I've known about this game for a while now, but I thought it would be something like Crash Bandicoot or something.
When I saw a gameplay video and it turned out to be a first-person (shooter?) platformer, I had to immediately try it out.
This is a genre I have not had any experience with, and I don't even know that many first-person platformers (aside from Mirror's Edge)
The game controls pretty good for an early PlayStation game and for a 3D platformer.
The double jump and how it refills each time you stomp an enemy made the game that much more fun.
The game is pretty to look it and the soundtrack complements the goofiness of the enemies and the playful nature of the levels.
The boss fights were all pretty great but felt a little easy (the whole game is not that difficult; I only died a couple of times).
I also found the addition of a couple of linear levels a break from the more expansive levels (they are not really that big) and were more like traditional shooter levels.
All in all, a good time if you have a couple of hours to spare and you don't mind the PlayStation graphics.

Has some of the best set pieces I have ever seen in a JRPG, or in an FF game. The opera house segment was really unexpected, and Zozo is one of the most memorable areas ever.
I felt the game lose a bit of steam near the end of the first half, especially since I got my ass beat up badly in the Flying Continent, but the second half is where the game really shines.
Having a plethora of side quests and extra playable characters that you can get in any order (mostly) is a breath of fresh air from previous FF titles.
The gameplay was top-notch and a significant step-up from FFV.
My only gripe is that I had to grind a lot for some characters before I attempted the final area, but I guess that just comes with the territory.
The final area is bonkers all the way through, although I spent a solid 10 minutes fighting one of the bosses because of a poorly balanced party.
The final boss was really challenging and I died a couple of times, and I placed the party in the wrong way and had to fight the final final boss with a joke of a party, although they got through just fine.
A JRPG for the ages.

A pretty good metroidvania with a sleek art style and even sleeker traversal.
Sadly, the game is bogged down by a couple of issues.
The minibosses are just rehashed normal enemies with more health and damage.
There were a couple of fights that were really entertaining, especially the last couple of them, but I hoped for more variety, like Hollow Knight for example.
Normal enemies also needed more variety, instead of being color coded, but they were good enough.
Bosses were all awesome fights with some of the best designs I've ever seen. The last boss was the highlight for me, at least for the ending I've done.
The hordes get tedious after a while and feel overdone, but it is a cool mechanic and keeps you on your toes.
The minimalistic map looked good and you can pretty much get to where you want at a glance.
The abilities were also good. I liked how the grappling hook attaches to enemies, which made encounters even more fun.
Honestly, the game is good and I really had a great time with it, and didn't feel it overstayed its welcome (I 98%ed it in 11 hours)
I wanted to give it a 7, but I like to be generous a little so an 8 is good, although not a solid 8.

One of the best experiences I have had the pleasure of playing.
The difficulty curve was perfect, and the game just keeps adding new mechanics incrementally without making the player feel overwhelmed or the game convoluted. In the later days you'll find yourself mechanically and deliberately analyzing all the documents to pass on your judgment.
Some of the later mechanics were really surprising, but I don't want to spoil it.
The upgrade system was also a genius addition and made them feel owned for your efforts not to get (too many) citations. I found the third upgrade not really worth it, but no matter.
For my playthrough, I decided to uphold the law thoroughly and not get any citations. Some days I repeated two or three times, but mostly it was a breeze. In the later days I decided against this because it didn't really affect the ending and I've already got the two plaques, and I wanted to help Segiu. So, I've finished the whole thing with only 6 citations (skill issue, I know)
Will gladly do another 4 playthroughs.
The victory theme at the end was such a goddamn banger.

