tricky to do since it's relative detailed and slanted, so mirroring wasn't all too easy. I think the result is good, though.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MzY0MjU1MTYuaHRt And we start the new year with a project similar to our famous Suikoden Runes Redone: This time it's about the Final Fantasy XIV job icons.This time, however, there is already a good repository of high quality images available on the web. It's linked on our job icons page. But you know what? I like to remake these things, and it's fun to have those as source files available for me so that I can use them however they please.Of course, mine are released under an Creative Commons license, so feel free to use them as you like as well.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MzU2NTk5NzcuaHRt So, this concludes 2024.For this website, it was a year of ups and downs. Our fantastic 25 years - 25 recommendations marked a great way to celebrate rpg-o-mania's 25th birthday.On the other hand, towards the end, things slowed down significantly. Right now, I'm quite preoccupied with a demanding job and some other private project (as I outlined in my last news report), but I still have plans for content for this website.Especially the Suikoden Runes Redone are still pretty popular - I see them being used here and there, especially on reddit.Of course, you can use the stuff I've created here as you like. I'm always happy about some form of being named, though :)So, let's hope for more content in 2025 and enjoy the last day of 2024. Might 2025 a better year for everyone than 2024 was.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MzM5MzUwMzUuaHRt Oh my, it's been more than a month since I last updated good old rpg-o-mania.First of all, if you're here for content: There are some more nice Visions of Mana artworks available.Aside of that, if you're interested what's going on: a lot.Usually, I keep things just focused on rpgs and rpg-o-mania here, but my life has been stressful a lot recently. I have a relatively new job (since March) that pays the bills well, but it's very demanding. I'm also writing a book for my kids, which is also pretty time consuming. And I'm visiting them as often as I possibly can.So between kids, working, sleeping, writing and the occassional run in Final Fantasy XIV or Ys X, there is not much time for rpg-o-mania here. But I'm trying my best to update stuff here. Even though I don't know if anyone visits here regularly. To be honest, even among all of the stress that's going on, I'm feeling a tad lonely. So if you feel like it, drop me a message using our various contact options.It would be nice to hear from some nice people. I have to deal with too many bad people these days.So yeah, feel free to contact me, I'd be glad to hear from you.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvLi4= https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MzA1NTczODcuaHRt And we finish our series of Vio's recommendations for 25 years with another set of games and companies.So here it is - the coda, the encore - the curtain call.Be sure to check it out! It's a great read again!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3Mjk4MzU2MTMuaHRt Some time ago, a nice person reached out to me on the contact form here (yes, people really do use these! :D) and asked about the Suikoden Runes Redone.They specificially asked if it would be possible for me to remake the True Fire Rune and Sun Rune from the games.I promised to do them, but it took me waaay longer than I initially anticipated, but here they are - both of the runes.You can find them in various formats in the Suikoden Runes Redone section.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3Mjk1MzU3ODEuaHRt Week 5, and batch 5 of vio's great retrospective into 25 of very special rpgs that he dug up. As always, you can read it here.What a great journey that was, through 25 of selected rpgs, and a fun read on top.So enjoy the last batch, read the quirky descriptions and have a good time!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3Mjg5MzA1NjIuaHRt Aaand let's go on with our celebration of 25 years of rpg-o-mania, presented by vio81!This time, he has 5 more recommendations that just aren't your typical run off the mill games. So let's get crazy and look at some rather atypical games.Again, I had a blast reading and layouting this, and I hope you have too.See you next week when we're covering the last five games.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3Mjg0MTE5OTkuaHRt For this week's entry in the 25 years celebration, we have some slightly unhinged games.Vio composed a list of games that are slightly unusual, may it be as part of a series in which they appeared or for any other reason.And again, he's written his article in a very interesting and intriguing manner, so it's fun to read, as always. I highly recommend!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3Mjc3MjE5OTAuaHRt This week we continue our spree of vio's 25 years - 25 recommendations set of articles.This time it's about The _Future_, which sometimes revolves a lot around tri-ace.Maybe tri-ace are the future? But then again, the games are mostly from the noughties, which are some kind of the past.Well anyway, enjoy the newest additions!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MjcyMDI3MjcuaHRt Our good friend vio81 helped out with a really great special for 25 years of rpg-o-mania! 25 years - 25 game recommendations.He has a quite unique approach to this topic (and we even phoned for hours discussing this idea), and I'm happy to release the first batch of five games. The first part is about playing it safe - but before I talk more, you can enjoy the article in the new set of coverage reports.I hope you have as much fun reading as I did!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MjcwMTg1OTQuaHRt Right now I'm in quite some tight spot in terms of my time schedule. Sorry about that.Together with a good friend, I'm doing a really nice set of articles for this sites' 25th birthday. But sadly, composing a big set of articles also consumes a lot of time.So for the time being, please bear with me, and enjoy Some nice YS IX artworks.We like Ys a lot here, and the next game will be out on October 25th here in Europe. I'm looking forward to it.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MjU2Mjg2MjQuaHRt rpg-o-mania is 25 today. Happy birthday!I mean yeah, it's older than that. I have a whole history section here where the whole story from humble beginnings in 1998 to today is documented. But rpg-o-mania.de went live on September 6th, 1999.If you know how, you can even go back in the site's news entries back to the very first days.I composed a little text about this site's 25th birthday in our history sectionBack then, it also was kind of a blog for me. I shared many personal thoughts here in the news, but in the past 6 years, I kept that to a minimum. The news are for the games and this site, and no personal affairs anymore.So I will keep it that way. Again, happy birthday, rpg-o-mania.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MjQ2OTg4ODQuaHRt Soon, Visions of Mana will be released. Scheduled release date is the 29th of August, which means in 3 days.I won't be able to play it from the start due to financial reasons (here at rpg-o-mania, I buy every game on my own, aside from the one or the other indie game). Anyway, here's some new art I brushed up, as Square Enix released the artworks in kind of a blurry state. You can find them in our Seiken gallery!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MjI2ODIzMzQuaHRt And it's finally here: Our Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail review!This extends what already was the biggest review here on rpg-o-mania for quite some parts, as I not only reviewed the game itself, but also extended the final verdict I had added a few months back.Sadly, I also had to mention the bad behaviour of fans towards Sena Bryer, the voice actor of one of the games' heroines, Wuk Lamat. It's a poty fans behave like this.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MjIzMjg3NjcuaHRt The Visions of Mana release is coming soon, on August 29th. Today, Square Enix released a Demo for the game that should be available on all platforms the game is going to be released (PS4 / 5, XBox, Steam).They have also added some new artwork, which i consequently put into our Seiken gallery.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MjIwMjIwNDQuaHRt I extended a very old set of articles in our "coverage" area - the "Music inspired" pages.This always had been sort of a controversial array of articles, and I think this one will be too.After playing through Dawntrail, Final Fantasy XIVs newest expansion, I noticed some of its music tracks sound in parts familar. And here I collected some of my findings: Dawntrail: Music inspired.Let me know what you think! :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MjE2Njc3MTYuaHRt I'm a bit on a tight time schedule these days, so apologies for not updating in the past few days.Square Enix released some nice artworks about Visions of Mana, which I uploaded into our Seiken gallery.I have a few other topics planned for the future, one of them being my Final Fantasy XIV dawntrail review. I'll keep you posted!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MjAxMDg3MzIuaHRt Yo, Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail is out. And I'm playing it. And it consumes a lot of time, whilst being a lot of fun. So, given some other duties I have in life, like work and family, time for rpg-o-mania here is a bit limited. 😅But, if you want to feel the Dawntrail craze a bit too, enjoy the new artwork of the game I uploaded in our Final Fantasy XIV gallery!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MTkzOTQ2ODUuaHRt Square Enix is currently working on a remake of "Romancing SaGa 2" - called "Romancing SaGa2 Revenge of the Seven". It's said to be done by the team behind the Trials of Mana remake. So that looks good.I still haven't been able to fully experience any SaGa game, as I'm strangely interested in them, but never have the guts to try and learn games with queer mechanics.But this one is said to cater towards "new players", so who knows - maybe this time I'll play it?Anyway, there's a new art gallery available for it - check it out here.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MTg2NTIxODQuaHRt I reworked the remake's Trials of Mana class change guide.Well, it's not really been a remake. Rather, I removed several mentions that this guide is still under construction (which it wasn't for quite some time), and I fixed some incorrect wordings for class change items.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MTgyOTk5OTkuaHRt I am only rarely really overwhelmed by a new video game trailer. But as I looked to SquareEnix's new "Visions of Mana" trailer, I was really amazed.It is a great trailer that shows so many promising aspects of the game that I'm really, really positive that this game will be great.Aside of that, there's new Visions of Mana art available in our Seiken gallery.Man do I want to play Visions of Mana now.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MTc5Mzk4MTAuaHRt And now our "divine beings" set of articles also includes Shiva.That was about time, as the Final Fantasy XIV version of her was a part of the header image for so long, als already mentioned. It's interesting to see how different the Final Fantasy Shiva and the one from Hinduism is.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MTc3NjIxNDEuaHRt Today there is a new addition to our divine beings - it's Undine!Or rather an explanation of why there are so many RPG characters or elementals that are called something like her.So that's our first addition to this little series, and there will be another one soon.I mean, there is Shiva shown on the artwork of the series and there's no description of Shiva to be found. But that will change soon :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MTYyMTEwNTcuaHRt Today marks the beginning of a new series in our "coverage" area - Divine Beings. I came up with the idea whilst researching for an article that should at some point appear over at Videospielgeschichten when it's eventually reopened.I also revamped the layout here and there. Some of the blues are more intense, the header image has been changed (it now features a backdrop from Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth), the logo has been just slightly changed and there is a different header image for bright and dark mode.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MTUxODM2NzYuaHRt I'm really looking forward to "Visions of Mana". My favorite gaming mag that's still in print (well - it's the only gaming mag still in print here in Germany) had a nice interview and preview about the game where the devs stated that the Trials of Mana remake was their idea of how a modern Mana game should look like. So that really looks promising.Haccan did the art again, and we added some official images to our Seiken art gallery.Of course, the images have been tuned up in quality and had their background removed :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MTQzOTY5MTguaHRt Thanks to some valuable feedback from a good friend, I reworked the "Best versions" article from Breath of Fire 2 a little.First, the SNES game can't be purchased officially anymore on the WiiU and 3DS consoles. But now, it's available on the Nintendo Switch.Anyway, that didn't change the verdict but the article is now online here!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MTQwNjk0MDMuaHRt Today I reviewed Lufia: Ruins of Lore.And as much as i subjectively dislike its predecessor, I like this game - even if it, objectively, is only a "good" game.Some more details can be found in the review linked above. :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MTM4NTUxMzQuaHRt I added some artwork from Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes to the corresponding gallery.Being a backer, I started the game and began playing. It's nice and has - expectedly - lots of Suikoden feeling, yet after three hours of playing, the game hasn't really kicked for me up until now. I'll surely give it more of a chance when I have time to play, but as it stands now with the wonky visuals on the Switch version and a cast of characters that just didn't connect with me until now, I'm not sure if it can be the new "Suikoden" game I craved for.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MTM0Njg3MzAuaHRt I checked out all of the coverage pages today and clicked all the source links to see if they're all okay. Especially in the "RPG and music" section, I had to do a lot of replacing of old YouTube links that didn't work anymore.I also added some new information here and there and removed bits that weren't correct anymore.Feel free to browse our Coverage section and enjoy all of the newly cleaned up glory! :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MTMxMDg5OTMuaHRt Square Enix released a bunch of nice artwork from SaGa: Emerald Beyond.It still looks pretty good.Honestly, I think I'm starting to like games that are not in the AAA spectrum more than the big ones. Often, those A- or even B-products are done with love and passion, and they usually don't utilize this new trend of requiring lots of online things or even a cash shop for simple offline games.Anyway, the artwork is in our corresponding gallery!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MTE4MzE0MTQuaHRt Star Ocean 2 R didn't really catch with me. I never really got into the item creation, and without the item creation, the game sometimes is pretty difficult. Maybe that's just not my cup of tea.Artwork, however, is my cup of tea, and Square Enix released some nice artworks together with the release of this games' patch.So, if you enjoy(ed) the game and the artwork, that's a double win for you!Find them in the art gallery here.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MTA2OTExNDMuaHRt Square Enix released a lot of artwork for SaGa: Emerald Beyond over the course of the past weeks, and I thought I'd share them - over in or SaGa gallery.The game is still kind of intriguing to me, but as I said numerous times before, I'm a bit afraid of too experimental RPGs. And SaGa is the epiphamy of experimental games. As soon as a review of this game pops up in our reviews section, you know one of us played it, eventually.Right now my enthusiasm is a bit lower than it was before, as the render / ingame models you can see in the gallery are somewhat... underwhelming. In my opinion, at least.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MDkyMzA3ODQuaHRt I expanded our love and RPGs section a bit - the page of all-out-relatioships, meaning the couples in RPGs that actually got together, married and even had children.For this, I added famous Rex from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 as well as Mio and Noah from Xenoblade Chronicles 3.Please make sure that you've played both these games before clicking onto the link. I just put our spoilershield before that, just to make sure :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MDgyNzI2MjQuaHRt You know what I really, really don't like as a game? It's Lufia II. And it's not the fault of the game at all.This fine RPG has all of the elements that I don't really like, crafted into one game. Funnily enough, I really like Lufia I and "Ruins of Lore" on the GBA. But I never, ever could fairly rate part II.So Dennis composed a nice article about the game over on Videospielgeschichten in German, and I asked him if I could translate the text and put it into the rpg-o-mania review format.And so here it is: Our official Lufia II review! It's fair and nicely written, but I also added a commentary with my personal feelings and a bit of reasoning behind that.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MDczMjMyMDYuaHRt The demo is out, the release is near, and we have another set of new Final Fantasy VII rebirth artworks available in our gallery.As you may know from the last news entries about this topic, I'm not completely sold on the idea of Final Fantasy VII R. I mean, it's seemingly just built to live on the memories of old fans, without making sure that it itself has a consistent, logical storyline.But as I talked with some friends, they brought up the thought that there were many ideas in the original that were just thrown in because it was cool - let's take Cait Sith for instance, who wasn't really fleshed out.If you tried to flesh out all the characters and good ideas, you have to rework the story - and that is what the new team does. Let's see how the fanbase reacts to Rebirth and how a final part of this series will look like. I'm pretty curious about it :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MDYxOTA1MjMuaHRt Today I finally released the review of Harvestella. It took one and a half year to be finished, mainly because I paused the game for some time.The first big period of time when I didn't play the game was after I've caught a nasty virus and just didn't get back into the game.The second time was when I was kind of dulled by aspects of the game.Yet, I always came back. And you can find out details in the review!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MDU2NjA0MDMuaHRt Square Enix is boosting up their marketing campaign for the upcoming release of Final Fantasy VII rebirth. It's planned to be released on February 29th, 2004. Which is funny, when will they celebrate "one year of Rebirth" in 2025. On Feb 28th or March 1st? We will see :)Along with that, they also released new artwork for Cait Sith, Elena and two key artworks. I added them all to our Final Fantasy VII rebirth gallery!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MDQ5MDQ2NDEuaHRt Square Enix released some news for Final Fantasy XIV dawntrail a few days ago, the next upcoming extension for the MMO.The artwork released along this is very nice and has been uploaded to our Final Fantasy XIV gallery.As you might all know, I'm pretty hyped for this next extension, as I love the game really much and have played it for the past three years. So expect more FFXIV content to come for the forseeable future! :Dposted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MDQ3ODM4NjkuaHRt Recently, I added the Wild Arms artwork from days gone, and I came up with the idea to find out where there are wild west games or homages in the RPG games that I like so much.I composed a little report and put it into our "A world of clichés" section, or to be more precise I added the article here.Other than that, another year has passed, and even if I try to keep my private life out of rpg-o-mania, it was a very hard one. So I hope you and your loved ones will have a good 2024, you can enjoy life and live in peace and safety!The relaunch of rpg-o-mania here is now six years old, and it still looks fresh as ever.I'm also working on some tweaks here and there, but I wasn't all too successful yet in that regard. I'll inform all of you when I'll get to it!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MDM3OTUxNTEuaHRt Although I really like many games in the series, I totally forgot there was quite the nice Wild Arms art gallery in the old rpg-o-mania that lasted from 1999 - 2009.And today, I added the old gallery again - here is our Wild arms gallery.Sadly, the games haven't been updated ever since Wild Arms 5 in 2008. But the art is still nice.I have to apologize that 2007 me used some filters to "enhance" blurry images, which makes them look a bit too filtered today.If I ever find better quality images, I'll add them to the gallery.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MDMxNDM5NjMuaHRt Square Enix released a lot of art for SaGa Emerald Beyond, which we uploaded into our SaGa artwork gallery.Like I wrote last time, SaGa games usually have some high degree of quirkiness to them and were usually the playground of Squaresoft (and later Square Enix) to try out some new concepts. Some games failed, some succeeded. Emerald Beyond sounds pretty interesting, though. It's said that Emerald Beyond has a high focus on an individual story based on own decisions. Let's see how it will turn out. I'm still intrigued.And, on the SaGa gallery, there's really a lot of new artwork!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MDIzNzk2NTMuaHRt Today, I added some huge artworks to our Final Fantasy VII Rebirth gallery.To be perfectly honest, I'm still not sold at the concept of the "new" Final Fantasy VII. Square Enix puts so much effort into a game that is based on an old game whilst trying to create something new at the same time they try to tie it somewhat on the older story. But then again, they spend so much time in-game telling people that this story is somewhat different.I always hear people how they talk about when they expect this character to appear here, or how that character survived where they did not in the original game.I barely hear how the story itself works on its own - the matter of discussion is always just old characters and changes in the storyline without ever noticing how Final Fantasy 7 R - at the end, all of them - will work out as an individual experience for people who never played the original Final Fantasy VII.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MDIwMjI2NDkuaHRt Oh wow, Square Enix released a new trailer for a new "Seiken" or "Mana" game - Visions of Mana. And it really looks like it was a back-to-the-roots game. The whole game has a "Trials of Mana" remake feel to it, but this time with a group of fixed characters.It looks very charming. And there has a new artwork been released, which we uploaded into our Seiken gallery. Mana games are always a mixed bag - some are great, some mediocre. I really hope that this one will fall into the "great" category!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE3MDA1MDM3NDYuaHRt Gosh, I caught some cold last week. I wasn't basically able to move and do anything other than lie down in bed. This also somewhat stalled my newly begun playthrough of Star Ocean 2, which I didn't want to associate with being sick.But I was able to at least extend our review of Final Fantasy VI and our recommendation of the best Final Fantasy VI version.I have some other projects up my sleeve, but I'm still not completely healthy. I'll update again as soon as I feel better :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2OTkxNzM5MzMuaHRt Yesterday, I finished Final Fantasy VI pixel remaster - I have to adjust the review of the game a bit as well as my recommendations - expect this to be updated shortly.Other than that, I tired out the Star Ocean 2 R Demo, and I really liked it, despite the fact that I usually don't like HD2D games so much. And I didn't have the best experiences with Star Ocean 2 at all.Still, there are a few great images online at our Star Ocean gallery.Here is our original Star Ocean 2 review from back in 2005: Click here.I also updated our Final Fantasy VI screenshot gallery!Like mentioned in previous times, I usually don't prmote screenshot updates, so be sure to check them out from time to time if you see a game you fancy listed.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2OTc5NzY1MjYuaHRt Oh wow, there's lots of new interesting information about Final Fantasy XIV's upcoming extension "Dawntrail" available.It looks pretty good so far. It's a new country, new places, new jobs - and what's most interesting for rpg-o-mania, new art.I mean, you're probably not here, in this little corner of the internet, to read about news for mainstream games. :)Anyway, the artwork is to be found in our gallery.It's interesting how Final Fantasy XIV has become part of my life. I play it two times a week with friends, and even if things cooled down a bit now that Endwalker is out for two years, it's still a blast and more than just a game - it's the reason I enjoy playing with friends.And yet, it's also a game to enjoy with great stories to be found here and there.The visuals are starting to look a bit dated (especially on the PlayStation 5), and Dawntrail promises to bring new visuals, better effects and lighting, and better textures.I'm very curious!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2OTcxMzQ2NzQuaHRt I edited some of the "Breath of Fire complete works" artworks and added them to our Breath of Fire art gallery.In the coming days, I will add some more, there are some great artworks in that artbook, and thanks to archive.org, I found a good quality version.So, enjoy the artwork :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2OTY3NzkzNTguaHRt Our "Sprite of the Month" section has some severe gaps between the "months" - but in the end, it's important that a new monthly character is being presented every now and then.And this time it's Juniper - a likeable character with some very special feature.It's truly great that a game series that has some of the most embarassing and painful sexualized moments in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 shows so much empathy and compassion in Xenoblade Chronicles 3.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2OTUzOTg1MjAuaHRt Square Enix, along with some information about their newest Final Fantasy 7 remake entry, released some nice art about this new game.I added that to our Final Fantasy VII Rebirth art gallery.It's being reported that the game doesn't allow to transfer a save from the first Final Fantasy 7 remake. Honestly, that looks somewhat interesting to me. I liked the original story, but I didn't like the thought of running around in Midgar for a full games' worth of time.Maybe I'll pick the second one. But then, I'm not a huge fan of what the Final Fantasy 7 saga has become.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2OTUwNTQ2MzkuaHRt It's already online for two days, but I wasn't able to update the corresponding news - I extended our Xenoblade 3 review by its expansion, "Future Redeemed".The expansion itself doesn't add anything to the (already high) score of 98%, but it was a very good example of how a story could be concluded. Details can be found in our review!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2OTQ3MDg3NDYuaHRt As part of today's Nintendo Direct show, Square Enix announced "SaGa Emerald Beyond".You know, I never played lots of SaGa games. I got fairly far into SaGa Frontier 2, and I once played SaGa Frontier 1 for about an hour or so, but that was it.Those games were always a bit too experimental for me.But this newest game looks quite promising. I like the art style, the visual style and how the game is generally being presented. Maybe I'll compose a review once it's out as a demo or so.Up until then, just enjoy the nice artwork SquareEnix has published.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2OTQ2MjgxNTQuaHRt Just a little this and that. I added some art to the Xeno-galley. One image is new, the other one is a replacement of another one in inferior quality. I also replaced the artwork in our Xenoblade Chronicles 3 review, as the more blurry one was used there.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2OTQwMjM0MDAuaHRt Sorry for this kind of belated update. I'm currently dealing with some time consuming family-related stuff, so rpg-o-mania suffers from lack of free time. That's what happens when you're doing things mostly alone :)But today, while I waiting for some stuff I needed, I was able to remove the background from some nice Final Fantasy art. It's from Final Fantasy V and VIII, but the art itself is from "Brave Exvius War of the Visions".Anyway, the nice artwork is here.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2OTI2Mzg2MDIuaHRt After some tips from Fantasy Anime (check our links) and Binary Scroll (also check our links), I decided to create a new page in our "A world full of clichés" series:Camping, which seems to be something any good RPG has to include.There are some examples in our article, but like last time, it might expand if we find more good camping spots :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2OTE4NDE3NjIuaHRt As some nice person on Mastodon mentioned, I forgot one very important game in our "sea voyage" chapter - it's Suikoden IV!The whole game basically is one big sea voyage, the story evolves around travelling on ship between various islands and it begins with a proper set-out-on-sea-and-strand moment.So here it is, added to our little report.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2OTExNDc3NTEuaHRt After over seven months of playing the game (The perks of being a grown up man), I was able to finish Xenoblade Chronicles 3.And of course, I reviewed it!To be honest, this was about the best RPG experience I ever had. And I'm still not finished! I want to finish the extension and all the quests within the game. It's so great! posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2OTA1MjI1MzAuaHRt Did you notice that there are so many ship journey within RPGs?It happens so often that it could almost identified as a... cliché!And there it is: Our report on sea journeys as part of the "world of cliché" series.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2ODk2OTgxODUuaHRt I reworked some Xenoblade Chronicles 3 artworks and removed white backgrounds.Like the last time, I added them to our Xeno gallery.There's another project ongoing that I'm working on. Make sure to follow me on my Mastodon account to find out more!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2ODkwOTc4NDMuaHRt Today, I found out that Square Enix released some nice artworks for the Romancing Saga Re:Universe game. I'm still not very fond of mobile games, but as long as the art is great and as long as it's part of a well known series, why not show it here.So I added it to our SaGa gallery. I also renamed the gallery - it was previously named "SaGa Frontier", which is not true anymore, as it now covers various SaGa games.The SaGa games gallery. Sagagaga.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2ODkwMTAzMjUuaHRt Today, I added something to our "A world full of cliché" set of reports: This time it's about catgirls, a sort of people that happens to appear in so many Japanese RPGs, but it's also no stranger to western culture.It's not too long of a read, but please enjoy!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2ODg3MzU5MDEuaHRt I basically planned to so something completely different for today, but then, I ended up uploading some nice artwork.This time it's from Final Fantasy XIV, some nice group shots and other artwork.But I'm still preparing something different, an addition to our "a world of cliché" set of articles. Stay tuned!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2ODg0MTY3ODMuaHRt Thanks to the talented artist killy_est, I was able to upload some very special Star Ocean fan artworks to our galleries. Thanks again for letting me share this great art here! It almost looks like done by Yoshitaka Amano. The hand drawn style is just great!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2ODczNzIyNjAuaHRt Aren't news just pouring in these days? Ninendo hosted one of their "Direct" events where they usually announce some games, and Square Enix announced not only a remake of Super Mario RPG but also of Star Ocean: The Second Story.The game looks pretty good, with 3D environments and 2D sprites (it reminds me a lot of Eiyuden Chronicles, given the style.Since they also released some arts and screenshots, I decided to upload them.Here is our Star Ocean art gallery.And here is our Star Ocean screenshot gallery, where I uploaded all the promotional screenshots Square published.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2ODcyOTU0NDkuaHRt You know, I'm really not the biggest fan of Square Enix' HD2D games, especially not Octopath Traveler. It was okay, but a bit too grindy and a tad too soulless. Yet, we still have some stuff about the game online.But what's undoubtedly great about the game is its art. And I just was able to find artwork for the Android / iOS game, Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent. I put those nice artworks in our Octopath gallery!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2ODcxNjE3MTUuaHRt After some three years of playing Final Fantasy XIV, I thought I'd wrap up my final thoughts after playing all expansions and also extensively experiencing the multiplayer part.I wrote it all down in our review.I'm not finished with Final Fantasy XIV as is, but I think I now reached a point where I'm able to write down a comprehensive conclusion.Also, the rating is really high (97%!), but to be perfectly honest, a game that could be the only games you play for years is close to perfection - isn't it?posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2ODQ3NjkyMzQuaHRt Today, we reviewed Castle of the Underdogs, a small RPG that plays a lot with Suikoden nostalgia.We received a key of the Switch version for free, but this didn't change the rating in the review at all of course.I like the art, this seems to have been commissioned from a very talented artist. The visuals remind me a tad too much of Minecraft personally.But overall, it was a very pleasant experience.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2ODM4MzAxOTIuaHRt I won't be able to play "Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom" anytime soon, but for those who are, I've got some wallpapers for you.Based on the official artwork, I composed some wallpapers.Here they are for desktop screens and here they are for mobile screeens.They should be big enough for any device so that you can arrange them as you like :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2ODI5NjU2MDguaHRt Today we finished creating the Xenoblade 3 PNG artworks - meaning, the official artworks with transparent backgrounds. You can find the rest in our Xeno gallery.I also updated our "Best version" page of Final Fantasy VI.After playing the "Pixel remaster" edition I decided that this is the best version. It has the better translation, crisp visuals, a great soundtrack and it looks nice on 16:9. The only drawbacks is stuttering scrolling and missing content when compared to the GBA version.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2ODE2MzI1ODYuaHRt I had some time this morning and removed the backgrounds from even more Xenoblade Chronicles 3 artworks.I think they've come out pretty well, although the original images weren't so great in quality. It's a pity that Nintendo can't decide how to treat rpg-o-mania.I've talked to representatives from Nintendo of Europe and Nintendo US, and they all like this magazine a lot. But Nintendo of Germany can't grant full press access as the website is in English, Nintendo of Europe demands that the website is German and Nintendo US points towards Nintendo of Europe as they're not responsible for websites outside of, well, America.We still love their games here, though :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2ODE0OTg3NjEuaHRt Today we have some additions to our Xenoblade art gallery with artworks from Xenoblade Chronicles 3.I'm playing this game since January, and up until now, I really like it. I've been told that the game's quality should dwindle after chapter 5, but I can't confirm that yet. I tried to remove the white background from the images.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2Nzk4NDU2NzkuaHRt More Final Fantasy art online in our Final Fantasy gallery!The art is from Final Fantasy VII, but the game it's from is Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius. The Final Fantasy VII art looks a lot like the original designs from back in 1997, pose-wise. There's also a piece of Exvius original art there.Square Enix loves their free to play mobile games, but the game still contains gacha mechanics, so it's nothing we cover more in-depth here at rpg-o-mania.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2Nzk0MjU2NDMuaHRt Do you know about our showcases? Well, you most certainly do, as they're the first thing that you see when opening rpg-o-mania.However, they have a certain logic to them that might not be that obvious. After five days of not showing a new showcase, a set of random showcases will be shown. I added a little explanation in our new Explanation page as well as a little icon when random mode is engaged.