(Part 2 of 4)

It may be pretty outdated compared to future titles in the series, and it does have a lot of problems weighing down, but for how fun it was and from my own personal experiences with it, I still consider the original Mega Man to be a really fun game that I can return to at any time, and I would still have a pretty good time with it. And hey, I’m not alone in thinking that, as many critics at the time the game was released agreed with that sentiment, but despite how critically successful the game was, it didn’t help out in its sales, to where after not making the numbers that they had wanted, Capcom was ready to move on from Mega Man and focus on other titles instead(sounds familiar, doesn’t it?). However, Akira Kitamura, the original director and creator of the series, had wanted to make a sequel either way, and after requesting permission to create a sequel several times, Capcom would finally allow him and his team to do so, on one condition: they had to develop it simultaneously with all of the other titles they wanted them to work on, meaning that the game essentially needed to be made on their free time. They accepted these terms, and thus, just one and a half years later, we would then get this sequel in the form of Mega Man 2.

If you have heard anything about Mega Man at any point in your life, chances are it has something to do with this game, as out of all of the titles in the entire series, this is one many hold in the highest regards. It is considered to be one of, if not THE best game in the entire series, not only because it perfected the original formula to become much more fun, addicting, and approachable than before, but also, until Mega Man 11 came out, it was the best selling game in the entire series, selling over 1.5 million copies, which, for an NES game, is pretty damn impressive. While I wouldn’t consider it to be the best game of the classic series, and while I think the hype it gets maybe a liiiiiiiiiiitle too overblown, I can safely say that the game definitely deserves the reputation it got, as it is absolutely fantastic. It may not have some of the additions that later games would bring to the series, and it may not change much from the original, but it still manages to be incredibly fun all the same, and it stands as the best entry the series has ever had on the NES.

The story is fairly basic compared to what the original game had set up, where Dr. Wily is back at it yet again, this time with his own set of eight Robot Masters specifically programmed to cause chaos and destruction across the world, so it is up to Mega Man to set out once again to take him down, which is a pretty basic plot for a sequel, but hey, it’s a good enough story that you can easily get behind, and that’s all you really need. The graphics are almost identical to that of the original game, except it is not a lot more colorful, varied, and visually pleasing with the designs of the characters, enemies, and bosses, so that’s good, the music is incredible, having some of the best music that any NES game has to offer, and I only need to show you one song in particular to prove my point (even if it is an obvious choice), and the control/gameplay is almost identical to that or the original game as well, except not only is that traction situation from the original taken care of here, but the gameplay is also much more fun as well, even if not much has changed.

The game is a 2D action platformer, where you take control of Mega Man once again, go through a set of eight main levels before taking on a final Dr. Wily castle full of its own set of levels, run, jump, and shoot your way through many more obstacles, enemies, and platforming challenges using whatever best applies to the situation, get plenty of health items, weapon ammunition, and special upgrades to your aresenal to help you out along the way, and take on plenty of skillful opponents, including the eight Robot Masters, so that you can gain their weapons and use them for your own use for whatever may lie ahead. Most of what you get here is pretty much exactly the same as the original game, so for those of you who liked the original game, you will be able to jump right into this one and love it, because not only is it much better designed and more fun than the original, but the small changes that were made do add a lot to the overall experience.

Like I mentioned before, the game feel a lot better to control, with your movement, jumping, and shooting feeling just right as you go through all of these levels, and many of the challenges that you will face are simple enough to approach, while not feeling like a pain in the ass to get through (with one or two exceptions here or there). In addition to this, the game manages to be more approachable as well, not only with the inclusion of a brand new password system, but also with the option to choose your own difficulty for the game… at least, in the western version of the game, that is. For Japan, they only got one standard difficulty, but for us over here, the normal difficulty was marked as Difficult Mode, and right alongside that is an easy mode that is labeled as Normal Mode. Personally, I don’t think the Difficult Mode is that much harder than the Normal Mode, but I do like the fact that the option is there at all, making this one of the best games to start with in the franchise, as well as one that is great for replayability. There’s not really much more I can say that has changed from the original, but despite the lack of major change, the game still has plenty of fun challenges, exciting boss fights, and plenty of challenges to get through that feel satisfying to conquer.

