Rpg Fan's Random Encounter

This might be our most tangent-filled episode ever. Talking about The Wolf Among Us leads to a discussion on narrative and player choice, and then Derek tells us all about Pokemon eugenics. There's also some (more) Deus Ex to talk about and a brief news section as we patiently await the new consoles. Featuring: Robert Steinman, Stephen Meyerink, Derek Heemsbergen Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email us: podcast@rpgfan.com

Rob got to play Dark Souls II. We don't have to say much else, do we? Oh, uh, Derek got to play some Zelda and Stephen played more Type-0, but we know why you're here. Praise the Sun! Featuring: Robert Steinman, Stephen Meyerink, Derek Heemsbergen Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email us: podcast@rpgfan.com

A brief discussion on Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX leads to some talk of how gaming has changed over the years. Derek follows that up with some (more!) Etrian Odyssey and news to round out the show. Featuring: Rob Steinman, Stephen Meyerink, Derek Heemsbergen Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email us: podcast@rpgfan.com

The summer draws to a close, but there's more than enough awesome gaming to go around. Derek and Stephen continue their journey through the lands of Eorzea, Rob gets in touch with his inner tactician, and OH MY GOD, BETA ANNOUNCEMENT FOR DARK SOULS II!!! Featuring: Rob Steinman, Stephen Meyerink, Derek Heemsbergen Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email us: podcast@rpgfan.com

No rest for the wicked this summer. We've got lots of new releases to talk about, including Shin Megami Tensei IV, Dragon's Crown, and Tales of Xillia. Rob and Stephen are lost (again) in Skyrim, and Derek has lots of news to talk about. Featuring: Robert Steinman, Stephen Meyerink, Derek Heemsbergen Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email us: podcast@rpgfan.com

Beat the summer heat and join the cast for a quality discussion on character classes. How do we decide which class to play in a video game? Why does Stephen always have to choose a magic user? Will John ever get tired of hitting things really hard as a dwarf? Stay tuned after the news for an interview with Jordan Weisman from Harebrained Schemes, makers of the upcoming Shadowrun Returns. Enjoy! Featuring: Robert Steinman, John McCarroll, Stephen Meyerink, Derek Heemsbergen Special Guest: Jordan Weisman from Harebrained Schemes Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email us: podcast@rpgfan.com

Join the cast of Random Encounter for some summer gaming fun! We've got some very positive impressions of Final Fantasy XIV, more love to hand out to Virtue's Last Reward, a little Project X Zone and Muramasa to discuss, and Derek tackles the news (including the now infamous XBox 180). Featuring: Robert Steinman, Stephen Meyerink, Derek Heemsbergen Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email us: podcast@rpgfan.com

E3 2013 was surely one of the best years in recent memory for our beloved genre(s), and we have an absolute avalanche of things to discuss in our latest and greatest wrap-up show ever. The announcement of Kingdom Hearts III headlines, with some other games, I guess, too. Did our heroes survive the Ifrit challenge? Did Stephen's head explode when they announced KHIII? Tune in and find out! Featuring: Robert Steinman, Stephen Meyerink, Derek Heemsbergen Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email us: podcast@rpgfan.com

It's the most wonderful time of the year! We've got our special Pre-E3 show and lots to talk about. What are we most excited about? What's going to happen with the new consoles? Do we have any crazy predictions that we'll laugh about later? Tune in and find out! Featuring: Robert Steinman, John McCarroll, Stephen Meyerink, Derek Heemsbergen Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email us: podcast@rpgfan.com

We decided to take a break from the usual new release talk and focus on something everybody loves in RPGs: character progression! Of course, we have to talk about the XBox One reveal (now forever known as the X-Bone). Finally, we have an interview with some of the wonderful folks at Aksys who localize some of your favorite games! Featuring: Robert Steinman, John McCarroll, Stephen Meyerink, Derek Heemsbergen Special Guests: Karen McOscar, Ben Bateman, Editors for Aksys Games Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email us: podcast@rpgfan.com

Let the hate flow through you. Rob's got LOTS to say about Dragon's Dogma, but we accentuate the positive first when John talks about Dead Island Riptide. After Rob's meds kick in, Derek discusses Pandora's Tower and then we finish things off with a bit of news. Featuring: Robert Steinman, John McCarroll, Stephen Meyerink, Derek Heemsbergen Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email us: podcast@rpgfan.com

