HarperMeows
1995
1994
One of, if not, the best of the Search Action genre. While Metroid on NES popularized Search Action, this game defines it. Atmospheric environments and music, memorable locations and bosses, intentionally designed sequence breaking shortcuts that allow for a sense of freedom while exploring, all while collecting items to gradually become overpowered as you play the game. Super Metroid has everything that would go on to define what it means to be a Search Action game. I love every single detail of this game. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants a fun immersive game to play!
2013
Extremely mediocre. A soulless copy of both Mario Galaxy and New Super Mario Bros. that doesn't understand the appeal of those games. This lacks absolutely anything that makes Sonic "Sonic". This game's writing is also absolutely terrible. Some of the worst writing I've ever had to bare witness to. I do not recommend this game. The only good thing to come from this game is the Nintendo DLC.
2024
Persona 3 Portable is my favorite game ever, so this review will have an extreme bias. I'm very conflicted on Reload. On it's own, it's a good RPG with okay remixes of music and good writing, but when compared to the original versions of Persona 3, it feels inferior. A lot of how I feel is subjective, but I feel like Reload misses the mark as a remake.
With the drastically altered art direction and the removal of several mechanics, as well as other smaller visual elements, and the significantly decreased difficulty, Reload feels like a watered down version of the original Persona 3 FES and Persona 3 Portable that it's inspired by. Instead of being a faithful interpretation of Persona 3, it tries to "modernize" Persona 3 for the newcomers who only played Persona 5. I feel like in the process of doing this, Persona 3 Reload lost a lot of Persona 3's identity.
There are good changes here, like dating now being an optional mechanic and the removal of the jealousy mechanic. The new hangout events with your party members and new story scenes with Strega are a good addition as well. That being said, I feel like the good additions just aren't enough to justify how much was lost in the process of remaking this game. Battles no longer have psychedelic environments, the Dark Hour has a strong (and quite frankly, gross) green tint over it, killing the atmosphere in many scenes, the Monad Depths were cut entirely in favor of having them randomly show up in the main floors of Tartarus, weapon fusion no longer exists, I could go on and on about how much was altered or removed. My biggest gripe though has to be in the difficulty. Persona 3 FES and Portable were both pretty difficult games, mainly due to the enemy AI being somewhat smart. You had to plan and strategize for every enemy encounter, even on Normal mode. With Reload however, enemies go down almost instantly, and their AI is very dumb. On top of that, the new Theurgy mechanic lets you one shot just about any boss you encounter, since Theurgies ignore resistances. I played Reload on Hard mode and still found it to be pathetically easy due to the Theurgy mechanic.
I think that most these changes hurt Persona 3. A game once known for its strong identity and difficulty was turned into another Persona 5. I really, really wanted to like this remake. I love Persona 3, I love the world and characters of Persona 3, but I just can't bring myself to fully enjoy this remake knowing that it could've been better. I'd recommend Persona 3 Portable over this if you want to experience Persona 3. Maybe try Reload for a second playthrough. It's not a bad game by any means, but it could've been so much more.
With the drastically altered art direction and the removal of several mechanics, as well as other smaller visual elements, and the significantly decreased difficulty, Reload feels like a watered down version of the original Persona 3 FES and Persona 3 Portable that it's inspired by. Instead of being a faithful interpretation of Persona 3, it tries to "modernize" Persona 3 for the newcomers who only played Persona 5. I feel like in the process of doing this, Persona 3 Reload lost a lot of Persona 3's identity.
There are good changes here, like dating now being an optional mechanic and the removal of the jealousy mechanic. The new hangout events with your party members and new story scenes with Strega are a good addition as well. That being said, I feel like the good additions just aren't enough to justify how much was lost in the process of remaking this game. Battles no longer have psychedelic environments, the Dark Hour has a strong (and quite frankly, gross) green tint over it, killing the atmosphere in many scenes, the Monad Depths were cut entirely in favor of having them randomly show up in the main floors of Tartarus, weapon fusion no longer exists, I could go on and on about how much was altered or removed. My biggest gripe though has to be in the difficulty. Persona 3 FES and Portable were both pretty difficult games, mainly due to the enemy AI being somewhat smart. You had to plan and strategize for every enemy encounter, even on Normal mode. With Reload however, enemies go down almost instantly, and their AI is very dumb. On top of that, the new Theurgy mechanic lets you one shot just about any boss you encounter, since Theurgies ignore resistances. I played Reload on Hard mode and still found it to be pathetically easy due to the Theurgy mechanic.
I think that most these changes hurt Persona 3. A game once known for its strong identity and difficulty was turned into another Persona 5. I really, really wanted to like this remake. I love Persona 3, I love the world and characters of Persona 3, but I just can't bring myself to fully enjoy this remake knowing that it could've been better. I'd recommend Persona 3 Portable over this if you want to experience Persona 3. Maybe try Reload for a second playthrough. It's not a bad game by any means, but it could've been so much more.
2022
An unpolished mess that attempts to mimic a AAA game. While this game does try to do good things, all of those good things are undermined by the general lack of direction, lack of cohesion, and lack of any quality control. If I wasn't falling through the floor every 5 minutes, I was finding an extremely boring and/or tedious puzzle to waste time with. Nothing in this game feels good. Sonic's movement is extremely stiff, he constantly gets stuck in the floor, his speed resets when you jump, and there's no sense of flow at all. Combine this with a very boring story filled to the brim with needless references and you have a mediocre experience. If this is a "first step in the right direction" as fans say, then I'm not looking forward to what this series has in store for the future.
2017
2024
2022
Fantastic game. I absolutely love the 32-bit aesthetic! The game controls well, the movement is fun, and there's a lot of replay value, whether it be mastering the game's movement to get good times, or getting all of the collectibles. The little bits of lore are neat too. There's also cute designs and a fantastic soundtrack to boot! I highly recommend this game!
2023
2004
One of my favorite platformers. This game strikes an amazing balance between Sonic's iconic momentum based speed and traditional platforming. That on top of memorable locales, great music, and great level design all add up to this game being a fun time! The many small details in this game also has are very charming and make this game feel like one big adventure. If you're a fan of platformers, definitely check it out!
2016
2018
2013