Despite how heavily praised this game is as a whole, I wouldn’t say it is perfect by any means. First of all, like the original game, the special weapons, for me anyway, aren’t too useful outside of boss fights, with the only real exception being the Metal Blade, a weapon that is extremely overpowered and can easily be used to take care of practically any situation. As for all of the other weapons though, they are either completely situational, or just not that handy to use. Aside from that though, there is one other part of the game that I have never liked that much, and that would be Wily Stage 3. The stage itself isn’t too bad, but it does feature some annoying elements, such as these invisible gaps in the floor in the beginning of the stage, these long conveyor belts that you have to ride on in order to make it down to the end, and to top it all off, it also has the worst boss in the entire game, the Boobeam Trap. The boss itself isn’t too deadly, with it just being a bunch of orbs on the walls that sometimes shoot at you, but the problem is that in order to defeat it, you need to use the Crash Bomber, a weapon with very little ammunition, meaning you have to navigate around this room and use it only when absolutely necessary, which means that if you end up using it too many times, you are FUCKED, and you have to get a game over just so that you can get your ammo back. Yeah, the rest of the game is aces, but I don’t see how anyone can defend a boss like that.

Overall, despite a lack of major changes and Wily Stage 3 being a giant stain on this otherwise perfect game, Mega Man 2 is still a fantastic sequel to the original game, and a wonderful game all on its own, bringing plenty of much needed fixes and touches to what the original game had introduced, while also still being very fun and satisfying to blast through. I would absolutely recommend it for those who are fans of the Mega Man series, as well as those who are looking for a place to start, because aside from other entries like Mega Man 11, this is one of the best places that you could start and get accustomed to what this series has to offer. Although, before we end this off, I have to bring up the cover art that the game originally had, which isn’t as bad as the original, but… jesus christ, why did it take so long for these to get good? My man looks like he is a cosplayer rather than a super fighting robot, and Dr. Light is fondling Crash Man’s ass, which nobody needs to see!

Remake #9

Picross 3D! I’m not done with this one, but I’ve played through enough to write down my thoughts, I think. I do like this one, but I genuinely think playing the 2nd one first has kinda made this one a little rougher to play. Regardless, I’ll do my best to put my biases aside for most of this review.

It’s Picross…but in 3D! If you haven’t played it: You get a cube made of smaller blocks rather a square like regular Picross. You have to chip away at what blocks aren’t part of the puzzle to make the shape.

This game feels…weirdly punishing. You have a time limit, which goes from green->orange->red. I’ve managed to always stay in the green, but I assume the orange/red detracts from the “Nice time!” star you get. You also get very limited strikes allowed, a total of 5. The one-chance challenges don’t feel much like challenges when I have to get no strikes on every puzzle for three stars anyways. This is moreso from me coming to this after the sequel, but this one also just feels kinda strange to play. Being able to paint incorrect cubes with no indication you’re wrong while getting a strike for breaking the wrong cube + not having to paint everything as long as you’ve broken all the right cubes throws me off.

Despite all that, this game is certainly charming, that same crunchy charm a lot of DS games have. I really like the little cube bird that shows up throughout the game! They do the tutorial, and also just talk a bit in collections (explained later.) They’ve got little animations on the top screen while you’re solving puzzles, ranging from thinking to nonsensical silly movements to cheering you on to frustration. Not too many of the tracks in this game have stuck with me, but they’re all still pretty enjoyable.

Each puzzle is sorted into various collections, all based on their own themes, and you get a little description for each puzzle. The puzzles are also animated after you solve them. As you progress through the game, you get some misc. animations of the little cube bird.

Interestingly, this game also had a feature where you could make your own shapes and the game would generate a puzzle out of them! It’s defunct as DS services stopped, which is a shame cause that seems like it’d definitely be part of this game’s appeal at the time.