Decided to replay this absolute gem (crystal?) of a game.
My first playthrough was somewhat incomplete as I didn't collect all strawberries (only 130 or so), didn't collect all crystal hearts, played only the first 2 B-sides and consequently didn't touch chapter 8.
So, I decided to remedy that this time.
And so, after 26 hours, 6127 deaths, and a lot of cursing and raging at the game and its developers, I have gotten the platinum trophy.
This is my first ever platinum so I'm absolutely happy right now.
The A-sides were all amazing and chapters 5 and onwards are absolute bangers. My only gripe is that I had to restart chapter 7, like, 4 times or so because of all the missable strawberries and I was going for a full clear.
The B-sides were difficult as hell but were enjoyable to an extent, my favorite B-side has to be chapter 5.
The C-sides were easier than I expected them to be and didn't take me as long. I also liked the idea of a super-long room at the end to test your ability and patience to the max.
My favorite C-side also is that of chapter 5, and I was laughing from sheer enjoyment of its final room.
My only complaint is the new mechanic introduced in chapter 8 C-side with no prior training, and then adding that new mechanic as the final hurdle in the final long-ass room. I have died 484 times in that C-side and 80% of those deaths was in that room. I took two days off to calm my mind and have finished it first try right now, so that's okay.
I also found that about a third of my deaths were due to my inability or inaccuracy of moving the analog stick the right way, so next time I'm gonna play it with a keyboard.
I still haven't touched Farewell as I've learned it is supposed to be super long and the most difficult chapter, so I'm gonna take a few day off and attempt it with a clear head.
Peak platforming.

A pleasant surprise.
When I first saw this game, I thought it would be something like ElecHead (especially considering it is called Bzzzt).
But instead of a puzzle platformer, it was structurally akin to something like Celeste.
The controls are snappy and really responsive. The game would have benefitted more from having more mechanics and varied level design, but it was a nice effort for a debut indie game.
The pixel art is gorgeous, and I also liked how the player character took little screen space, which made the levels easier to look at and comprehend, although it is not really that difficult of a game.
I found myself bopping with the music and it really fit the game well.
A short and sweet experience.

Possibly the best designed side content in an RGG title as of yet. The Friend Events are a brilliant addition and really made Kamurocho feel more alive, and also how different Side Cases overlap with each other made for a bunch of equally hilarious and interesting stories (Sashimi of the Fallen has to be one of my all-time favorite substories).
The minigames are also some of the best the series has to offer, with games like Kamuro of the Dead and Motor Raid being the highlight (I suck at fighting games, so I haven't touched Viruta Fighter 5).
The Drone racing is my favorite racing minigame, second only to Taxi racing in Yakuza 5.
I was planning to do all of the Side Cases, but I got burned out after 40 Side Cases, 38 Friends and 2 Girlfriends, and I was in Chapter 12, so I couldn't resist finishing the game.
The combat is the best in Dragon Engine titles, and I really liked the duality of the focused high-damage Tiger-style, and the wide-range low-damage Crane-style. Playing the game on Hard was a wise choice.
The story was amazing as usual, with the twists and turns characteristic of RGG titles. The cast are all amazing characters and Hamura is one of my favorite characters in the frachise.
The Finale is a 2-hour-long extravaganza of court room drama, over-the-top action sequences, and one of the best final bosses I've ever fought.
The opening drop was hard as fuck.

I have played this every day since I first started it about a week ago, along with snacks and drinks per the game's suggestion.
This was a breathtaking experience to say the least. The characters feel alive, and the writing was superb.
At some points I felt like the game was talking to me, especially with Jill's struggles.
The soundtrack is now playing in my head all day and I can't stop thinking about the game. I'm gonna miss the hell out of all the characters.
This will become one of those games I play yearly from now on.

Took me a while to finish this because I was busy with other games and Take Over gave me a migraine, so, here we go.

The sequel more or less ditched the subtle storytelling for a more direct and melancholic experience. Starting with the title screen, you are greeted by what appears to be the charred and desolate remains of Miami with a sad tune that further accentuates the feeling of melancholy and helplessness.
There is no hope for salvation in the world of Hotline Miami for any of the characters.
Beginning with the Fans, who are a bunch of stupid lunatics who revel in the act of killing for killing sake to attain infamy in seeming admiration for the acts of Jacket in the first game. In one level, they take an odd job not in line with their motives, where they go "rescue" Ash's friend's sister from a bunch of hooligans. Ash thinks of this job as righteous, which is further established in the name of the song that plays in that level, "In the Face of Evil." (This is my favorite song in both games)
In their final level, they are brutally murdered one by one by two of the most reprehensible characters in the game, The Son and Pardo, even after Tony pleads for his life and was ready to accept his due punishment.

Next, we have Pardo. A corrupt cop with no morals, be it enjoying the act of killing and kills indiscriminately or divulging secret police information. In his final level, he is met with a strange dream where it is revealed that he was the Miami Mutilator, which was characteristically appropriate.

