I really tried with this one, but I just couldn't get into it, man. I didn't like the first game either, but that's coz I tried playing that on the DS way back and I hated the gameplay. This game has better gameplay, but it's very repetitive and grindy, and by forcing you to switch out your attacks to level up new Pins constantly, it makes the battle system just a chore to go through and a grind from the very beginning.
I liked the aesthetic of the game, but it ultimately combines tropes from anime that I dislike, especially in its main story - which is a "death game". I put an honest 8 hours or so into this game and I just couldn't bring myself to continue on any longer.
Ultimately, I'm gonna chalk this up to this one just wasn't for me, bros. For the same reasons I don't like Persona 4 Golden as well - due to the high levels of unbearable anime tropes and the grindiness of the gameplay.

The first Armored Core game I've ever touched and holy shit did it blow me away.
The combat is so smooth and responsive - literally thee best mech combat in a game (I've played), hands down. Nothing is more satisfying than finishing off a boss fight by staggering the boss and then charging either a sword or the pile bunker and slicing/punching them to death.
The gameplay loop of getting new parts and spending hours experimenting with the different weapon types and builds is just pure addiction. The possibilities are literally limitless and so fun much to explore.
I love this game. This game fucks.
The only thing keeping it from a 10/10 for me is the story is a little lacklustre, with a bunch of it just feeling like padding. I will say it has its moments, especially in the final chapter. I know there are multiple endings as well going into NG+, but I don't think I'm gonna jump into getting all of that right away. It's nice knowing that this game exists and will always be there to jump right back into sick mech combat whenever I feel the urge to do so.

Reminded me of the original Assassin's Creed games, for all the good and bad that entails. Clothes still clip through character models, physics is still janky and Basim will fling himself with the utmost confidence to his death even though that was not the direction I was holding on the analogue stick to jump in.

Ostensibly trying to capture the flavour of the first AC game, this was a nice nostalgia trip but also reminded me how tedious the original game's gameplay style could be. The game has a very strong beginning and end, but the entire meat in the middle gets boring and repetitive very quickly. There's very little mission variety, and the targets you take down in this game feel largely inconsequential for all the work you have to go through to uncover them. Thankfully, the experience is about as long as the first few games as well, so it doesn't overstay its welcome.

The environment, Baghdad, is honestly one of the most lacklustre settings in the entire franchise as well. After the visual treats we got used to with Origins, Odyssey, and certain parts of Valhalla, the bland desert and brown buildings of Baghdad feel so ugly and wonderless. There's also very little side content to explore - a grand total of 6 side missions, a few obligatory collectables, and some contracts that serve no real purpose other than to pad out the gameplay as a lot of them take you back to areas you explored as part of the main story.

Overall, I certainly didn't hate the game, but I did feel the story was not substantial or engaging enough to truly enjoy the experience. It felt more like a lesser spin-off title, not a mainline game in the series. I do hope Ubisoft continues to deliver these kinds of throwback titles with the original gameplay style going forward, but I do hope we get some bigger titles as well, as exploring the environments in the last 3 games was honestly a lot of fun. I also hope they hire some good writers because the stories have honestly been mid for the last few entries in this series. Origins was the last genuinely engaging story that we got and I hope moving forward we can get some actually meaningful stories from the series again.

I actually enjoyed this game way more than I thought I would. I'm not a Harry Potter fan in the slightest - I read the books when I was in school but never enjoyed the films. I only tried the game because my cousin and a few friends played through it and told me they enjoyed it, so I thought I would give it an honest shot and see how far I got with it.
Imagine my surprise then when I was utterly swept up in this game. It just ticked all the right boxes for me - a massive, gorgeous open world with tons of puzzles and exploration and side activities to get lost in (even if the grind to get all the activities and collectables is slightly monotonous).

The magic system is great in that it not only facilitates your combat prowess but also ties into solving puzzles in the world. The talents you acquire also augment your spells in actually meaningful ways and make them more useful. The only bad part of the combat itself is that it does get repetitive as you are doing the same basic thing for like 60 hours, and the gear system seems to have been just an afterthought, to be honest. Luckily you can just glamour whatever you're wearing so that you're always fashionable, and like halfway through the game I had some gold pieces that I just upgraded and never traded out because the increases on everything else were negligible.

The story is probably the weakest part of the whole experience. It's a little bit too cliched and has pacing issues as you have to wait for characters between every step of their questlines. I also wish there were more choices in what type of character you wanted to play morality-wise or more options that encapsulate what house you are in, but, all said, it is entertaining enough throughout to keep you going, and it does have some genuinely great moments and set pieces sprinkled throughout.
I enjoyed a lot of the side missions as well, as they fleshed out some of the supporting cast and the actual world that the game is set in. The best part of the Harry Potter books has always been the world itself, so it was fun to explore more of the lore and setting.

There is just so much here that kept me busy for absolute hours, from combing every inch of Hogwarts for collectables, to flying around the open world, to tinkering with my Room of Requirement to get it just right to suit my aesthetics, to breeding magical creatures and all the rest of it. It truly was a magical experience, and with a better, more impactful story, this easily could have been one of my favourite games from last year.

A beautiful little throwback JRPG that maintains the spirit of the games that inspired it. It can be very challenging and unforgiving if you aren't paying attention to your party's abilities and composition, but the difficulty never really reaches an unfair level.
I didn't do all the side content and grinding necessary for the platinum, just because the game is leaving PS+ in a few days and I don't really want to be grinding until it leaves, but I do feel like I've seen what the game had to offer me and I was content with it. It was a pleasant experience, and the story was surprisingly touching, especially the ending.