Overall, I think the sequel is better due to its QOL and presentation, but this one isn’t bad at all! Just a bit outshined, although maybe it’s not fair to compare the two when the puzzle sharing feature is defunct. If you wanna play both of these games, it’s probably better to start with this one first.
Maybe I’ll redo my Picross 3D Round 2 interview and go more in-depth on that one too.

Thanks for reading!

Do you ever think that Kevin Eastman or Peter Laird regret creating the Ninja Turtles? Probably not, because they made a lot of money from it and made a product that is adored by millions to this day, but ignoring all that, do you think they regret creating the series, or even what it eventually became? Do you think that one day, the two of them just look back at shit like the Micheal Bay movies, TMNT III, or that one live-action show that got made, and they just think to themselves “My god… look at how they massacred my boys…”... I would probably feel that way if I was in a similar situation, but then I would look back on all the positive things to come out of the franchise as well, and then I would realize it would’ve all been worthwhile……………. none of that has anything to do with this review, I just needed an intro: it’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project!

After going through the first NES game, the arcade game, and then skipping over to the infinitely superior TMNT IV, we have now finally arrived at the final TMNT game that was released for the NES before jumping straight to the next generation of systems (aside from the port of Tournament Fighters, but… you know…). Much like all of the other TMNT games for the system, I haven’t played this one before now, but I had seen it a little bit before, and it looked about as standard as these games could get: just being another typical beat-’em-up that lets you play as your favorite turtle and kick plenty of ass. So, it was no surprise then that, when I got around to actually playing it, that was pretty much exactly what I got, but that doesn’t make it bad by any means. It is still a pretty good game, definitely the best TMNT NES game and one of the best beat-’em-ups on the system, but it does have one or two things holding it back from me absolutely loving it.

The story is a little more extreme for a TMNT game, where while the turtles are vacationing in Florida (already off to a fantastic start), Shredder takes over Manhattan, raising it up into the sky like it’s Angel Island, and kidnaps April O’Neal in the process, so it is up to the turtles to end their vacation early and go save the day once again, which is pretty crazy for a TMNT plot, but it is still a very basic “Shredder’s a dick, go beat him up” story, so it isn’t that great. The graphics are pretty good, being the best looking TMNT game available on the NES, and there are plenty of varied environments, enemies, and bosses to see, but it is nothing too spectacular, the music is good, giving off the same vibe as plenty of other soundtracks from this series, but nothing really stuck out as too memorable for me, and the control/gameplay is pretty good for what we got here, keeping the gameplay generally similar to what we have seen before, while refining it enough to where it is the best that the series has seen… at least, at this point in time.

The game is an old-school beat-’em-up, where you take control of one of the four Ninja Turtles, or if you are me, you pick Leonardo and nobody else, because you are a basic bitch, go through a set of eight different levels that range from the scummy, insane depths of Florida to the far reaches of space, defeat many different enemies that come your way using whatever moves that you have at your disposal, pick up pizzas to heal yourself whenever you get the chance to do so (which is only like three to four times in the entire game), and take on plenty of familiar faces in boss fights, ranging from regulars you would find from the comics and animated series, to others that come from the TMNT movies. It is your standard TMNT affair in almost every way, but that doesn’t make it bad in any way, as you can still have plenty of fun with it, and if you got a friend who can join you on your journey, that would definitely be the best way to play through it. Just, you know, make sure to turn off friendly fire (seriously, why is that even an option?).

There’s really not much else I can say about this game that I haven’t already talked about in plenty of other TMNT reviews at this point. You walk around, you beat people up, you grab pizza when you can, you fall into a sewer hole like a dumbass and feel bad about yourself, you all know how this goes by now. There is nothing new here to change up the gameplay whatsoever from what we have seen before, because it’s a TMNT game, and they didn’t need to try to do anything new or exciting, because it will sell anyway. But what I will say is that, as a whole, the game still plays pretty well. The moves are still fun enough to pull off, the specials are pretty helpful to use, and while the bosses are pretty tough, it is satisfying to beat them down and take them out. The only real part about the gameplay that I wasn’t a fan of was how slow your movement speed is, which I guess makes sense, seeing as you are playing as a turtle, but he is also a NINJA, and last time I checked, they go so fast that you would be dead before you knew they were there.