The Son is a reckless psychopath who doesn't fear going into enemy territory alone and doesn't think of anything other than expanding his reign. He meets a tragic end where he, quite literally, gets drunk on his own power and massacres his men, he is then plagued by monstrous visions of the Fans. At the end, he commits suicide by jumping from atop of his kingdom.

The Henchman tries to leave the life of crime behind and live a peaceful life with his girlfriend, but after doing his final job and taking the money back home, his girlfriend takes his money and leaves him behind. He then dies a meaningless death by the hands of the Fans. It seems ironic that The Son is the one who then kills them.

Jake is a stupid idiot who gets caught up by 50 Blessing's scheme and gets shot after he proved to be a liability to them.

Richter is also another character who tried to do right, the song that plays at the beginning of his levels are sad and quiet (another of my favorites), in contrast to the one that plays in Jacket's levels.

Don't have anything to say really about Evan or Beard, as they are both the only characters who were genuinely good people.

At the end of the game, after all the madness and misery, all the characters who were not killed, the ones who just wanted to spend their final days with their loved ones, the ones who wanted to open a convenience store after witnessing the horrors of war, the ones who already have no hope for themselves, are all vaporized by a nuclear bomb.

Richard: Looks like you've gotten yourself quite comfortable over here. You know what they say about good times, don't you?

Richter: Yeah. [...] Good times never last.

Richard: That's right. Soon this will all be over.

Richter: I had a feeling things would catch up with me. [...] Are they onto me?

Richard: Oh, no. This... This is much worse.

Richter: How long do I have?

Richard: You? You don't have much time. No one does.

Richter: There's nothing I can do about it, right?

Richard: No. By now there's nothing anyone can do about it.

Richter: Okay. No need to fight it then.

Richard: I'm glad you understand. [...] Leaving this world is not as scary as it sounds.

As for the gameplay, the levels were more open than the previous game which made it much more harder, and sometimes downright impossible, to play recklessly, which the game seemingly encourages.
I liked the variety of the different characters, especially the Fans. Ash & Alex were my favorite characters to play as.
The music is much better than the previous game with so many bangers.
Aside from some segments that gave me a stroke (the guy in Release, Take Over, Casualties), the game is pretty damn good.

Let me tell you a story.
There once was a boy in fourth grade.
He loved his classmates and loved talking with them, and they loved him too, but he still didn't have a "best friend". He didn't have that someone that he would share with him the bond that is friendship. Then, a new boy came and sat next to him, and he was immediately struck by how intelligent and fun to talk to he is. So, both of them have become inseparable. They shared everything with each other; the games they play, homework, secrets, anything really. The boy now has found his "best friend". People would sometimes mistake them for family or even twins from how the both of them sat beside each other up until the third year of junior high. But what was not immediately obvious to the boy was how weird the relationship was. They would get in a fight by a seemingly small thing, and every time the boy has to apologize, regardless of whom was in the wrong. But he was his best friend, so obviously he wouldn't be mean to the boy.
But the toxicity only increased, until a certain thing happened in the spring holiday between junior high and high school, and the boy would then know that he was not truly his best friend.
The boy became very sad. He didn't have many friends in the first place and now he has lost his "best friend". The sadness continued until he started high school. The high school was boys only, so it was something new to him and he wondered what types of people he would meet. After the first couple of weeks, he got acquainted with his classmates and they were all (mostly) colorful sort of people with different personalities and eccentricities. He loved them and loved going to school. Then someone new came and sat next to him. The very first thing he said to the boy was "Do you have an eraser?" And like a bolt of lightning, he knew that this would become the friendship of a lifetime. They went to school together from that point on (they discovered that they lived not far from each other) and sat next to each other the first and second years.
The second year was special in that the boy now had two best friends, among many new friends he had made, but they weren't really "best friends". He loved them regardless. He met someone who really understood him, who really shared his passion for weird games and anime and films and all that. The fun continued until the start of college.
The three of them went to three different universities. But the boy still had the foolish hope that their relationships would still remain the same.
He made some new friends in college, and his two best friends made friends too in their respective circles. Now, the boy felt the distance that threatened to break them apart. They weren't talking with each other like they used to anymore.
The boy tried with all his might to maintain all his friends (the ones from high school, the other ones from high school, and the ones in college). After many attempts to restore the connections (among them was a WhatsApp group that had like 16 people who didn't know each other, which ended miserably as you may have guessed) the boy lost hope.
His friends have now drifted apart from him, he got into a couple of fights with his college friends, he kept getting disappointed in his friends until he distanced himself from everyone.
The boy now is pretty much alone. But he nevertheless hopes to have even one friend that he can confidently count on and say that this is his best friend.