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2Nzg3MzU0NDAuaHRt Oh would you believe me, I forgot one game yesterday in the "Camelot" retrospective. It's "Beyond the Beyond", and now it's also part of the article.I don't understand how that game could have slipped beyond (the beyond) my attention.Especially as it ties Shining, Golden Sun, and modern Camelot together in ways.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2Nzg2NTA3NzEuaHRt Today, I uploaded the newest addition to our old "retrospective" section: It's all about the Camelot RPGs, the "Shining" and "Golden Sun" games.I decided to group them together, as they are so similar, and let's be honest - Golden Sun is the spiritual successor to the "Shining" series, no matter what Sega did with that series.There are also tons of new screenshots available in our Xenoblade 3 screenshot gallery!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2Nzc2OTE1NzEuaHRt Today, I've added some really nice artwork from Octopath Traveller II in our Octopath gallery.I'm still not completely sold on the game as I was really disappointed about the first game, but on the other hand it seems that many of the things we've criticised about the first game were fixed in the second installment.Maybe I'll get it one day.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2Nzc2MDg3NTYuaHRt Some new artworks from Final Fantasy XVI are online now.You know, I checked up our old news entries here, and in the beginning, I wasn't really fond of the game. It reminded me of the "Ivalice" games. But now I know more about the team behind Final Fantasy XIV, Square Enix' Business Unit III. They're a team of people that really can make great games, so I'm starting to get curious how XVI might turn out to be.And you can check out how the art will look like in our gallery :) posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NzY5MjA5NTQuaHRt I really love the Shadowbringers expansion of Final Fantasy XIV, but strangely, here on rpg-o-mania, we never really covered art and wallpapers from this nice game.So here they are, a bunch of really nice wallpapers from that games, some composed by me.And if that's not enough, we even have more Final Fantasy XIV art.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NzU3OTY5NzUuaHRt Sometimes, I come up with an idea of a whole new "coverage" story. This time, it's all about cliche in (Japanese) role playing games.There are several "cliche" hit lists online on the web (just search it up in your favourite search engine), but we tried to go a little deeper.We start with three articles, but the section will expand in the future - as always here on rpg-o-mania!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NzQ3NjA2MTAuaHRt This time, it's a this and that update.I updated the galleries a little, but it's been only minor changes. The gallery names now appear in upper case letters, which makes reading a bit easier.Also, the RSS feed has been updated so that the news should be presented clearer.There are some new Artworks in the Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest galleries. The images are from the "Brave Exvius" mobile game - something I still don't care about, but the artwork is nice :) posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NzQ1ODk1MjUuaHRt I recently stumbled upon some really, really great Phantasy Star images from the classic series.They are incredibly rare, and usually I try to brush up scanned images whenever I find them.But this time, I let them be - I only fixed some images in terms of rotation or cropping, but other than that, it's all of the original images' glory.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NzQxNTI3MDUuaHRt You know what, you can subscribe to rpg-o-mania's own news RSS feed now! In the process, I also cleaned up our Interact page with links where you can find us elsewhere in the web.I also expanded our Xenoblade Chronicles page where I added some information about Xenoblade Chronicles 3. posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NzM5Mzg4NjMuaHRt Just a quick notice about things that have changed the past few days.Over in the galleries, I changed the layout so that it shows the actual image size and not the file size. No one needs to know the file size these days anymore, so I thought the image size would be better.I'm also currently working on a RSS feed, I'll lett you know as soon as it can be tested in a public beta :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NzM2NDM5NjUuaHRt I still love playing Final Fantasy XIV ever since I started it.But you know what, it's 2023 and the online predecessor, Final Fantasy XI is still running! The team even celebrates 20 years of the game being online (even if it's 21 years in 2023). The community there still seems to be active. So I thought I added some art - and let's see if I will still play Final Fantasy XIV in 2032. :Dposted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NzMxNzU1MTguaHRt There are many other blogs, webzines, podcasts and sites online out there that are not being backed by a big budget or some sort of corporation. I always add those gaming related creations to our Links section. Today, I added some more German sites and blogs. If you can understand that language, feel free to go there - they offer great content.Let's keep the small creators rolling!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODEyNjk4NDUuaHRt Right now I'm playing "Fire Emblem: Three Houses" on the Switch, and I really like it a lot up until now since it combines elements from Suikoden and Shining Force games. Heck, with the whole "explore the monastery" feature, it really feels like Shining Force at times.I didn't like the art at first, but it slowly grows on me - so I thought why not add a gallery about the games? And so here it is. Update: I misspelled the gallery in the first link. Fixed that. posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NzI5NTUyMzcuaHRt Today I added some artworks of Fire Emblem: Engage. This is being released soon here in Europe, and I'm going to buy it eventually. I don't know when exactly, as my gaming schedule is pretty tight right now, but it looks very promising.I especially like the artwork that's so colorful, especially in comparison to its direct predecessor "Three Houses". Just check it out in our gallery!And by the way, happy 2023 :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NzI0ODE2MjMuaHRt So, this little update concludes 2022.I added a new chapter to our "Sprite of the month" series, this time it's about three characters at once - Randi, Crono and Ark from Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger and Terranigma. What do these have in common? Check out the link to see more.Other than that, I wish all of you the best of luck for 2023. Tomorrow, this relaunched website will be five years old, and it's still going strong. All the best to your families and loved ones as well, may you be safe from any harm whatsoever (of which there is plenty in the world right now). We'll see you in 2023!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NzE1NjQ5MTkuaHRt Well would you know it, rpg-o-mania hit 1 million visitors these days. I'm pretty happy that I managed to keep the site running long enough that even little rpg-o-mania would reach that goal. posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NzE1NjI4MTQuaHRt Today I added some art that Square Enix published as part of their "Echoes of Mana" free to play game. They are characters from Secret of Mana and Trials of Mana respectively. I thought I'd make things a bit more beautiful and remove the backgrounds. You can find the art here in our Seiken gallery.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NzA5NTk2MzIuaHRt Oh my, it's another masterpiece by our friend Kaoru! This time, he provided an extensive retrospective of Dragon Quest, the oh so popular RPG series from Japan!It's an interesting read that gives everyone a well paced overview of the series, so be sure to check it out!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NzAxNjMzNTEuaHRt Thanks to our friend Kaoru, there's now a review about Koudelka online. I always noticed this game back when it was released, but never got too deep into it, even if it looked interesting.But thanks to Kaoru's review, I know I didn't miss all too much. It's an interesting read nevertheless!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2Njk2NjMzMTYuaHRt And today, while plagued with a nasty cold, I'm releasing our review of Star Ocean: The Divine Force.I was so looking forward to that game and enjoyed most of my playthrough, but in the end, I was very frustrated about so many things that I couldn't grant it more than 80%. Less even, the game stands now at 76%. Find out why in our review.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NjkxMzYxMjUuaHRt I added some art to our Valkyrie Profile gallery. Well, the name itself is wrong now, as Valkyrie Elysium has been added to the series. Maybe I should rename the gallery? But I think most will only refer to the series as Valkyrie Profile anyway.Other than that, there's also a new image in our exclusive art gallery online. More real content coming soon!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2Njg1MzgwNDguaHRt We're still a bit in a Monster World craze here at rpg-o-mania, so I added a new retrospective article for this nice little series. All that remains now is a review of Monster World IV (or Asha in Monster World, maybe I'm going to make a double feature review).And then of course, we'll cover Star Ocean: Divine Force once I've finished that one.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2Njc3MjE3MjEuaHRt I'm currently playing Star Ocean 6. It's, as far as Star Ocean games go, about what players could expect. It seems it's not a true AAA game, but it has lots of heart and some really beautiful locations.The gameplay is fast paced (and sometimes outright annoying, as it should be for Star Ocean), the music is pleasing, and the characters are likeable.Of course, I'm going to compose a real review once I finished the game.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NjczMzE3NjQuaHRt Today I published our review of Wonder Boy in Monster World, the third game of the "Monster World" series. I got this game as one of the first ones on my Mega Drive in 1994, as I loved the Wonder Boy for a long time already at this point.Still, it took me years to finish it, as the final boss in the US / EU version was so damn hard. But with the "Wonder Boy Collection" available, which offers a rewind option, I was able to beat the boss, and I really enjoyed the game again.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NjY2MzkyNDkuaHRt I'm currently playing "Asha in Monster World" for the first time. It's a really nice action adventure. Here at rpg-o-mania, we do like our fair share of action adventures, like we've shown in our love for the Zelda games.There's also a review about Wonder Boy: Dragon's Trap online.One for its successor, Wonder Boy in Monster World will follow soon.Until then, enjoy some artwork for various Monster World games.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NjU5NDI2NTEuaHRt When I first finished Breath of Fire 2 back in 1996, I was fascinated how the game had a name for every inhabitant of its world. I never could read all of the names, as the font is hard to read and the screens fade out quickly.So, this time I thougt I'd capture every screen and write down all the names I found there. And ta-daa: Here they are: The Breath of Fire 2 credits!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NjU1MTM3OTguaHRt After so many years, my review about Breath of Fire 2 is online. You can check it out here. As you'll see in the review, I love the game so much. It was hard to rate it fairly (but I think I managed in the end). I played it for the first time in about 20 years recently, and I forgot many things. In the end, I'm glad I did the replay.And I also noticed that the reviews here start to look like Wikipedia articles with all the references :Dposted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NjUxNDQ5NTUuaHRt You know what? I'm still regularly playing Final Fantasy XIV. And I added some nice new artwork to our galleries there.As always, there are some new screenshots in the Breath of Fire galleries!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NjQzOTIyNjguaHRt After playing the demo of Star Ocean: The Divine Force, i updated our preview. The game will come out by end of October, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to update the preview after I got some better impressions.I also added some screenshots from my experience in the demo to our newly created Star Ocean gallery. Speaking of screenshots, there are always some new additions over at the Breath of Fire gallery.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NjQxMjU5NDQuaHRt A new "Octopath" game is on the horizon!This time it's said to have more intertwined stories and a day and night cycle. I'm sceptical, because the first game wasn't perceived too well here.Anyway, the artwork for Octopath Traveller 2 is nice, so I uploaded them to our gallery.If you want to re-read our review for Octopath Traveller 1, you can find it here.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NjM1NjcyNzEuaHRt Did you ever think how players and monsters meet each other in RPGs?Well, no?A haha, in case you did... I wrote a report about it: "Meeting the foes". It's not only limited to random battles (Which everyone seems to dislike).On another note, you might have noticed that I removed the forums link (again). While participation was slow, the forums were hacked yesterday and I had to deactivate them. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NjI5MDMzOTUuaHRt This time it's a little "this and that" update, so let's use this news area a bit like a blog.I fixed some of the styling in the dark version of rpg-o-mania, some of the tables didn't show up properly. I also fixed some of the links in the "music and rpgs" section, as some of the links always go kaput from time to time.I'm currently working on a company's profile as well as a new "sprite of the month" page.Until then, enjoy some of Sqaure Enix' Harvestella artwork. I'm still kinda curious about the game.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NjI1NzU3OTYuaHRt rpg-o-mania turned 23 yesterday. It's incredible what a timespan 23 years are in the web technology.And to be honest, rpg-o-mania is kind of a dinosaur in that regard. It's still a web 1.0 site where content is created by me and published in written form.But anyway, it's still here and I still have no plans of shutting it down. To celebrate, here are some great artworks from Haccan, done for the Mana series: Find them here.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NjIwNTE5OTUuaHRt I added lots of artwork to our Suikoden gallery. They're taken from the great wiki Gensopedia, but I didn't mean to "steal" any official art.Long ago, I received permission by Konami to publish official Suikoden artwork on this site, and all of the artwork is official. Gensopedia went down the past months after struggling with the Suikoden Fandom wiki (which stole lots of written content from Gensopedia), and I missed the great character artwork posted there. I even asked on reddit if these artworks could be found anywhere else, but I couldn't. So I checked the Internet Archive and "saved" some of the artworks.Funny though, Gensopedia restarted just as I finished crawling the images. But I thought I'd post them here anyway, as they're pretty great and the "new" Gensopedia looks a bit gloomy, to be honest.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NjE4OTE3NDUuaHRt I found some great Suikoden fan wallpapers on reddit with stunning visual representations of Suikoden towns.After being allowed to do so, I uploaded them into our Suikoden wallpaper gallery. Thanks a lot to reddit user smokedsandman for making these and allowing me to use them. I even replaced our header image with a great view of Teien!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NjEzMjI4ODMuaHRt On sunday, I finished Shining The Holy Ark - a game I owned for a long time but never really played.Well, this changed, I played it in the past few weeks (As you can see in our screenshot gallery), and not it's time to publish the corresponding review.Here it is! The game is incredibly 90s in terms of styling, but it really held up well and was lots of fun.Although I'm not sure if I'd ever finish it again thanks to the mean last boss.Ah yes, and here it is: our screenshot gallery of the game!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NjA5MzU2ODAuaHRt I've been away for a small vacation the last two weeks, and today it's time to continue the updates.First of all, there have been new artworks added for Harvestella and Final Fantasy XIV.Harvestella is up for pre order now and will be released at the beginning of November this year. Final Fantasy XIV will receive a new patch 6.2 on August 23rd, where the storyline continues.And I also added new screenshots to the growing Shining The Holy Ark screenshot gallery.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NTk5ODc2MjMuaHRt Square Enix announced a remake of Tactics Ogre - Tactics Ogre Reborn. The game is set to be released on modern PlayStation consoles as well as the Nintendo Switch and the PC.It's honestly nothing for me as I want my RPG elements even in tactical RPGs, but in the end, the art looks fine, so I had to create a corresponding gallery for it.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NTk3MTc2NTcuaHRt Some more "Shining" stuff today, this time it's about Shining The Holy Ark and Shining Force III - all neatly stored in our Shining gallery, just as yesterday.Some of these images don't have the quality we're usually uploading here on rpg-o-mania, but they're basically the only ones available right now.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NTk2MzM3MTkuaHRt I found some nice Shining Wisdom artwork and decided to upload it into our "Shining" gallery.I never really played much Shining Wisdom, as it has a strange look to it. Its pre-rendered sprites look like they've been made from plastic while the surrounding visuals have more of a (rather sterile) SNES look to them.But maybe I'll give it another go in the future, as I still have the game to my disposal.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NTk1NTkxNTkuaHRt Oh my, I updated stuff and then I only announced the news on Twitter. This is especially ironic as I'm not really a fan of social media per se.After I watched a Game Sack episode, I notice that I was a bit unjust to Working Designs in our company profile - I fixed that and updated the Working Designs report.I'm also playing Shining The Holy Ark these days, and I started to fill up our screenshot gallery for that game.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NTg5NDI5ODMuaHRt Whoops, last month I forgot to add a "sprite of the month" for our corresponding section.So this month, I'm allowing two characters to be presented there: The foster siblings Nanami and Riou from one of our most beloved games, Suikoden II.If you want to enjoy more of Suikoden II, just use the search on the upper right corner of the website.Or wait, I can do this for you! :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NTgzMzg2ODguaHRt I have thought about this for a long time, and I worked for it about equally as long. So, I decided to bring back forums for this website - the ManiBoard!This was first introduced way back in 2000, and it was on and offline for some time. The forums themselves were always kind of successful - not too big, not too small. These days, however, forums are on the verge of dying, so it seems. Most people spend their time in social media, may it be Discord, Twitter, Reddit, or even Facebook or Instagram gaming communites.I don't know how successful new ManiBoard can be given these prerequisites, but I think there are some reasons for forums to still exist.First of all, forums can be read in the public. It is great to find out about the topics people talk about without needing an account - something that social media always likes to have.Secondly, I think it's good to have a community that doesn't track you, doesn't want to sell your data or make a profile about your online behavior. Maniboard doesn't do anything like this. It's just a platform for you to talk about games or your private life, if you like to.So feel free to register. Just click on "Interact" in the menu, click ManiBoard and sign up!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NTc2NTU2MzEuaHRt I really like this artwork that has been published about Square Enix' Harvest-Moon-like game. So I prepared some wallpapers that have been created using the official assets.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NTcwNDQ0ODguaHRt Today I added some artwork for Harvestella, a newly announced game by Square Enix.It's said to come out on the Switch and it looks like to be a game in the style of Rune Factory / Harvest Moon. It certainly looks promising to me, and the artwork looks especially nice. You can check it out here in our art gallery.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NTYzNTMwNDguaHRt I really love my hobby, and I also love playing Japanese RPGs.But sometimes, things are a little off. Characters that are presented in a female style are exploited, and sometimes mistreated.I collected some examples and put them into a new report: Love and RPGs: The ugly side.I hope scenes like the ones described in the report will decrease and eventually vanish from great games in the future. It's so unneccessary.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NTU5MTcyNTYuaHRt Now that I finished the game, you can check out our new Tales of Vesperia review! I really liked the game, but as you might notice, the rating is a bit lower than even our review of Tales of Symphonia. You can find out the reasons why in our review.You can also check out the Tales of Vesperia screenshot gallery, which basically covers my whole playthrough. Be warned of Spoilers though!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NTU2MjcyNDkuaHRt Square Enix recently released some new artwork from "Echoes of Mana", their free to play mobile game in the Mana franchise. I'm still staying away from free to play games. I just don't like when a game is not a product, but a process you have to participate in to have the game running.But even if the game is not my cup of tea, thankfully the artwork about it is great - and it's about other Mana games too.So we have a new wallpaper in our Seiken wallpaper gallery and some nice artworks in our Seiken artwork gallery.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NTQ3MTEwMTUuaHRt Some this and that today. Square Enix celebrates 1.5 million downloads of "Echoes of Mana" and released some art. Sadly, some artwork was incredibly sub par in quality, so I didn't add them to our Seiken / Mana gallery, but two images were good, so I added them.Aside of that, there were some tweaks to the search functionality and some fixed spelling mistakes here and there.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NTQyODg4NDkuaHRt Yesterday, Square Enix released a new trailer about Final Fantasy XVI (not to be confused with XIV, on those Romans). The trailer doesn't tell much about the game, but right now it looks as if the game turns out to be a character action game. We'll se how it turns out to be. I added some art to our Final Fantasy XVI gallery.The trailer has some nice imagery, which will be shown below. There was also a new Dragon Age game announced yesterday, so... yay!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NTQxMDgwOTYuaHRt Today for something totally different! I added a new company profile - this time it's about Working Designs, the famous company that brought us westeners some great JRPGs back in the late 90s and early 2000s. The company closed doors in 2005, but in recent years, players and hackers discovered how much Working Design tinkered around with the games. Find out more in our company profile!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NTM0MjI2MzcuaHRt I usually don't make a big fuss about it, but did you know that rpg-o-mania has some extensive screenshot galleries?Just take a look here!I usually always upload screenshots from games I'm playing, and I also usually try to create nice screenshots. Some people call this "digital photographer".But you see, we have a huge selection from some of the best RPGs - not only the over 900 Final Fantasy XIV screenshots, but also lots from "Tales of Vesperia", a game I'm currently playing!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NTMwNzEzOTQuaHRt Today I've added some artwork about Eiyuden Chronicle Rising.I haven't bought the game when it was discounted during the Kickstarter campaign of Hundred Heroes, and I still haven't bought it on my own up until now. I'm still skeptical (heh, maybe I should write a preview), but reviews are pretty positive up until now.Well maybe sometimes I'm going to buy it. Right now it doesn't seem to appealing to me, although it has a really nice look.And Ms Kawano's artworks really look great!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NTI3MzI0MjUuaHRt This month's sprite of the month is Fryderyk Chopin, a famous polish composer. And he's also the main protagonist of a very good RPG, so that's why we decided he is the best choice for this category.I'm also currently playing Tales of Vesperia, which offers a Chopin costume for one of the characters.You can also check out our 16 year old review about the game here.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NTIwMzUxMzQuaHRt Today I added some more Final Fantasy Origin: Stranger of Paradise art.The game itself, as strange as it looked upon initial release, seems to be better than anticipated. I got some recommendations on social media as well as some YouTube videos.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NTE2MDE5MTUuaHRt Nothing too big today. I added two nice images from Echoes of Mana to our Seiken gallery. The game is free, maybe I try it out someday on my mobile phone, although I don't really get too attached to games on my phone.Other than that, that's all for today. Expect more smaller update in the near future, as my schedule is really tight these days 😅posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NTEwMDAyOTYuaHRt The problem when you're a webmaster of a small website is, that you have to decide between maintaining the site itself or add new content.This time, I maintained the site and expanded one of it's feature - the search and find functionality.Our searchmaster now offers the option to search all the news entries of rpg-o-mania. posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NTA4MjAxODguaHRt The past few weeks, I played "The Cruel King and the Great Hero". My verdict can be seen in our review.I also added some screenshots.In short; I really liked the game, but it got pretty boring towards the end. In fact, I almost thought about quitting it without having fought the last boss. Details can be found in the review linked above!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NDk5NTc2MDQuaHRt Some neat artworks from Final Fantasy XIV have been added to our corresponding gallery.Can you imagine that I'm STILL playing this game after so long? I've never put so many hours into one game, and considering my life situation the past years, this makes XIV practically the only game I can afford to play. Still, I try to continuously add stuff from other RPGs here as well.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NDk2MDc5MjUuaHRt Another chapter in our "sprite of the month" series - this time it's about Schala from Chrono Trigger.This one's special, as the early internet I was browsing back in 1998 was already full with theories and fanart about her. She's a remarkable NPC and deserves to be one of our sprites of the month.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NDkxNzg4NDguaHRt I changed some things here and there. If your browser cache allows it, you will see a different background (if on bigger screens) and some slightly different looking buttons.Other than that, I spent a lot of time fixing some spelling mistakes here and there or some misplaced layout elements or styles. So no new content for now, but at least I fixed the page here and there and made it look a bit more beautiful :)... which is nothing that would be of interest for you, my dear readers. At least that's what I think xDposted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NDg5ODg5NzQuaHRt And here it is, our review about Pokemon Legends: Arceus.This review took some more time than anticipated, as life once more decided to cut back the time I have for this website.But anyway, I hope you find it informative :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NDgzOTk4OTcuaHRt In preparation for the next update, I've added several nice artworks from Pokémon Legends Arceus into our Pokémon gallery.The next update I'm preparing right now is a review. I try to publish it as soon as possible! :)So up until then, enjoy the batch of artwork!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NDc4OTEyMzUuaHRt Lots of things changed in this website's backend. Sadly, this is something that you, my dear viewers won't see since it only makes the technology that rpg-o-mania is built on run smoother. However, I've added some things here and there.The first update contains some nice artworks in our Seiken / Secret of Mana gallery, which contains some pictures from the upcoming "Echoes of Mana" game, a free to play mobile game (that honestly doesn't grab too much of my attention).The second one is a new Link to Secret of Mana Redux, a very nice website with lots of interesting content. You can find it on our Links page.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NDcyODI1ODUuaHRt After a brief discussion on Twitter, our friend Kaoru decided so smash his fingers into they keyboard and create a fine review about Shin Megami Tensei 3 HD on the Nintendo Switch.This is about the longest review for a single game on rpg-o-mania we have ever seen. It's very detailed and very informative. Be sure to check it out!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NDY5Mzg1MDguaHRt Oh wow, Square Enix announced a new game in the Valkyrie Profile series, although it is not called Valkyrie Profile anymore - it's called Valkyrie Elysium and it's said to be an action RPG. The game seems to be an action RPG, the trailer can be viewed here.It has a nice atmosphere to it, but also looks a bit bland. I'm not sure yet what to think about it, and there's too little information available to do a proper preview.Square Enix also released a nice key visual for the game, which I uploaded to our Valkyrie Profile galleryHere are two sample screenshots from the game:posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NDY2ODg4MDcuaHRt As per our new rule, I added this month's sprite of the month.And as described the last time, this time it's not really a sprite, but rather a bunch of very spiky polygons.It's Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy 7.You can read more in the corresponding page!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NDYxNTkyNzEuaHRt It's just a small one today, but I found a very nicely done Grandia wallpaper on reddit by user WolloloUwU, and after asking them, they allowed me to put the wallpaper here.So enjoy.And always remember, hug your loved ones!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NDYwNzI5MTguaHRt Whoops, I didn't provide additional background to yesterday's update. But as you can see on the showcase up above, we have added some Suikoden Tierkreis artwork.I decided to let Suikoden Tierkreis have its own gallery. It is a Suikoden game and it's quite good, but it doesn't really fit the previous games as it's playing in a new world, and so I thought it would be useful to put the artwork in their own gallery.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NDU2NDMxOTkuaHRt Square Enix recently announced a sequel to 2021's "Voice of Cards", a card based RPG made by some people of Drakengard 3. The game's director is Yoko Taro, famous for his NieR games. I personally don't like card games or NieR a lot personally, but maybe I can find someone who would like to write a preview about the second installment. :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NDQ1MDk5NTkuaHRt Oh look, Chrono Cross is coming to the Nintendo Switch, and as it seems, it's getting a better treatment in terms of HD conversion than Final Fantasy games beforehand. I like that!Square also presented some new artwork, and since we're not explicitly a news site here, we like the artwork more than the news :) You can find it in our Chrono gallery.But wait, something's special. There's a little NoB written on the artwork - and indeed, the art is done by Nobuteru Yuuki, the designer of the original Trials of Mana (Seiken Densetsu 3) artwork. How cool is that?I just wonder why Square Enix let Haccan did the artwork for the Trials of Mana remake when they still work together with Mr. Yuuki?posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NDQ0MzE1NjkuaHRt You know, I'm very attached to the former German video game magazine "Video Games". Like you may know, half of the website's name here is inspired by that old mag. And so I decided to add another thing that was already famous in the early years of VG, which is "sprite of the month" - we begin in February of 2022 with Katt from Breath of Fire 2.I know that nowadays, most characters are not displayed as sprites anymore, so we use this term more generously and apply it to any video game character. :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NDQyNjE3MzQuaHRt Today, you can find our Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker review online!Compared to its direct predecessor "Shadowbringers", I think Endwalker can't keep up with the high level of quality, but in the end, the rating of the game is still exceptionally high!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NDM3MzkwNDguaHRt Today I added some new (and improved some old) I am Setsuna artwork.I'm also currently preparing a new set of articles. I want to cover the spirit of certain years in the RPG world, so this will be a bigger project.In the past few days I made some minor changes on the site. If there are no new showcases on the front page, the showcases start to rotate and display something different every time the page is viewed. I also updated some of our links.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NDMxMjE4NjAuaHRt Square Enix just released another datacenter for Final Fantasy XIV in Oceania.Along with the launch of that server, they released a wallpaper depicting a map of Australia and New Zealand in the style of Final Fantasy XIV, which is very nice.I uploaded it to our Final Fantasy wallpaper gallery!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NDI3ODk5OTEuaHRt Although I started playing Final Fantasy XIV again, I'm still thinking about the time I enjoyed with Ys the past weeks. So I added a few great official images to the Ys gallery.You know, I thought about writing a special moment from our "moments" section for Ys IX, but honestly, even if the game was generally very good, I can't really name a moment that impacted me like the other moments displayed there. I still wonder why that is.If I have any insight in my own feelings, I'll let you know here on this website! :Dposted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NDIxNzM3MDguaHRt So again, belated happy new year!I'm still very busy in family terms, but I was finally able to compose my first article for this year!It's a review about Ys IX: Monstrum Nox, a game where I honestly didn't expect anything at all, but which surprised me a lot, and in a positive way.See details in our review!I'm trying my best to offer new content soon!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NDE5MzI0NTQuaHRt I'm not dead, if anyone's wondering. In fact, I have some nifty articles up my sleeve, but family affairs right now prevent me from writing anything more than this little news box.But rpg-o-mania is still here, and will be back with loads of new content soon!And for all, I wish you a happy 2022, may it turn out to be great!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2NDAxMTM0MjQuaHRt Oh it's just funny how a new game from Square Enix creates the longest gallery title I ever used here on rpg-o-mania. It's about "Final Fantasy Origin: Stranger of Paradise", or the other way around, how Square Enix prefers it.It seems to be a very bleak and dark action RPG that they did in cooperation with Koei Tecmo, and I uploaded the artwork to our newly created Stranger of Paradise gallery.I'm indeed a bit curious how this game might turn out to be.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2Mzk2ODExNzYuaHRt I recently posted an artwork from Valkyrie Profile as part of my "art of the day" series on Twitter. And I noticed that Valkyrie Profile was something that people liked - I do so too (although I never finished a Valkyrie Profile game up until now!), so I put together a little retrospective about this series.You can find it in our retrospective series.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2Mzg5MDExNDAuaHRt A few days ago, I noticed some new artworks from Chrono Cross that looked suspiciously official and new at the same time.So I looked into it and found out that Another Eden, a free to play japanese mobile RPG, will get a crossover with Chrono Cross.They look nice, and the artwork itself also looks pretty well made. Another Eden itself is said to be quite some good RPG, but I wasn't able to look deeper into it yet.Anyway, the great new art can be found in our Chrono Gallery!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2Mzg0NzM0MzguaHRt Thanks to our friend Binary Scroll, we now have a review of Final Fantasy X online! This is a translated version of his great article in German on his personal blog.This is a truly great game that I was never able to play more than a couple of hours. For me personally, I'm just not being able to get into the game, I'm not feeling it. Binary Scroll holds this game in a higher regard. Details about his opinion can be found in the review.Thanks a lot for allowing me to host the english version here!