If I had to name off any major problems I had with the game, aside from the slow movement and the lack of changes, it would be based on how fucking LONG this game is. The game itself doesn’t have that much content, only having about eight stages, which is pretty standard for an NES game, but I swear, these stages drag on for an eternity, as you are constantly beating up bad guys and taking on minorly challenging platforming. Not to mention, some of the stages have multiple bosses, which only makes them take even longer to get through, and because of all of this, it took me over two hours to beat the game, which isn’t that bad, but for a game like this, you would expect something a lot quicker and snappier to help the pacing. Maybe it would’ve gone faster if I had played with another person, but either way, I still think the stages should’ve been shrunken down a little bit, especially for a game that has no password feature and limited continues.

Overall, despite a lack of change, your slow movement, and how the game drags on at points, this game is still a pretty good beat-’em-up for the NES, being the best of the original TMNT trilogy, and being a pretty good time all on its own, and I am sure big fans of this franchise would be able to properly enjoy themselves with this game all the same. I would recommend it for those who are big TMNT fans, as well as those who are big fans of beat-’em-ups in general, because while there are definitely better options out there now, this still does the job well enough, and you should be able to enjoy it all the same. Now, if you will excuse me, I am gonna go find out how exactly a turtle can live a full life while living on a pizza-only diet. See you all next time!

Game #535

Man, Nintendo was REALLY leaning in hard on these pointless puzzle games for the Mario franchise, weren’t they? They had something going there with Dr. Mario, I’ll give them that, but then they made Yoshi, a fine enough puzzle game, but one that isn’t engaging enough to where I wanna play it for more then five minutes, and Yoshi’s Cookie, the one that will probably give Yoshi diabetes while also STILL not being engaging enough to make me wanna play for even more than five minutes! There comes a time when, after trying time and time again, you gotta take a step back and realize you have already peaked, and you will never be able to reach that success again. But nonetheless, that didn’t stop them from trying, so for their next attempt, they decided to give the green dino a break, and instead use their good ol’ yellow fat man instead for another experiment, and thus, they created Wario’s Woods.

Like with Yoshi and Yoshi’s Cookie, I never had any real interest to give this game a proper shot beforehand, primarily because it was another Mario puzzle game from the NES, and I wasn’t really wanting to try it out for fear that it would just be another mid puzzler with nothing to show for it. I have been curious about it for a while though, not just because it is a Wario puzzle game, but also because it is the last officially licensed NES game ever released for us in the states, so I wondered how exactly were they going to end off the legacy of such an industry-changing console. Well, now that I have played it, let me tell you then that, they ended it off with… another mid puzzler with nothing to show for it. For what we got here, I would say it is a good game, and you could have some fun with it with the right people, but it does fall into a lot of the same problems that both Yoshi and Yoshi’s Cookie had, with not much else to show for it.

The story is appropriately simple, where Wario takes over the all-too-perfect Peaceful Woods and turns all of the creatures that inhabit them into sinister beasts, so it is up to some random Toad from the Mushroom Kingdom to go in and stop anymore destruction from happening, which is an incredibly stupid premise, but I feel it fits right at home with the game as a whole. The graphics are pretty good, having plenty of great sprites and animations for all the characters and enemies, all feeling like a good way to send off the system it was made for, the music is good enough, having cheery and sinister tracks for whatever is going on at the moment, but none of the tracks are all that memorable, the control is a bit different from what you usually expect in a puzzle game, and it does take some getting used to, which I never really did at the end of it all, and the gameplay is simple enough for a puzzler, taking elements from other puzzle games and sprinkling them all together, for a perfectly average experience.