We're fighting through the allergy season to get you the latest information on RPGs. We've got Soul Hackers, Soul Sacrifice and Dark Souls II to talk about (probably should have renamed the podcast, now that we think about it), and then some news which includes a huge amount of Nintendo Direct announcements and a bit of speculation on next-gen consoles. Featuring: Robert Steinman, Stephen Meyerink, Derek Heemsbergen Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email us: podcast@rpgfan.com

Spoiler Warning! And now for something completely different. The podcast crew decided it was time to take a long hard look at narrative in RPGs and video games as a whole. We pretty much get lost talking about the importance of player choice, strong character interactions, and the interactive nature of the art form. There are some spoilers here and there, but we do our best to bring up the game beforehand so you can skip ahead as needed. Derek brings it home with news, including some pretty disappointing financials from Square-Enix. Featuring: Robert Steinman, Stephen Meyerink, Derek Heemsbergen, Kyle E. Miller, Dave Yeager Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email us: podcast@rpgfan.com

We've got a weird one for y'all this week. With John catching a case of the Solid Snake Gravely Voice, the podcast ends of hijacked with tons of side topics and seemingly random discussions. Thankfully, there's some new releases to talk about with Etrian Odyssey IV and Atelier Ayesha. We've also got a little preview of another potential retro episode, so be sure to let us know what you think! Featuring: Robert Steinman, Stephen Meyerink, Derek Heemsbergen Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email us: podcast@rpgfan.com

Y'all wanted more retro episodes, so we put together a brief discussion of System Shock 2 and its impact on the gaming world since its release nearly fourteen years ago. After that, you know we just have to talk about the big Playstation 4 announcement last week, and we've certainly got some rather divisive opinions among the group. Featuring: Robert Steinman, John, McCarroll, Stephen Meyerink, Derek Heemsbergen, Kyle E. Miller Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email us: podcast@rpgfan.com

We're down one party member this week, but fear not, listeners! We've got some final thoughts on Ni no Kuni, some serious love for Fire Emblem: Awakening, and some brief thoughts on the re-release of System Shock 2 on Good Old Games. Featuring: Robert Steinman, Stephen Meyerink, Derek Heemsbergen Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email us: podcast@rpgfan.com

Ni no Kuni is finally out in America, and the podcast crew takes an in-depth look at Level 5's latest epic. Following a spirited debate and brief analysis of video game commercials for some reason, Stephen and Rob throw down on Path of Exile. Oh, and there's an epic amount of news to talk about, so somebody give John a nice pat on the back for organizing all of this madness! Featuring: Robert Steinman, John, McCarroll, Stephen Meyerink, Derek Heemsbergen Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email us: podcast@rpgfan.com

Our first ever Music of the Year show, featuring some of our favorite tracks from the year. Stay tuned after the show for our interview with Casey Ormond, arranger of the Piano Collections Final Fantasy XII album! And if you like the show, be sure to let us know! Featuring: Stephen Meyerink, Derek Heemsbergen, Patrick Gann, Don Kotowski Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email us: podcast@rpgfan.com

2012 has finally come to a close, and thankfully the Mayans weren't right and the world keeps turning. But before we start talking about 2013, join us for a look back at some of the major releases of last year with a bit more time and perspective on our side. Of course we've got some crazy predictions for 2013, so be sure to listen and tell us in a year just how wrong we were! Featuring: Robert Steinman, Stephen Meyerink, Derek Heemsbergen, Kyle E. Miller Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email us: podcast@rpgfan.com

It's the last episode of the year, and we decided to go out with a bang by inviting long time editor John Tucker to the podcast. He's got some Paper Mario to talk about, and then John, Derek and Stephen completely steal the show to gush about Crimson Shroud. There's quite a bit of news to finish out the year, however, including a story that Rob and Stephen have been DYING to talk about... Featuring: Robert Steinman, John McCarroll, Stephen Meyerink, John Tucker, and Derek Heemsbergen Questions? Comments? Spare Potions? Email us: podcast@rpgfan.com