In 2010, renowned RPG developer Level-5 released Ni no Kuni: Dominion of the Dark Djinn for the Nintendo DS in Japan. The game received a huge wave of attention due to the unique collaboration between Level-5 and the famed film animation studio Ghibli. A year later the game saw a worldwide release for the PlayStation 3 under the title Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch. Though the two games had much in common, like storylines and cutscenes, the games were developed by different teams within Level-5 and played differently. With the extra year of polish, the PS3 version wowed critics and audiences alike with smooth visuals, a fully orchestrated soundtrack, and an awful lot of heart. 

Is Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch one of the best games period? 

Outro music: Super Mario Land 'Welcome Goombo Probably' by Suzumebachi (http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR03708)

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Frog Fractions will not teach you how to fraction. It's also free and you can play it here: http://twinbeard.com/frog-fractions/

It's highly recommended that you play the game before you listen. It should only take about an hour to complete depending on how quick you are at discovering its tricks. 

Outro music: Dance Dance Revolution Extreme 'Epic Steps' by Tonalysis (http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR03699)

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In 1994, the now defunct LJN made a major play to break away from its well-known industry niche of adapting popular movie franchises into video games. The result of their labor was Revengent Star, an ambitious and strange RPG that hoped to compete with the likes of Final Fantasy and Breath of Fire. While unconfirmed, the effort put into the creation of Revengent Star was widely suspected to have led to the eventual downfall of LJN. The technology used to create the unique cartridges the game required proved to be costly leading to precious few copies released. Most copies were only sold to rental stores (remember those??) as part of an agreement that forbid resale.

Join us this week for a trip down memory lane; is Revengent Star one of the best games period?

Outro music: Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon 'Only Link Can Do the Duck Walk' by Hylian Lemon (http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR03695)

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The Stanley Parable originated as a mod for Half-Life 2 made by Davey Wreden. The mod proved to be relatively popular for its unique sense of humor and the way it played with gaming interactivity in novel ways. The result was that it became a fully fledged title that released at the tail end of 2013. Falling into that adventure game sub-genre of games that are sometimes derisively called "walking simulators," The Stanley Parable focuses on exploring interactivity in a digital medium by posing an iconic choice to the player:

If you enter a room with two doors and someone tells you to go through the door on the left, but you are fully capable of going through the door on the right, which do you choose?

With humor, minimalist design, and some brilliant voice work by Kevan Brighting, is The Stanley Parable one of the best games period?

Outro music: Lunar Pool 'Looser Tool' by Harmsing (http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR03704)

You can follow the show on Twitter: @BestGamesPeriod
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Threes released in 2014 for $2. Since then, people have been playing it like crazy. Mobile developers point to it as one of the best puzzle games out there. What is Threes? It's a game where players slide together 1s and 2s to make 3 and two 3s to make a 6 and so on. Despite it's seeming simplicity, the first player to reach the "end" only managed it a couple of months ago.

So what's the deal with Threes? Is it one of the best games period? Naomi Lugo joins as a co-host to get to the bottom of this conundrum.

You can follow Naomi on Twitter @NaomiNLugo where you can find her thoughts on Final Fantasy XV, the live-action adaptations of Death Note and Full Metal Alchemist, and her work. You can also find her work on Extra Life and Twin Cities Geek!

Outro music: Threes 'Threes Is the Bees Knees' by timaeus222 (http://ocremix.org/song/26532/threes-is-the-bees-knees)

You can follow the show on Twitter: @BestGamesPeriod
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The Long Dark presents players with an existential apocalypse and tasks them with surviving the wild in the face of an unending winter. Originally a Kickstarter project, The Long Dark has come a long way from its humble beginnings in 2013. Launched in 2014 as an Early Access title, the team at Hinterland has patiently improved and updated their studio's premier title up until its official release in 2017. The Long Dark still lacks its entire single-player campaign with two episodes of its five episode story mode released to date. 

With such a long and transparent development process, there seems to be a wide range of opinions on The Long Dark. Can it stand as one of the best games period?

You can follow Naomi on Twitter @NaomiNLugo where you can find her thoughts on Final Fantasy XV, the live-action adaptations of Death Note and Full Metal Alchemist, and her work. You can also find her work on Extra Life and Twin Cities Geek!

Outro music: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker 'All I Want for Christmas Is Grandma's Sweet Elixir Soup' by Ridiculously Garrett (http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR03696)

You can follow the show on Twitter: @BestGamesPeriod
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The Mortal Kombat series has been one of the pillars of the fighting game scene since it rose to prominence in the arcades of the early 90s. By 2011, the series had been flagging after a series of mediocre spin-offs and main entries. With the dissolution of Midway, things were grim. However, series creator Ed Boon wasn't ready to be done with quite yet. He managed to create a game that encapsulated the entire series up until that point, bringing together characters and plots that had long become too convoluted for words and unifying them into one package with a modern shine that brought Mortal Kombat into a new era of prosperity and success. 

You can follow Marcus on Twitter @MarcusStewart7 where you can find his thoughts on Dragon Ball Super, wrestling, and video games! He also writes at Marcus Writes About Games, Extra Life, and hosts Carving Gaming Rushmores.

Outro music: Mortal Kombat 3 'Mortal Konfrontation' by The Dual Dragons (http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02279)

You can follow the show on Twitter: @BestGamesPeriod
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Godzilla has a long and strange history in the world of video games. One would think that a giant dinosaur/dragon that breathes nuclear fire would lend itself well to video games, but the great green menace has had far more lows than highs. Super Godzilla represents one of the most fascinating lows of Godzilla's foray into gaming - fascinating to the extent that it might just barely be worth a mention for how strange it truly is.

Outro music: Turrican 3 'Homecoming' by Level 99 and OceansAndrew (http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR03687)

You can follow the show on Twitter: @BestGamesPeriod
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Returning guest Kazuma Hashimoto joins the show for a discussion regarding Catherine, the 2011 PS3 cult classic that's soon to receive a remaster with additional content titled Catherine: Full Body. Made by the team behind the Persona series, does Catherine hold up and are there interesting lessons to glean from a deep dive?

You can follow Kazuma on Twitter @JusticeKazzy_ - He's super nice! You can also find his work on Nova Crystallis and RPG Site.

Outro music: Persona 4 Arena 'Little Arena' by DarkeSword (http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02580)

You can follow the show on Twitter: @BestGamesPeriod
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The 2012 release of Dragon's Dogma seemed to hit at a time during which people were hungry for rich open-worlds with unique combat systems, difficult encounters, and that touch of artistic strangeness. It scratched an itch that the gaming community was having at the time and earned itself a cult following that persists to this day, spurring the game, along with its expansions, seeing a PC release and even a port last year to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

The grapple/grab mechanic brought on a lot of comparisons to Shadow of the Colossus, and seeing as the Shadow of the Colossus remake recently released, what better time to talk a little bit about Dragon's Dogma?

Outro music: Sonic the Hedgehog 'The Ultimate Ab Solution' by Ivan Hakštok and finbeard (http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR03685)

You can follow the show on Twitter: @BestGamesPeriod
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