This may be the most important game I've ever played. I love stories about friendship. I love JRPGs. I love stories of heroism, of triumphing over evil, of saving princesses and slaying dragons. The first time I heard "The Future I Dreamed Of" I nearly cried.

There was a random moment in the game where I just teared up out of nowhere. It wasn't a cutscene or anything like that. I was just walking with the initial three party members. That simple act of just walking with people whom you really consider your friends, having weird discussions out of nowhere, going into a restaurant and talk about things and sharing your thoughts, this is the best feeling ever.

I always loved going into Survive Bar and just stand there, more so after getting all party members, and seeing the characters just talking with each other and being genuinely happy about being each other's friend.

I loved the Bond mechanic and talking to the characters and really knowing them well and continuing their stories really moved me. Being friends isn't just about playing a stupid game with each other or talking about a random hobby or interests. This is real friendship. This game made me live the life that I wish I had.

There were many moments in this game that really made me think of these characters as my friends. The moment where Ichiban tells Nanba that he wants to be a hero, and then Nanba tells him to become one, I immediately loved him.

Ichiban may be my favorite character ever. And the last cutscenes in the game really cemented that.

Now to get into the actual review.
Ijincho is my favorite city so far. It felt more diverse than Kamurocho or Sotenbori. Especially areas like Hamakita Park and North Jinnai Station.
I really liked the minigames here. Can Quest was so much fun.
I had my fair share of fun with Dragon Kart, but felt that the car movement was not polished enough, but maybe because I suck at racing games.
The management game was good, not really that much fun but it was worth it in the end.
I didn't really mind the repetitiveness of the gameplay, until the game demands of you to level up 10 levels for the chapter 12 boss.
The story is over the top as ever, on par with Yakuza 0.
The last three chapters are some of the best that Yakuza has to offer.
And this:
"The treasure you're after is just up ahead. And I'm the one guarding it. So if you want it... Prove you can defeat the guardian."
This has to be the hardest line that a Yakuza boss has ever dropped.
After the final boss, which as a genius boss fight, I don't care what anyone says, and the subsequent cutscenes, I just kept crying all the way through the credits.
"Keep living, Ichi."
The ending credits slaps.

"Once you're at rock bottom, the only place to go is up. There's no shame in being at the bottom. All that matters is how you decide to climb back out the darkness. There's always a ray of hope up there."

Thank you Ichiban, and all the other wonderful friends.

Definitely a more polished and ambitious game than the previous one with a surprisingly good plot.
I wanted to like it more though, but some things hold it back.
Firstly, some stages take too damn long to finish (Knuckles and Rouge specifically).
Secondly, unlike in the previous game where each character had a distinct playstyle, albeit with some similarities (and one fishing minigame), the Hero and Dark characters are just a reskin.
Thirdly, there weren't enough Shadow stages.
Sonic and Shadow stages were the best, obviously.
Knuckles and Rouge were fun at the beginning, but near the end they get kinda boring and too long (I got a 20:00 in a Rouge stage).
Tails and Dr. Eggman were decent enough and fun to play.
The finale was one of the most awesome and explosive finales I've seen this year (maybe ever) and was definitely worth playing the game just to see it.

I honestly don't know what people see in this. It is a retrogression for the series, not a 'return to roots'.
Instead of keeping the mechanics and QoL features that made the game better (slide, charge shot, quick weapon switching, being able to fire the mega buster and the other weapon using two different buttons), they just made the game as frustrating as possible for frustration's sake.
I'll admit that some of the bullshit sections can be bypassed by clever use of weapons (mostly the Jewel Satellite), but still the game is littered with spikes and other instakill obstacles.
This would've been excusable if it were an NES game, but this is just stupid.
For fairness' sake, I had some good time and there were a couple of stages that were genuinely good like Galaxy Man, Tornado Man and Splash Woman.
I just hoped for more out of this game, especially considering how everyone says that this is the best Mega Man game.
I can see why it is regarded as such; it maybe has the best bosses in the series, but the issues as mentioned make me reluctant to accept that.
A good Mega Man game nonetheless and I can't really stay mad at the blue guy.
I also liked the inclusion of a female Robot Master and hope they continue to do so.