The game is a mostly typical puzzle game, where you take control of that random Toad that I mentioned earlier, go through plenty of different rounds through plenty of different tree trunks, match up plenty of different monsters together while trying to connect them to the falling bombs, gather up plenty of the coins that will fall down when you win so you could feel better about yourself, then turn off the game and go back to playing Tetris, because why would you bother playing this when Tetris is right there. It is a very simple puzzle game with some neat ideas, and its got the visuals and music to back it up for a good while, but like I mentioned before, not only is the game not really exciting or rewarding enough to where you wanna keep going for hours on end, but there are also somethings in general that are just holding it back.

Unlike many other puzzle games, where you take control of either the pieces or some other aspect of the game to get the pieces to match up, you actually take control of Toad himself, running around in these tree trunks and matching up all of the monsters and bombs yourself. This, in all honesty, is actually a pretty neat idea, and it does make you think differently about how to approach this type of game, since before things start falling down on top of you, you can actually move around the monsters that you are trying to clear out so that you can get rid of them pretty quickly, which is very helpful at times. It also helps that you can also do several things with Toad that you wouldn’t be able to do in other puzzle games, like climbing up columns of monsters to get to the other side of them, or kicking certain pieces across the board, which is neat. And of course, like any good puzzle game, there is a two player vs. mode, where you and a friend can battle it out to see which one of you is the best monster exterminator of them all, and while I myself didn’t try out this mode, I imagine it is the best way to experience a game like this.

Unfortunately, just like with some of the other Mario spin-off puzzle games I have covered on this website, there just isn’t that much here for me to really call this a bonafide classic puzzle game for the NES. It just doesn’t have that same kind of addicting and engaging feel that other puzzle games like Tetris or Dr. Mario has, and as such, it once again can’t keep me really all that interested or excited to play it for more than five minutes. Not to mention, while the idea of controlling an actual character in a puzzle game like this is neat in theory, but in practice, it is kinda sloppy. Sure, you can pull off a lot of maneuvers you wouldn’t be able to otherwise, but you also get plenty of restrictions, like not being able to climb up monsters while you are holding something, which makes the gameplay even more tedious, and the direction in which you pick up things can also take some getting used to. It isn’t impossible to get a handle of, but it is just a little frustrating to do so.

Overall, despite some neat ideas and having all of the elements present for a great time, Wario’s Woods is yet another incredibly forgettable puzzle game from the NES, doing the bare minimum for a title from this genre, and providing a good amount of fun for the time that it lasts, but there just isn’t enough there to keep the average puzzle enthusiast entertained for too long before wanting to move onto something else. I would recommend it for those who are fans of puzzle games, as well as those who were fans of games like Yoshi or Yoshi’s Cookie, but other than that, you would be much better off sticking to much better alternatives that were already out by this point. Not only that, but Wario should also stick to platforming, as he just isn’t cut out for the puzzle lifestyle. I mean, what other kind of weird, out of pocket shit could he pull off other than that? I guess it will remain a mystery… anyway, I wonder what Bomberman is up to?

Game #534

In our modern age of remakes, reboots, and revivals, 9 times out of 10, we usually see certain properties coming back that one would typically expect, due to them either having a major fanbase that demands their return, or they have just remained relative enough in the gaming scene to where a developer thinks bringing them back would be a neat idea. But then, you get those revivals, ones that bring back some of the most obscure, dormant franchises seemingly out of nowhere, with a brand new remake or entry in their series just for the sake of it, and while one may question how these managed to be brought back at all, in my case, I am more then happen to see some of these long forgotten series get some more attention again, like with Truxton and Pocky & Rocky. Not only that, but it gives people the opportunity to try out these series for themselves, see if they were any good, and maybe even find some new favorite titles along the way, so I figured I would go ahead and do the same by checking out the original Snow Bros.