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MzgyOTY5MDcuaHRt Currently at weekends, I'm playing Ys IX: Monstrum Nox and like it very much up until now.Like always, we have a comprehensive screenshot gallery. I just added it to our Ys gallery, which started back when I played Lacrimosa of Dana, and now I just continue feeding it with Monstrum Nox content :)I also added some new artwork to our Ys artwork gallery.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2Mzc2MDcxOTguaHRt Today we have some special art made by Yoshitaka Amano. It's about Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI.Those artworks have recently been found on a 1999s Square Press CD. You can find the whole pack of CDs on the Internet Archiveposted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MzcwOTI0NzguaHRt I added some more Shin Megami Tensei V art today.The game looks more and more interesting to me, to be honest. I might as well try it out when I finished my current playthrough of Shining Force 2.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MzcwMTEwMTMuaHRt I'm currently playing Shining Force II again. It's a fun playthrough, and I recommend checking out our screenshots gallery if you're interested in some screenshots about the game.They're a bit blurry, though, since I'm playing the game as part of the Sega Mega Drive collection on the Nintendo Switch, which has horrible emulation, to be honest.Anyway, it's a great game that I thoroughly enjoy, and I added another chapter to our Shining Force tips, this time I cover how players could handle computer controlled Peter, who can be a nuisance.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MzYzOTQzOTMuaHRt Just today, Square Enix announced that the release of Endwalker, the newest expansion of Final Fantasy XIV, will be postponed by two weeks.Well I don't mind, I have enough things to do. :) But they also released some new nice art which I uploaded to our Final Fantasy XIV art gallery.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MzYyMjQ2MDIuaHRt After it was announced and I already uploaded some art for it, I decided to publish our preview of Star Ocean 6.I'm pretty positive about the game, to be honest with you, and I'm elaborating in my review why I am.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MzU3NzM3MzQuaHRt Oh my, Square Enix indeed announced a new Star Ocean game. To be perfectly honest with you, after the release of Star Ocean 5 in 2015 and its lukewarm reception, I thought the series was dead.Even cooler now that they indeed announced a new game in the series. And it looks as if it has all the ingredients of a Star Ocean game - even if the protagonist looks a bit weird.I think I'm going to compose a preview about this game soon, but for today, we start with some artwork for the game! Update 2021-11-02: I added some character portraits today. posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MzUyNjkzMjcuaHRt I added a little bit here and there, but nothing too big. There is a little report in our own history section where I cover the past logos of this site. Nothing great in terms of content, but if you're a long time visitor, you might enjoy some nostalgia here.Aside of that, I still have my current Shining Force 2 and the ever omnipresent Final Fantasy XIV project going on, with added screenshots from time to time.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MzQ3NTAzMjcuaHRt I released the first batch of the Final Fantasy XIV wallpaper series 2021.I once did some wallpaper series back in 2004 and 2005, and I thought this would be a nice thing accompanying the release of the Endwalker expansion.So here we go!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MzQ0ODk4MzIuaHRt Square Enix just released a few nice artworks from Final Fantasy XIV's upcoming extension, "Endwalker". These look pretty nice, so I uploaded them to our Final Fantasy XIV gallery.Maybe I should create wallpapers out of them? Hm, maybe next time!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MzM5NzQ5ODUuaHRt Koichi Sugiyama, the composer of the Dragon Quest soundtracks passed away recently. He was quite the controversial person, so I thought I'd write a little report about him in our musicians section.You can find the details in our Koichi Sugiyama report.If you think anything I've written is incorrect, please let me know!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MzM1NDE4ODIuaHRt I added another small part to the Shining Force strategy guide where I dive a bit deeper into the topic of enemy reaction zones in Shining Force 1 and how the other games managed this approach.Since I'm currently playing Shining Force a lot, I thought it'd be cool to present the guide in the header image of the front page so that it gets a bit of attention here.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MzI3NjQ3ODQuaHRt Today I added two wallpapers from Final Fantasy.Go check them out here, they're from Final Fantasy XIV.A game which I still like and constantly play :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MzI0Mjg3NDMuaHRt Today I added a little report to our series "Death and RPGs", even if it does not contain any dying character at all. This time, we cover the topic of important characters being removed from the story by means of having them leave the party for one reason or the other.This report covers Spoilers! for Grandia, Lunar, Grandia III and Illusion of Time / Illusion of Gaia.Click here to view the report.I added a little spoilershield link here so you don't accidentally spoil yourself :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MzIwODMwNDQuaHRt Today there's something special. While I was preparing a new article, I stumbled about these great Final Fantasy wallpapers on my Twitter feed.The creator, @Lady_Mistborn was so friendly as to allow me posting them here on rpg-o-mania!Click here to check out the wallpapers!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MzE1MzQ5NjIuaHRt This is not a news entry with lots of new content, but I worked a lot on the search engine the past few days. Now, if you conduct a search, galleries that match the search term will be shown as well. So now I try to find more content to update and try to write new articles :) Oh and we also have some new wallpapers available in the Tales of gallery! posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MzA2MDg2MzkuaHRt Back when I first played Shining Force, I was stunned after I found out how multitargeting of spells worked and how great this feature was presented in the game.Today, I decided to write this experience down in one of our special special moments.This is the first area of RPG-O-Mania that actually features a video after the closure of the Movieworld back in 2000!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MzAxNzQ0MzAuaHRt If you look on the upper right corner, you can now see a little magnifying glass that, upon click, opens a search field where you can enter terms you want to search rpg-o-mania for.I hope this little feature will help you navigating this site (which has significantly grown ever since it started again in 2018), even if the search features itself are somewhat limited.Anyway, enjoy :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2Mjk0ODM5MjMuaHRt There was a new Shining Force game announced. A real Shining Force game, with a trailer that played well known music from the old games and lots of old heroes shown in an art style similar to the original game.It's being announced as a free to play mobile game - something I don't despise per se, but still there's something fishy about the game.There's more explained in our preview!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MjkxMzg2NDUuaHRt I finally finished Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringers. Now, I have finished the main campaigns plus all of the extra missions provided by patches of this fine RPG as it was released today. I'm eager to play Endwalker when it's being published, and in the meantime, I will also try out some sidequests in FF14. But for now, I will play some other RPGs in the meantime. I have played nothing else than FF14 since early February, so it's due time to play some other stuff!I extended our Final Fantasy XIV review. You can read my thoughts on the latest expansion here.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2Mjg4NzM0NzMuaHRt The pictures, provided as wallpapers yesterday have today been added to our gallery of Final Fantasy XI artworks. They're basically the cropped version of the wallpapers.Aside of that, I'm still on my FF14 spree, so nothing new on that regard, heh. Although there would be so many new RPGs to enjoy. But I'll surely play some other RPGs again - in the future. :Dposted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2Mjg3ODk1MzAuaHRt It's impressive that Final Fantasy XI, after 20 years, is still loved and played by many people.Square Enix itself celebrates this little series by publishing wallpapers, which I also added to our newly created wallpaper gallery.I once had a discussion with someone who loves Final Fantasy XI, and they told me that Final Fantasy XIV is no choice for die hard FF XI players since it's so toned down and easy compared to XI.... I think it would be overwhelming for me 😅posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2Mjc5ODg5NTUuaHRt Today I started a small but fine gallery with images from Shin Megami Tensei V. I never played a MegaTen game or any of the spinoff series, this is still kind of a blank area in my RPG map.But I have many friends who regard this series highly. I should play it at some point, if I ever manage to finish Final Fantasy XIV 😅posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MjcyMDQwNTQuaHRt Today I have added some super nice, super high quality images to our Final Fantasy XIV art gallery.They're from the Endwalker extension this time, an addon that hasn't been released yet.The past few days, there was a huge influx of other players into the FFXIV servers, but the team behind the game fixed that quite well. I'm continuing to play the game :) posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MjY2MjcwNzguaHRt Today, I added a special moment where I don't know for how many people this moment actually is special. 😅In Shining Force, wenn status values exceed 100, the display changes to "??", and I think this is so special since in Shining Force 1, ?? values were only reserved for enemies, whereas they could be achieved in Shining Force 2.Details in the article linked above :)Thanks again to Fantasy Anime for helping out with screenshots and artwork.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MjYyODE3NjkuaHRt For a long time now, I wanted to write down how we design our reviews here at rpg-o-mania. Truth be told, it took me quite some time to compose this little explanatory text that can be accessed now via the reviews section:How to fairly rate a game.I hope this makes understanding our reviews a little easier. And it's a statement of how we think a review should be designed.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MjU3NjU0NjcuaHRt Even if I'm playing FF14 right a madman these days, I'm still looking around to find interesting content about other RPGs.And what would be the closest thing to look at if not the "predecessor" to FF14, which is still online and running just nicely now, in 2021.There is some nice new art in the Final Fantasy XI gallery.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MjU1OTM5NzMuaHRt I once again extended our Final Fantasy XIV review, now I covered most of "Stormblood", the second expansion that has been released in 2017.The rating is a bit higher than it was in Heavensward.I think, after I completed all the available extensions, I have to create a "final verdict" for FF14 in its entirety.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MjUxNjI3MzAuaHRt I love the current style of Mana artworks, created by artist Haccan. So today, I added some 30th anniversary artwork from the series that just had been published by Square Enix.You can find the new art here.Square Enix also announced a new free to play game on mobile (meh) and mobile ports of Trials of Mana (hmm, okay). The series always has been a mixed bag, I'm curious as of where it might be heading.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MjQ3Mjk2MTkuaHRt Today I composed a little article about Final Fantasy XIV's nods to other Final Fantasy games that can be more or less extensive. Well, I wrote the article two days ago, but forgot to write a news entry for it 😅There's also a new feature on the main page that you can now browse through all the showcases on top.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MjQyOTg1ODguaHRt Tons and Tons of new Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood art. Today we have- an extensive addition to our art galleries,- desktop wallpapers and- mobile wallpapers!Might this be a sign of things to come? :Dposted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MjM4NzQ3NzkuaHRt Today, the galleries were updated with the functionality to see all images at once without displaying specific pages.This is bad for slower internet speed, but better for convenient browsing. So if you want to, enjoy the galleries without limits.You can activate this by clicking "view all" in the galleries.The link itself will then look like this.As of today, i have 442 images in the Final Fantasy 14 screenshot gallery. That's a lot!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MjM2MDU2NzUuaHRt I changed the "musicians" section to "artists / musicians" as we're going to cover more people who made our games greater or more interesting in the future.We start with a person where I'm not even sure if that person exists at all or if all artwork shown is really from them: Matsunori Iwamoto, who allegedly created lots of artworks for Nintendo of Europe back in the 1990s.You can find details in the article!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MjMzNDk1ODMuaHRt The update itself is rather small today - 4 new wallpapers in our Final Fantasy wallpaper gallery. They're from the intergrade version that just had been released on the PlayStation 5 console.Other than that, after about 18 years now, this website has a new logo:Up until now, we used a slanted small letter logo that was reminiscent of one of rpg-o-mania's very first logos in 2002 (back then written ...rpg-o-mania..., as it was modern back in the day). I wanted to have a modern logo that does also incorporate a visual element - hence the O with the sword was born. I know, a sword and a shield for a RPG website is nothing too special, but this sword has a meaning - it's the one in the coat of arms of my town. And since this website was born and maintained most of the time in said town, it's just fitting. I also think the sword itself looks badass :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MjI4MzQ4MjYuaHRt I refurbished some more images from Mystic Quest Legend which i added to its corresponding gallery.Aside of that, I'm pretty occupied with my role as a dad, a diligent employee and an RPG fan who tries to play three games at once.Woohoo, yolo.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MjI1NzA0MDMuaHRt Today I was able to add some refurbished art from Mystic Quest Legend (Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest) to a newly created art gallery.This gallery has been created with the help of binary scroll, who still had that legendary guidebook and was able to take some photos from it!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MjIxMzkyMzkuaHRt Square Enix announced some new artworks and screenshots from Legend of Mana, which will be released worldwide soon on the Nintendo Switch console.I spare you the screenshots, but since rpg-o-mania always cherished good artworks, I added their official character artworks to our Seiken gallery.Have fun!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MjE5Njg3MDcuaHRt Today I added a review of a game that I know for a long time but never reviewed, even not in the older rpg-o-mania versions: Mystic Quest Legend, or Final Fantasy Mystic Quest.It is a hilariously simple game with not much content, but I really have a soft spot for it.Yet, as I'm trying to do reviews as objectively as I could, I can't grant more than 55% for it.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MjEzNjgyNjkuaHRt I added a chapter about Heavensward to our Final Fantasy XIV review.In the future, I will add more such sections as I progress through the game.And if you're not sensitive to Spoilers!, feel free to check out our FF14 screenshot gallery!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MjExODY5MzguaHRt Today I added some artwork about Final Fantasy XIV - Heavensward, a game which I just recently finished.This time I finished it completely with the main story and the after story. I'm currently updating our review, so stay tuned!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MjA5ODEwMDIuaHRt More stuff in our music and RPGs: Inspired-section.Today I added a musician I personally mostly like (Motoi Sakuraba), and added an example where he basically just reused one of his old songs.Mr Sakuraba often reuses some of his ideas, but in the case of "Bitter Dance", it was more than obvious. Click the link above for a more in-depth explanation!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MjA3NjQyNTcuaHRt I wanted to do a bigger update for today (since I have something planned for our recently reworked "music and RPGs" corner), but I wasn't able to do it just yet. So as an excuse, there is a new and slightly refurbished artwork of Erim over in our Lufia gallery. This artwork is from the DS version and it's pretty nice, although I love her getup from Lufia II on the SNES more.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MjAzMzI2OTMuaHRt Today I've changed the former "RPG and pop music" section.Ever since I added the piece where Breath of Fire III was inspired by Chrono Trigger, I thought more about music in RPGs that were inspired by other RPGs.The first entry in this list makes no other than Nobuo Uematsu with his tunes "Aria Di Mezzo Carattere", the famous opera piece from Final Fantasy VI and Aerith Theme, not less famous for certain scenes in Final Fantasy VII.More about this topic to come in the future!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MTk2OTI2OTMuaHRt Since we had the Fantasian review in the last update, today I thought I'd add some additional artwork so that you can enjoy the designs along with the review to read.And so, here it is: The new Fantasian art gallery.I still haven't got my fingers on that game; I wait till part 2 has been released.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MTk1NTU1NjkuaHRt Today, our friend Binary Scroll submitted a nice review for the new RPG Fantasian, the latest game from Hironobu Sakaguchi with a soundtrack made by Nobuo Uematsu.This game has the spirit of older Final Fantasy games, alongside with really beautiful handmade visuals. Binary Scroll really liked this game - read the review for details!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MTk0Njg2NzQuaHRt Just a small art update today. Since NieR √1.5 was released just recently, I thought I'd add some of Square's recent artworks to the corresponding gallery. There are also always new screenshots over in the Final Fantasy XIV screenshot gallery online.For the next update, we are currently preparing a nice special :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MTg5NTE0NTUuaHRt After a recent conversation on Twitter, I realized that the extent of Breath of Fire 3 having music inspired by other compositions is far bigger than initially anticipated. I presented some of my findings in a Twitter thread, and now I added these informations on our Pop and RPG: inspired article as well. Some original links to YouTube didn't work as well, so I updated these.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MTg3NzA0NjkuaHRt Today we have a new image over in the Final Fantasy wallpapers gallery. I thought about creating some new wallpapers in a while now, and here they are.I also have replaced the title of this page on the first page with an Arabic version of "rpg-o-mania". Precisely, it reads "rpg obsession".I noticed that there are lots of Arabic Suikoden fans and visitors on my little site, so I thought as a little gesture, I could write this website's name in that language for some time. It's great to see people around the world enjoy this genre of computer games! :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MTg2ODk2MzguaHRt Well, since Square Enix just recently announced some new Final Fantasy 7 remake information, I thought I'd throw in some wallpapers for this game. I think I have to create more mobile wallpapers based on these, since most of you are using mobile devices :)I'm still not totally convinced how cool the remake (or rather reimagening) is, but I'm playing it at some point in the future for sure. But first, I have to finish this behemoth of a game that Final Fantasy XIV is.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MTgzNDIxMzUuaHRt Today I have a special moment about a game I'm currently playing - Final Fantasy XIV.It was one of the rare occassions I was really astonished and called out "whoa" loud. If you want to, you can read more about it in our special moments article.The link is spoiler shielded :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MTc5MTU3MzMuaHRt As I just finished Final Fantasy XIV A Realm Reborn (the extended storyline) today, I'm still in a FF14 mood, and so I added some stuff.There are some new wallpapers and art pieces online. And I guess more FF14 stuff to follow the next few updates :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MTc1Njg5NTMuaHRt After our review, I took a deeper look into Ni No Kuni's battle system, as it was such a mess.I'm currently playing Tales of Vesperia as a side RPG, and it's incredible how much more accessible this renown RPG is. I think Level 5 just wanted to create a new experience in Ni No Kuni, and when they noticed that it doesn't work, they tried to fix it without redoing it. It worked. Somehow. Check our article for details!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MTY4NjkyNDcuaHRt Today I added a report about a very remarkable boss fight - the final one of the game Indivisible against Kala. You can see our little description here.I rarely give boss fights a try that cost me more than two hours, but in the case of Indivisible, that's been absolutely worth it. On the other hand, would I ever try to finish that boss again? No, I think not. 😅posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MTYyNjkxNzEuaHRt Today I published our review about Final Fantasy XIV, after I finished the "A Realm Reborn" episode. This review is far from finished, though (as is my playthrough, to be honest). I will add additional information and ratings after I finished each of the extensions. Of course, I'm going to notify you as soon as I made said additions :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MTU4ODk2ODMuaHRt Today, I added a review about Legend of Mana. This review isn't actually new per se since it had been released on this website in 2000.But since Square Enix just recently announced that the game would get a new release on various modern platforms, I decided to reupload this old review and add some new thoughts. As soon as I can get my hands onto the game (I actually never played Legend of Mana!), I'm going to write a modern review :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MTU3NTAwNjYuaHRt Square Enix recently released some information about an expansion to Final Fantasy XIV, along with some nice artworks.Some of these artworks have been uploaded to the wallpaper galleries recently, the new ones have been added to the Final Fantasy XIV art gallery.Enjoy!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MTU2NzI0NjkuaHRt This is a huge update - albeit with not so much content for you, dear visitors. In the past few days, I worked hard so that I could offer bright and dark layouts, if you prefer one or the other.Just click or tap on the lightbulb in the top right corner and you can change the corresponding layout - or just click here.I'm going to continue with regular updates soon.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MTUyMzkzMzcuaHRt Some new wallpapers in the Final Fantasy wallpaper gallery. They're about the new addon of Final Fantasy XIV which was announced just recently.Speaking Final Fantasy XIV, I never expected a MMO to be that appealing to me. I really enjoy my hours playing this game, even if I'm mostly playing solo!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MTQ3MDkzNzcuaHRt Today, it's a good old art update. Square Enix recently announced that the Final Fantasy VII remake will get a PS5 upgrade along with a new chapter that revolves around Yuffie, a character that also appeared on the original game.We have some nice character renderings in the corresponding wallpaper and art galleries.At some point, I surely want to get a PS5 console, but right now, prices and availabilty is just atrocious. So art and videos will have to do until then.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MTQ2MDE2MjIuaHRt Today, the new reviw about Ni No Kuni is online, and we granted the game a rating of 78%.You know, our ratings award games with more than 80% a "classic" badge, marking especially nice games. While I loved playing Ni No Kuni, the game itself has so many flaws, that it's simply not a classic in terms of gameplay. But I will play Ni No Kuni 2 soon, I'm curious how this will turn out to be!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MTQyMDQ3OTguaHRt In preparation of my upcoming Ni No Kuni review, I searched for some art and added it to our newly formed Ni No Kuni gallery. The art design of those games is on top. I also enjoyed my run of Ni No Kuni on the Nintendo Switch so much, that I purchased its successor on the PlayStation 4 console.I haven't started playing that game yet, blame Final Fantasy XIV for that :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MTQwMTk1NzAuaHRt Nier is a mixed bag with games that many people love but I never laid my hands on them because they're just a bit too far off for my taste.However, the art is great and so I added some pieces of artwork to our Nier gallery.Maybe, at some time, I'm gonna try one of these games.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MTM2NzA1MDMuaHRt Today we only have a small update - it's a wallpaper of the upcoming Legend of Mana game on the Nintendo Switch.I think that the Nintendo Direct yesterday was some sort of disappointment, since the titles shown there were really nothing special or unsuspected. Some friends are totally excited about the Famicom Detective games, though.Even if it's not the most popular game, I'm looking forward to Legend of Mana. :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MTM1ODU4OTMuaHRt Thanks to Kaoru, we have updated the Sakura Wars retrospective.Now it also contains Shin Sakura Wars, and although I have never played a Sakura Wars game, I'm quite intrigued to see how this game would play. I think it could be my cup of tea.And now for the bad german humour tax.Who was responsible? Sakura Wars.Sorry.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MTMxNTE2ODYuaHRt Some new images over at the Seiken Densetsu art gallery. There are some new, nice Trials of Mana images. Basically, I had something different in mind for this update, but we've got lots of interesting content up in the next few weeks, it's not only art. So you can stay tuned what we might come up with.I also have some nice articles from our friend Kaoru available, which will be covered in the next update.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MTI5NzczNTAuaHRt Today I added some images to our newly created Valkyrie Profile gallery.I always liked the Valkyrie Profile games, but I was never able to finish any of them. The original Valkyrie Profile got too hard for me at some point in the middle of the game, and its successor had some pretty complex game structure that was a bit too much for me.But I like the art, so here is the galley :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MTI4NzEyMjQuaHRt It took some time to prepare this update, but behold, we have a new set of articles online: Game Series Resurrection, where we take a look at several projects that aim to revive series or games that are not being updated or published anymore.I will add more projects in the next several updates!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MTE3ODIwMzQuaHRt Today, I added some official Magical Starsign art. This is a little RPG made by former Seiken Densetsu developers who now turned into one of Nintendo's strongest 1st party publishers.I have fond memories of Magical Starsign. It was a nice, friendly, easy RPG that somehow stuck in my head.If it's possible, give this little gem a chance! :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MTEwMDUzODIuaHRt I'm still in search of a pretty new Shining Force game. I loved "Resurrection of the Dark Dragon", but this game is now over 16 years old.The people from Loreweaver Studios now develop an attempt in such a game that also wants to incorporate more modern game mechanics and add some Fire Emblem flavor. It's called War of Velana and we reviewed it!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MTA0NzkyNzEuaHRt Today I added a page to our Towns in RPGs series. It's about Budehuc Castle.I wanted to continue this series for some time now, especially since I have some towns prepared already, but time restrains kept me from finishing this section. But here it is, another town :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MDk5NTgxMjMuaHRt Today I finished the story of Hyrule Warriors 2: Age of Calamity. And I have to admit, I shed a tear, the story is incredibly intense. I wouldn't have expected that.If you're looking for the review, just click onto the huge button on the top of the screen or here to read it.And yes, we awarded the "Classic" to a "Warriors" game.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MDk3OTM2NjcuaHRt New year, new stuff. There's some nice works of art available at the Final Fantasy art gallery.I also updated the Bravely Default preview, as I came to the conclusion that this game is not really my cup of tea.Aside of that, I changed the copyright from 2020 to 2021. posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MDk0MDkwNDUuaHRt So, 2020 concludes. We have some updated art assets in our Seiken galleries. They're better versions of the images already available in the past.About 2020It's hard to find the correct words to wish the readers of this little page a happy new year, if the past one was so shockingly different from other years in the past. The pandemic struck almost everyone I know in some way or the other, and then there's lots of private issues for so many people around the world. I don't know why fate choose this year to be especially challenging for so many, may it be big or small issues.Let's just hope that the next year will be better, and I hope the best for all of you.About 2021Since i can't see into the future, it's not much use trying to do some predictions whatsoever. I honestly even don't know which games I will be playing that year, since nothing of interest for me has been announced to be released in that year. Maybe YS IX or Tales of Arise.Starting tomorrow, rpg-o-mania has been live and constantly updated for three consecutive years. Let's hope that this works out for the next three years as well.Up to this day, 907.801 people have visited rpg-o-mania since September 6th, 1999. That's not pretty much compared to other websites that started before the turn of the millennium, but hey, maybe we reach the millionth visitor in 2021.All that remains is that I wish you and your families a great year without much woes, have a great time and stay as healthy as you can!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MDg5Nzc0NzcuaHRt Today I added a new preview covering Bravely Default II, a game that I had lots of fun with while playing the Demo provided in the Nintendo eShop. Still, the prediction is only "skeptical", as I also had much fun in playing the Octopath Traveler demo, a game developed by the same team, and the final game disappointed me a little.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MDgxNDUxMjQuaHRt So here it is finally - the new Chrono Trigger review. The old one, written by Necron back then for RPG xanadu, has been reverted to its original state along with the 110% rating.But this new one is now our official review.I enjoyed the play-through, but in the end, the game indeed felt a little dated. Especially the animations are a bit clunky for today's standard, and the final dungeon is a tad uninspired. Nevertheless, a great game.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MDc0MTYzNzEuaHRt Today, we have some more SaGa Frontier images. These are from Square Enix themselves to promote the new remastered version. It's a bit cheap that they use Romancing SaGa 3 Re:Universe art assets to promote the other SaGa game just because they're characters from SaGa Frontier. Oh well.Aside of that, I'm working on the new Chrono Trigger review, which should come up soon. I have some interesting thoughts to share :) If your browsers have already reloaded the image, you see we have entered winter mode here on rpg-o-mania. And as always since the page is online, there's a little image of Santa Claus here. Have a peaceful december and may you all be as healthy as possible!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MDcwMzA1NTMuaHRt More SaGa Frontier art. I'm really curious when I'm going to play it. If the remake won't be released in the west after all, I have a little trick up my sleeve - the original PlayStation game is waiting to be played in my shelves :)Ah yes, here's the link to the gallery.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MDY3NzI2ODAuaHRt I still remember that time back in 2000, when I was in email contact with a guy called Rya who was an absolute fan of SaGa Frontier. He recommended the game relentlessly, and someday I promised that I will be playing it no later than autumn 2040.Aside of the fact that this is only 20 years in the future, after the announcement of the SaGa Frontier remaster, I thought I'd brush up some of the official art and post it in our newly created SaGa Frontier gallery.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MDY1MDg0NjUuaHRt Hello, I'm still there. Didn't have much time collecting RPG stuff this week, so sorry that I wasn't able to upload anything.Right now, I'm playing Chrono Trigger, and I collected some screenshots in the Chrono Trigger screenshot gallery. When I'm finished, I think I'm going to rework the old review, just like I did with Suikoden II a few weeks ago.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MDU5OTc1MTMuaHRt So today I added a preview for an upcoming Gameboy Color game: Coria and the Sunken City.I never had thought that an announcement of a game for this platform sparks so much interest within me. If you're curious - check out or preview why we like so much what we've seen until now!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MDU4NTk5NzUuaHRt Square Enix nowadays surely has strangely named games within their games library. There's this mobile game "Final Fantasy Brave Exvius", which I don't personally care about. But Square Enix announced a special event with some Final Fantasy IV characters, and they posted some nice art regarding this game.So here we have it - nice Final Fantasy IV art.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MDUyOTQ4OTMuaHRt Today we finish our series about the reworked Trials of Mana (SNES) artwork.These images are widely shown in various placed around the web, and the people from the Seiken Fandom Wiki also redid them in their own way. You can go there or just enjoy our refurbished art here.And again, stay as healthy as you can!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MDUwOTIzNzQuaHRt A quick update today.There's a new image there over at the Seiken / Mana gallery.It's a promotional image provided by Square Enix to promote Trials of Mana's 25th birthday. :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MDUwMzgzNjQuaHRt And so it happened - I reviewed Indivisible.I feared that I might need to give this game another 0% rating, after it had a game breaking bug that was seemingly not to be fixed, but the team did it - and then dissolved itself.I don't go too much into details about this in the review, but it's being mentioned.Oh well, I still miss playing the game. It was a blast the past few weeks.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MDQ3NzM1MDYuaHRt Oh well, even more Trials of Mana artwork. I'm sick this weekend (it's just a cold), so I can't really comprehend how great things seem today. And I think I haven't refurbished the scans as good as I did the past few days. So everything's a bit meh.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MDQ2MDU4NjAuaHRt Aaand today, we have more Seiken Densetsu 3 / Trials of Mana artwork. This is again from the original art creator Nobuteru Yuki.Coincidentally, he also designed the Battle Angel Alita OAV, which I liked a lot back then.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MDQ1MTU4NzYuaHRt Yeah, as you can probably see by the new showcase up ahead, I started reworking the Seiken Densetsu 3 artwork I found.The images were scanned in quite some high quality, but the artbook is printed quite cheaply. So I try my best to retain the high resolution while also smoothing out the moire. Go see at the gallery yourself how I fare. :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MDQ0MzEyNzcuaHRt Today I added some Secret of Mana remake artwork. I also stumbled upon some nice Trials of Mana original artwork, which I have to rework a little, so be prepared to face some Seiken updates in the next few days.Aside of that, please stay as healthy and safe as you can in these troubled times. I wish you the best.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MDQxNDYyMDIuaHRt Yo, so today, I previewed Eiyuden Chronicle, the often proclaimed spiritual successor to Suikoden. The Kickstarter campaign reached all of its goals, and many, many people pledged money for the project (I did too).Yet, the game is rated "very skeptical" within the preview. Just check out our preview to find out why.