Lessons from Persona 5

1. Opening yourself up to other results in positive feelings on both sides

2.Tackle every challenge, especially if it’s difficult or people doubt in your ability to defeat it.

3. “When you fall, you’ve got to get back up!”

4. “Men are idiots though...We spend our time chasing after things we can’t get.”

5. Time passes, and whether you like it or not, if you don’t work, you won’t grow.

6. Reading books improves everything.

7. “One must concede defeat with grace – maintaining dignity until the very end.”

8. “The most important part of your life is how you choose to live it.”

Are there any other games in which you can parry your brother's floating katana attack by duel-wielding motorycles???? I think not. DEVIL MAY CRY IS BACK, BABY!!

So, it's the 20th anniversary of the infamous Devil May Cry 2 today. I'm not gonna go on a rant or anything but

This is Dante's best character design. ever.

This game just keeps getting funnier and funnier. Aging like a humorous wine...lol

This game is not that bussin ngl #frfr.

Yeahhh honestly this game is the perfect farming game. It has as perfect system for farming and just like a lot of other great games, if you really want to you can learn how to cheese the system.

I'm sure some people have played it for its dating simulator aspects. To be honest, it's pretty well made in that aspect too. There's a good purpose to getting married in this game cuz you can get tons of special items and free food from your wife/husband.

There's tons of hidden items, special things to encounter, and fun mysteries to discover as well. The setting of the game does really well to show this as a lot of hidden things are located on Ginger Island and in the Desert respectively.

The soundtrack is also really nice, boasting many tracks separated into the 4 seasons located within the game. Cloud Country is my personal favorite. It's a great simple banjo riff with a nice warm tune to it.

(P.S. -- Get pigs in Y2 and feed them hella until they make iridium-quality truffles. If you have a full barn of them this is worth 60,000 gold per day. You're welcome, brah)

The gameplay of Sekiro should be studied by any seeking to create a well-formed game with skill-based mechanics. The absolute beauty of Sekiro's combat system is showcased vastly through countless different types of enemies which your counters will always be useful for.

Allow me to give an example. Special types of attacks from (human) enemies in this game will produce a red kanji symbol that looks like this. Now when one of these appears, you know two things. One, the attack cannot be guard countered. If you attempt to do so (Hold down L1, causing you to block) you will be unable to block this type of attack, and instead will take damage and most likely be staggered. And Two, this attack can be "Mikiri countered" through a skill you can obtain in-game. The Mikiri counter is genius and the system of creating rewarding gameplay is so very wonderfully simple. The game places a type of attack which you must react to with specific intent. Failure to react to this attack will cause the game to punish you. Successful reaction (press the dodge button at the exact proper time) results in a counter which will either allow you to kill the enemy, or deal a high amount of posture damage which greatly raises your chance of winning the battle.

Sekiro has so many features like this and, to me, this solidifies it as the best Souls game, no, the best FromSoft game so far (including the 2022 release Elden Ring). Funny enough, Elden Ring actually doesn't carry this system, much like the games after Bloodborne don't include the rally system (Elden Ring does through a rune obtained late in the game though). The problem with fighting enemies in most Souls games is that there is no proper way to counter them. Your choices are usually to dodge their attacks with a quick roll or raise a shield and take stamina damage instead. The problem to me is that this doesn't give off the satisfying feeling that the combat in Sekiro DOES give me. When I beat a boss like Genichiro or O'Rin of the Water, I feel as if this victory was because of my success in learning a multitude of mechanics the game developers wanted me to learn. Having numerous ways to evade damage (parrying, dodging, countering, jumping, and breaking the opponent's posture) felt like a much fuller, more developed system as compared to even Elden Ring which came out AFTER this game. At the beginning of this game, you'll likely feel that the game is just too challenging. As you progress, you start to adapt your playstyle to fit the way the game intends for you to play and this creates an extremely satisfying environment through game design. Trying to play this game without parrying would be ridiculous. Playing other Souls games without parrying is negligible and likely the preferred playstyle of most players.

A massive improvement in Sekiro is that it feels like every enemy has been designed to be overcome through these mechanics. In Dark Souls 3 and Elden Ring particularly, it often feels like bosses are playing a completely different game than you are because you're so much slower than them. In Sekiro, it feels like, while difficult, you're playing on a similar level to your opponents. I fell that those who played this game and didn't enjoy it were most likely unwilling to adapt to the game.

Lesson: hesitation is defeat.

Okay, I take back my former opinions on what is probably the 3rd best and 2nd least difficult FromSoft game i've played. It's pretty damn good

It's kinda hard to classify this game for me as it's such a goodie bag. But with goodie bags, sometimes you get candy you love and sometimes you get Twizzlers.

The story and world of Fallout: New Vegas is incredible and deserved 110% of the praise it's received over the years. Every time I've replayed this game I've come across new characters with interesting ideas, opinions, feelings, quests, motivations. Some of the quests just have so many different possibilities and outcomes that are all ridiculous and entertaining (Beyond the Beef, mi amor).

At the same time, however, many complaints people have are completely fair and reasonable. For example, many parts of the game world are completely empty with little to no content available in what could've been an extremely fun combat encounter or quest. I actually thoroughly love the combat system in Fallout 3 and New Vegas, however the game doesn't have many combat encounters to begin with. This really ends up limiting the fun of recurring playthroughs. Many of the only truly fun combat parts of the game come within the final hour of play (Hoover Dam, mi amor) or towards the end of the DLC expansions.

Speaking of the DLC expansions, WOW. New Vegas really isn't New Vegas without these. Honest Hearts is pretty mediocre gameplay-wise, but the story is adequate and Joshua Graham is such a delight to see every time. Dead Money is probably (HOT TAKE WARNING!!!) my favorite DLC ever. I absolutely adore the concept of searching for a lost treasure in a ghost casino that's been locked for 200 years. I mean how genius is that? Each character in Dead Money is very unique and ever-so memorable. The stealth gameplay is super dope too. Old World Blues and Lonesome Road largely go hand-in-hand. They're fun too.

I KNOW YOU MIGHT THINK IT'S CRAZY WHEN YOU SEE HOW HIGH THAT AVERAGE RATING IS.

I'M HERE TO TELL YOU IT'S THAT GOOD.

Probably the best story I've ever played in a video game or at least in the top 5. The culmination of all of the characters being drawn to this abandoned relic of the old world, the "Sierra Madre" Casino. All came here for different reasons but most all work together to achieve one goal. Truly a masterclass.

SUMMMMMMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

An utter classic. This game has some of the classiest level design of any Mario game to date and features some of his most epic powers.

The saddest assassins shit the loudest...