I had heard about Snow Bros. from time to time beforehand, but I myself never took the time to play it for myself, because I thought the game looked pretty generic, and I thought it would just be a cheap way to cash in on something like Mario or whatever. But, my curiosity for this title did grow overtime, and when I discovered that this series was being brought back with an all new title coming out sometime this year, I figured I would go ahead and give it a shot. So, I decided to play it, and I then learned that rather than being a straight copy of Mario, it is… a straight copy of Bubble Bobble. Literally, it is basically the exact same game, and I’m not sure how they managed to get away with this without Taito lighting them up with lawyers back in the day, but you know what? After playing through the whole thing, I actually had a pretty great time with it, and dare I say, I think it is even BETTER than the original Bubble Bobble. Yeah, it doesn’t really introduce anything too creative or different from that game, but it manages to improve on certain aspects that I would say was for the best, making for a very enjoyable time.

The story is about as generic as they get, where the princesses Puripuri and Puchipuchi are captured and taken away by a group of vicious monsters, so the princes Nick and Tom, now transformed into living snowmen, must go and rescue them, which isn’t creative at all for a setup, but then again, if you came here expecting some kind of big epic story about some snowmen guys, you have the wrong mindset to be playing this game. The graphics are pretty good, having plenty of colorful stages and fun-looking enemies and characters, while also completing itself with nightmare-inducing boss designs (for the most part), so that is cool, the music is pretty good, having good tunes to listen to throughout the game, but like with Bubble Bobble, there aren’t too many of them to enjoy throughout the game, the control is decent enough, having all of the actions and movement that you would expect from a game like this, although I wish you could jump higher, and the gameplay is also what you would expect from a Bubble Bobble clone, but it still manages to be fun and addicting regardless of what it copied from.

The game is a 2D platformer, where you take control of either Nick or Tom, go through a set of 50 levels through five different worlds, take out every single enemy you see by turning them into snowballs and throwing them around the screen to defeat even more baddies, gather plenty of power-ups, food items, and money to either increase your score or give you a bigger advantage over the foes that you will face next, and face a handful of bosses that seem easy to deal with at first, but then get progressively tougher to where you will really need to watch what you’re doing at all times. Those who played Bubble Bobble will know exactly what they are getting to with this title, and it manages to copy the gameplay from that game almost perfectly, with it not only still being as fun and addicting to play as before, especially with a buddy to tag along with, but it also improves on some things I wasn’t quite a fan of in that original game.

In my opinion, the way that you take out enemies in this game, when compared to what came before this, is much more satisfying and rewarding to use. While it does require a lot less skill at times, it is great to just find an enemy, build them up into a snowball, and just launch them throughout the stage, taking out many different other enemies in the process, as they can do nothing about it but prepare for the inevitable. It does make things easier than other games, but not to the point where it stops being fun, and there are still plenty of challenges that you will face throughout your journey. Not only that, but they make getting through this game a lot less stressful and cryptic then in Bubble Bobble. There are 50 stages, which is a lot, but it doesn’t feel as tedious as points as that other game, there are bosses for every world, and they are very fun to take on, while being challenging enough to where you need to be careful with what you do, and there isn’t some hidden, cryptic item you need to get in order to truly beat the game, so thank god for that. And finally, there are the power-ups in this game, which in comparison to BB, are pretty fucking sweet. You get power-ups that increase your speed, ones that increase the range of your shot, one that makes your shots do more damage, and even one where you inflate like a balloon and can fly around all over the place, taking out whatever enemies lie before you. They aren’t exactly the most creative of power-ups, but they do make the experience that much more enjoyable if you manage to hold onto them, and discovering some of them, like the balloon one, did make me laugh pretty hard, so that is cool.

With all that being said though, if you are someone who didn’t really like games like Bubble Bobble, then you aren’t gonna be a big fan of this one, because again, it is mostly the same game. It has all the hiccups and problems you could find in that game, and while I wouldn’t say it hinders the experience at all for me, others may not agree with that sentiment. Not to mention, like I mentioned before, I do have a bit of a problem when it comes to your jump height, as I feel it is way too short. Sure, this doesn’t become much of a problem for most of the stages, but there would be some points where I would end up getting stuck in a level because I would end up in a spot I couldn’t get out of, and none of the enemies would come to me so I could build a snowball to use, making it so that I had no choice but to die and lose my power-ups. That shit is just annoying.

