18 Feb 2026 8 min read

An Evening At the Inn - Issue #4

Welcome back to the inn, travellers. I know there's been a bit of a delay this time, and I do apologize. As it turns out, when you lose your job and source of income, that makes A LOT of other dominoes start to fall as well. But we're still here and kicking.

A little bit of a different topic this week, which I've wanted to write something about for a while, as well as the usual stuff.

I also have a small announcement. I'm now a contributor at RPG Site, helping the lovely crew over there – whose work I've respected for years and years. It's an exciting opportunity to keep my brand of work going, and hopefully grow it even more.

Please consider supporting An Evening at the Inn and my work as a freelance journalist via Ko-Fi. Your support means I can keep doing all this. Comments, feedback, tips? Reach out to madsenhayes@gmail.com

From the Innkeeper

Plus One

There's an expression you hear a lot these days of getting yourself "a little treat," something you deserve. And you do deserve it, whatever that might be.

But, to me, the little treat of role-playing games has always been guest party members. It's like a whole bonus character that you didn't even know was coming. It's that little bonus that gives you some breathing room and confidence for combat, and typically lets you see a cool character do some cool things.

As you might imagine, though, I want to talk about the idea of the guest party member beyond that initial surprise, how it mechanically works to enhance both storytelling and characterization. And for that, I want to look specifically at the works of Yasumi Matsuno, someone who really, really loves guest party members.

In both Final Fantasy XII and Final Fantasy Tactics, guest party members are used to accentuate specific moments of character growth or flesh out storytelling. From an overhead view, having so many guests join your party also reinforces the grand political, almost Shakespearean storytelling that Matsuno loves. Shakespearean stories have grand casts of characters filled with treachery and subterfuge, and what better way to make players think someone is an ally than making them straight up join your party.

In Final Fantasy XII, this is used to make Vossler's betrayal all the more harrowing. He's become an essential piece of your battle plan for a while – an ultra-strong tank that slots perfectly into your battle plan. This is Final Fantasy XII's Brutus moment, when Basch's best friend and compatriot turns coat.

Larsa is an even better illustration of what a guest party member can bring, because he accompanies the party for literal hours. And here it's extremely telling that Larsa acts as a white mage and healer, supporting the party. It ties into the idea of him investigating the actions of his brother Vayne, and even foreshadows the role that he'll play in supporting the party later on in the game. His battle abilities and class tie directly into his character arc.

But perhaps my favorite use of the guest party member is with Delita in Tactics, specifically the Zeltennia Castle - Outer Church battle. Across Tactic's sweeping narrative, Ramza and Delita become diametrically opposed characters – one representing law (Ramza) and one representing Chaos (Delita). These two forces push and pull on the world and cast of Ivalice, but for a very brief moment, they come together.

After Ramza and Delita have their secret meeting in the church, you're treated to a single battle with him as a guest party member. But we know Delita from earlier in the game, where he accompanied you throughout the first act – we've seen him fight. But this Delita is much different, a cold, uncaring, and merciless warrior that cuts down an entire swathe of the enemy army, using abilities like Gafgarion's Fell Sword. This moment is an encapsulation of Delita's descent, how different his path has become from Ramza's. And it's even telling in the minutiae of Delita's character AI, how he'll dash straight ahead and start killing enemies, versus how other guest characters might hang back and support the party. (As an extra note, The Ivalice Chronicles really heightens this battle even more with some fantastic extra bits of dialogue - and if you really want the good stuff, bring Mustadio along).

Matsuno's games are the most effective at utilizing guests' party members mechanically and narratively, and integrally linking the two together. What might seem like a simple mechanic has layers upon layers. Final Fantasy has a long legacy of guest party members, of course, and there are other standouts – like the fantastic moment Beatrix teams up with Steiner in FFIX. And there are other series out there that utilize guest party members in interesting ways, namely the Trails series or Fire Emblem.

But by and large, nothing holds a candle to the way Matsuno's games explore the concept. I hope this reads less like rambling and more like a way for you to consider the design ethos of RPGs, how even seemingly innocuous gameplay elements can be used to reinforce the strength of a game's narrative. Now I just need Matsuno to make a new game. (Go play Crimson Shroud)

Around the Realm

Tomas Franzese considers what the word "retro" even means anymore. (He's also launched his own remake/remaster-focused blog that you should subscribe to)

Ashley Schofield's review of Yakuza Kiwami 3 breaks down what the game gets wrong about remakes, and where RGG Studio itself has gone awry

Giovanni Colantonio considers the benefits and detriments of the video game soap opera

Michael Murphy reflects on 30 years of the Tales series and its impact

Gita Jackson talks about why River Ward sucks in Cyberpunk 2077 (I agree)

The Back Page

My recommendation for this issue could have only been one thing: the absolutely brilliant Paranormasight: The Mermaid's Curse (yeah, it's close enough to an RPG, get over it).

Some of Square Enix's most fascinating works of the last decade, this second Paranormasight manages to pack in the surprise of the first game, while tackling an entirely different flavor of story, a historical thriller mixed with a super sweet love story (one of my favorites in all of gaming now). It's wholly unlike anything else, even the first Paranormasight – and I promise you'll devour it. The best $24.99 you can spend.

And if you want more of my thoughts, read my review.

Here are the major RPG releases of February (and March, because I was late). A reminder that this released date list isn't exhaustive, but more of me highlighting things that, I think, will be notable or exemplary to the genre.

Feb 20 - Ys X: Proud Nordics (PS5, Switch 2, PC)
Feb 26 - Towerborne, out of Early Access (PS5, Xbox Series, PC)
Feb 27 - Tales of Berseria Remastered (PS5, Xbox Series, Switch, PC)
March 2 - Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered (Literally everything)
March 2 - World of Warcraft: Midnight (PC)
March 5 - Pokémon Pokopia (Switch 2)
March 6 - Sumerian Six (Console version release)
March 12 - GreedFall 2: The Dying World (PS5, Xbox Series, PC)
March 13 - Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection (PS5, Xbox Series, Switch 2, PC)
March 19 - Crimson Desert (PS5, Xbox Series, PC)
March 26 - Etrange Overlord (PS4, PS5, Switch PC)
March 26 - Life Is Strange: Reunion (PS5, Xbox Series, PC)
March 27 - Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection (Again, everything)
March 31 - Legacy of Kain: Ascendance (Everything)

Finally, a brief pet update. We had a bit of a scare with our 16-year-old Chihuahua Oreo, recently, taking her to the emergency room at 3 am. The 3.7-pound little thing is basically a piece of paper at this point, and she essentially had a mini-stroke.

She's doing better, thankfully, but not hard to see that she's degrading. At this point, it's just ensuring whatever time she has left is happy and restful. But she's had a remarkable story. My partner literally watched her be born and has had her ever since. She had a heart murmur as a puppy and needed open-heart surgery – not an easy task for a chihuahua puppy. My partner's family was also destitute, so she worked odd jobs as a teenager and worked with a vet to raise the funds. I think that's part of the reason she became a veterinarian, so there's a lot wrapped up in this little dog – outside of her just being lovable.

And so I present to you young Oreo and old Oreo, the sign of a happy life well lived. And a reminder to love your pets as much as you can today.