The RPG Geek

Free Realms More Info

2009-04-28T20:17:00.001-07:00

Not a lot of time right now, but I've been playing Free Realms quite a bit. It just keeps getting better and better. I really think it will have a broad appeal of both kids and adults.

I'm having a blast exploring the world, doing quests, upgrading my character, etc. Although, I will admit I was a little bit surprised to see beta ending so soon. As good as it is, I still think there was room for improvement, but I imagine we'll see changes in the very near future.

I'll probably be buying a membership. We'll see...

Free Realms Quick Impressions

2009-04-18T12:09:00.000-07:00

Ok so keep in mind these are all first impressions based on about half an hour of gameplay, but....

Free Realms rocks.

I just finally signed in with my Beta access account and I have been thoroughly impressed. The game is running great for me considering it just recently went into beta, the graphics are beautiful, the world design is enchanting, the gameplay is very intuitive. It's very cute, yet obviously has some depth to it. Much more interesting than simple virtual worlds like Club Penguin. From my first few minutes here, it looks like the kind of game that an MMORPG player would want to introduce their kids to.

There's a great tutorial at the start of the game, so at least jump in and check that out. I'll post more detailed impressions once I've had the time to get more into the game and experience the deeper details.

Puzzle Quest

2009-04-13T13:40:00.000-07:00

So, I'm not a huge fan of the Nintendo DS... or any handheld gaming for that matter. But, I do love Puzzle Quest. I recently started playing Puzzle Quest: Galactrix, and I have to admit it's pretty awesome.

If you haven't checked it out (or the original Puzzle Quest), I highly suggest you do. It's a perfect blend of RPG-depth (character upgrading, stats, levels, equipment, story), and fast-paced, addictive gameplay. I'll try to get around to writing a review of it one of these days.

Either way, Galactrix recently came out on Xbox Live, so check it out that way if you're not into handhelds. I played the original on DS and enjoyed it, but loved it even more when it came out on Xbox Live. It was much easier to play on a TV screen rather than little DS... and it added in the awesome achievements and versus mode.

Here's some more Puzzle Quest Info:
Puzzle Quest DS Review http://www.just-rpg.com/default.asp?pid=2464
Puzzle Quest Xbox 360 Review http://www.just-rpg.com/default.asp?pid=2622
Puzzle Quest Galactrix Press Release http://www.just-rpg.com/default.asp?pid=3200

Oblivion DLC Sale

2009-04-01T11:16:00.000-07:00

If you've been putting off playing Shivering Isles, Knights of the Nine, or any other Oblivion expansions, now is the time. Bethesda has just announced that all of the Oblivion downloadable content is available for half price on XBox Live. Well, almost all of it... the infamous Horse armor pack has actually doubled in price. HAHAHA! Worthless Horse armor...

Gamers have the next week to take advantage of this offer. I've already got it all (yes, including the horse armor), so I guess I'll pass. But I do love Oblivion.

Free Realms and Wizard 101

2009-03-23T17:31:00.001-07:00

I don't know a whole lot about this upcoming game... but I have to admit it instantly grabbed my attention as soon as I visited their site. I'm a sucker for fantasy, and I've been spending a lot of time with virtual worlds for kids lately. Oh, and an upcoming card game? Cool! Free Realms definitely seems interesting! I signed up for their Beta... but am stuck waiting. :(

Anyway, check it out, looks neat! http://www.freerealms.com.

I've also been thinking of checking Wizard 101, a Wizard-themed MMO for kids. I signed up a while back, but never actually got around to playing. I'll probably finally log-in for the first time once I finish this post, so I'll let you know how it is.

Mar10

2009-03-10T13:10:00.000-07:00

Happy Mario Day, everybody!!!

What to play?

2009-03-09T10:45:00.001-07:00

I must admit, I've been a bit burned out of my regular virtual worlds lately. So, I'm looking for something to play.

I turned to a few older games that I have sitting around (one for PS2, one for PS3), but neither really grabbed my interest. I'll admit, I haven't really gotten hooked on any games for a while. I really enjoyed Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, which I played back in January. But since then... eh, nothing grabbed my interest.

I don't feel like jumping into something long and epic.... maybe something easy and mindless instead? Maybe a good action game. Hmmmm....