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MDM5OTY5OTIuaHRt Square Enix announced some additional details about the upcoming Final Fantasy game, Final Fantasy XIV.To be perfectly honest, I loved the trailer, but this Ivalice like look that reminds me of Final Fantasy Tactics of Final Fantasy XII is a bit disappointing for me. I didn't especially like these games, so I hope the game won't be a bland experience like Final Fantasy XII was.But anyway, I added the art to the newly created Final Fantasy XVI gallery.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MDM3NDgyMjUuaHRt Well, I finally finished it. After my playthrough of Suikoden II, here is the review.Five years ago, I finished a perfect playthrough of Suikoden, and with this perfect data, I started Suikoden II.Initially, I didn't want to do a perfect playthrough of this game, but then everything went so smooth that I aimed for the best ending. And what an ending it was.I feel a little empty now. It's always like this when I finish a good game. posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MDMzOTgyODEuaHRt I'm almost finished with my playthrough of Suikoden II. So today I searched and brushed up some images from the Suikoden Card Stories game.I added these images to our Suikoden gallery. The artworks depict some of my personal favorite characters, and more will be added soon.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MDI3ODE2MDUuaHRt Square Enix announced a patch for Trials of Mana today. Alongside, they also provided some wallpapers which I uploaded to our Seiken wallpaper gallery.Aside of that, I'm still enjoying my playthroughs of Suikoden 2 and Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles. Expect some mega fancy reviews as soon as I've finished the games! posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MDI1MzY1ODMuaHRt A small update today. You know, I'm currently in a playthrough of Suikoden 2 and Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles.You might already have noticed the FF:CC screenshot gallery. With Suikoden II, things are a bit more difficult - I'm playing the game on a PlayStation 3, and I'm not in the posession of a screen grabber. So I took screenshots with my phone. I pulleed them straight, and here they are: finest Suikoden 2 screenshots. Enjoy!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MDIyNzc0MjUuaHRt To complete our Twilight Princes series of updates, today I added some nice mobile wallpapers.Right now, I'm playing both Suikoden II and Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles (the definitive edition), which I'm going to review soon. But first, I have to beat some really hard enemy in the first game. I remember, 20 years ago, this really cost me some nerves!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MDE4MDU1MzcuaHRt We're still on our Zelda spree these days. Today, I added some nice Zelda wallpapers.I think those images were not initially designed to be wallpapers, but they just have the right proportions for desktop backgrounds, so I thought it'd be nice to have them here.And by the way, if you manage to speak German, you can check out our "Europe and RPGs" report over at Videospielgeschichten.Have a nice weekend!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MDE0MDA3NTAuaHRt Being in a Zelda mood these days, I added lots of images to our Zelda art gallery.This time, the images are from Twilight Princess (my favorite entry in the series) and they mostly show various character images made with the in game engine. posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MDExNDk0NzIuaHRt Recently, I experienced some quite nice discussions on Twitter after our friend Kaoru finished The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess on the Wii, and he had some different opinion than I had in my review of 2006.So I asked him to send in his opinion, and I accepted his opinion as valuable as mine, so the new rating is the average of his and mine rating.I also added some information about the HD remake that has been released a few years ago.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MDA4NDkwNTUuaHRt Oh boy, this was more work than I would have imagined. I re-scanned my original box from Shining Force and tried to make the best version available of the logo itself. I don't know if I succeeded. But you can judge yourself, I added the two pieces to the Shining art gallery.I hope that you can use this and you like it :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MDAzNjQ5NDMuaHRt And today, we have the corrseponding artworks to yesterday's Zelda wallpapers.They're the same images you find on the wallpapers, but this time cropped.Square also announced Final Fantasy XVI yesterday, but they haven't posted any great artwork. Just a logo and some screenshots from the trailer.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MDAyNzk1ODAuaHRt Based on the official imagery provided by Nintendo, I composed some Zelda wallpapers. Well, to be precise, they're not "Zelda" wallpapers, but rather from Hyrule Warriors. Still, this game looks so much more like Zelda lore and less like a funny "Warriors" game, so I thought I'd give it a shot and add them to our Zelda stuff. There was only one wallpaper until now, anyway.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE2MDAwMTc3OTAuaHRt I added another town to our list of memorable towns today - Rebena Te Ra from Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles and its successor FF:CC - Rings of Fates.This is not much given that there's almost a week since the last update. As always, I have some nice ideas up my sleeve, so just be patient, new stuff will come :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTk1ODY4MTMuaHRt We have a new report online!This time, it's about towns in RPGs. The report itself is going to be expanded in the next few updates, but for starters, we have an explanation what types of towns exist and a few examples of towns in our favorite genre.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTg5ODQwMjYuaHRt Today, I've composed some Final Fantasy CC mobile wallpapers. I thought I'd share some love I have for this game and yeah, so here it is. Enjoy!I'm going to compose some review after I've come farther in the game.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTg2NDAxODAuaHRt Now that Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles remastered is out for almost any platform that exists in the world, I thought I added some nice Art for that game.I wasn't able to play the remaster just yet, but I'm going to do so on Sunday. And then of course I'm going to review it.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTg0NzA4NDguaHRt I updated the Xenoblade page of our "Xeno impact" report. I added Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition as well as a remark about what's Monolith Soft doing nowadays.It's just a relatively small addition, that's why I linked to the whole report up in the showcase. Maybe you've not noticed this one until now?posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTc5NDY2NDkuaHRt We have more Final Fantasy XIV art online!This time, it's from a promotional set of pictures that Square Enix published in order to spread the world about an artbook that has been republished recently.They're still nice enough artworks, so I figured to just put them online here. Enjoy!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTc0MzQ2MjguaHRt I added a new article that covers one of Xenoblade's characters, Dickson. You can find out more about that here. Of course, this page is full of Spoilers!, but you should be able to avoid the spoiler as I added a new feature to rpg-o-mania.Introducing "rpg-o-mania's spoiler shield", where we now can create a special link that keeps your eyes safe from any mean spoilers!And if you finished Xenoblade - feel free to read the article!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTcxNzk1NDguaHRt I often hear good things about Final Fantasy XIV, and so I thought I'd add some of the nice artwork to our newly created Final Fantasy XIV gallery. Aside of that, you might have noticed that it's a bit quiet these days here. I have lots of things to do right now, so time is scarce, but of course I have nice things to add to rpg-o-mania in the future. So just stay tuned and come back often! :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTY2MTk0NzUuaHRt If you haven't already noticed by the big banner on top of our front page, I reviewed Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition.It's funny, I bought this game new when it was released on the Wii back in 2010, but never was able to really play it. And then again, I got the game in 2016 now on the 3DS, and wasn't able to play it again.But now, finally, I finished it! :) Check out the review for details!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTYzNTY1ODYuaHRt It's a Kaoru update! He finished the original Dragon Quest game for us (on the Gameboy Color) and reviewed it!And since he sent quite a lot of Screenshots, I created a gallery with his screenshots since I couldn't fit them all on the review itself!Thanks again!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTYxMzE1NzguaHRt A little art update. With all the Eiyuden hype going on, let's not forget about the series the upcoming game is sort of based on - Suikoden. There's some nice artwork of Junko Kawano online now. To be honest, I think her digital paintings do not look as good as her old ones she'd done for Suikoden.Aside of that, we also have some new Breath of Fire art online. posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTU4ODM2MjguaHRt I still haven't finished Xenoblade Chronicles, but phew was this a ride today! I added some screenshots over at the Xenoblade Screenshot gallery, but please be aware that this gallery now contains Spoilers!. And not any spoilers but... Mega massive Spoilers over 9000!.Yet, they just look so great!And on another note, I backed the Kickstarter of Eiyuden Chronicle today :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTU3ODA2NjMuaHRt Today we have a new artwork gallery online: It's about Eiyuden Chronicle, a game where the Kickstarter campaign starts tomorrow.The team consists mainly of old Suikoden team members, and it's said to be more than a spiritual successor to the game.Thanks to my friend Bowie for informing me, and I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical at the beginning, and I still am, to be perfectly honest. Everything sounds just TOO good!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTU2MTg5NDYuaHRt Just a very small update today: I added a new chapter to rpg-o-mania's history page.After some layout changes, I thought it would be nice to have a small picture of the current rpg-o-mania's look there.Don't worry, true content updates coming back soon! :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTU0NTA5MDAuaHRt Thanks to our friend Kaoru, rpg-o-mania has now a preview of Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD available. Check our preview section for details, or click the link on the showcase above, or in this news entry - it's all your choice.Kaoru really writes some nice reviews and is pretty knowledgeable about the series. I highly recommend all of his articles!If you're able to speak German, don't forget to also check out his very interesting blog: Zuckerl und Zynismen.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTUyNzY5NjIuaHRt Oh my, I made an update yesterday, but no news announcing it. Weell, actually, I did - I updated the showcase box on the front page, so at least the new review did not go unnoticed. It's all about Landstalker, a game I wanted to play for quite some time now. I haven't played it for three years, and I think it's about time to get it on again. Our friend Zargkhon already started playing it again :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTQ5MjI4NDAuaHRt The past few days, I feel the strange urge to replay Landstalker. And so I thought, well let's create the old Landstalker gallery again. The artworks are not of the best quality, but it's hard to find good quality artwork from this old game. So enjoy what we've got.I also added Alundra to this gallery, since the games are so similar, and Alundra is in fact the spiritual successor to Landstalker. I wasn't able to uncover much of Dark Savior.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTQ3NTIyNjYuaHRt Today, we have some new Golden Sun artwork available. I really should replay the Golden Sun games, they were quite good, although a bit on the easy side. The people from OC ReMix really motivated me for some Golden Sun sessions. But first I have to finish Xenoblade Chronicles, and then Paper Mario: Color Splash :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTQ2NjY0NzkuaHRt Today I tested another soundtrack provided by the nice people of OverClocked ReMix. It's called Golden Sun: A World Reignited. It's a find soundtrack that just lacks the spirit of Motoi Sakuraba a little.Read or review for details and if you're interested, download the album for yourself. :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTQyMzM0MTguaHRt Today I added a list of reasons why Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles is great, even if our review only suggests a "good" game.I thought it's interesting to start such an article now that the HD rerelease of the game is coming soon. Now, with the clumsy Gameboy Advance Multiplayer setup out of the way, it should be possible for everyone to enjoy the game together with friends. I'm curious if the general reception of this nice game will improve as well.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTQxMDY4MDEuaHRt Some little changes in our "showcases" area on the main page. To be honest, when I first released the showcases, it was just fiddled right into HTML by me; but now it is changed so that it loads the acutal showcases dynamically. You can also now choose to show random showcases, but at the moment only the five you see exist. More will come with each content update.I also fixed some errors in our history page 2, but I think that's of minor interest to most of you 😅Thanks again to Zargkhon for pointing out an error at the showcases where the images I've choosen as thumbnails didn't fit properly.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTM5NDgzMzMuaHRt We're still in the progress of reworking rpg-o-mania here and there. Today I added a nifty "Showcase" to be the first thing you see when you look at the page. If things look a bit strange to you, just wait until your browser reloaded everything - or refresh yourself. You need to completely refresh the page, though. :) The website should look like this: Our friend Kaoru added a commentary to the Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana-review. I found it interesting that he did not have such a positive verdict as we had. I also linked his full length review (in German), if you're interested.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTM2MjU2NjcuaHRt Yesterday, I got a nice press release from NIS America - they announced that Trails of Cold Steel III has just been released on the Nintendo Switch. And thanks to that, we have some nice art galleries now online.You see, I never played a Trails game before, and so many people warn me that I should at least play Trails of Cold Steel I before getting my hands on part III. It's so tempting to just step in now... the game looks so good, I really think about just playing it after I finished Xenoblade Chronicles DE...posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTM1NDA2NjQuaHRt Part I of rpg-o-mania's 2020 overhaul is complete. I exchanged the layout with a more subtle one in terms of colors and fonts, and some other tweaks here and there. But generally, the website looks a bit brighter and friendlier now. I will also change some more things in the upcoming weeks and days, so stay tuned!And of course, new content will come soon as well!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTM0NTg1MzYuaHRt It's almost summer, and during summer, usually nothing much is going on with gaming news. I'm playing Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition these days, and I enjoy it a lot. The review is coming as soon as I'm finished with the game.Until then, why not enjoy a little artwork I created that shows Nina from Breath of Fire? It's the little artwork I redid just recently which is being used within the banner!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTMxOTkwMDUuaHRt Square Enix announced today that the upcoming Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles HD remaster will also include a free demo version that can be played alongside with the full version. They also released some artwork (which is slightly upscaled artwork from days prior)And - here they are!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTMwMjg5MDUuaHRt I added some new Ys artwork today, after Ys IX was announced just yesterday.I wonder how this game will turn out to be. I only started with this long-lasting series last year with Ys VIII, and I'm really curious how different the games will be. The art itself looks much darker than what was shown in YS VIII. You can compare the stlyes, as we only have one gallery for the whole series :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTI3MzI5NTEuaHRt A bigger update today. If you check over at our "coverage" section, you can find our newest report:RPGs in EuropeThis report shows how console RPGs came to be in Europe and what pain we European RPG fans endured in the past in terms of localization.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTI1MTEzODAuaHRt I'm working on another huge report right now - console RPGs in Europe. Stay tuned, it's going to come online soon.Until then, why not enjoy some Xenoblade Chronicles screenshots from the Definitive Edition that has just been released on the Nintendo Switch.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTIxNTM3MjIuaHRt Today I fixed some spelling errors in the "What is an RPG?" report. I somehow always named the game "Akalaleth" just "Aklabeth" - oopsie.I also extended our RPGs and love report. I added a conclusion that was missing up until now, and I also added a index to every part of the report to make navigation a little bit easier.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTE5ODY5NjYuaHRt Ever since I restarted rpg-o-mania over two years ago, I never added artwork for Zelda. And even if this game series is not really a RPG series per se (we discussed that in one of the last updates), many RPG fans love it, and so here it is again:The Legend of Zelda Art gallery.As always, enjoy!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTE4NjM5NzAuaHRt Today is a public holiday here in Bavaria, so I have some small stuff for you.Some artwork from the Final Fantasy remake, some screenshots here and some screenshots there. And if your browser clears the cache, you can see an updated header image at the top of this site.As always, have fun and take care!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTE3MjcyNTcuaHRt After some interesting discussions on Twitter, I thought it's time for a new report. This time:What is a computer /console RPG?I tried to give you a bit of background information, how this fine genre came to be, and what are our criteria of what a RPG is.It's just our definition, though. posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTEyOTUyMDAuaHRt Recently I browsed old RPG-O-Mania and I stumbled upon some nice Suikoden images. I thought I'd brush them up just a little and post them here.So here they are - some old Suikoden pics. Enjoy!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTEwMzk0MDEuaHRt Today we added some nice Xenoblade X artworks.I still haven't finished this game, because the final boss was so annoying and I'd have to grind a lot before I can take them on again.I still plan to finish it, though! But first, Xenoblade Chronicle: Definitive Edition will arrive at my place soon and I'll start playing it. I hope that I like it as much as I did the second part.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTA2OTM2MzkuaHRt So for 20 years now, we are huge fans of Trials of Mana. And now since the original game has been officially released in the west by Square Enix as well as the remake - let's take a look which version is best.Click here to see our report!I have to admit that I had to recommend the remake, thanks to some online discussion. Find out more in our article :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTA0MzU2NzAuaHRt So many friends always recommend the Persona series to me, and I have never played it that much.For this update, I have no news regarding that aspect, but now we have a Persona gallery! Woohoo!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTAyNjA2NDYuaHRt Today I added two great Suikoden 2 Gaiden scans, which I optimized just a little for better image quality.And I also reworked the layout of this page, since I noticed that I had an error all along in the code of this page that caused Safari on MacOS to incorrectly rescale the pages here... but it's nothing too big. :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTAxNzMzMTkuaHRt Again small updates to our Trials of Mana remake class change guide.I added some tidbits about the Level 4 class change this time.So that's that, now the guide is almost complete, I think. Well if you don't count all the mistakes I've surely made :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1OTAwMTAyNTUuaHRt Well, I'm not finished with the additional content, but here it is - our Trials of Mana remake review.I really was not sure if I should give it 80% (hence granting it the "classic" badge) or if it should receive 79%, since it is very rough around some edges.But in the end, the whole package one could enjoy in this game is so good, that it has to be a classic!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODk4MjkzMDIuaHRt Today there's an art update! :)We added images from Suikoden IV that were available in old RPG-O-Mania back in 2007, and I thought I'd share.As always, enjoy!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODk1NjYzMTIuaHRt I did another of my strange Trials of Mana wallpapers :)After a comment on reddit, I decided to japanize the "Splash Hop Orange Juice" ad.Combined with the original release date of the game. Hope you like it!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODk0ODI3OTguaHRt This is basically a non-update :)Yesterday and today I fiddled around in this pages' backend and reworked some of the functionalities - some pages, like the Trials of Mana Classchange Guide page has been updated with a table of contents. I extended this functionality so that it resembles a bit the one of the popular corporate communication platform, Confluence. But I will go back to the content updates soon again :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODkzOTE1MDguaHRt Another surprise update! Thanks to our friend Kaoru, we now have a review of Crimson Shroud, a highly experimental, short RPG for the Nintendo 3DS.That reminds me that I am very fond of Level 5 and enjoyed their 3DS RPG "Fantasy Life" a lot. Maybe I should write a review about that. Update: I also tweaked the Trials of Mana remake Class Change guide a little to make finding ??? seeds easier!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODkyMjc5NTYuaHRt Something surprising today!Two new nice images in the Tales of-gallery!I still played only one Tales of game up until now, "Tales of Symphonia". But I like the artwork of Kosuke Fujishima, maybe I try another Tales of-game sometime soon.I also fixed some smaller issues in the "Trials of Mana classchange guide", but it's just some small fry.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODkwNDg5NzcuaHRt Today I worked some details here and there on the Trials of Mana remake class change guide.I added information how to get the ??? seeds and also fixed some errors I made in the Riesz part of that guide.Now back to playing the game :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODg5NjQ2NzUuaHRt Since we're still in a Trials of Mana mood here on rpg-o-mania (well... we? It's just me, the webmaster, heh), I thought I write some of my thoughts about the original Trials of Mana battle system, which is an interesting one as it looks like an action system at first but is semi action, in fact.Enjoy your read!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODg3ODkyNDQuaHRt The last few days, I was working on a new wallpaper - it's about Trials of Mana, of course.I made another version which is meant to be a little joke and resemble a fruit juice ad. I added this version for the laughs, maybe you like that too!Have a great rest of your day and stay as healthy as you can!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODg2MTgxMTQuaHRt This is some kind of a small filler update :)But you know, as I'm playing and enjoying the Trials of Mana update, I'm filling up the Trials of Mana screenshots gallery.I'm also sharing these on Twitter (of course, because that's the reason I opened my Twitter account after all) - but here, you have them in the incredibly convenient rpg-o-mania galleries!I have some other nice stuff in mind for updates, they will come the next days.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODg0NDM3MDQuaHRt Today we just have a small addition to our Trials of Mana mobile wallpapers-gallery.Well, it's a small addition, but to be honest, it was quite some work. If you compare the wallpaper to the official artwork, you might notice that I cut out Hawkeye and Kevin so that the wallpaper can fit to the screen better without showing cut characters.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODgyNzYwNzguaHRt Phew, now all of the "coming soon"-signs are gone from the Trials of Mana Remake class change guide.I hope everything I've written is correct. What's still missing per se is the location and best points to collect the ??? seeds required for the second class change. But I'm going to keep you posted as soon as I've got clues!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODgxODk1MjcuaHRt Today is basically the same update as yesterday.We added a few changes and tweaks to our Trials of Mana remake class change guide. Have fun and enjoy, I'm now off to play the game again! :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODgwOTc2OTQuaHRt These days, I'm playing and enjoying Trials of Mana (remake) every free minute I've got. But I also keep an eye on the skills and the class changes.Today, I started expanding the class change guide of the remake - the game has been released after all and we've got our first clues. So I hope you can enjoy the added information (about how to distribute skills and what skills can be obtained per class). If you have any remarks, contact me via the contact form, I'd love to hear from you!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODc5OTk4MTQuaHRt Five new images from the upcoming Xenoblade Chronicles remake.The style leans a bit towards Xenoblade Chronicles 2, but it looks a bit less like an anime - it's somewhat in between the original art style and its predecessor.Anyway, I'm looking forward to the game!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODc3NTE0MzguaHRt Today is the day the Trials of Mana remake has been released, and so to celebrate the occassion, we added some art.Here it is: Two great key artworks from the game. Enjoy!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODc1Nzg1OTIuaHRt Another new entry in our spoiler free "games that can make you cry" report.This time it's Final Fantasy VII we added (the original and the remake), and not only because "that scene" most RPG players know.No, there is more to these games, every character has their own story.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODc0NjgyNzguaHRt Today I thought we'd start a new series of reports:Games that can make you cry.I love being emotionally carried away by RPGs, and a list of games that can get you on such an emotional level would be nice. At least that was my idea.On top of that, contrary to many other sections here on rpg-o-mania, this list is spoiler free, so you can try to find out if such a game is something you like or not without having the rist of being spoiled.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODcxOTQyNjUuaHRt Although I haven't played it myself, our friend link wrote a comprehensive review about the Final Fantasy VII remake. You can check it out here. Enjoy!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODcwNzA5NTkuaHRt Today I finished my series of "how to create desktop wallpapers from Trials of Mana key art" and added another wallpaper to the set.You can download the wallpaper here.I think those three really turned out well, so if you like them, download, use and share them as much as you like.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODY4OTQ0MDguaHRt Back to the content stuff :)Today, I reviewed The Legend of Zelda - A Link to the past, a game that I like so much. I've played this game countless times and finish it again from time to time. And currently is the time to do just that!Enjoy the read!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODY4MDQ1MzguaHRt Hi, this is just a short filler update - more stuff is coming up tomorrow.I haven't been idle the last couple of days, but I worked on some stuff of this sites' backend - lots of work which you sadly don't see. I already started working on the next projects, so stay tuned, they will come up soon! :)Stay safe out there!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODY0NTk4OTkuaHRt Today I was able to finish the Trials of Mana wallpaper I wanted to do.Here, take a look at our Mana wallpapers gallery.That's all for today! Have a nice easter weekend, give your loved ones a call and stay as healthy as you can!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODYzNzI4NzkuaHRt Just some new Final Fantasy images I stumbled upon today. I wanted to do another Mana wallpaper today, but sadly I wasn't able to get the creativity flow going, and since I like the wallpaper from yesterday so much, I want to come up with something similar appealing.So stay tunes, I'm going to continue working on the project of Mana wallpapers. Until then, enjoy some Nomura designed belts.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODYyODYwMzcuaHRt This is a small and a big update at the same time. Small, because there are only two new things online. Big, because creating those things caused me lots of work. So please enjoy two new Trials of Mana wallpapers.They're basically the same wallpaper, but one has a grainy effect (which I like) and one is cleaner without that effect. Choose whichever you like!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODYyMDY3NTUuaHRt I reviewed a game I had high hopes for, but in the end, didn't like as much:Feda - the Emblem of Justice.Why I didn't like a game that's so much like a game I love - find it out in our review. I'm still a bit disappointed. Sigh.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODYwMTQzMzguaHRt Today I added some higher quality images of the original Nier game. I'm still not really sure if I'd be able to like the Nier games. The gameplay looks a bit weird, but on the other hand, the game also looks kinda appealing.For me, the original Nier looks a tad more interesting than the second one (Automata), so I'm waiting for the remake of the original one to see if I like it. You'll find out here at rpg-o-mania if such a thing actually occured.Until then, just enjoy the art :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODU4NTMyMzUuaHRt "So much done, so little to see". Well, today was just another maintenance update. After I realized that the load times of the gallery page increased tremendously, I did the same for the wallpapers gallery. And while I was on it, I also fixed an issue with the Fire Emblem wallpapers not showing up from time to time.So it's all little tweaks and fixes today. I still hope your day is as great as possible!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODU3NzA4NzQuaHRt Today I created the new Nier gallery, starting with two images from the upcoming remake of the game, Nier Replicant. It's only a humble beginning, but I have friends who are very fond especially of Yoko Taro, the head behind the Nier games, so why don't give it a shot.Other than that, I worked hard the last few days, and the result won't be noticed by much. However, since I'm currently living in a place with a very bad internet connection, I realized that the galleries and wallpapers page took too much time to load. So I decided to change the process how the galleries are displayed from a technical point of view, and now the galleries load much, much faster. The wallpapers will follow soon.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODU1OTEwMDQuaHRt Today I added another link to a very interesting site - the site's called SwitchRPG and the link can be found on our links page. Well, or to make it easier, it's switchrpg.com. I also added two nice assets to our Ys art galleries.On another note, I'm just reworking the galleries so that they load somewhat faster. But I'm not finished yet, expect some news in the next few days.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODU1MDY2OTkuaHRt This year, Nintendo will release the second (or third) game of the "Bravely" series on the Nintendo Switch. If you haven't already, there is a demo of "Bravely Default II" available on the eShop. I was never too fond of the series, as I thought that the gameplay was very slow thanks to the pacing of the battles where players have to defend first before they attack. It's kinda odd to me, but I'm going to try out Bravely Default II.I added some nice artworks to the newly created Bravely Default gallery.And as always, stay as healthy as you can!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODUzMjc4NzIuaHRt Nintendo just released a new artwork of the Xenoblade remake. Looks quite nifty, so I thought I'd share.There's also some changes going on in the usability department, the newly introduced image viewer has been added to the Suikoden runes redone section.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODUyNTYwNzMuaHRt I changed the code of the Trials of Mana remake classchange guide so that a fancy layover appears when you click onto a character. This is more convenient than opening an image in a new window or tab.I also worked on the links area and removed the links to the Final Fantasy Shrine and Flying Omelette, as those paged ceased their services.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODUxNjU2MjMuaHRt It was some work to do, but the basic concept is now here:The Trials of Mana remake classchange guide.This one is far from complete as it only covers the information that's available right now. The game has not been released yet, so information about changing the classes is scarce.I'm going to play the game as soon as it's available, so expect that this guide will grow then.Hopefully it will be as good as the old one!Aside of that, have a great rest of your day and stay as healthy as you possibly can!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODUwNzg2NjEuaHRt Since I have access to Nintendo of Europe's press server, I decided to replace the old Octopath Traveler gallery with new images of better quality. So just click onto the link and enjoy the artwork of this nice little RPG.Aside of uploading art, I'm still working on the new Trials of Mana classchange guide - or the basic outline of that guide, since I don't have sufficient information about it yet.I hope you have a great rest of your day!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODQ4ODI3MjYuaHRt I added a small notice on the Trials of Mana Class Change Guide that this guide has been written for the SNES version. Class Change seems to be a bit different in the remake, but I don't know how yet. I'm working on the remake guide already, so expect something to be posted soon!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODQ4MTg3NzYuaHRt Today I added a new wallpaper gallery - this time about Fire Emblem.rpg-o-mania is now accredited at Nintendo as a press outlet, and hence we also are able to get the good media resources. This is also great for upcoming reviews and the likes, so I'm positive that I'll be adding more high quality art in our reports soon, at least if it's about games from Nintendo.As always these days, stay as healthy as you can!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODQ3MzEwMzAuaHRt And as I just finished playing the demo yesterday, here it is:Our Trials of Mana remake preview. I'm still quite hyped, to say the least. For my impressions, just click the link. And stay safe and as healthy as you can!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODQ2NDUyMjAuaHRt I'm all hyped up for Trials of Mana right now. Yesterday, I downloaded the demo and I'm completely excited about what was presented - even on the "weaker" Switch console. Square Enix just released a few new artworks for the game, and I decided to upload them into our Mana gallery.There's also a review coming up soon for this game!Enjoy and stay as healthy as you can!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODQ1NTcxMzAuaHRt Today is the day the Trials of Mana demo released on various platforms - so go grab it, especially if you're at home and aren't allowed to leave the house.The update today adds some images from the Final Fantasy VII remake to the Final Fantasy gallery.And to be honest... meh. Characters from the original game look fine enough, but the new additions... I honestly don't know...Anyway, enjoy the pics and stay healthy!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODQ0NzA0NjUuaHRt I played this game for the last few months, and even if these months were plagued with obstacles like a fire in our house, a car accident or even that new virus, I still managed to play, enjoy, and review this fine game:Check out our review of Fire Emblem: Three Houses. The game earned a whopping 86%, and just click on the link to see our detailed review.Stay healthy!