Overall, despite some annoyances here or there with the jump height and some annoying enemies and hazards, Snow Bros. was quite a surprise, being great not just as a clone game, but also as a game in general, providing plenty of fun for those who are willing to go through all of the levels, but not too much to the point where it gets tiring, and with a buddy to tag along, I’m sure anyone could have a great time with this. I would definitely recommend it for those who are fans of games like Bubble Bobble, as well as those who are just fans of arcade platformers in general, because while this isn’t one of the bigger, more noteworthy ones, it is still just as fun as all of the others, and that’s all that really matters at the end of the day. Although, I will say, we never do end up seeing Nick and Tom getting turned back into regular people, so I guess they will just stay as snowmen until they die………. that’s fucked up.

Game #533

All the way back in 2017, I played Persona 5. I picked it up on a whim the day after it released, because my friend loves the Persona series and recommended I get into it, and not too long after I was hooked. That same friend also gave me SMT4 around that same time and I didn't really get into at all. But it did get me more interested in Megaten as a whole. Fast forward to the Summer, I go to TooManyGames 2017. I remember seeing the Persona 5 collectors edition, man good times. Ah anyways, I also stumbled upon Persona 3 FES and Persona 4 inside a glass cabinet along with some other Megaten games. Naturally of them all, I was most interested in P3 and P4 seeing as I was a huge fan of 5. Knowing the price of the Raidou games, I wish I picked those up then since they were only $30 but in the end I bought both FES and P4. Oh, not at the convention btw. I bought them off eBay the day after cuz I realized you could get them for cheaper there. Anyways, to this day I still haven't touched vanilla P4 since I played Golden. But FES, I picked up and dropped several times over the years. I really don't know why it wasn't grabbing me but the furthest I ever until this most recent playthrough was the first full moon operation on the subway. Either way, I can say I've finally beaten Persona 3 FES and I'm happy to say I ended up enjoying it overall.

Let's start with the story. I think overall, it's good and has some really fantastic moments. The beginning scene where the MC awakens to his Persona, to the whole turning point in Junpei's arc near the end of the game (if you know you know) to the whole last hour or two. There's some super good moments throughout the game, I just wish the story's pacing was better. After the MC's awakening in the beginning, I found the story to be super slow up until the middle of the game where it starts picking up again. Then near the end before the grand finale I found it dragged a bit. Pacing-wise, I thought it was the worst of the nusona games but specific moment-wise it's some of the best in the series. I do think the whole theme of facing death head on and not being afraid of it and making the most of life is super strong though, especially in the end-game. They really hammer that theme into you by the end but it works really well.

The main cast is solid overall but it can be a mixed bag. I really liked Akihiko, Yukari, Junpei and Aigis by the end of the game. They all felt really fleshed out and I just liked them the most. Mitsuru is decent but I expected her to be better, idk why I found her somewhat bland. Fuuka and Ken are the definitely the weakest party members imo and a big part of that, besides just not caring about their characters as much, was their voice acting. This game has really solid voice acting (the 4 characters I listed at the beginning) and then it has some really awful voice acting (Fuuka, Ken, Shinjiro, the chairman). Fuuka especially man, she sounded more robotic than Aigis it's crazy. This no doubt took me out of the story a bit just cuz those 4 are so prominent. Oh and can't forget Koromaru, interesting that he's the only normal animal sidekick in which he doesnt actually speak but he's a good boy nonetheless.

Going into more of the game's characters, let's talk about the social links. They're a bit more hit or miss in this game compared to 4 and 5. Akinari may be the best social link in the entire series with how good it is. I was tearing up in literally every rank, no doubt due to the music that plays during it. Yukari, Maiko and Chihiro were probably my favorites then after Akinari. I didn't even think Gourmet King's was bad like some people say considering his whole backstory and everything making me sympathize with him. However, a lot of the others I just thought were decent, very meh or just straight up bad. The worst by far was Kenji's, one of the worst in the series imo and just such a nothing Social Link. Same with Bebe, just did absolutely nothing for me. I didn't love 4's social links either but I think overall they're better in that game, especially since there's no male party member SL in 3. Yeah that's a weird omission, along with being forced to romance all the school girl social links, just overall the weakest of the nusona social links imo. It's not a terrible first try at the social aspect tho, but it's clear it's the first game to try to tackle it. 5 definitely has the best social links I think even if there are a couple duds in that game as well.