Creative Players

2009-02-08T07:34:00.000-08:00

Elf Island has started their second "GoodQuest", which is basically an in-game quest that has the community join together in order to reach a goal that results in good being done in the real world.

Anyway, with this new GoodQuest now active, I've been spending a lot of time on Elf Island. The community there is really great. Kids are so creative in games like this that it'll amaze you. Everything from their usernames, how they dress in the game, and how they decorate their homes... you'll be surprised by their creativity. Back in the days of VMK, players REALLY got to show off their creativity. Since VMK closed, I haven't seen a virtual world that can compare to the level of user generated content, customization and ability to express yourself that VMK had.

Anyway, this youtube video was created by an Elf Island player. It just makes me laugh every time I watch it! I think the fact that they shot this video in Elf Island just makes it absolutely hilarious!

Just-RPG Updates

2009-02-08T07:29:00.000-08:00

We've had a solid batch of updates recently at Just-RPG.com, and it's been waaaaay too long since I posted them here. So, here's some recent additions:

Lost Odyssey Review
Sins of a Solar Empire Screens
Freaky Creatures Screens
DemiGod Screens
Warhammer Online Screens
Sacred 2: Fallen Angel Screens

Enjoy!
http://www.just-rpg.com

Khaaaaaaaaaan!

2009-01-14T17:06:00.000-08:00

http://tv.yahoo.com/fantasy-island/show/30387/news/urn:newsml:tv.ap.org:20090114:obit_montalban__ER:77030

Poor Khan. You shall be missed!

Update and Changes

2009-01-08T08:17:00.000-08:00

I've moved my blog from it's previous location on http://www.just-rpg.com/ to a blogger site because Just-RPG is having some technical difficulties. I'm still with Just-RPG as Managing Editor and yes, Just-RPG is still alive... so don't go making any assumptions! LOL

Anyway, as a result of the technical difficulties and the recent move, there may be some broken links, missing images and other small problems. I may or may not move the blog back to Just-RPG... we'll see when the problems clear up. I've been doing a lot of non-RPG related blogging lately.... geared more towards virtual worlds (specifically for kids) so I'm considering changing the name and focus of my blog. Hmmm. Of course, I rarely updated nowadays anyway, so I'm probably overthinking this!!

Time for Gaming?

2009-01-03T08:07:00.001-08:00

It's been quite a while since I've done much gaming outside of casual games and a handfull of virtual worlds for kids (Habbo Hotel, Garden Party, Elf Island, etc.). A variety of reasons for this, I think.

As much as I love gaming and my Xbox 360, I think I overloaded myself a bit last year. I played a ton of games, and several of them were rather long, dull and overall mediocre. At that point, gaming was starting to feel a lot more like a chore than a form of entertainment. Blue Dragon was one of those games... it's a long and plain old average game and as much as I struggled to make myself want to play it, I just couldn't. One day I'd like to go back to it, though. As you can see from my GamerTag, the last game I played was Halo 3, which I'm also not a fan of. I liked the original Halo just fine, but after that I lost interest in the series... but, what kind of gamer would I be if I didn't play one of the biggest releases of the year? I played through it and didn't particularly enjoy it, which probably didn't do much to help my burnout.

Secondly, my Xbox 360 has been having a few technical problems. I'm sure this is something I can easily fix, but I haven't gotten around to it since I've been a bit burned out anyway.

Third is work. I started a new job back in April and it's kept me somewhat busy. Fortunately, I really like the job, and since we're developing a virtual world, it conveniently allows me to fill some of my gaming needs.

Recently I started playing Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Other than a few glitches, I'm really liking the game. Of course, I may be biased because I've always been a huge Star Wars fan.... at least, a huge fan of the old stuff. The new trilogy just lacked the depth of the originals and focused waaay too much on the action and CGI and not enough of characters and story. Oh well.

I've got a rather large pile of games I've been meaning to get to and my burnout resulted in me missing on a LOT of games... Xbox games, Xbox 360 games, PS2 games, PS3 games... and a Wii game or two. Not a fan of the Wii, obviously. I doubt I'll get through all of these games anytime soon, but I might as well get started!

Elf Island Open Beta

2008-11-22T13:00:00.000-08:00

The Secret of Elf Island (http://www.elfisland.com/) just recently started their open Beta. I joined in on day 1 of their closed beta and have seen a lot of improvements since then.