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODQyOTcwNDkuaHRt In 2020, there's not only Trials of Mana that will be released the next month, but also a new Xenoblade Chornicles game - or a old one, because it's going to be a remake of the original Xenoblade Chronicles game. I added the artworks of main characters Fiona and Shulk to our Xeno gallery.Stay safe and healthy out there!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODQwMzc2MjQuaHRt I added a paragraph to our report about story and gameplay deaths. This idea popped into my head in my current Fire Emblem playthrough, since I'm not sure if I would like to play the game with "permadeath" activated or not. Personally, I chose to play without permadeath, since it is annoying for me having to restart a battle if a character accidentally dies that is vital to my party.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODM3ODAyMzIuaHRt I noticed that yesterday's wallpapers are hard to read on some phone lock screens (especially the iPhones), since the time and date is hard to read. So I reworked them a little and blurred the upper part, so that it doesn't interfere with the phone's UI design.You can download them here!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODM2OTM4MTIuaHRt Square Enix released a new trailer for the Trials of Mana remake these days, and it's just stunning - you can check it out here.And since I was in a Trials of Mana mood, I converted some of the artworks posted recently in the original artwork gallery to be some mobile wallpapers. Just follow the link to the corresponding gallery.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODM1MjIyNTYuaHRt Finally some new original content here (aside of the screenshots).I have written a little report about why early Shining Force games still have some features that are still unmatched even today.Find out more in our The Greatness of Shining Force page!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODMwOTQ4NDMuaHRt Oh well, my weekend was full of getting furniture out of our house, which is heavily damaged after the fire. So I'm not really able to write essays and articles. I can even rarely play. So all I can do for you now is to notify you about our new Fire Emblem Screenshots, which contain lots of Spoilers! about the latter half of the game.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODI4MzE2MTguaHRt We're still in the process of trying to save things from our damaged house, so updates are a bit more scarce these days. I added some Fire Emblem: Three Houses art for you to enjoy. It's just a bit of promo art that Nintendo shared, and I'm surely going to write some fancy review as soon as I finished the game.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODI2NTkyNzIuaHRt Today, I have added four more recommendations by Kaoru. You can find them here and here.The games he added are- Ys: Oath of Felgana- Mother 3- Persona 3 Portable- Nierposted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODI1Nzk2NDMuaHRt Another small update this time, but I'm currently preparing something bigger for the next update.I'm a bit slow in updating the page these days if you noticed, and the reason for this is not a nice one. My Family and I experienced a fire in our house which forced us to leave for the time being. Right now we're trying to get everything fixed as soon as possible - thankfully, no one is hurt and the damage is big but not beyond repair.So please bear with me and some slower updates for the next few weeks, I'm full of ideas of what to add to good old rpg-o-mania here.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODI0ODYyMjEuaHRt Sorry for the late update, and in fact, it's just a small one.We have some new Trials of Mana screenshots online. I just love this game and I'm soo looking forward for the remake. This is something that's bound to lead to disappointment, but some times I also have to live some hype :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODIxODUwMjguaHRt There are new screenshots available in the Fire Emblem: Three Houses screenshot gallery. Usually, I don't post news about screenshot galleries, but I wanted to add a Spoiler! warning, as these galleries now contain images after certain story events.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODIwNTEyMzguaHRt We have some more recommendations written by Kaoru!You can find them here.The last time when I added some of his recommendations, I forgot to give credit in the respective info boxes - I corrected that, now you can see which of the recommendations have been suggested! :)On another note, I also tweaked the design of rpg-o-mania just the tiniest bit. If you have a big screen and if the CSS file reloaded correctly, the rounded border on the top right of the page is a bit more rounded. Big deal, eh? :Dposted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODE4Nzg4OTUuaHRt Today, I added some Final Fantasy images to the corresponding gallery. They're from the Final Fantasy VII remake.I'm getting more and more skeptical about those games. Three of the images in the gallery are presented by Square as "DLC summons", which means that these summons can be acquired via paid content.I think I'm skipping the whole remake's first episodes and wait for a complete edition, if something like this would ever be published.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODE3MDYzNDguaHRt Thanks to Twitter user AnathemaForce, I was able to fix the blurry image of the faery in the Breath of Fire faery clan page.I also seized the moment and uploaded the faery image in a bigger version together with another artwork to the Breath of Fire gallery.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODE2MjI4NjMuaHRt You see, I work at a really great company now. My boss, who's also an avid gamer, today told me that he's missing the systems a game was released on in the review list.Well, thanks for the input, and here it is: The reworked "reviews" area. It now contains (most) of the consoles a game was published on.I intentionally left out any collections and focused on game console and game console handheld releases only.Hope this helps you all :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODE1MzMzODAuaHRt Today I created a new part of our "Breath of Fire clans" series.This time it's about the faeries, some little creatures that almost always require players to rebuild their villages or colonies.It's the first clan that does not be part of the party in any of the Breath of Fire games.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODExODk3NTguaHRt It's a first - a review of a game I decided not to finish.Read here about why I didn't finish Final Fantasy 12 and also what rating I would grant this game.If you don't agree - send me a comment or contact me on twitter here.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODExMDM2NTIuaHRt Thanks to Kaoru, we were able to expand our "Recommendations for every era" section.He added four games, two of them from the earliest days of console RPGs and two more in the golden age of RPGs.I'm always happy when people send great content to me, because that content allows you to read things that extend the perspective provided by me.Enjoy the new stuff! :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODA3NTc5NjcuaHRt I added a new Breath of Fire clan today:The Iron Ogre clan.I personally don't have much nostalgia for the Iron Ogres, as they didn't appear in so many of the games and I played Breath of Fire 1 way later than other entries.Basically, I also wanted to do more in this update, but a lack of time prevented me from doing so. More to come soon, though :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODAzMjQxODYuaHRt The Breath of Fire clans report has been extended again - today it's the Grassrunner Clan I covered. When I started this report, I initially thought that Grassrunners and Forest Clan are the same, but it seems it's canon that there is a distinction between them. So it's only the dog likes today, and the wolf likes tomorrow or the day after!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODAyMzg0NDMuaHRt We continue or series about the Breath of Fire clans today.I added the Wing Clan and Woren Clan - two fan favorites within the Breath of Fire fandom.You can check out my descriptions here, I hope you enjoy them!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1ODAxNTI2NzAuaHRt I'm releasing the first part of a new project today - Information about Breath of Fire clans.The Breath of Fire series has this interesting concept where many of the people roaming the world are actually looking more like animals. These are called "clans", and I thought I'd gather some information. Interestingly, I saw similar projects coming up on reddit and Twitter. This is my take on the clans.More clans will come up soon :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Nzk4MDc4NzkuaHRt Square Enix just released a few character introduction trailers for the upcoming remake of Trials of Mana, which will be released some time in April (hopefully).I checked out the trailers (which look nice, but are nothing too special), and extracted some of the nicer scenes as screenshots.Ans so I put said screenshots in our new Trials of Mana screenshot gallery.This is a first, usually I put exclusive screenshots into the corresponding galleries only after I played the game myself, but hey, these screenshots are also kind of exclusive. And I can't wait to play Trials of Mana!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Nzk0NTg1ODAuaHRt Since our friend Kaoru mentioned on Twitter that he didn't ever play Undertale, I thought that it would be cool if I'd add the very interesting battle system to our list of battle systems.So here it is.I honestly didn't know where to categorize it, so I put it under "semi action", because technically it has turns, but on the other hand is very action oriented...posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzkzNzE3ODkuaHRt Let's get it on with the regular updates, right? I created a new gallery today, the Tales of-Gallery. I started with a couple of images from Tales of Vesperia. I was reminded that this game exists because there's a sale about it, and that reminded me that we have no Tales of stuff here on rpg-o-mania - except our review from Tales of Symphonia.Other than that, I added a new link to the Links section - it's to Kimimi's Blog, a blog full of interesting game stuff. I like to browse through her pages, and so should you! :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzkyOTEzMzcuaHRt Hello there,nothing special content wise today - a few new Final Fantasy XII screenshots, that's all.Well, not really.I'm soo happy to announce that I was finally able to retrieve the domain rpg-o-mania.net again. This was the main domain this page was available at during the 2000s. I won't set it to be the main domain anymore, since I paid for a valid certificate of rpg-o-mania.com, and all of the current links are set to .com. But anyway, if you enter rpg-o-mania.net in your browser, you will reach this page.Finally. I'm happy, now this page feels more complete again.Thanks for reading this stuff, see you in the next update!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzkyMDIzOTEuaHRt Some more recommendations and some more Final Fantasy!I added Final Fantasy XII to our list of recommendations from 2006 onwards. It's an early game in that era, but a great and ageless one just as well.And one we haven't reviewed... yet. To be perfectly honest, I never finished Final Fantasy XII. Let's see if I can do it this time :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzkwMjkxNTkuaHRt I'm still working on the recommendations area. Today, I added a new one.Final Fantasy X has been added to our list of recommendations of games that can still be enjoyed today.I think I left out Final Fantasy a bit here on rpg-o-mania, but I will add more soon. posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Nzg4NjMxNDQuaHRt Today's update is only a small one. I added several screenshots to the newly created Final Fantasy XII screenshot gallery, because I'm currently playing that game.Other than that, I reorganized our Recommendations 2006-2013 section. New recommendations will be added soon!So have a great rest of your weekend, and see you next week!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Nzg2Nzk0NzYuaHRt I'm currently playing Final Fantasy XII again. I haven't talked about the battle system yet, so here it is - an article about battles in Final Fantasy XII.This was some discussion on the internet fourteen years ago when news about the changes in this game surfaced, and before it was released, I was one of the more critical voice. I thought every RPG was going to be a MMO style RPG after the release of FF12. Turned out that things weren't as I feared it would be!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzgzMzI1MTAuaHRt After I finished and reviewed Pokémon Shield, I thought I'd add a few artworks that I found and that mean something to me as I associate them with things I especially liked in the games.I mean it's easy to find Pokémon art online, so I thought I'd give it a personal touch :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzgxNjQwMzguaHRt Happy new year! This is the first news post in 2020, which means we're going into the third year after the big relaunch of rpg-o-mania.To begin the year, I decided to rework the recommendations section. I added the new from SD to HD page and limited the timespan from 2006 - 2013. The "present day" subsequently begins now in 2014. I also added a new recommendation to the "From SD to HD" page.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Nzc4MTcxOTIuaHRt So this year is going to end soon. There's some kind of debate going on if 2020 is really the beginning of a new decade or if the decade begins in 2021... For me, if it says 202x, it's the twenties. This might not technically be correct, but I'm a simple mind.With the 20s beginning, it's the fourth decade where there's a page called rpg-o-mania. It all started in 1999, so we started in the 90s, thrived in the 2000s, barely made it to the 2010s (as NeverTheSameColor) and restarted in 2018. I wish you and your loved ones all the best for the next year, may you be healthy and free of anything that could worry you. We will continue next year!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Nzc3NzYwMzEuaHRt Whoops, I released a review yesterday and forgot to announce it in the news. Glad thing I noticed, or else it could have taken up until next year to be released.The review ist about Pokémon Shield, and it's the first things we review a Pokémon game here at rpg-o-mania.I hope you enjoy the read, even if I'm not so much of a Pokémon man. I tried to be fair to the game, and I enjoyed it a lot :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Nzc1MjUzNDcuaHRt If you're a Final Fantasy fan, you most probably already saw these images on various RPG sites, but here they also are on rpg-o-mania:Click to see new Final Fantasy VII remake artwork. I hope you and your beloved ones had some great holidays! I think I'll manage another update this year, so no new year best wishes yet :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzcxOTM3NzcuaHRt Oh my, has another year almost passed? It's just incredible how time flies, isn't it? And as you see, now the new, restarted rpg-o-mania here is almost two years old as well. I hope you enjoyed what you've seen here up until now, and of course we will continue providing RPG related content. I'm also thinking of changing the design of this page, now that I'm better with webdesign things, but to be honest, given this page is individually coded, extensive change in this website's core ist just lots and lots of work. Anyway, I wish you all the best for christmas if you celebrate it, or just a regular good time if you don't. May you feel loved and happy! Thanks for visiting this page!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzcxMjY0MjQuaHRt After the release of the initial Breath of Fire pins was so successful, I thought I'd add another few today.The new additions are pins of Katt (SNES and GBA), Father Ganer, and Fou-Lou from Breath of Fire IV.I hope you like them as well! :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzcwMzkxMzUuaHRt Missed me? Well, some time passed since the last update, but it was a lot of work, to be honest - I started a new rpg-o-mania thing.If you're a fan of the great Breath of Fire games, you might want to check out our new Breath of Fire pins. They are mostly circular small images in two sizes that can be used in signatures, avatars and the like.Feel free to download or use them as you please. As stated on the linked page above, some of the bigger images seem to be a bit blurry when viewed in original size on a big screen, but I think they look pretty good on high resolution devices in their intended purpose as a small badge to show what you're a fan of :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzY1MjI4ODYuaHRt Some nice pictures from the Final Fantasy VII remake are here: Click to view gallery.If Square Enix just hadn't decided to publish the game in episodes... that's the only thing that makes me still sceptical.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzYzNjExNzEuaHRt Oh well, it's late, I'm tired, but I have a new version of a "best version" article online:The best Lunar Silver Star.This is a confusing game since there are so many different versions available, and I tried to give you an overview.Spoiler: Pick the PSP version, if you can :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzYxNzc2ODkuaHRt Square Enix just recently released a new version of Star Ocean 1 for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 console. Along with the game's release, they also released some nice artwork which I uploaded to our Star Ocean gallery.Now that there are various Star Ocean 1 versions out there, maybe that would be a good topic for a "best version", don't you think?posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzU5MTg4NjcuaHRt Today we cover one of the hot topics from the RPG world in 2005: The remake of Wild Arms, named Wild Arms: Another Code F. It's basically the original game with the visuals of Wild Arms 4 and gameplay of Wild Arms 3.But is it better than the original?We covered in our short "Best version" page: Go take a look!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzU3NTgwNDkuaHRt The next game I'm playing is Pokémon Shield, and until now, I think I really like it. I have added a corresponding screenshot gallery where I add some screenshots here and there, after I posted them to twitter.I really like the sword / shield coincidence with Suikoden 2 :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzU2NzAxNjMuaHRt How can you tell which version is better when they're so different?I checked out Lufia 2 - the SNES turn based RPG and the DS action RPG. They're both good games, but which one is better?Find out by clicking the link :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzUzMTIyMTcuaHRt Just a small one today - I thought I did everything right in regards of the comment form, but we still got a lot of spam here. So I tried to make it a bit more secure to avoid bots.I still hope that real people can comment now! :Dposted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzUyMjc0MTcuaHRt And here we go! :)Our "best versions" report has been extended with Grandia - this game has basically three versions to choose from - the original on the Sega Saturn, then the PlayStation version and the newest iteration on Steam and the Nintendo Switch console. More "best versions" coming up soon!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzUxNDM0MzAuaHRt Adding a completely new area is always a lot of work, but here it is - our new The Best Version set of articles.It starts pretty small with only two games where rpg-o-mania tries to help gamers in choosing which game to play, but it's going to grow soon just like any other area here on this little site.Enjoy the new area and be sure to check back regularly for updates :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzUwNTk1OTAuaHRt I added an "and afterwards" box to our Grandia HD remake review after finishing Grandia on my own. I deducted 1%, removing the "Classic" badge from the review (which is awarded to games above 80%). The quality of the remaster was oftentimes just too bad (split sprites, desynced music) to really grant this version more than 80%. The original games' rating remains at 81%.We also have a comprehensive screenshot gallery which covers some special moments from my complete playthrough, so if you don't mind about Spoilers, feel free to take a look at the gallery. The images are all from the remaster.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzQ3OTUyMzYuaHRt While I was working on my new set of articles, I found out that Square released a lot of great images for the Seiken Densetsu 3 (Trials of Mana) remake.I really can't wait for it to be released, I just hope they don't mess it up. Anyway, the art and design already looks great, as you can see in our Seiken image gallery. It's a huge load of images, so if you're a fan, take a look at the gallery! :)Well, all this excitement postponed the planned release of the other new stuff, but eh, new stuff is new stuff, right?posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzQ3MTExODIuaHRt Hey there, just a quick message from the webmaster :) There will be a new set of reports online shortly, but preparation took more time than I thought. So be prepared, a new set of coverage articles will be here soon.Other than that, I'm still playing Grandia and I love it just as always :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzQzNzAyODQuaHRt Considering my new job is much more demanding than the old one, I still manage to get a update ready for rpg-o-mania :) This time, it's again about Quintet - I've written a retrospective about the Soul / Gaia series that was famous by this mysterious game developer. That's all for today! posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzQxMDQwNTEuaHRt When updating pictures to the Pokemon gallery recently, I forgot one of my favorite characters - her image is now online in the corresponding gallery. I also added a few screenshots to the Grandia gallery, but they're fairly far into the game, so I won't link the gallery directly here. They're full of Spoilers!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzQwMTYwNTEuaHRt Today I'm starting a new series of reports. This time, it's about the developer Quintet, a small company that brought us games like SoulBlazer, Illusion of Time or Terranigma.It's an interesting story of a game company that suddenly just ceased to exist. If you're interested, just follow the link up above!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzM4NDQzNDkuaHRt Today is the release of the new Pokemon games, "Sword" and "Shield". For the longest time, I didn't pay so much attention to those games, although they technically are turn based RPGs. Back when the games came out, I thought "Why would I want 150 creatures when I can have 108 stars of destiny in Suikoden?"But eventually, in 2013 I also was part of the hype when Pokemon X was released. And yeah, I liked it a lot. I also liked Alpha Sapphire.To be honest, I'm really in the mood to play the next game now, which I probably will as soon as I finished my current playthrough of Grandia.I collected some images from the Pokemon games I liked in the new Pokemon gallery.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzM3NjAwNzMuaHRt Oh well. My new job is really great and I love getting into the new company where I work, but additionally to the situation of a new workplace, I also caught a very nasty cold which leads to the situation that I only want to go to bed after I arrived from home. So yeah, that's the reason for the current lack of new stuff.Alas, today I don't have much for you either. There's a new link online, and it leads to Infinity Retro, a very nice looking retro game blog. Thanks to Jeremy for reaching out to me, I gladly put your link online here on rpg-o-mania. 😄posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzMzMzY0ODAuaHRt Although I am such a big fan of Shining Force, strangely enough never ever did I publish a review of that game here. But well, then this should be it - here it is: Our Shining Force review, filled with the extra amount of fandom. I tried to stay objective, though.Enjoy!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzMwNjQ4NjAuaHRt We're still on a Grandia spree, and as promised yesterday, I added another special moment to our list of moments. It's of a later part in the game (that makes it a Spoiler! of course). I really like this game. I think we're in into some more Grandia stuff the next few updates :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzI5ODA3OTguaHRt Well, my new job has started and as I thought, I'm a bit on a tight schedule these days. I have something nice in the update pipeline, but I have to ask you to wait some more days.Until then, why don't you take a look at our Grandia screenshots gallery (that includes some Spoilers!) They're from my current play through on the Nintendo Switch console. I'm going to add my thoughts to our Grandia HD collection review after I finished it.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzI2ODI3OTcuaHRt After some days of work, today I reactivated the midi music section. Since I restarted rpg-o-mania in early 2018, I always thought if it would be useful nowadays to still offer midi files. Rarely anyone listens to them anymore, and on Macs, you even need apps to get them to play back.But they're an essential part of rpg-o-mania's history, and I got in touch with midi composers back then to have their ok to post them here. So I thought why not, this page would be incomplete without them.The way how midis are listed has been created completely from scratch by me, but I thought it would be a nice touch if it would look and feel similar to the way my friend Wite coded the script back in 2005.So yeah, it's more like nostalgia, but if you have a Windows PC or the appropriate apps on the Mac, you can still listen to most of these tunes.On another note - on monday, I will begin a new job and I don't know if I can keep up with updates about new stuff for some time. So don't worry if you don't get daily updates on rpg-o-mania :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzI0Mjc1NjQuaHRt Today I added another special moment. This moment happens in Grandia, and although it happens very early in the game, I marked it as a Spoiler!.If you plan on playing Grandia on the fairly new remaster release, don't read that page as it can spoiler a very great and surprising moment that happens about 3 hours into the game.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzIyODYzNDkuaHRt Today I browsed the web and found some great Indivisible artwork. I really can't wait for this game to be released on the Nintendo Switch but alas, there's still no release date out.Hm, I really think about getting in touch with 505 games about collaborating on a special.Hmm...posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzIxNjYxMTYuaHRt Great, the comments are working. I received a great comment that I made a mistake in the Hawkeye page of the Trials of Mana Class Change page, I used a wrong name of a specific skill. Thanks to the anonymous commenting person, with your help I was able to make rpg-o-mania a bit better.Other than that, I just fiddled around in the backend of this page. This offers no new content for you, but it makes managing rpg-o-mania easier and so that allows for more updates in the future :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzIxNzM0NDIuaHRt Oh, and while I'm still browsing my old archives on my computer, I added two Sword of Mana images. To be honest, I never played much Sword of Mana and neither did I play the original Mystic Quest (Final Fantasy Adventure in the US, was it?).But hey, it's a Seiken Desetsu title, so... go for it!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzIxMTU1NTUuaHRt Usually I don't do updates at weekends, but I browsed my old files on my computer a little and found nice things :)First of all, there are two new vintage wallpapers I composed back in... 2001, I think. They're small, but they're wallpapers - and vintage! Woohoo!I also found some pretty nice Shining images - from Shining Wisdom and Shining Force III.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzIwMjg2MzUuaHRt A small one today :) There is a new page over in the Breath of Fire gallery, a great artwork from the PSP version of Breath of Fire III.I was never able to finish this game back then because I was a little annoyed how bad the battery life of my PSP was, so I gave it away to my nephew a few months later. Shouldn't have done that, I miss the PSP ever since. :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzE5MzgxODYuaHRt This was more work than I thought it would be. Our new retrospective is online, this time about Breath of Fire, a game series that I really love. As it always is on our retrospective page, the content is a mix of personal experiences and compact information about the games. I hope you like it!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzE4MzU4MjAuaHRt Okay I don't know if I did everything right, but today I added a contact form on our contact page, so you can get in touch with us without using any external service.When developing such a contact form, nowadays you have to make sure you're blocking out bots, which I tried to do. We'll see if it works :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzE3NjczODYuaHRt You know, I really love doing some creative stuff after coming home from a long day's work. So today I made some mobile Final Fantasy wallpapers. They're based on my usual mobile wallpaper style. I know that I mixed two Tifas that are not from the remake on a Final Fantasy VII remake background, but hey, it still looks good, right? :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzE2NDQ5NzcuaHRt I hope you had a great weekend with your loved ones! Let's start our week again with something special - a review based on a free Steam Key I got from the developers. The game reviewed is the indy RPG Heroes of Shaola.It's a game made by a small team, and it offers an interesting story as well as a fair gameplay - and still it received only 59%. Click on the link above to find out why.Eric, the guy from Shaola's team who sent me the free steam key, seemed to be pretty friendly, so I feel a bit bad about the low rating. I had to be fair and in the end, Shaola is a commercial product, so it has to fare against other commercial games.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzEzODYzOTQuaHRt Since Square Enix announced that soon there will be a Switch and PlayStation4 port of the first Star Ocean, I thought it would be nice to have some art from the game here on rpg-o-mania.Aside of art, I still have the todo to remake some Suikoden runes requested on reddit, and I'm also on my way to review a game.That's it for today, have a nice one :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzEyMjk2NTEuaHRt I added a few images to the newly created Indivisible gallery. This seems to be a nice and promising game, but honestly, I'm waiting for the Nintendo Switch port, since this game seems to be just made for the Switch. I hope it will be released soon! The artwork looks really nice and has an interesting style to it. posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzExNDc1OTkuaHRt Today, I remembered a very special scene that happened in Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana and added it to our moments section.Please be aware of the collossal Spoiler! the following links contains:Read about the special momentCaution: This is one of the key moments of the game, so don't go look if you haven't finished chapter 6 of that game!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzEwNDE2MTIuaHRt We continue our series of battle systems with the elephant in the room that just has not been addressed yet.Now the list of battle systems is extended with the famous Active Time Battle system that has been used in Final Fantasy 4 - 9, 13, Chrono Trigger, Lost Sphear and more.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzA5ODcxMzQuaHRt Yo, so I recently stumbled upon some of the Screenshots Square Enix published for its Final Fantasy VII remake. I found some of them interesting, and I especially liked three screenshots that contained portraits of some charactersSo I made some wallpapers out of them. As usual, without any watermark and copyright information.This probably won't help my visitor counter, but you can have great desktop wallpapers from this allegedly fine game.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzA4NzQwNDIuaHRt Today continues the series of remade Suikoden runes.I'm still trying to get all the runes requested on reddit done, and the next one is famous Jeane's charm rune.So yeah, have fun with it!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzA2OTI0NzcuaHRt Oh wow, this was more work than I had imagined beforehand.There's a new Suikoden rune redone online - the Twilight Rune. It's close to the original, but not as close as other runes were that I already remade. Nevertheless, given the complex look of the rune, I think it's okay and it was fun to make :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzA1MjI4MTcuaHRt Today is a small art update. We have some new Final Fantasy images online, this time from the Final Fantasy VII remake. I really should separate the Final Fantasy VII images from the rest soon... Well anyway, that's it for today. I'm working on the Suikoden Twilight Rune, but I wasn't able to finish that yet.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzA0MzcxNDUuaHRt Happy monday to everyone! Today we have a new review online - it's about The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening on the Nintendo Switch console. It's basically a game from 1993 that still manages to win the "classic" badge here at rpg-o-mania. Check out the review for details.I also updated the review of Evoland II, after a game breaking bug made the game unplayable for me on the Switch. The rating for this version is now 0%.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzAzMDE0NTIuaHRt Another new Suikoden rune online - the Dawn Rune. This was made after another request on reddit.It took some effort to make, since this rune is more colorful and has more effects and patterns on it compared to the other runes, especially from earlier game.So yeah, here it is, enjoy!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzAxNzAzOTguaHRt Thanks to great response on a thread at reddit I made, I created another Suikoden Rune, the True Wind Rune. There are more requests to redo runes, so I'm going to create images for those too.The structure of the "Suikoden Runes Redone" page is from 2007, and it shows - now that we have so many runes available, the page is taking long to load and it's also difficult to navigate.If I have some time, I will split it up and redo the whole section.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzAwODU5NDYuaHRt First of all, I wish happy birthday to the reunified Germany! I like living there, and the open minded spirit that still prevails there. This website is not going to be political or any of these things, but I was able to become what I are because of how things are here now. So keep rocking, ol' Deutschland, stay peaceful, and don't let evil people control you.Aside of that, of course we have new stuff! It's a couple of Suikoden images. I think, many of them were designated wallpapers back when they were released, but they're too small for any screen size nowadays. Since I didn't have them online in old RPG-O-Mania, I didn't upload them into the "Vintage" galleries of the wallpapers but just treat them as normal art.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NzAwMTM4MzcuaHRt Oh well, so much done, and so little effect.I changed every page here on this website, but the changes are quite hard to spot: Some pages like links, galleries or wallpapers have a more convenient navigation or overhauled looks.Other than that, every page now has an appropriate title that should make navigating tabs in mobile devices easier.More content stuff again tomorrow! :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Njk5MzE1NjMuaHRt I did another Suikoden Rune today - the Beast Rune, that creepy rune from Suikoden II.You can see it in our Suikoden Runes Redone section. I think this one is pretty close to the original, although I had to make up some own decisions because the pictures I found on the net were all quite blurry.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Njk5MzE1NTcuaHRt I did another Suikoden Rune today - the Beast Rune, that creepy rune from Suikoden II.You can see it in our Suikoden Runes Redone section. I think this one is pretty close to the original, although I had to make up some own decisions because the pictures I found on the net were all quite blurry.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Njk4MzI0MTAuaHRt I wish you the very best for this new week and start off with a new update. Today, I added a new battle system in our battle systems report - the hexagonal battle system from Wild Arms 5.It's an interesting combat system that's a bit on the complex side, but fun nonetheless. Details can be found in our little description.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Njk2MDc4MDcuaHRt The battle systems report has been updated. Now there is a little rating in each battle system subpage which tries to make it easier for you to assess a rpg's battle system.Of course, in the future we will add more battle system, all neatly rated :) A description of how the rating works can be found in the battle systems main page.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Njk0OTY5NjUuaHRt Some more Trials of Mana wallpapers for you. They're all desktop wallpapers and based on the new character images that have been revealed recently.I kept my style going that I used for the last few wallpapers, I think it's a good style for keeping images as a desktop background. If you like them, feel free to download as many as you like.Other than that, there's one new artwork available over at the Star Ocean gallery.