Very good RPG and really good Persona game! Extremely long, but you know what you're getting into with this series.

Having only played 5 and 5 Royal to compare, I think 3 Reload has a slightly more compelling cast of characters and tells a story with higher stakes, but is not paced nearly as well as 5. I also haven't played the original editions of P3, but I can feel it suffering a tiny bit and taking a loss in the cohesion department as a result of some of the "modernization" and sanding off of rough edges.

It plays very smoothly - almost too smoothly. You can blast through Tartarus no problem. I was playing on hard, and only died once (to the Reaper. didn't bother trying again!). And with all the extra days you have not exploring Tarturus, you'll max out social stats and links way before the game is over, which for me, made for a pretty sluggish final 2 months of the game.

All that said! I still think it's a great game, with great characters, and an ending that is well worth seeing (even if it means spending your last two months going to the arcade every single night).

I don't know what really to say. This game finally gave me Alan Wake brain worms. I get it.

There are nitpickable details about the mechanics, and maybe some parts of the structure, but it truly doesn't matter. This game is an artistic marvel and a masterclass in presentation. I've played through it twice and I can't stop thinking about it.

Alan Wake I (and it's DLCs + American Nightmare) left me loving the idea of Alan Wake but not necessarily the experience of it. I loved thinking about the world and Alan's situation. Playing the games felt a little bit like homework to get into that headspace.

Alan Wake II instead sees Remedy taking everything they've learned over the years and nailing the execution, presentation, structure, and artistry in a way that I don't think they've done before.

Probably the weakest part of Control overall. Hard to follow up on the Foundation, which introduced some really unique scenarios and set pieces, while AWE has you mostly crawling through hallways and offices of Another Forgotten Wing of The FBC.

The main "horror" segments are pretty cool. I wish they had committed a little harder to this bit. There are abundant safe zones in all of these sections and the tension is easily diffused. I kept thinking about the dark, tense moments in games like Outer Wilds - Echoes of the Eye that just pull this off more effectively.

The ties to Alan Wake are appreciated but I'm overall mixed on how I feel about the decisions they made. Some compelling stuff and some confusing stuff. I guess that's appropriate.

The two altered item side quests are really neat, but again, in comparison to the two you experience in Foundation, it's not even close.