Something I actually dissed on stupidly was the game's soundtrack. Idk what was wrong with me but I originally just thought it was out right bad (besides battle for everyone's souls) but have since realized it's actually a super great ost, liking it so much now I think I like it more than 4's soundtrack. 5 is still easily my favorite but never did I think I'd like 3's ost more than 4's. Some of my favorite songs were the aforementioned Battle For Everyone's Souls, Joy, Living With Determination, Memories of the City and many more. Honestly, absolutely insane how much my opinion on the OST changed but I'm super glad I can see now why people love it so much.

Just a couple of random things I liked before I get into the combat. I really like that in part with the theme of death, every single party member experiences the loss of a friend or relative throughout the story. It really makes the dorm's friendship more believable since they can all relate to each other. The 2nd awakenings are easily the best in the nusona games simply because they aren't tied to the social links and are apart of the main story. Really felt impactful, especially Junpei's goddamn man. Also really enjoyed the atmosphere, mostly in the Dark Hour and Tartarus. Seeing how each Tartarus block would look was fun.

Speaking of Tartarus, it's one of the most contentious aspects of the game (along with tactics of course). Some people really love it and some people despise it. Me? It's not terrible but it's definitely the worse of the Nusona dungeons imo (yes I like 4's more) and probably the worst of the PS2 megaten games in terms of its dungeons. Absolutely does not touch DDS1's dungeons for example, but I didn't hate it overall. At first, I was just not getting into it but after a while you get used to the flow of doing a bunch of floors, then social link stuff then Tartarus and repeat. Near the middle of the game is where I was sort of getting burnt out on it a bit, especially since you do have to grind in this game and around that point I feel like enemies weren't giving great exp. Maybe I was over leveled then, idk but near the end game I was getting loads more exp and my personas were actually good so I got over my burn out near the middle of the game. Either way, Tartarus is just meh imo. Thematically it works but gameplay wise it leaves a lot to be desired.

Funnily enough, I ended up thinking more positively on tactics this time around. I still definitely prefer controlling your party members, but tactics works really well for the most part. You just have to not be dumb and engage in the mechanic. If you simply set your party to act freely all the time, then yeah they're gonna do whatever and are more prone to do stupid shit. But if you set them accordingly then I don't see the issue at all really. In fact I found it fun the more tactics you got as you progressed. Though, one issue I personally had is when I want a group heal from Yukari. Someone is super low on health, while the others aren't as low but are still missing a chunk of their health. If only one party member has less than 50% of their health, then she'll single target them and that's it. In that case, I'd want to be able to control my party members but that was about it really. One more still doesn't touch press turn imo, and I'd take controllable party members over tactics I'd say but this game clearly is built around tactics and it works really well.

Honestly, super glad I ended up enjoying FES, even if it's my least favorite nusona and my least favorite PS2 Megaten game. I was expecting to actually dislike this one cuz that's how I felt the few times I tried to get into it. It has its faults but it also has its highs and yeah I recommend playing this even with Reload out now. It may fix some of this games issues idk, but this is still a good time I'd say. Going onto almost 7 years since I got into Persona and Megaten as a whole and I'm just happy to say I've beaten all the nusona games now!

Shin Megami Tensei tries out a little bit of Tower of Duraga and a little bit of Sokoban mechanics to make a game that, while perfectly fun to play, does very little to do anything new. You can play as one of the three "Jack Brothers", by which I mean you can play as two of them to have fun, and can play as Jack Frost to make yourself suffer twice as badly. Now imagine it all on a really short timer.

It's fun! It is, I promise! But it's main charm stems from fun use of the limited Virtual Boy design options, and the gameplay won't do much to make you go through another play.