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Njk0NDU2NjIuaHRt It's a late update today (It's almost midnight here) - but it's a huge one. In collaboration with Kaoru, I created a whole report that covers battle systems of RPGs. There are a few examples of battle systems of various games.This report offers a short description of what makes the respective battle system special, how easy it is and what's fun about it.And of course, as always, enjoy!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjkzMjkwOTAuaHRt Again, an art update today. I'm starting to split up the Final Fantasy gallery into several games - I should have done this right from the beginning, but it's never too late to do the right things.So here we have two new galleries: A Final Fantasy XII gallery and a Final Fantasy: Lightning Returns gallery. Especially the first ones are of superior quality - I hope I can review the game soon enough.There are some images that belong to the new galleries still in the old ones - I will fix this mess, one day. :Dposted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjkyMjYwOTUuaHRt I hope you all had a really great weekend and spent some time with people you love, doing things that make you happy. And now that the week started even for the most western parts of the timezone, let's start with some media stuff.Today I split up the Final Fantasy gallery. I removed all Final Fantasy X images from this gallery and created a completely new Final Fantasy X gallery. You can find some nice artwork there!Aside of that, just as announced on Twitter, I'm working on a new series of reports. Details coming soon!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Njg5NzE2NDkuaHRt A bit of this, a bit of that media update.First of all, we have some great images from "Final Fantasy XI: The zodiac age" over at our Final Fantasy galleries.Then I also tried drawing myself, and even if it took lots of time, I'm still not good enough for real official art. You can check out my drawing skills over at the rpg-o-mania exclusives gallery.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Njg4NzQ1NTMuaHRt Some Star Ocean stuff today. Recently, I wanted to start Star Ocean: The Last Hope again, but I had to realize that the dungeons were just too big for me, and since there was no quick save, I couldn't really get into the game. But that doesn't mean I don't love the series. I have never played a RPG so long as I did play Star Ocean 3. I'm one of the few people that actually like Star Ocean V, and I even almost finished "the second story" - if it wasn't for the endboss that just was too difficult.Anyway, there is a certain romance option available in "second story" which we covered in our all-out relationship report.Please be aware that this report covers one of the endings, which means it's a big Spoiler!.There are also some new images available in the Star Ocean gallery.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Njg3ODk1MzEuaHRt Today I added another foe to the list of dead enemies. Be careful, as it contains a huge Spoiler! for Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana. This was a pretty interesting event after an intense battle, but also kind of boring compared to what happened before the enemie's death.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Njg3MDE0OTguaHRt Yesterday, I found some insanely good images from Breath of Fire. I brushed them up a little more and uploaded them to our Breath of Fire gallery. Please enjoy these great pieces of art, and thanks again to Capcom who allowed me to use Breath of Fire art on this very website!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Njg2MjE4NTguaHRt After the weekend is over, it's time for new content here on rpg-o-mania. Today I added a little report about a very special very special boss in Ys VIII. Please be aware that this is a heavy Spoiler In that game, so be sure that you played it before clicking that link! posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjgzODI1NTcuaHRt Today I added a special moment to our list of gaming moments - the opera scene from Final Fantasy VI. Final Fantasy VI is a special game, and this event in the middle of the game is just a great example of how much love has been put into this game. I read about it in a video game magazine (called "Video Games") in 1994, where there was an interview with the developers where they stated that they were a bit demotivated by Final Fantasy V and wanted to try some fun things in the next game.By the way, did you know that there are some art pieces scattered around our coverage reports that are not in our galleries? :) posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjgyOTI1NjcuaHRt Again a smaller update today.We have new images over at the newly created Mobile Zelda and Zelda wallpapers, both with games from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.I also started a new screenshot gallery - the Breath of Fire screenshots gallery.So you see, not every day we can present you with a big review, but there's always something new here.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjgxOTY4MTkuaHRt Just a quick media update today. I added a bunch of Ryus and Ninas to our Breath of Fire image gallery. Thanks to the Super Nintendo games included in Nintendo Switch online, I'm able to play Breath of Fire again. I sold my copy a few years ago when my daughter was born because I needed the money and not the games 😅Anyway, now I can play it again and I'm not completely sure if I can play through it thanks to the insane random encounter rate. I also added a great image to our Ys-gallery. posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjgxMTgwNTYuaHRt After posting lots of art and screenshots in the past few weeks, today I can finally announce our new Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana review. Like in every other great RPG I finish, I'm always a bit sad when a game ends, and I tend to think a lot about the characters.Of course, you could restart such a game, especially with Ys and its "New Game+". But to be honest, there are so many great games coming up, that I quit Ys VIII for now and keep it in my memories.It was a great ride. Thanks, Falcom.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjgwMTg4NTYuaHRt After the bigger update yesterday, it's only a small one today. I added some screenshots of my Ys VIII playthrough to the Ys screenshot gallery.They're all from the Switch version, so if you finished it on the PlayStation 4 or the PC and are interested how it fares on the Switch, please take a lookAlso be aware that these screenshots cover a whole playthrough, so the gallery is full of spoilers. Be warned! posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Njc5NTk0OTkuaHRt Here in Germany, the weekend slowly ends. And thanks to Kaoru, we have lots of things read and see for you.First of all, we have some nice character artworks in our newly created Dragon Quest gallery.Aside of that, we also have a Dragon Quest XI review online, completely written by said Kaoru. He did a great job and I tried to create a layout for this page that fits the extensive review he wrote.So enjoy this Dragon Quest XI package, and see you next week!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Njc4NDgyNzQuaHRt Some more artwork today, and again it's from Square Enix. Our Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles gallery got a new picture.I really can't wait for the new version to be released on the Switch. I loved FF:CC when it first came out in 2004 and I had a blast of a time playing with some good friends. If FF:CC on the Nintendo Switch would offer cooperative online gameplay, it would be even better. But also a good local Wifi session would be nice.Another gallery with new pictures is the Final Fantasy gallery. I added a bunch of new Final Fantasy VII images, they are from the remake.I'm still a bit skeptical about the remake and it being released in episodes. The first episode, or what we've seen of it until now looks fine enough, but I don't know if they can keep this up in coming episodes.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Njc3NTI5ODkuaHRt Today I added several nice character portraits to the Seiken Densetsu galleries. These images have been released along with a new trailer that shows some more of the backstory and gameplay. I'm really hyped about Trials of Mana, since it is a game that's pretty important to me.Aside of that, I also totally forget to add the Breath of Fire II fanart I made to the Breath of Fire galleries. I'm still not completely convinced about my art style, but it's getting better. At least I'm confident enough to use an art made by me as an header image for our 20 years of rpg-o-mania music album.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Njc2NzYyMTEuaHRt We're still in a pretty "Ys" mood here on rpg-o-mania. Since most of you are browsing the web using mobile devices nowadays, I thought it would be nice to add some Ys mobile wallpapers. I've done them myself based on some official art, so feel free to use and share them just as you like.As always, I'd appreciate it if you would at least mention rpg-o-mania when sharing! :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Njc2MDUzODAuaHRt Today is one of the updates that doesn't do much in terms of content, but rather technology. As you can see in this news post, I am now able to display nifty images within news entries. That's about all for today.I have some projects in mind for the coming updates, one is a new "special moment". I also hope to finish Ys VIII anytime soon; I already have about 45 hours on the play time counter and I'm in the last chapter, so I think I'm pretty much near the end now. It's a great game, but right now I have some mixed feelings about the story - I'll tell details in the upcoming review.Up until then, so long, and see you soon with more content updates! :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Njc1MTM3NTAuaHRt Today, I did a lot. A lot of things I should have done earlier - sigh.I don't know what exactly happened, but my past few reports (within the perspectives, moments and review sections) contained lots and lots of typos - most of those were of the "twsited letters" kind.I went through many pages with utmost care now and fixed all of the typos. But even if you didn't care, I have something for you: A few Ys artworks, this time from Ys: Memories of Celtceta.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Njc0MTQ1NDYuaHRt Thanks to user denda from the German Maniac-Forum, there is now a wonderful Grandia HD remake available in our reviews section. I stumbled upon his review in the forums, and it was so good that I asked him if I could publish the review here - thanks a lot!I think this might be interesting as a separate review for new players to know if the games are still playable nowadays and how the port was done on a technological point of view.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjcyNTczNDIuaHRt In some parts of the world, It's already september now. September of 2019 - and you know why this is special? Because, in september of 1999, this site went online with the domain rpg-o-mania.de - the adress that still works today.So now it is 20 years ago that rpg-o-mania was really online and known to the public.Of course, there was rpg-o-mania.purespace.de online as early as April 1999, but this page was never updated and was more of a test or a play thing. But ever since september 1999, the domain is live and public and the site is updated on a regular basis.So in order to really celebrate 20 years of rpg-o-mania, I reached out to OverClocked ReMix and picked some music for every year that there was gaming content online on this site, I created some artwork and yeah, here it is - the music album "20 years of rpg-o-mania".Thanks again to OC ReMix and the great remixers there that made this album possible. I hope you like it; if there's something you would like to comment, feel free to contact me anytime!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjcwODEwOTQuaHRt Another remark about the Xenosaga series (this time by Kaoru) led to the inclusion of "Pied Piper" in the Xenosaga part of our "Xeno impact" series of reports.It's really great to receive feedback and add more information to our reports. If you feel like it, don't hestitate and contact me!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjcwMTE1OTMuaHRt I'm still in a pretty much "Ys"-ie mood, so I added some desktop wallpapers to our newly created desktop wallpapers gallery.You may have also noticed that I reworked the galleries and wallpapers a little, now the mobile wallpapers and screenshot galleries are in a separate box so it's easier to find them since we now have a couple of galleries to choose from.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjY4OTUxNDMuaHRt I'm still in my first playthrough of an Ys game, and I realy have to say that Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana is a great game - I even like the title now.As I'm playing, and sort of in preparation for my review, I collect some screenshots which you can see in the Ys screenshot gallery!But please be aware that this gallery is full of Spoilers!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjY4MTY4MTkuaHRt Thanks again to Kaoru for submitting great content. I was able to extend our "Death and RPGs" report by another chapter - Different aspects of death in RPGs. This includes some information about how certain games handle aspects of game in gameplay and story. I added another example of my own, but most of the report was written by Kaoru.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjY3NTc1MTIuaHRt It's just a quick one today - I added a new interesting page to our links directory today. It's a page called cubed3 that offers quite a nice selection of reviews which can get pretty extended. So check them out, they're worth a view.Other than that, nothing much happened here during the weekend. I helped a good buddy move, and I was more focused on moving furniture and especially heavy washing machines and freezers around. So if you ever need anyone carrying stuff around, call the rpg-o-mania handymen! Have a nice rest of your weekend, we have some nice updates to be done next week! posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjY1NDM1MDQuaHRt Today it's a classical "this and that" update.Following a discussion in a german forum, I had to expand the Xenosaga section of our "Xeno impact" report. I added more information about Episode 3 of Xenosaga and also had to correct a mistake. In my initial report I stated that the team behind Xenosaga was exhausted and unmotivated during the development of Xenosaga 3. However, it was only after the release of the game and it's not so excited reception that the morale within the team was low. I also added some information to our chronological website history section.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjY0NTcxNTkuaHRt With a description of the first person perspective, our series about the different gameplay perspectives in RPGs ends for now. I hope you like our set of articles and what I wrote, but if you have any feedback, do not hesitate to contact me - just click onto "Contact" in the menu, there are various ways listed of how you could contact me. Thanks in particular to reddit user mrcatboy, who wrote valuable feedback which already is included in the various perspective pages.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjYyODI2NTEuaHRt We continue our series about RPG and visual perspective with the over the shoulder perspective. This one's a bit shorter since there are not so many games with this perspective available, at least not in the RPG genre. Of course, action games and tactical shooters often use an over the shoulder viewpoint, but it's not so common in our favorite genre.So there's only one perspective left, and it's the one I like the least - thee first persion view. This one will be published soon!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjYyMDIzMzIuaHRt Today I added some more Ys VIII - Lacrimosa of Dana images. I first noticed Ys VIII when it was released on Nintendo's eShop, but I quickly dismissed it as being ugly after seeing the trailer.But then a friend recommended it a few weeks ago, and I'm totally hooked into the game. It can even look quite beautiful! I'm already creating lots of screenshots for our upcoming review!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjU5NDc2OTIuaHRt Just a quick one this time - I added a few images to the Breath of Fire gallery. It's a small mix of Breath of Fire 3 and 4 images.I never was able to finish Breath of Fire 3, as it always wore me out towards the end because of the countless mini games that are not always easy to pull off. However, I liked the story a lot and will definitely finish it one day.As for Breath of Fire IV, I bought it back in 2001, but only finished in 2006 because I had such a hell of a backlog back then. Today, I only buy one game whenever I'm out of games to play. You see, I'm a dad with lots of work to do around the house, and I'm busy enough with rpg-o-mania here and some games in my scarce free time!😅posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjU3NjMzMjQuaHRt We continue our coverage about different perspectives of RPGs today - this time we talk about games in a side scrolling perspective.RPGs that are displayed from a side view are quite rare, but I was able to dig up some examples from old to new. I had my first side scrolling (action) RPG experience with Wonder Boy in Monster Land, although this one was still more of an action game. Wonder Boy in Monster World then was a true action RPG, which I liked a lot. It looks especially cool when you travel through the world and see some special areas in the background coming closer every new screen - it's a pity that there are not more games with this technology.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjU2ODM4MDAuaHRt The past few days, I worked a bit on the galleries (and subsequently also the wallpapers. Since some of the galleries have already become quite big, I added paging to them. So now there is a maximum of ten images per gallery to be seen and you can browse through them. If you're blessed with sort of a sharp eye, you might notice that sometimes the "back to page x of gallery y" button on the images is not perfectly aligned with the gallery number itself. I still have to find out why that happened, but I'm trying my best - it's only a minor disturbance, though.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjU2MDI3MjcuaHRt After a great retrospective and some nice artworks, let's go back to the perspective business. I added a new perspective to our report about visual styles today - the third person perspective.Fun fact, this is the one I like most for modern games. I like to look at my characters and party, and I also like to see what's going on around my characters. And I'm still a bit sad every time a new RPG is announced without third person view options.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjU1MTkzNjEuaHRt Today I added some nice Breath of Fire images, most of them from Breath of Fire II. One Nina from Breath of Fire III slipped in, but overall the quality of these images is so good that I couldn't resist adding them!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjU0NzE3MzkuaHRt Als already teased in yesterday's update, we have new stuff from Kaoru! He did a extensive retrospective about Sakura wars, which is again great and a pleasure to read. I didn't know much about the series itself, so it's really highly appreciated that he went through the effort of collecting all of this information!Aside of that, I uploaded a few screenshots of my current Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana playthrough!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjUzMzc5MDcuaHRt Sometimes, my thoughts are strange. While I watched the download bar of my Sega Mega Drive collection on the Nintendo Switch, I thought about how strange it was from Sega to release a isometric action RPG in 1994. And so, that's the topic of our new set of reports:A matter of perspective. Here I take a look into the visual styles that RPGs can be presented in, and the report starts with two classic perspectives: Top down and isometric.More will come soon in the following updates. But thanks to Kaoru, the next update will be a different one. Stay tuned!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjUxNzY3MjEuaHRt Would you believe what I just updated? I added a bunch of new music files to our corresponding section. They are perfectly legal and hand picked, so feel free to download and use. Please bear in mind that these songs are not in the well-known MP3 or M4A format, but instead use old tracker formats from the 80s. They sound great nonetheless!The whole music section is a bit of a mess, though. It's not so easy to navigate and I didn't know how to include the newer files, so I just added a section "newer files" on top of the old ones.I have to rethink this and come up with a better solution :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjUwNzQ5NjIuaHRt Today we have another addition to our list of special moments - this time it's about Grandia III. And this time the moment is also spoiler-free! I was really excited back then when Grandia III was announced and the first trailers were released. Everything looked so great and gorgeous, and the game indeed did deliver what the trailers promised.The game looked great and had an extremely fun to play combat system. But alas, the music didn't always keep up with it and the story was kind of a mess. I finished the game nonetheless - and one of the reasons was that moment linked above!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjUwMTM4MDUuaHRt Hey there, I hope you all had a very nice weekend. I spent some days with my family and hope you also had some good time with loved ones. Let's resume the updates - today I added another remarkable boss fight from Breath of Fire II - so be warned that we have a Spoiler here. It's only a minor spoiler though since this fight happens fairly during the first hours of the game.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjQ2Njc5OTcuaHRt Today we have a typical "this and that" update. I tweaked some stuff in the backend, I added a new link to Binary Scroll (in German) and I added a new gallery - the Ys image gallery. It's quite a surprise that rpg-o-mania never covered Falcom's series in any form at all. But as you see, we don't turn our back to Ys and started adding stuff.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjQ1OTQ0MzguaHRt This is kind of a small update. We have two new images over in the Suikoden gallery, where one is just a better version of an existing image.Other than that, I tweaked some usability stuff here on the site, but nothing big. There's more contact options available in the "contact" page.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjQ0ODYwNDEuaHRt I almost feel like in the golden age of rpg-o-mania again. I met a nice person on twitter who wrote a very interesting retrospective about Persona. Thanks a log, Kaoru!In the past months, there was Disa who answered lots of questions about mapmaking in RPGs and now Kaoru who wrote lots of information about a game series that's shockingly unfamiliar to me.My only contact with Persona was a session of about 4 hours in Persona 3 back in 2006 when some friends were over for a gaming session.Of course, both are now mentioned in our credits.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjQzMzU1NzYuaHRt Today I expanded the recommendations for every generation area.I made a cut within the present generation so that the page doesn't become too big, and I just made the split at the relaunch day of new rpg-o-mania here.The newest additions to ageless RPGs are Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and Dragon's Dogma. Read in the linked article why I think this is.But if you think I'm not right or if you have any recommendations for ageless games, just contact me!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjQwNDQwNjEuaHRt Ever since I started thinking about Star Ocean V last week, I'm sorta in a Star Ocean vibe. After we added art assets from Star Ocean V and III in the art gallery, today I added a couple of nice Star Ocean IV images. The art style of that game is great, and since my desire to play Star Ocean got stronger and stronger, I decided to play "The Last Hope" on my good old PlayStation 3. I only played it a couple of hours before, but I think I could like it, just like I loved the predecessor and successor.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjM5NzYyMTEuaHRt It's art time again! Since I'm somewhat on a Star Ocean spree, I added Star Ocean 3 imagery.I really, really loved the game, and it was one of the first hard rpgs where I played the bonus content a lot - although I wasn't able to finish the hard final bonus bosses.What I actually didn't like so much was the art. But yeah, it's about the game, and it's high resolution, so... enjoy!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjM5MDUxODIuaHRt Today, I expanded the "Death in RPGs" series of articles by another one - about the difference of gameplay and story deaths. I discussed this recently on Reddit after I thought about this topic when covering the interesting moment in Star Ocean V.Being story-driven, rpgs sometimes have to sacrifice a hero or an interesting boss, but it's hard to explain why party members can survive getting stabbed by a gigantic robot scorpion, but cannot survive a sword wound.I hope you like the little report, but please be aware that it is full of Spoilers! Especially Phantasy Star II, Phantasy Star IV and Final Fantasy VIIposted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjM2NDg5MTAuaHRt Today I created three Trials of Mana wallpapers. They are quite similar to the ones I created recently, but yesterday I finished the game, and I wanted to give a shout out to my party that I played through the past 25 hours. The game felt great again, and I really enjoyed every minute. In fact, I might have enjoyed it a bit too much, since I was so overpowered at the last boss fight, that I didn't even get his second music - which is a shame, because I love the tune "Sacrifice, Part III, which would be the final final boss theme. Oh well.Now I feel this emptiness that crawls up my spine every time I finish a great game. And especially one I love so dearly as Trials of Mana.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjM1NjczMTEuaHRt There's a new review online - today I added the Terranigma review. This game is a really lovely short SNES action RPG with a truly impressive story.This is basically a "vintage review", since I have written this text in 2001 for a german games website. Yet, I didn't really "own" this website and also I had to completely rewrite it since the original text was in German.So yeah, for the english speaking, rpg-o-mania reading world, this review is new. 😅posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjMzNDY0NDcuaHRt After I checked out information on the Star Ocean V moment I added yesterday, I thought I'd look for some nice artwork of this game - and here it is, a bunch of nice Star Ocean V images. Hm, now that I have the Star Ocean gallery here, maybe I should add other Star Ocean imagery as well... :Dposted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjMyNzY1OTAuaHRt There is a new noticeable death scene within our death and RPGs: friends section that contains Spoilers! for Star Ocean V: Integrity and Faithlessness.So no Trials of Mana update today, but I thought about this scene for some days now and thought I'd share it here on rpg-o-mania!Please be aware that the linked page in this news entry really contains a lot of spoilers! posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjMxODY3MTUuaHRt As you could see in the past few updates, I'm quite hooked to Trials of Mana again. I just love this game, for me, it does everything just perfect: Visuals, music, story, gameplay, variety... everything is so top notch!But I haven't played it for a long time now, and I forgot some things - so I expanded my class change guide with information about how to get the ??? seeds for the items that are required to perform the change.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjMxMzI0ODIuaHRt The weekend's end (weekendend... lots of endings) draws near here in Europe. Some small stuff for you this time.I added some Trials of Mana screenshots, if you want to take a look. Be careful, they can contain Spoilers!.There's also a image I've drawn in the Seiken gallery, it's a small fanart from Trials of Mana as well - nothing special, but I thought I'd share.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjMwNDEzMTguaHRt After adding so much new media and old reviews recently, I thought it's time for some new content - and what would be better during the summer than to post trivia about Suikoden. This time it's a spoiler free special moment I encountered while getting in touch with Suikogaiden when I watched the trailers or intros for the first time. Maybe you can feel the vibe when you read the little report! posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjI5NjY0NzcuaHRt As promised in the last update, today I present you six exclusive Trials of Mana wallpapers. They have been created by me, just like the last ones. Use and share them as you like, and maybe you can credit rpg-o-mania? That would be nice 😊In other news, there are also some new Trials of Mana screenshots available in the screenshots gallery, if slightly spoiling images are your thing.Aside of that, I have to confess that it looks like as if rpg-o-mania will never get rpg-o-mania.net back as the domain. I'm to blame for this since I messed up the domain transfer some ten years ago, and a gaming company in japan registered it. There is no website running under that domain, but they keep extending the registration each year. So yeah, I've officially given up since I cannot afford to make them an offer to buy the domain back.But you see, rpg-o-mania is running just fine, and it's still available at rpg-o-mania.de - its original domain. Rock on, rpg-o-mania. 😄posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjI4MzYzMzQuaHRt Lots of Seiken / Mana extravaganza! I created some unique (and exclusive) Trials of Mana wallpapers, which should be suitable for most big screens nowadays. Mobile versions are to follow in the next few days.We also have some new Trials of Mana artworks, where one is a part of the cover from the original japanese Seiken Densetsu 3.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjI2NzU1OTguaHRt Just a little update today: If your browser refreshed everything correctly, you might be able to see this page with a new, nice looking banner element. Yeah I know, content would be better, but I always wanted to know how these parallax scrolling banners work, and just today I found a couple of free minutes where I could take a look into how this works.The image shown here is from the special Seiken Densetsu 3 (Trials of Mana) special gallery, which contains images drawn for a great free soundtrack.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjI1ODIyNjIuaHRt While listending to my old favorite songs today in the morning, I stumbled upon "Gimme More" from Britney Spears. I'm usually absolutely not the type of guy who listens to pop music, but this song is a bit special to me.It reminds me of "Nightmare", the last dungeon music from Breath of Fire II. Since I haven't covered this pair of tunes already, here it is: an official comparision of Nightmare and Gimme More. I wonder if it's just me who hears those similarities or if there are any other people who think the way I do.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjIzMTUzMzkuaHRt Oh my gosh, I was finally able to get the great images from the Trials of Mana remake that are used on the promotional artwork around the Mana Stone. In our Seiken gallery, you can find these images. I hope you can enjoy them as well as I do!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjIyMjg2MTguaHRt Okay, now the streak of the old reviews is finished - the Shining Force II review is the last one of the series for now - and another great entry of RPG Xanadu's reviews. I hope you enjoyed that I found these old reviews and added a comment to it, so that you can feel what the reasons were why the review was like it was.Maybe you're an old rpg fan person who just enjoyed going back to the early 2000s as much as I did. Oh and happy 4th of July to our fellow guests from the USA. 😄 posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjIwNzEwMDMuaHRt Today I added a classic review from Suikoden. If I remember correctly, this was the first review ever to be published on this site in 2000.This review itself is 19 years old now. Nineteen years! Of course I added a section with a comment from modern times - feel free to enjoy and see how gamers saw this legendary RPG back when it was still relatively new!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjE5NjUzODUuaHRt "The high quality rpg media archive" is back. Today, we have a load of nice Grandia artworks. Grandia is a summer game for me. I played it in the summer of 2000 on my newly purchased PlayStation console - I exchanged my standard Playstation 1 with a modded version that could be used for playing imports. And just as the internet was at my hands and imported rpgs were easy to fetch, I played the horrible german version of Grandia that had some strange translation choices and sometimes german voice acting that just overlaid the english one.It was still better than the French version, though.Now with the rerelease of Grandia HD coming up, I feel like playing Grandia again. posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjE5MTUxMjcuaHRt Just a small update today and no old review either - yay! I added two nice images to the Oninaki gallery. One is a better version of an artwork already posted here, the other one is new. rpg-o-mania has always been a resource for art and media. I'm happy to find nice images about interesting games here and there which I can add to the galleries, but I'm not so pleased about the music section. Music nowadays is often streamed, and great fan made music can be found over at Overclocked Remix. Midis are pretty dead as well, maybe I should start looking for great mod files again... 😄posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjE2MzE1OTIuaHRt We continue our streak with blasts from the past by releasing the review of Chrono Trigger. This review was initially published on RPG Xanadu back in 2001, and it was one of the most motivated written reviews anytime, granting the game a score of 11 - on a scale of 1 - 10! 😅Of course I kept this original rating, but I added another rating box with my personal review. So it's all there - past memories and quality journalism, like you're used to here at rpg-o-mania! (Did I really just write "quality journalism"... 🤣)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjEzNjIxMTYuaHRt The vintage review series continues! It's pretty much fun for me to get through the old reviews and add some thoughts to them.I know that they have some juvenile slang to them sometimes, but you have to realize that they've been written by RPG fans in their late teens, and I don't want to change that so that you can really feel the early 2000s vibe!Today, I added a review about Final Fantasy VII.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjEyMDI3MDguaHRt 2001 was an interesting time for this site. I expanded the RPG-O-Mania website to create a project together with two other great guys. The new website was calles RPG WorldWide back then. After that, in September 2001, the website was renamed to be RPG Xanadu after another great friend from the USA took over the project. There were some exclusive reviews online back then, which I also lost in the famous hard disk crash of 2001.However, I was able to dig up more of those reviews, and since it fits the events in the gaming industry nowadays, I thought I start with releasing the old Trials of Mana review. Of course, the game of this review was called "Seiken Densetsu 3" back then.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjExNDczNjUuaHRt Additional news: If you ever wondered what the translation changes from the unofficial Seiken Densetsu 3 to Trials of Mana are, the Internet got you covered: Check out this Google Document! Thanks to the guys from r/secretofmana!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjExNDQzMjQuaHRt Recently, I checked out some of my sites using the wayback machine of archive.org. And after trying out some URLs, I was really able to find the old reviews that were online on this site (which was calles RPG WorldWide back then) in 2001! I thought that I had lost them in a hard disk crash in late 2001, but thanks to the Internet Archive, I was able to retrieve them.Now I start brushing them up so that they work in the new layout, and upload them here on new rpg-o-mania. Here is the review about one of my favorite games, Suikoden II.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjEwNDg5MjIuaHRt I stumbled upon some new Final Fantasy VII remake artworks which I'd like to share.You know, I really like what was shown to us in the E3 presentation of Final Fantasy VII remake this year. Yet, I'm a bit bummed considering that Square themselves don't know how many parts of FF VII will be released - personally, I'm a bit afraid that it might turn out like Xenosaga, where the last installments just felt bland.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjA4NDA1MTIuaHRt It seems that the updated Trials of Mana Class Change Guide required some more work - not only did some character names change, but also the classes that the characters can progress into. I updated the names of the classes as well. And for your viewing pleasure, I also added a new header image!