Where do I even start? Overall, a title built solid as a rock with so much flavor, that only gets dragged down by some aging mechanics. Context: I came into this having never played the original. I've dabbled in P4 and P5, but never finished (I plan to eventually). On a surface level, it's a visual novel with dungeon crawling pokemon-esque mechanics stapled on, but it really knows how to transport you to a world and connect with it. The presentation is overflowing with style, and the music is unforgettably brilliant. The cast of characters is wide, but also brings an emotional depth that builds throughout the game. My biggest complaint: It drags on too long with its grindy central mega-dungeon, even with the speedy quality of life features to help. Heavy themes of death are explored in the story, which it does really well. If it did so with more brevity, this game would shine even brighter.

An exceptional midpoint to the FF7 remake series. Wonderfully realized characters and world that tugged at some of my most nostalgic heart strings. I'm interested to see where the story goes in the inevitable sequel, as it's hard for me to judge before it's complete. Only a few things holding it back for me. The battle system got a bit of a facelift from the previous game, but still I wish they had tweaked it a bit to feel more responsive. It's not fun to get stuck in animations. My biggest complaint is the open world bloat, and along with that, some of the minigames are infuriating. I suspect if I didn't have such nostalgia value baked into this, I'd take off another half star.