The Record of Lodoss War: Advent of Cardice was a strange title for me. I purchased it went it first came out, but I was about 16 years old then, and was disappointed by its graphics, the fact that it didn’t play like the J-RPGs that I had become accustomed to playing, and the allure…
Category: Opinion
The Never Ending Realm features video game reviews, fan-fiction, fan-art, and more! Since 2003. Read all of our opinion pieces here!
Cross-Generation Games and the Struggle to Find a Next-Gen Console
How many times have you walked into your local big retail chain in hopes of finding either an Xbox Series X or a PlayStation 5, and found yourself walking out empty handed? The answer for me is that: I have lost count! It took me nearly 9 months to find an Xbox Series X, and…
Top Five Sega Saturn RPGs According to Electronic Gaming Monthly
Now, that Gamerankings.com has been defunct for years. We don’t really have a good data-base of Sega Saturn critical scores for its games out there. Metacritic, is relatively new and doesn’t really track games for the system. So, finding a source to make this list was more difficult than previous top fives that we have…
Zack Vs. Cloud A Purist’s Take on a 24 Year Old Rivalry
Before we get into the meat of the argument, this entire analysis and its eventual outcome is solely based on the original game. Why the Original Game is the Only Piece of Final Fantasy VII Related Work that Will Be Taken Into Account Final Fantasy VII was a complete work, and it is the only…
Throwback Bit Thursday: Halo: Combat Evolved
Once upon a time, the industry (home console makers) were all associated with certain mascots. Nintendo had Mario, Sega had Sonic, and for a time Sony had Crash Bandicoot (though to its credit the PlayStation Brand managed to break away from a single ‘face of the console’ franchise). Microsoft entered the home console battle with…
The Top Five Best Selling The Legend of Zelda Games of All Time
The Legend of Zelda has sold over 118 million games over the course of its 35 year old life span. These numbers make it one of the most commercially successful franchises of all time. Apart from its commercial success, The Legend of Zelda, is renowned for its actual greatness as a gaming franchise. Has there…
The Top Five Nintendo Wii Role-Playing Games According to Critics
The Nintendo Wii is often left out of ‘J-RPG’ conversations. The Wii, contrary to popular belief, did have a few good J-RPGs, and we have taken it upon ourselves to list them here. Editor’s Note: The Legend of Zelda was left out of the conversation for a variety reasons. First, the debate as to whether…
Throwback Bit Thursday: Xenoblade Chronicles
On the surface, Xenoblade Chronicles feels like a newer game than it actually is. The series’ growth in popularity on Nintendo systems, and the “Remaster/ports” that the title has received has kept its name on video game media headlines throughout the last decade. Xenoblade Chronicles is a 2010 Wii game that Nintendo wasn’t keen on…
Preview: Is Tales of Arise a Classic Tales With a Modern Coat of Paint?
As we reported last week, Tales of Arise‘s demo launched this week (today) on Xbox and PlayStation online shops. The demo is fairly short, and after about an hour of play, I can safely preview some of the game’s most important changes, and what has largely remained unchanged from previous entries within the long running…
Five Underrated J-RPG Heroes From the Genre’s Golden Age
When we think of Japanese Role-Playing Games (turn based or action), and some of its most iconic heroes/heroines most of us think of Cloud, Terra, Locke, Zidane, Link, etc. The Final Fantasy series has been the most popular JRPG franchise on the west (let’s pretend for a moment that Pokemon doesn’t exist), and as a…