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjA3NjkxNzkuaHRt I'm really happy that Trials of Mana now finally got a release outside of Japan. Still, I haven't bought the Collection of Mana, since I'm waiting for the Trials of Mana remake. I just played Secret of Mana in 2017 on my trusty SNES and the remake on Steam last year.Still, the release affects this website. Trials of Mana was translated from scratch, so it does not have anything to do with Neil Corlett's original translation. So I started to change some things:First the class change guide now is called Trials of Mana Class Change Guide.And since the intro was also newly translated, I added the official english intro and an appropriate german translation to the Intro translations.Now I have to redo header images and wait for the remake to be released. I really love Mana games! posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjA2MTg1MDYuaHRt I continued with the Suikoden runes and redid the Rune of Punishment. You can find it here.This design was lots of fun because the rune is fairly complex to design and it has a cool look to it. According to sources in the internet, the design is based on a tattoo of old japanese executioniers.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjA0NDMxMTEuaHRt Keeping up with the daily updates, today it's just a cosmetic one. If you refresh your browser firmly, you can see the changes - I strived for the layout to be a bit more friendly and streamlined. It's mostly just color changes, though.So nothing special for today, but at least something - more content to come soon again.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjAzMzE0OTAuaHRt 1999 was a year that I have very fond memories of. It was generally a great year in my private life, but there were also some great games or online experiences I made.One of the online experiences was this website - rpg-o-mania went online that year. In april, it was published on a free website hoster, and in september it finally received its own top level domain (rpg-o-mania.de) and the whole story of the website you're currently visiting started there.Another memory I have from this time is my first playthrough of Seiken Densetsu 3. You know, I was always a fan of Secret of Mana which was the game I received on christmas 1994. When I heard years later that the successor was released but not translated into english, I was bummed. So my enjoyment was quite big when I was able to download the english patch for this game some time in late spring of 1999.And ever since then, the only way to play Seiken Densetsu 3 (or "Secret of Mana 2", as we called it back then) was using either emulators or (for the more fancy people) a reproduction cart with the translated rom included. No official release, though.And now, it happened - the game is released as "Trials of Mana" in the form of an original (pricy) re-release on the Nintendo Switch console and as an upcoming new game for Nintendo Switch and Playstation 4 in 2020. I'm really looking forward to see this one - I'm not so sure about the re-release, though.And to celebrate this new release, I uploaded two pieces of artwork into the Seiken galleries.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjAyMzUxNzMuaHRt After the new trailer was presented at the E3 Square Enix conference, Final Fantasy fans around the world are hyping for (or against) the Final Fantasy remake. I'm still generally positive, even though it's sad that only the first episode in Midgar is going to be released at the beginning.Still, I'm pretty confident that the game is going to be good, the battle system looks great in my opinion! And the soundtrack seems to be very well made, as far what we can tell from trailers.Anyway, there was some art released with the new trailer, and we have put this art in the respective wallpaper and art galleries.Also, a new trailer for Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles was released, which also looks promising. Online multiplayer with friends and mobile releases - let's just hope that mobile releases and Switch releases can play together.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NjAxODMxMzYuaHRt By request from a user in reddit, I created another new Suikoden rune, this time it's the Pale Gate Rune. A nice and quite sinister looking design which I like a lot. Rune of Punishment coming up next!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTk5Nzg4NzIuaHRt More Suikoden runes for you, this time in black and white and vectorized. You can check them out here.The Soul Eater rune in black and white is in fact the template for my own tattoo 😅 Update 20:30: I just reworked the Lightning Rune after a remark on reddit, since there was a big border in the color SVG version which looked awkward. posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTk4ODg2NzIuaHRt After the soundtrack review of the Chrono Cross remix album, I tried to get into the Chrono Cross feel and looked at some art for this game. These nice pictures have been uploaded to its new gallery. Now I'm really slowly getting into the mood of playing Chrono Cross. Yet I rmemeber, whenever I started the game, i couldn't play it more than a couople of hours. Hm.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTk3MzQ5OTAuaHRt After I followed a thread on reddit, I noticed that there might be the need of scalable versions of my Suikoden runes. I converted them to SVG, so that they can be printed in almost any size.I just realized now that maybe I have to create simpler, two-tone versions of those runes, to make a vectorized impact. But until those are available - feel free to use the vectorized colorful versions.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTk2Mjg1NTcuaHRt Whoops, I made an update and I think no one noticed because I didn't write any news about it. ^^There is a new soundtrack review online. It's about a OCremix album with Chrono Cross cover music.This is a pretty nice album that I can recommend to anyone. And it's for free - what a great thing!I also changed all of the other soundtrack reviews - they also now have the review box in the bottom and the rating changed to a percentage one to be in line with the game reviews.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTkzNjU3MjAuaHRt There's a new review online - it's about Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen tested on the Nintendo Switch console. It's quite worth its time, for details check out the review.I decided to write it in the Skyrim story-based review style, I hope you like it!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTkyNDc0NDcuaHRt Yay, the art of mapping has expanded! It now features an interview with a person who loves to do maps! This is the first interview ever in almost 20 years of rpg-o-mania!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTkxNTQwNTQuaHRt Finally, a new report arises! This time it's about the art of drawing maps, or maps in general in games.The report starts of with some RPGs that include maps and some that don't, and shows how that affects those games. This section will be extended soon!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTg4NTYyMDcuaHRt Today, I added a new Oninaki gallery. I'm still a bit skeptical what Tokyo RPG Factory's newest game turns out to be, but the art is nice and overall trailers and published material so far looks nice.My "skeptical" prediction from our preview remains, but I'm always open to change my mind if it turns out to be a great game!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTg1NDI5MTAuaHRt So after our breadcrumb affair, let's go back to the art galleries - today, I added some nice quality Shining Force images for you. This is only a small start, but soon I'm going to create a big set of reports just like "Love and RPGs" or "Those Moments", this time with a topic that's almost died out in modern games and nowadays is only for some niche games - The art of drawing maps. posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTg0NjQ3NjguaHRt I think I lost my sanity some time in the past few weeks. It cost me two weeks to include the little breadcrumb you see on the bottom of the screen right now. Well... this was so much work, and it looks so nimble. Yet, I learnet a lot of PHP while doing this. But now it's time to really go back to the content updates. Promise!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTgzNzc1NjguaHRt Can you believe it, I've spent more than a week working on the backend without any reasonable result. Today, I made the break-through and soon you'll see a... breadcrumb at the bottom of the page. Oh my, so much time for so little content.I'm going to start creating content again. This really killed some time... but don't worry, I still have many ideas for the contents of this page! :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTgxMDYwMDguaHRt This is another short maintenance update: The galleries are now a bit prettier, with a tad more structure and the size of the file shown. Of course, this works for both galleries and wallpapers.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTc5Mzk3OTcuaHRt Some more Suikoden Tierkreis stuff, this time it's some wallpapers. It's really interesting that I like the music, the visuals and the gameplay overall but never was able to finish the game.Oh well, at least we have wallpapers now! 😁 Ah yes, and I split up galleries and wallpapers now into two separate pages. This should make things a bit easier to navigate! posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTc4MTcwNjAuaHRt Today I added some nice artworks from Suikoden Tierkreis, a game which was released on the Nintendo DS. This game only shared the name and the fact that there were 108 characters with Suikoden, otherwise it was a completely new game. For me, the problem that you couldn't really wander around towns and only navigated in menus was some sort of no go, since it felt like those cheapo RPGs where you only navigate menus and commence battle. This was also a problem I had with Shining Force CD, where ther was just no wandering around towns and exploring the world. posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTc3NzIyNzYuaHRt Haven't heard from me in some days now, have you?Well sorry for the abscence; I was not really abscent, though. 😅 Right now I'm working again on the backend of rpg-o-mania to make things just a tad more comfortable, but I didn't succeed just yet. I also have ideas for great new reports, which I haven't finished. Well sigh, being a part time webmaster surely is time consuming sometimes. But don't worry, more to come soon!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTc0MTY5NTguaHRt Today, I added some nice images to the Suikoden gallery. They're a nice collection of Suikoden II images, this time in a high resolution.Could you believe that it's now 19 years ago that Suikoden II was released? And the last main title, Suikoden V, was released 14 years ago.Time flies. Time really flies.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTcyNTI4MTMuaHRt Another new wallpaper over at the Suikoden wallpaper gallery. I hope you like this one too, it looks a bit different in style. That's all for today, this was just a short update because I felt like playing with Photoshop :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTcxNjU5ODIuaHRt Lots and lots of old and new wallpapers in the newly created Suikoden wallpaper gallery. There are some from old rpg-o-mania, and two new ones there. The old ones will most probably not fit newer screens anymore, but maybe they can be used for mobile phones or tablets? posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTY5OTQyMTcuaHRt I enjoy the music from Overclocked Remix for some time now, there are lots of great fan made tunes there.With the review of Seiken Densetsu 3 - Songs of Light and Darkness, I have reviewed one of their albums for the first time now. It's from a game that I dearly love. Be sure to read the review and download the soundtrack for free over at Overclocked Remix.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTY3ODY4MzguaHRt When watching my Twitter timeline, I always realize how first time players are shocked when they reach a certain point in Suikoden.It's pretty interesting, because I felt the same way back in June of 1997. And I thought let's write it down as a new moment for Suikoden.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTY1NjE2ODguaHRt I worked a lot in the backend of this site in the past few days. In order to give you something for the moment, I thought I'd present you some images from a great game I play right now - here is the Dragon's Dogma gallery!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTYzODk4NjQuaHRt Another entry to our Death in RPGs series, again with Terranigma being the topic. This little game from 1996 really got some coverage during the past few updates, don't you think?posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTYyMDk5MDMuaHRt Today, I added a new moment for Terranigma Spoiler!. I basically wanted to add this in the "Death in RPGs" topic, but I ultimately decided that this is not about the death of a single character but rather a moment that really hits many players hard upon their first playthrough of Terranigma.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTYxMzI4NjguaHRt Like always when there's a new series of reports, the following updates cover new additions to this report. Today it's a new addition to the list of dead friends. This time, it's an especially sad story.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTU5NTY0OTcuaHRt Phew, I finally have something to show: The new Death in RPGs report series that just begun. It's another spoiler heavy piece of coverage, so be warned - a detailed spoiler warning is shown in the linked page.Of course, just as always, there will be new additions to this report in the next few updates.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTU3MDMyNzUuaHRt I'm still working on the "RPG and death" coverage, but I haven't finished it yet. So today I thought I'd upload some Seiken Densetsu images, from Secret of Mana and Children of Mana.On another note, I have lots of troubles with my playthrough of Evoland II. The game crashes on the Nintendo Switch during a cutscene right before the end of the game. I can't finish it, this is heavily annoying. So I decided to contact Shiro Games, the creators of Evoland II as well as Nintendo, to see if there is a fix. If this crashing still prevails, then for me the Switch release is unbeatable. This would be a pity and the first time a game quits on me, and not me on the game. Ngaah!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTU0OTgxMDcuaHRt Today, the layout was tweaked a little, I fixed some smaller errors and there are some new Evoland 2 screenshots available. Nothing too big as a update, but something to look around anyway. posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTU0MDcxNTEuaHRt I did even more work in the background, but also some design tweaks here as well. But I know that you want to see content - and the first one is a small change I made on the Octopath review.Basically, I realized that I was too generous with my rating in 2018 and so I changed it to 75% - which lost this game the "classic" plaque. Details can be found within the review!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTUyNjM0MTAuaHRt Okay, now that I'm done upgrading rpg-o-mania's backend (which was quite a load of work), I can go back to the regular updates. Today, I added a new moment, this time from Breath of Fire 2. It still gives me goosebumps when I start this game. Read the linked moment for details, and maybe you'll agree!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTUwNDU0NTIuaHRt Hey there, this is just a short notice that I'm still around and I'm still working on rpg-o-mania! These days, I'm reworking the backend, so there's lots of things to do under the hood - something that you sadly don't really see or notice, but it makes maintaining this site easier.On another note, I reworked the Evoland 2 review a bit since it contained a mistake and I also had to increase the rating.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTQ2NTUwNjcuaHRt I'm working on a new set of articles that cover death in RPGs, just like the "Love and RPGs" articles, just this time with death.In the meantime, I checked old rpg-o-mania again and uploaded a few Final Fantasy images I scanned myself back then.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTQzODMzMzkuaHRt I'm currently playing Evoland 2, a nice game I played almost four years ago. Since it has great art and is overall a pretty good game, I thought that we could use a gallery for this game and that a review would be nice. It's a 80% game, so it's surely worth checking out!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTM4OTIzODYuaHRt A short update in the evening! As you might have noticed in the navigation, the "Spotlight" section is gone and has been replaced by easier to understand "Reviews" and "Previews". Other than that, nothing has changed, all links should still work! posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTM4Mzk1MTEuaHRt Back in 2003, I was pretty hyped about Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, the first "Final Fantasy" titled game to return to a Nintendo console since Final Fantasy VI in 1994. This was a pretty fun ride, which I played together with friends.The team announced a new set of games, called "Code Age" a few months after Crystal Chronicles had been released. The artist was the same as in Crystal Chronicles and everything looked pretty good, but eventually failed commercially.We have a gallery about these games online now - it's here.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTM2MjExOTAuaHRt Another visitor from the past reappears: The Suikoden tips section is back online. It contains some tips I collected about 18 years ago, and I thought that it would be nice if this site has all of the content that was available in older RPG-O-Mania versions - at least if they make just a teeny bit of sense.Anyway, enjoy the short read! Addendum: I noticed that I somehow updated a work in progress version of RPG and love sometime in the past few weeks. Well, I fixed this today and the full showcase is online again. posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTM1NDI1MTYuaHRt Hey there, today I added a preview of Oninaki, the upcoming game from Tokyo RPG Factory, the creators of I Am Setsuna and Lost Sphear. I'm still a bit skeptical about this game, but I'm going to buy it day one. If you want to know more, just click the link above!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTMxOTIxNDcuaHRt While we're on the topic of galleries - I added a new one for Eternal Sonata. This was a really good game and I have fond memories of it playing together with my nephew. He was 14, 15 at that time and we met up every Sunday at my parents', talked about everything that happened during that week and played along. This was a great time, about ten years ago.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTMxMDYwNDkuaHRt Capcom is a really nice company. When I restarted the rpg-o-mania project, I reached out to many companies to make sure I'm allowed to post art here. The first ones to respond and the easiest of them all was Capcom. This is why today we have a bunch of nice Breath of Fire images online. It's really nice art, enjoy.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTMwMjAxNDUuaHRt Well look who's back? It's the Suikoden 108 Stars of Destiny page that went online on April 20th, 2000. It contains various tidbits of information and personal opinion about various characters.I really had to change some lines since things I found funny when I was 18 almost 20 years ago aren't funny to present-day me. It's really funny to think about it - the section was written more than 18 years ago, and I was 18 years at that time. So basically, this section is now older than I was when I wrote it. Crazy stuff, this time thing.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTI4NDMxNjIuaHRt There once was a game from tri-ace that wasn't incredibly hard or unforgiving, but rather tons of hours of fun. It was a game that made every person in the world recruitable, leaving even likes of Suikoden behind them. It was a light hearted game with a nice story and a (somewhat) bland soundtrack - Radiata Stories.We have a new (old) gallery for that game now online.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTI1NDc4NjQuaHRt Haha funny, you see, yesterday I updated this page - there is another Suikoden Rune online in the corresponding section. Well, that's basically not that funny in itself, but I forgot to announce the update. Precisely, I didn't exactly forget it, I just updated it at the wrong place and notified only myself on my own computer.Anyway, here it is - the new rune!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTIzOTMzNzguaHRt Oh boy, your webmaster has to call in sick these days! Yet, there is a little update for you: A new remade Suikoden rune!. This time it's the Bright Shield Rune from Suikoden II.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTIwNjc3ODMuaHRt You know, I really like to browse around OverClocked Remix, since many of the homemade tunes are just plain great.And this time, I stumbled upon an album of a game that i like very much - Seiken Densetsu 3. The remixes are pretty good for the most part, and the download comes with great art. Be sure to check it out.Check it out where? Well, take a look at our Seiken Densetsu 3 Special gallery, where I compiled some information about this album and the respecitve links. The art is just a sample of what comes with the album, it's still high quality art here nonetheless.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTE5NTIzMDQuaHRt Today I added a few nice images to the Xeno gallery.Xeno? Yes, I renamed the gallery after I added the first non-Xenoblade artworks. posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDgyNDEwODIuaHRt I'm still on the road and wasn't able to finish the retrospective I wanted to write for a few days now. It's going to be online soon, but right now I'm not able to publish the article. Meh.Yet, I found out that I have some spare time on my business trip while I'm waiting for some people, so I fiddled around in Photoshop and created a new Xenoblade wallpaper based on a little piece of official art that had been posted recently.The original artwork can be found in the Xenoblade gallery. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTAyMzAxNDEuaHRt This time just a short update in between - I added two Xenoblade images.If the game (Xenoblade Chronicles X) continues the way it goes now, this will be a feast of a review. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTE4MTI5NTAuaHRt Hello everyone,here's the short version of the update: There are some new Lufia artworks in the corresponding gallery and the navigation to the left has been cleaned up a little.The longer version:I'm really happy that rpg-o-mania runs again as it does. Old RPG-O-Mania has been almost completely restored, with only a few sections left that I still have to carry over from my archives: The Suikoden 108 Stars of destiny and ending messages. It's a bit of a nasty work, so I haven't started working on this.Other than that, new rpg-o-mania slowly changes and gets its own identity. Back when I restarted the project, as I've written several times now, I tried to stay true to the old website's formula. But now, I redid the coverage section, the galleries, have new ideas for the music section and so on. If nothing bad happens, you can expect quite some nice stuff to be added here in 2019. :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTE2Mzc3OTYuaHRt You know what I'm really missing these days? Lunar. A new Lunar game that isn't Dragon Song. It's a pity that we're only limited to Silver Star remakes these days.I recently browsed around old RPG-O-Mania which is still on my computer, and I stumbled upon the classic Lunar gallery. This led me to the decision to upload these images to the newly created Lunar gallery, even if the images mostly quality-wise don't look as good today as they did ten years ago. Yet... it's Lunar! :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTE1NTIxNDcuaHRt Wohoo, two updates in one day, and then it's just layout stuff. I changed the header for the desktop version and the layout of the index page a bit. That's all. More content coming soon! I have some ideas reagarding the new Pokemon games and their connection to Suikoden!posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTE1Mjk1MTQuaHRt Just a short update this time: Maybe you noticed it, the navigation now looks a bit nicer both on desktop computers as well as mobile phones :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTEzNzU2ODMuaHRt After the wall of text presented in the "Love and RPGs" report, I think it's time again to go back to what was always part of rpg-o-mania since it exists: Artworks. This time, it's about the Lufia games, starting with the DS remake of Lufia 2.You know, I never really liked Lufia 2 when I first played it, but I came to terms with it. And now that i see the DS remake, I really really want to play that somehow :)posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTEyMDg0ODAuaHRt Good evening everyone, I hope you weren't surprised that the updates stopped after a four day row. Well, the reason was that I worked on a really, really big report (for rpg-o-manias standards) - it's Love and RPGs, an approach to love in our favourite genre.The list is far from complete, but I tried to get as much information about this topic, which is interestingly underrepresented in games, even nowadays.I really hope that you like this report! posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTA3NzkzMjQuaHRt These days it's pouring updates, isn't it?Only a small one though: I've drawn two images from Chaz and Rika for the Phantasy Star galleries.They're going to be one bigger picture, but I'm a bit exhausted now that I've drawn those images for a couple of days now.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTA2Njc1NzEuaHRt Today, a short update in between with something different: A few Seiken wallpapers, optimized for mobile screens.They are based on the same idea I had with the Xenoblade wallpapers recently. I liked the style and I had assets that fit the art style, so I thought that it might be a nice idea as well to create some Mana wallpapers in that style.posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTA1OTIxNTYuaHRt Good morning everyone, today I added another boss fight report Spoiler!. This time it's about Chrono Trigger. There are so much more boss fights I want to talk (or write) about, so there will be more bosses coming up in the future. However, I think that you might want to see something new every once in a while, so I'm currently thinking about new stuff for the next updates. posted by docower https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NTAxNjkyNzQuaHRt Good evening everyone! You know, whenever I start a new series of articles, like the Moments, or the pop culture ones, I tend to give them more content in the next few updates.And this time, it's the same with the boss fights. I covered the fight(s) against Kefka in the corresponding boss fights section. Be warned that this is a very spoiler heavy text! https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDk5NzQxNTAuaHRt Heya, just a little content update this time: I added another Boss fight to our list of remarkable battles. This one is a bit shorter than the first one! https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDk4MjYzMjQuaHRt Hi there! It's finally done, I started the next series of articles - Boss Fights. Thanks to the input of some friends and reddit, I'm able to write a few of the neater boss fights in RPG games. The set of reports start with a pretty significant boss, Luca Blight from Suikoden II.That's it for this update, have a great time wherever you are now. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDk2MzM3MzEuaHRt Hello and a good afternoon! Right now, I'm in the middle of creating a new set of reports, covering some noteworthy and interesting boss battles.I already asked some friends and reddit's rpg_gamers subreddit which especially great boss battles they remember, and I've got lots of feedback which will become a new set of articles. Even the cover image already exists, but I was lacking time a bit the past few days. I think I'll publish this new set of information piece by piece so that you can view it as soon as possible.Aside of that, I uploaded a few nice pictures for your viewing pleasure. These images are from the Dissidia: Final Fantasy battle games and can be found in the Final Fantasy gallery. The portraits are mostly designed by Tetsuya Nomura. I didn't like his characters for a long time, but after playing Xenoblade Chronicles 2, I can live with them. It's really fascinating - let someone design a character you like, and suddenly you like the character style.I also uploaded a few Xenoblade screenshots from my current playthrough. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDkzNTY4MzUuaHRt This is just a small update in-between. If you take a look over at the Coverage section, you can see that it's reorganized and easier to navigate now! https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDkyMTY1MTYuaHRt Good evening! You know, sometimes I think that I might have a tad too many hobbies. I like to code and design websites, I like to play video games, I like to write stories and I like to draw. And for all of this, I have only a couple of hours a day since I love my wife and kids so much, and I'd like to spend any spare minute with them. Yet, when they're asleep and I'm running for a late session, I manage my hobbies.This time, the update hits two birds with one stone (I would never hit birds or animals in real life, just figuratively): There is a self drawn image of Neifirst from Phantasy Star 2 online in the corresponding gallery. I think this is one of the best pictures I've ever drawn. I hope you like it too, even if it's just a tiny update today. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDkwNDQxMTYuaHRt A warm and welcoming greeting to rpg-o-mania's readers! This update was lots of work, but I guess it's nothing you'll get all excited about. Like promised, I'm starting to work on some sections that need a little overhaul. I made the galleries and music section a little nicer to look at. No fancy new content or article this time, sorry. I promise to work on the Suikoden section next! https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDg4NzczMDIuaHRt I created some mobile Xenoblade Chronicles wallpapers based on the bigger desktop wallpaper I uploaded recently (which means they are somewhat stylistically similar). You can view them here. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDg2MTExMjAuaHRt Today, I've got some neat high resolution Xenoblade Chronicles 2 wallpapers for you. I also thought this time of the year would be great to talk about this and that.future developmentI don't know how many of you still know old RPG-O-Mania, but if you knew it back in 2007, you notice that there are still some Suikoden sections missing. I am planning to include them within the next updates, because Suikoden is always great for an update!Other than that, I'm going to tweak the design and layout of rpg-o-mania a bit, since there are some parts that could be more user friendly. So you might notice some design and content changes as well soon. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDg0ODg0OTcuaHRt There was a mistake in the Final Fantasy overview - Twitter user @cursedblessing informed me that the servers of Final Fantasy XI are still up and running, only the PlayStation servers were shut down in 2016.This is quite impressive for such an old game! Ah and by the way, I am really happy for feedback and corrections if you find something that is not right. So please feel free to contact me via Twitter or mail, or heck even ICQ. I'll be grateful for every word of praise or criticism! https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDg0MjE0MDUuaHRt I finally did it - the Final Fantasy retrospective is online.There's an interesting history behind this piece of coverage. Back in old RPG-O-Mania, there was a special section called "Final Fantasy overview" where there was a short description of every Final Fantasy game. I always liked this set of information, but when rewriting it I realized that it's quite the same as the retrospective. Hence, I "downgraded" the overview and put it into the retrospective format. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDc5Nzc2NDIuaHRt Right now I enjoy some time with my family at my parents' house, so I can't really provide a big update this time. Nonetheless, I uploaded some nice Xenoblade Chronicles X images to the corresponding gallery.You see, I never got into Xenosaga, but last year I tried out Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and now I'm playing the predecessor, although they are not so much connected, story-wise. I already have Xenoblade Chronicles 3D available to my disposal, which I think I'm going to play after I finished X.It's a really great series and I'm impressed by Monolith Soft. They did a great job! https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDc3Mjc4NzguaHRt I just edited the last news entry - it promoted a new "revies" :DThis time I have a new moment for you - The battle system of Child of Light. I still like to listen to the music of that game and remember that moment. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDc0OTQ4MDIuaHRt It's a bigger update this time.First of all, you can see some more information about this sites' background on the new selected versions history page. But I assume you're not here to dive into rpg-o-mania's past.So I also have a new review of Phantasy Star online for you.Enjoy the content. I enjoyed creating it! https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDcyMzcwMTQuaHRt Okay, so I'm back from Istanbul and we're also back with the regular updates. This time, I added another moment to the "moments" area in the coverage section. This time, it's about Star Ocean 3's intro which impressed me back even in 2002. A great game and still a great impression in the intro. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDcwMTgwODMuaHRt Right now, I'm in Istanbul on a business trip. It's a nice city and it's surprisingly cold - we experienced snow yesterday! I didn't know such things happen regularly in Istanbul.Anyway, I'm not able to write articles or specials these days, but I was able to dig up some nice Xenoblade images for you. One is a especially nice greeting card from Nintendo. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDY3Mjk4NzEuaHRt A few days ago, I posted a link of an article here on twitter and suddenly, the visitor count almost exploded. It was an interesting experience, so, eh, welcome to all of the new rpg-o-manians!Updates also continue with the Mana series being in the Retrospective section. So now this series is there and complete as it was in old RPG-O-Mania. Now there are only a couple of things left, and then we have the most complete version of this website online! Hooray! https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDY1NDExMjcuaHRt Let's get it on with content, shall we? I added another game series to the retrospective section. This time it's about Lunar.You know, the original text I wrote back then was created in 2003. And boy did I have a bad writing back then. Basically, stating that this was "written in 2003" is a lie since I had to redo almost every text. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDYzNjUwMjAuaHRt It's the 1st of January, 2019. This means that the first post here of new rpg-o-mania is now exactly one year old.Let's take a look back on with what we started last year, or the year before, to be precise. As written in the history section, I've tried to restart rpg-o-mania many times in the past few years, with mixed results.I'm still a bit sad that NeverTheSameColor didn't succeed as a blog, since I really liked the idea of some nerds writing about stuff they find interesting. Also, we included some rpg-o-mania stuff here, but alas, what's gone is gone. One thing I wrote in the first news entry last year was that "updates won't be that frequent" - it turned out that I updated the page 97 times last year, which means that almost every three days there was something new.And how much the page improved over the course of the year - the galleries are more modern now and up to date, there's a nifty backend in the background and the page looks good in almost every resolution.I really hope that I can keep up with this frequency, but if you like, you're always welcome to browse by, and I promise that there will be new content ever so often.About 11500 unique visitors were counted in that time, which adds to the 750000 from 1999 - 2008. This means the visitor counter by January 1st, 2019 is now at 761500. Hooray.But now enough of my rant. I have started to recreate an old section called Restrospective, starting with Phantasy Star.So I hope you're doing well, enjoy your stay here and have a good time!Best wishes from your fellow webmaster,~ DocOwer https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDYyMDAyNjYuaHRt I added a few images to the Screenshots gallery which contains some screenshots from my recent playthrough of Phantasy Star. This is a special game, since the feel and vibe of the game is inevitably connected to how rpg-o-mania was 20 years ago. More about this in later updates - until now, let's just enjoy the Master System glory slightly refurbished in the Nintendo Switch remaster. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDU4NTA4MjkuaHRt Here's a little promo picture from Final Fantasy XII for you. Nothing special, just a nice little artwork for you to look at! https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDU2NTkwNDUuaHRt I wish a merry christmas to all of rpg-o-mania's readers! It's been almost a year now that the page is back up and I hope you were able to enjoy what you've read. I will continue to provide updates as my time schedule allows it (but this worked just fine this year, didn't it?).So yeah, here we are, we're approaching 2019, which will be the 20th anniversary of the domain rpg-o-mania.de, which is still in use today. We'll see how we celebrate September 6th this year! Y'all take care, stay safe and let's wait for the next regular update here! https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDU2MDE4MzQuaHRt There are some new Secret of Mana artworks from the remake online in the corresponding gallery. We really did lots of "Mana" updates recently. The game, even the remake, left some impression on me and I really enjoy digging up some stuff from this marvelous game. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDU0MjIxMTQuaHRt Now that I reviewed both the original Secret of Mana as well as its remake, I decided it might be nice to show what the biggest differences are between these games.If you notice any more, feel free to contact me anytime (for instance, on my twitter-handle @DocOwer) https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDUyMTgxNzEuaHRt After I reviewed Secret of Mana recently, here is the review of the remake. I was surprised how much I liked it, especially since the overall reception of the game was only lukewarm. I think I need to create a coverage article of what had been changed in the game compared to the original. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDQ3ODg0MTcuaHRt Galleries received a little update where you now can click or tap through images. No nice swiping feature yet, but at least images don't show up in a new tab whenever you click or tap onto them! https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDQ2Mzg1MDguaHRt You know, I really really like the Secret of Mana remake. I have read so much bad comments about the game on the net, but I think it's actually good. I'm going to elaborate on this in one of the next updates with a review.Until then, please enjoy some character art from the game. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDQ0NjQ3ODcuaHRt This update took me some time, and it's still only one image... But at least its an exclusive one, and one you hopefully like. I'm planning to do more with this picture of Lora from Xenoblade soon.And bigger updates coming soon as well! https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDM3NzYwNjkuaHRt Sorry for the late update, I've been sick the past few days. Still, I'm playing the Secret of Mana remake and while I still haven't finished this one, I thought maybe the review of the original game would be nice, so here it is for you! https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDMxNjgxNzMuaHRt Right now, I'm playing the Secret of Mana remake. You know, with my life going on the way it is now, I really prefer if I can play wherever I want to. This is why I played so many games on the Nintendo Switch recently (You can see it in the focus of the articles on this page).Thanks to Steam's home streaming service, I'm finally able to also play my local games wherever I'm located in our house. So this is nice.The remake seems reasonably good up until now (a review will follow), but it reminded me that I really would have preferred a Seiken Densetsu 3 remake. This is why I uploaded some images to the Seiken gallery. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDI4MzM5OTYuaHRt Some gallery update stuff.First, there are some new images over in the Xenoblade gallery. I changed the backend of rpg-o-mania so that I can finally upload png files as well as jpg ones.There's also the Screenshot gallery now available where I'm going to upload various screenshots over time which might be unrelated to any game, or rpg even. But you should know that they are made by me, so, uh, I've got that going at least. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDI0OTE1NDguaHRt I finished Xenoblade 2 Torna DLC. And it really really blew me away. I wrote everything down in my review.I just expanded the Xenoblade one, since they are so intertwined.Oh my, do I need to go to bed now. Torna was an intense experience. I don't know how often I was so emotionally touched by a RPG. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDIzNTUwOTMuaHRt More moments!If you have played Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and its prequel Torna: The Golden Country, you might have encountered the same moment that I experienced. But again, Xenoblade 2 is full of intense moments, especially when combined with Torna. The moments section contains heavy spoilers, so be sure to click only onto that link if you have either finished the games or if you don't care to be spoiled :) https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDIwOTM3MzkuaHRt Oh my, when I checked out my Xenoblade Chronicles 2 review, I noticed that it stopped somewhere in the middle of the conclusion. I fixed that now, so you can read the missing one and a half sentences. Yay. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDIwMjI4MzAuaHRt It's really incredible, whenever I complain that I wasn't able to achieve X in time Y, then suddenly an opportunity comes up to finish X quickly. Yesterday, I wrote that I had to start with a tiny portion of the moments section, and today I'm here and able to announce that two more moments have been published. Enjoy! https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDE5NjU4NjAuaHRt I wanted to be this update to be bigger, I really tried my best. Alas, I haven't got enough time to write down everything I've got, so I thought instead of postponing the update again, I'll start with a tiny portion of that new section.Named section is a upcoming set of articles over in the coverage area. It's called Those Moments, and it's meant to collect some of the most intense, strong moments that happen in various rpgs.I had the idea for that section the past days when I played Xenoblade 2 Torna: Golden Kingdom and saw some scenes that reminded me of what happened in the original Xenoblade 2 game which plays 500 years after its sequel.I started this upcoming series of articles with a heavy topic (a certain scene in Final Fantasy VI) that made me include some phone numbers to various help lines.I still hope you like the idea; the next updates here on rpg-o-mania will cover more intense moments. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDE3MDMzNjQuaHRt Still no big update today. I was in Istanbul the last few days on a business trip. It's a really nice and busy town (heh), I enjoyed my stay!For the time being, there are some Torna images from Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDEyNjc2NzEuaHRt I did some smaller updates here and there in the past few days, I wonder if you noticed? The most obvious was a slight redesign of the news page.I also added some Final Fantasy CC images that once existed in the Final Fantasy:CC shrine that's now been removed from the coverage page. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDA3OTU5MzcuaHRt Ah and if you noticed, I changed the banner on top of this page again. I want to display something friendly but also detailed and responsive. This one, I like. At least for now. :) https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDA2NzI3NTMuaHRt Octopath TravelerAfter so many updates regarding this fine game, I finally concluded the corresponding review. We're still not finished with all of the Octopath updates (there are still some "lists" to do), so expect more to come sometime in the future.Rating of gamesThe Octopath review above is rated as I rated many games in the past, with a decimal system you know from many other sites. But I have to admit that I'm not completely satisfied with this system since it doesn't value what the developers did good or bad, so I thought about how to give gamers a better impression of what the strenghts and weaknesses of RPGs are, and I'm working on a new rating system that will give you a more detailed info of those games. Sill nothing finished here, though. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1NDAxOTcxODAuaHRt Final Fantasy CC contentWhen I restarted the page here at the beginning of the year, I thought it was cool to have the old Final Fantasy:CC shrine online just as it was back when the page vanished in 2007. But I realized that the pages were hardly readable on mobile phones, and that there was not so much content here anyway.So I decided to remove the link to the shrine from the coverage page and instead recreate the only true additional info the shrine hosted - "Changes in development".So the link to the page is gone (albeit not completely) and you can enjoy reading the changelog now from all platforms.Octopath TravelerIn my last update, I wrote that I finished Octopath Traveler. It turns out that this was not true since there is another bonus dungeon at the end where can conclude a story that involves all characters once you met certain conditions in the subquests of the game.When I entered the dungeon, I quickly realized that I'll never be able to finish this bonus story. In this story, you have to fight eight bosses that you fought during the game, in a slightly stronger form and then the final bonus boss.This sounds interesting, but for whatever reason, the developers thought it was funny to not include a save point there, so you have to fight all bosses and if you mess up at the final boss, you have to fight all eight again. That's a real pity, because that's lots of buildup for the final boss you have to repeat every time you mess up. So yeah, no true complete playthrough for me. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Mzk4OTIwMTcuaHRt After 83 hours, I finally finished Octopath Traveler for the Switch. You might have noticed that I played it since there were quite some updates about this particular game here on rpg-o-mania.Strangely enough, even if I spent so many hours, I was never as connected to the game as I was with other titles. Somehow, however, I always sticked to it and had my share of fun with this one. Surely, the great soundtrack and fun battle system took their part in my playtime.I captured all of the eight ending screens and decided to share them with you. They're in their own Octopath Ending gallery. I thought it would be wise to put them into a own gallery to avoid accidental spoilers. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Mzk2OTA1NDguaHRt Oh my, almost a week since the last update. I'm currently preparing some new articles, which takes some time. However, you don't have to wait longer for new stuff.I added some new Phantasy Star images to the corresponding new gallery. They are quite nice, some of them have already been used in some parts of this page. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MzkxOTY5NDcuaHRt Sometimes, there's time, and sometimes, there's no time... for updates. Times aside, now's the time for a bigger update.I finally reviewed Skyrim (thus the new banner that appeared here a few days ago). I also drew some Skyrim artwork for you to enjoy.I hope you like the different approach to a review this time. I won't do any fancy crazy all-so-different reviews all the time, but this one's a bit special. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Mzg5ODQ5ODEuaHRt You know, I never played the Secret of Mana remake. I really enjoy the original game once in a while and even if the reviews of the remake are a mixed bag, I really would like to play the newer version some day. Alas, I practically only play on the Nintendo Switch, and Square Enix wasn't able to release the remake there up until now. And there's still no announcement yet if the remake is considered for release on Nintendo's new platform.There are some new art gallery images online that have been released along with the remake, and I personally think they're really nice to look at. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Mzg2Nzc0MjcuaHRt Say hello to another chapter of "updates the webmaster likes but no one else cares". You can now direct link to my news entries. Just click on the link below this post! Hooray! Next time, it's back to new content again, promise. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Mzg0NzQzMDMuaHRt After some content updates and our Octopath list of things, It's time again for some media updates. I found some nice Final Fantasy images that fit niceliy to the upcoming Final Fantasy XII on the Nintendo Switch.My friend Sascha played it just recently and enjoyed it as I did back in 2006. It seems that Final Fantasy XII didn't receive as much love as the former Final Fantasies (at least up until FFX), but I think it has some nice ideas, a compelling story and a Soundtrack that is nice even if it's one not composed by Nobuo Uematsu.On another note, news said that Mr. Uematsu had to halt all activities due to an illness - I hope it's nothing critical and that he will be able to get well soon. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MzgyMTEwODkuaHRt With the new Octopath List, we have finally finished the available weaponry in Octopath Traveler.However, I need to update it soon to state where all of the Weapons that can't be purchased in shops can be located. So I have still lots of work to do :) https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Mzc5ODY3NDAuaHRt It took some days, but finally things changed. So what did I do?First of all, if your browser cache doesn't play you any tricks, you should see a new banner on top of this page. This is the first time I replaced the banner since the relaunch in January (although I tweaked the old one a few times), but this is a completely new one this time. I hope one can see that the castle shown is from Skyrim, namely the town of Whiterun.But why Skyrim? I'm preparing some specials for the future, and one thing will be a extensive review - which will also cover the screenshots I prepared in this Skyrim gallery. But don't be afraid, I won't start to make galleries from my own playthroughs. I just thought it would be nice if you can already take a little peek inside of what's going to come up soon.Of course I haven't forgotten the Octopath lists, which will continue soon.What a lenghty news entry. Let's go on with stuff - DocOwer off! :D Update 2019-0-27: It seems I was so enthusiastic yesterday about the news that I messed up spelling and grammar. I corrected this now - hopefully. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Mzc2MDQyOTQuaHRt Ah finally. We have the next list of Octopath things online, now it's a list of all the bows. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Mzc0Njk0MDUuaHRt Just a short notice of what's going on. I had some stressful business and harvesting things to do the past few days, so I wasn't able to complete any tasks regarding rpg-o-mania.Well, except for the backend, which I developed further, but this doesn't help you, my dear reader. I'll do my best to come up with an update tomorrow! https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MzcxMjIxMDkuaHRt Octopath list of things are continued with this update.This time around, we have the Axes covered.More to come soon, as you would probably expect :) https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MzY5NDg4ODUuaHRt Again, the Octopath lists of things have been updated. This time, I added the daggers. I also noticed that it is quite uncertain where some items can be obtained in my list (in contrast to the Google document), so I will rework the tables soon so that they can show you where you can steal or purchase equipment. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MzY3NzYxNTAuaHRt Basically, I wanted to continue with my Octopath Traveller list of things, but I had some stressful days again and Square decided to remaster Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles on the PS4 and the Nintendo Switch game consoles, so I couldn't resist. Here is the old FF:CC art gallery again. Now I think I have to redo the old FF:CC shrine... https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MzY0ODM5ODguaHRt Let's continue with Octopath lists of things. Now you can find an overview of all the spear weapons online! https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MzYzNDA3MzYuaHRt At long last, more content and not just art. Yaay. I started to compile information for Octopath Traveler. You see, as great as this game is, it bugs me a little that there is no overview of which shop has what items. It's not even clear what grade of equipment you can get anywhere. For instance, there are towns where you start your journey that already have high-level, expensive equipment. In a German forum, someone posted a link to a Google spreadsheet document where someone collected all the information about weapons, armor and so on. This spreadsheet is great, but hard to read on notebooks, tablets or even smartphones. So I thought I'd copy this information (of course while linking to the original document), cut a few details and present the information to you in a way that's easier to read. If you know the author of the doc, please let me know, I'd be happy to mark them. You can find the first table (more to come soon) here! https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MzYwODY2NDkuaHRt *sigh*, I'm sorry for another lazy art update. I added some images to the newly created Octopath Traveler gallery. I have so much new and unique content in mind, but these days, I simply lack time to create all of this content. But don't worry, everything will come up online here - eventually. Update 2018-09-05: I obviously had so little time yesterday that I totally messed up with wording and grammar of my news entry. *sigh* again. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MzU2ODg4OTkuaHRt Sorry guys, I'm a bit late in adding new stuff lately, but I have been busy in harvesting stuff in real life. Come to think of it, this is like Harvest Moon VR, just that it's not virtual. Heh. Anyway, since I'm still on a retro trip, you can find the old rpg-o-mania Grandia wallpapers online again. More modern stuff to come soon! https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MzUyNzQ5MDAuaHRt After the announcement of two Grandias on the Nintendo Switch, I'm still sort of in a Grandia mood. So I checked old rpg-o-mania's galleries and found some nice Grandia images I uploaded into the corresponding gallery. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MzUwNDczMDYuaHRt A new day, a new update. There's a new link over at the links section, this time to a german site, Suikoden.de, a really nice website that covers many things Suikoden. Back at the old rpg-o-mania, I also linked to many german sites and yeah, let's continue this! https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MzQ5NjIwNzcuaHRt This was more for testing purposes, but since Grandia remakes or at least remasters have been announced: Here are two images from Grandia 2! https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MzQ3ODc4NDUuaHRt The last few updates consisted of Shining Force wallpapers, this time we're going to cover something different. Back in 1999, when I played Phantasy Star IV, I captured every cutscene and all images from these scenes individually and posted them here at rpg-o-mania. In total, they are almost 300 images, but i didn't convert them from the old rpg-o-mania gallery when I relaunched this site in january. I wanted to do something bigger. Something that's more than a mere gallery. And here we have a totally revamped gallery of all the images. I hope you enjoy them. And I also hope you forgive 18-year-old DocOwer in 1999 that he saved all images as JPG and not GIF. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MzQzMjE0ODQuaHRt Artists are pesky people. I still was not satisfied with most of the latest Shining wallpapers, so I redid them - again. I hope you like them as much more as I do now :) https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MzQxODI2MDYuaHRt I hope it's not going to be boring now, but there is another pair of Shining wallpapers and Shining gallery images available. There are still two more images to come - they take some time to create, but then I'm going back to the report business. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MzM4MzgwMTIuaHRt Shining week goes on, with another new wallpaper that can be found here. If you're a regular, you might have noticed that I changed the other two wallpapers as well. The corresponding character artwork for Ken can be found here. You might notice that I changed his getup, but I just didn't like the original armor look. So I gave him the shirt that Nigel from Landstalker wears. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MzM1Mjk3MTAuaHRt Shining force time continues. Today, we have another Shining wallpaper and a Shining gallery image. Again, they're exclusive :) https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MzMzNTM3NzIuaHRt It's Shining Force time! I added a image to the Shining art gallery and a similarly themed one to the Shining wallpaper gallery. More Shining Force stuff to come soon! https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MzMwMDk4MjcuaHRt I added another Breath of Fire mobile wallpaper today in two variants to make up for yesterdays lack of content :) https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MzI5NzQzODEuaHRt In the midst of the heat wave of 2018, I fixed a teeny little problem in the news archive where the oldest news haven't been shown. I fixed this now. Sadly, no new content today. But maybe a little cheer? Woohoo, all you rpg-o-manians, you're great! https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MzI3NTc4MTAuaHRt Since its relaunch of rpg-o-mania, roughly eight months have passed. And I'm very happy to announce that another historical section of this page has been reopened. Slowly, rpg-o-mania is going to be bigger than ever before. Today we celebrate the return of the wallpapers. Right now, there aren't too many wallpapers online - there are two new ones to be found in the new mobile Breath of Fire and mobile Xenoblade galleries. I also updated all of the really old 1999-2000 wallpapers. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MzIzNjQzNTIuaHRt I finished my series on RPG and pop culture now with my second page about pop songs included in RPGs or RPG songs performed by famous artists. This list is still a bit short but I plan on expanding it whenever I stumble upon anything interesting! One of the next updates will include a section that has not been added to the new rpg-o-mania - Wallpapers! Stay tuned! https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MzE4NTc1MjUuaHRt Okay, it seems that my series of articles takes some more time. Instead of postponing the updates again, I thought I'd do the same that I did with the Xeno pages and the recommendations - I publish them bit by bit. So over at the coverage section, you will find a new "pop culture and rpgs" page link that leads to this page. Here you will find some bits of trivia and information about how pop culture, pop songs and rpgs interact with each other. It all starts with a few bits of music that seems to be inspired one way or the other. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MzE2ODA2NTYuaHRt Just a short notice - the set of articles I'm currently working on take up some time, but now I have the information and can prepare anything in time. So be prepared to have a new set of reports online here soon. :) https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MzEyNDU5NTMuaHRt It's artwork time! I have created a little piece of wallpaper the past few days, it's a Pyra Artwork from Xenoblade Chronicles. Since I've drawn quite some pictures now, I decided to create a gallery with rpg-o-mania exclusive images. The images there are the same as in the other galleries, with the only difference being the fact that they have been drawn by me and they're collected there. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MzA1NTczOTIuaHRt After all of the technical work I did in the backend, it is good to be on track again with real content stuff. After I spent 70 hours on this game, I reviewed Xenoblade Chronicles 2 for the Nintendo Switch. I hope you like it! https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MzAxNzg4NzAuaHRt This is the first time I'm actually posting news from my smartphone :) There are numerous new Xenoblade Chronicles 2 images online. This was such a good game...! https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MzAwNzIzNzAuaHRt Another small backend update - you can now page through the news over in the news archive. More game related content coming soon! https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Mjk4NjEzMTMuaHRt Not just technical updates this time. I wrote a review about the remake of Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap. This comes with a little easter egg. But be sure to check out the game, it's great! https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Mjk2MDQ0MDguaHRt Another little update in the backend. I tweaked this and that, so that rpg-o-mania is a tad easier to maintain. More regular updates coming soon! https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MjkyMjAyOTMuaHRt It's a small and big update at the same time. Small, because there's nothing especially new for you readers. And big, because I had to change almost every file here on the webpage because I made a mistake that just didn't show up on browsers. And on another note, the layout should look nicer now on bigger screens. :) https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MjkxMjcwMDUuaHRt In spring this year, I had my "Setsuna" phase going on. Now there's some kind of aftermath - the Winter's End soundtrack review. A funny side story: This is the first soundtrack review since 2004. That means that if you got a child at the time when the last soundcheck was released, it would be 14 by now and on the verge of becoming an adult. Aah, time flies... For nostalgia, I didn't create a new score card but rather used the original old file and just added the new score! :) https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Mjg5MTEwNDUuaHRt Sorry for the late update to all my visitors! A thunderstorm crashed our wireless router and I ended up having no (or rather limited) access to the internet. So I did what every responsible adult would do - I played games. So I haven't really prepared some rpg-o-mania update either... ^^ When I browsed around my laptop I remembered (but wasn't able to find) an old music file I received back then in 2000 from its composer. This was the first and only MP3 ever to be stored here, and I thought that it would also be fitting today. But since the original MP3 was lost in a harddisk crash back in 2001, I searched the tune up in YouTube and indeed found the original file from its original composer - it can be found here and in the music section. Enjoy! And now I should start working on bigger updates again. :) https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Mjc5NjA0MzcuaHRt Thanks to lots of nice people over at reddit's rpg_gamers subreddit, I added some information to the Xeno impact set of articles. And I realized that I need to add much more information about how things came to be, so I'm going to add that soon! https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1Mjc3NDg5MzUuaHRt And finally, after another few days of work, I have finished the Xenoblade Chronicles report in the Xeno impact series of articles. Soon there will be more - and again, please excuse the slow pace of updates these days. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MjY1MDAzMjIuaHRt Things are quite stressful in my private life right now, but I haven't forgot about rpg-o-mania and the little Xeno story. So here it is... Chapter 2 of the Xeno impact, this time about Xenosaga. Have fun! As much as I hope I still have fun with Xenoblade Chronicles 2 after I beat that darned chapter 4... :D https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MjU4MDgxMjYuaHRt And just as promised, we start our series on the impact of the Xeno games here on rpg-o-mania. Check the first entry out and see how Xenogears was received twenty years ago ... gosh, 1998 is 20 years ago... https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MjU1MDI0NjcuaHRt If you're wondering what happens back in rpg-o-mania's laboratories, I'm writing a column right now about the backstory of the Xeno games. This takes some time, but in the meantime, you can enjoy more Xenoblade artwork :) https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MjQ4ODkwOTUuaHRt Now that we ended our little series on Tokyo RPG Factory and the Setsuna games, let's open up the next series, or legacy, or whatever you might call it. This time it's about the Xeno games, starting with a Xenoblade Chronicles gallery. More in-depth information to come up soon, but maybe you can pass the time by looking at the pictures! :D https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MjQ1MTAyNDguaHRt And now to conclude our little Toyko RPG factory series, there's a review of Lost Sphear. I would have loved to give it more than the rating it eventually got, but I think it's a fair assessment. If you disagree, feel free to contact me - docower@googlemail.com is there for you, just send me a mail! https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MjQxNTkwMTEuaHRt Hooray, more than a single image in this update. I wrote a review of I Am Setsuna and it's here for you to read. Now we have the overview of Tokyo RPG factory, a review of the first game, and a review of the second game is coming up. Stay tuned! https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MjM2MDYwNzUuaHRt And again, equally lots of work and a little amount of stuff updated - there is a new image over there at the Seiken gallery. In the upcoming updates, we will cover some more stories again. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MjMxMjI1MjcuaHRt A long time ago, I wrote some news entry where I complained about the fact when effort for an update does not equal amount of things to update. This is one of these updates. A new image to the Seiken gallery has been added. I hope you like it! :) https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MjI1OTgwMDEuaHRt And just as I wrote a postponement news this morning, today I managed to present you the newest addition to the galleries: Seiken Densetsu (Secret of Mana). https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MjI1NTg5MTUuaHRt No April fool's joke here today, I just wanted to inform you that I'm currently recreating some artwork from old RPG-O-Mania that wasn't of high enough quality to put it here. Stay tuned, the first one will come soon! https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MjE4MzEzMzUuaHRt It's Setsuna time here at rpg-o-mania! I wrote an article about the people behind "I am Setsuna" and "Lost Sphear", Tokyo RPG Factory. Check it out here, it can be found in Coverage, People behind. I hope you enjoy the little tidbit of information I collected. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MjEzOTg1OTIuaHRt In preparation of more to come, enjoy the Setsuna galleries that cover both "I am Setsuna" and "Lost Sphear". Reviews and in-depth coverage of these games come up soon! https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MjA3NDk4MzcuaHRt Today, I added some Suikoden images from the old rpg-o-mania here. You see, I only added the better ones of those images. The Suikoden galleries of the old page were huge, but there were lots of pictures from the early days of the internet that are not nice to look at anymore. This is why I need to look through all the galleries again when uploading files. Not only because I need to check for what images I have the right to post them (which has been granted by Konami back in the day) but also which images are still good enough for today's high resolution screens. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MjA2OTk5ODQuaHRt Just a short notice - whenever there are new images in the gallery, these new ones will be shown just on top, means I changed the sorting to be from newest to oldest. Maybe I should allow users to change the sorting, hmm... https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MjA0NDczNzguaHRt There are changes over at the recommendations. The first thing you might not notice (especially when it's your first time you're taking a look over there) is that the game recommendations are now alphabetically sorted. The bigger change involves five games - I added all of the Breath of Fire games to the recommendations I think I really should flesh out some of these recommendations to be fully fledged spotlight reports... https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MTk2NzUyMDcuaHRt Oh well, now the updates really come cheaper by the dozen. But you see, I'm really quite motivated and so I'm always writing some stuff for rpg-o-mania. I extended the "good rpgs for every era" and added Phantasy Star IV, Suikoden and Suikoden 2. You can find them here. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MTk1ODE1OTcuaHRt I added another bunch of old rpg-o-mania images to the Breath of Fire gallery. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MTkzNjA4NzMuaHRt A new and old friend has arrived - the Shining series galleries are back! I have fond memories when I take a look at these galleries again while picking the best images for new rpg-o-mania here. Enjoy! https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MTkyNDI5MzAuaHRt Small and big changes at the same time... I added a few description texts to the galleries. In the old tradition of rpg-o-mania, I will start to get more gallery stuff online in the next few updates! https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MTkwMTk5NjYuaHRt Now we're getting started. I finished the recommendations section with games from 2006 onward. Of course, this series will be continued even in the future and will be updated and expanded. But now you can have an overview of what games I'd recommend as being ageless and can be played anytime. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MTg4MTgzNzMuaHRt This time, I was quicker :) I added the next chapter to my "recommendations" - now it's about the era between 1999 and 2005. You can check it out over in the coverage section or here. Enjoy! https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MTgyOTU2MTAuaHRt Sheesh, that went not as quick as intended. I'm writing on my series of reports on recommendations for a few weeks now, but I cannot seem to complete it as fast as I would enjoy to do so. So instead of waiting even longer, I decided to publish the first two chapters (which will possibly be extended in the next weeks as well. So enjoy rpg-o-manias recommendations at least for the first two eras :) https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MTc3MjkzMzcuaHRt As I'm looking around, I tend to stumble upon more interesting websites that still focus on good quality content. Today, I added another link to Flying Omelette. It can be found in the Links section. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MTcxNzE2NTYuaHRt And just as it turned out to be, I found a few spare minutes and finished my newest Breath of Fire image as promised. Now I should be off starting that special I was writing about. :) https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MTcxNDIzOTUuaHRt Well, hello to those few people who visit here regularly! You're the best! But also if you just happen to visit here every other day, you're also the best. Well anyway, I updated some things. It's not what I intended to update for a few days now - I have some great spotlight story in mind and I also currently work on a Breath of Fire artwork. Alas, I wasn't able to finish any of these until today. I re-added the Terranigma gallery from old RPG-O-Mania. It contains some exclusive images and I thought you'd maybe like them. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MTY2ODg4NDYuaHRt I added the page seikens.com to the Links page. This site seems to be a bit wobbly and some parts won't work anymore (like the contact forms, hence I couldn't ask them for a link exchange), but the content is still good nonetheless On another note, I updated the Final Fantasy gallery quite extensively (although it is not as big as it was back in the days of the old RPG-O-Mania), but these images are quite good and I thought you might like them https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MTYyNzU3ODEuaHRt Right now I'm being a full time dad, but I happen to have a spare minute here and there. This time, I drew a image for the Breath of Fire gallery. To make it easier for you, the image of Bow can be found here. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MTU5NTM1NjIuaHRt Just a short notice of what has happened the past few days. I reworked the layout a bit, it's a tad more colorful now - at least if your browser recognized the changes and reloads the files. It's nothing big, though. On another note, I reworked the news system a bit so that the main page only shows the newest three entries. Again, nothing special, but the page continues to be worked on. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MTU3NTgwMTEuaHRt The series of updates continues: The Grandia galleries have been updated. Just like in the old days, don't you think? :) https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MTU1OTU0MDEuaHRt Just as a short notice - the Links have been updated with a few noteworthy sites that I'm glad are still online. https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MTUzMzQ5NzkuaHRt It really feels good to re-announce updates here on rpg-o-mania. I have added artwork to the breath of fire and suikoden galleries. And they're self-drawn, so you won't likely find them anywhere else! :) https://www.rpg-o-mania.com/newsarchive.php?showfile=b3dlci1kbXMvbmV3c2VudHJpZXMvbmV3czE1MTQ4MTQ3NDcuaHRt Might you believe it that rpg-o-mania is truly online again? And it's not only a vague attempt in restoring something that was once here, this website has about 80% of the content rpg-o-mania had when it went offline back in 2008 So the hiatus ended, and if you'd like to know more about rpg-o-mania's history, check out the history section over at the coverage button in the navigation So please feel free to stroll around here, check out the content that is online now and make sure to check back soon as new content is going to be updated regularly Well, updates will not at all be as frequent as they were back in the mid 2000s, since I have family and other responsibilities to attend. But this little baby will remain online! Enjoy the return of rpg-o-mania, DocOwer