Elf Island is a fantasy MMO for tweens where you can play mini-games, chat, trade, and embark on GoodQuests that allow players to "do good" in the real world.

If you have any kids from age 8-14, or if you're a kid at heart, make sure to check them out. Their current hours of operation are from 10am-1am EST. My username is Glacian (just like everywhere else) so if you see me say "hi!".

Starcraft 2... a trilogy?

2008-10-12T19:58:00.001-07:00

Without a doubt, StarCraft is my favorite game ever made. A superb storyline, awesome characters, deep and balanced gameplay, and three fascinating and unique races... it's just a great game!!!

Obviously I'm really hyped about SC2 (although, I'm not much of a PC gamer so I expect I'll need a new computer to play it). Up to this point my only fear wast that I was so used to the ol' StarCraft that playing this "new, fancy looking StarCraft" just wouldn't be the same. Could it possibly live up to my enormous expectations? Of course, I can deal with change and Blizzard has a history of making great games. So that fear was minimal.

But now, I unfortunately have a new worry... Blizzard just announced that StarCraft 2 will... be a trilogy? Each game will focus on one of the three races. WTF?

Obviously this has the potential advantage of MORE STARCRAFT! W00t! As a huge fan of the game, I'd be lying if that prospect didn't get me excited. On the other hand, I also don't want to have to pay for 3 separate games, which is what I'll need to do to see the whole storyline and as all three races. Sounds like a scheme to pull in more cash, huh?

Not to mention, I'm horrified that I'd have to purchase all three just to get the full multiplayer experience of all three races and their unique units and abilities. Of course, this hasn't been confirmed, but it's scary to think that I might have to keep dishing out more and more cash just to be competitive. Naturally, I expect to see bonus features in an expansion and I also realize that these features should be limited to those that purchased the expansion (like in Brood Wars)... but I DON'T expect to see gamers DEPRIVED of features just because Blizzard wanted an excuse to divide the game into three parts. This could hurt the perfect balancing that the original StarCraft had and really limit the online play.

Oh well, I guess we'll see how it goes. Clearly this has me worried because it inspired me to finally update, which is something I should do more often. Read about it below:
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=20603

Elf Island Trailer

2008-09-20T07:34:00.000-07:00

Over the last year or so I've gotten into some online communities. I'm not talking about hardcore MMOs like Eve Online, WoW or FFXII... I'm talking about games like VMK, Moshi Monster and Habbo Hotel. It's nice to play something a bit more mindless now and then...

Anyway, here's a trailer for an upcoming new kid's virtual world called Elf Island.

So what we missed?

2008-09-20T07:27:00.000-07:00

Wow, I haven't updated this in forever. A few reasons for this:

1. New job... kept me fairly busy
2. My Xbox 360 has been having problems, I'm not a Wii fan, and I'm on a PC all day at work so don't do much PC gaming nowadays - so all in all I haven't been playing a lot of games. However, when I get my Xbox 360 fixed and find some time, I have several games piled up that I really DO want to play.

Anyway, since the last time I updated Just-RPG has posted all sorts of cool stuff. Here's just a peek:

Asda Story Screens
Demigod Screens
Atlantica Online Screens
Disgaea DS Trailer
Two Worlds Epic Edition Screens
Brave Story Review
Just-RPG Looking for staff
Wizard 101 Screens
And Much, Much More!!!

www.just-rpg.com

4/11/08 Issue at Just-RPG!

2008-04-14T10:10:00.000-07:00

This week's issue is filled with screens from some exciting upcoming games. Check 'em out at the link below!

http://www.just-rpg.com

New Summon Night: Twin Age Screenshots
New Drone Tactics Screenshots
New The Chronicles of Spellborn Beta Screenshots
New Metin 2 Screenshots & Trailers
New Lineage II: Hellbound Screenshots & Dev. Diary
New Requiem: Bloodymare Screenshots
And More!!!

Still Alive...

2008-04-14T10:06:00.000-07:00

Wow, I've been busy lately. There's been plenty of news going on related to RPGs, but I just haven't had the time to report on it. Apologies.

Anyway, I'm in the process of starting a new job and that has kept me very much occupied. At the same time, my current job is closing down.... so that stinks. It's just been a very busy and stressful time for me, but I do hope to start doing updates again soon.

Thanks for reading!

Two Worlds Tries to Tempt Us

2008-03-20T11:47:00.000-07:00

SouthPeak has announced that Two Worlds Temptation is set to hit stores this fall on the PC and Xbox 360.

Temptation is an expansion to the open-ended RPG Two Worlds for the Xbox 360 and PC, taking place right after the events of the original. It features improved voice overs and animations, retooled horseback riding and a totally revamped combat system.

“Our entire development team is now putting their all into making Two Worlds: The Temptation a game that is far and away better than the original,” said Miroslaw Dymek, Chief Developer with Reality Pump explained. “We’ve taken to heart all the comments made by gamers about Two Worlds and we’re going to give them what they want with the sequel.”

Grimoire of the Rift headed to DS

2008-03-20T11:35:00.000-07:00

Square Enix has announced that gamers will be making the return to Ivalice this summer with the release of Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rifts on June 24th.

This title is the sequel to the popular Final Fantasy Tactics Advance on the GBA and brings the popular franchise to the DS for the first time.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2 will feature a familiar grid-oriented battle system with intuitive use of the DS stylus, as well as new jobs and character classes. The game will feature over 400 quests, vibrant dual-screen presentation and improved gameplay.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rifts will be available in stores June 24th, 2008 for $39.99. For more information, visit: http://na.square-enix.com/ffta2/

FFVII Launch Event

2008-03-20T11:29:00.000-07:00

Square Enix has just announced a special Launch Event to commemorate the release of Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core in North America.

The event will be held at the PlayStation store @ Metreon on March 25, 2008. The lucky first 100 customers in line will receive a free shirt commemorating the event, and a variety of rare items will be given away through raffle throughout the event.

Anyone interested in attending, the details are:
Date: March 25, 2008
Time: 6:00PM - 9:00PM
PlayStation Store @ Metreon
101 4th St
San Francisco, CA 94103

New Summon Night

2008-03-18T13:26:00.000-07:00

Atlus has just announced the continuation of the popular RPG Summon Night: Swordcraft Story. This newest title will be a DS exclusive titiled Summon Knight: Twin Age.

Twin Age will be headed for release on May 20th, complete with two playable characters, and the ability to trade items with other gamers via local wireless, and full DS functionality.

More information on this upcoming title is sure to be released shortly. Head to the Atlus site for more info:

http://www.atlus.com/.

Crazy Elf MMO

2008-03-18T13:13:00.000-07:00

I just want to quickly introduce our readers out there to Elf Online, which claims to be the 'craziest MMO of 2008'.

Elf Online is a fully free MMORPG taking place in a fantasy world. It is currently in open beta, so check it out through the link below if you're interested!

http://elf.happymmo.com/

Two Worlds Content Now Available

2008-03-13T09:11:00.000-07:00

The already large game Two Worlds just got a lot bigger SouthPeak Games today announced that the first of their two downloadable content packages for Two Worlds is now available through Xbox Live.

The first content packaged is titled Tainted Blood and significantly expands the game for only 600 Microsoft Points. It features four new multiplayer maps, over 35 new quests, and over 10 hours of additional gameplay.

“This pack of downloadable content is an excellent expansion for players who love playing Two Worlds with friends, and are ready for some new and exhilarating features,” said Melanie Mroz, CEO of SouthPeak Games. “Tainted Blood not only adds to the game, but enhances it, making the overall experience even better.”

While Two Worlds was highly flawed, it was also fairly fun. Maybe it's time for me to give the game another chance...

FREE Pokemon Guide

2008-03-13T08:59:00.000-07:00

Two new Pokemon titles are headed for the DS and Nintendo intends to rewards fans that order early with a free guide to help them succeed in the game.

Starting March 16, 2008, Pokemon fans who order either Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness or Pokemon Mystery Dungen: Explorers of Time will receive a free, limited edition guide for the game.

This guide contains a collection of game tips, interviews, an original manga, and game art.

In these newest Pokemon games, players travel through time and darkness to try and unravel the mystery of why they have been transformed into a Pokemon. This quest will lead them through countless randomly generated dungeons and will allow you to encounter more than 490 different Pokemon.