StillSundazed
2024
The original game set a very high bar, yet Supergiant has somehow managed to surpass it with this one. Despite this game still being in early access, it already contains more content than the first one and has so much polish that you’re only reminded it’s an unfinished game once you encounter missing sprites/models or reach the end of the available (still lengthy!) areas.
It’s insane how Supergiant announced that the EA for this game would contain “at least” as much content as the EA for the original game – which was only the first two areas – and then just shadowdropped an even bigger game with SIX complete areas, a new pact of punishment for increased difficulty, and an all new Chaos challenge mode on top of it all. Add on the fated list, brewable concoctions, the arcana, weapon aspects, tool upgrades, relationship building, and keepsakes, and you’ll find yourself in no shortage of unlockables to work towards even after finishing your first run. Seriously, the amount of available content is crazy for an EA.
The new combat takes some getting used to, but it’s definitely an upgrade from the first game. The addition of omega moves and sprinting have expanded the basic moveset to make fights more interesting. The fights themselves are more bullet-hellish, forcing the player to play defensively as well as offensively (whereas it was easy to go through the first game with little to no defense). There’s definitely a difficulty spike in this game, but I think that’s to be expected both narratively and in terms of this being a sequel for players already familiar with the first game.
Perhaps the most iconic parts of the first game come back stronger than ever in this one: the art and music. We have, once again, been blessed with a bisexual paradise in terms of character design, and the music is once again a feast for the ears.
The handful of flaws I had at launch have already been addressed with the latest patch. I thought the dash felt slightly delayed, that gathering resources was too grindy, and that the inability to cancel out of some animations was annoying, but all of these things have since been fixed. These were all common complaints, showing how receptive Supergiant is to community feedback and how quickly they work to improve things. By the full release, I’m confident that anyone who currently has misgivings about the game will be able to hold it in either equal or higher regards to the first one.
It’s insane how Supergiant announced that the EA for this game would contain “at least” as much content as the EA for the original game – which was only the first two areas – and then just shadowdropped an even bigger game with SIX complete areas, a new pact of punishment for increased difficulty, and an all new Chaos challenge mode on top of it all. Add on the fated list, brewable concoctions, the arcana, weapon aspects, tool upgrades, relationship building, and keepsakes, and you’ll find yourself in no shortage of unlockables to work towards even after finishing your first run. Seriously, the amount of available content is crazy for an EA.
The new combat takes some getting used to, but it’s definitely an upgrade from the first game. The addition of omega moves and sprinting have expanded the basic moveset to make fights more interesting. The fights themselves are more bullet-hellish, forcing the player to play defensively as well as offensively (whereas it was easy to go through the first game with little to no defense). There’s definitely a difficulty spike in this game, but I think that’s to be expected both narratively and in terms of this being a sequel for players already familiar with the first game.
Perhaps the most iconic parts of the first game come back stronger than ever in this one: the art and music. We have, once again, been blessed with a bisexual paradise in terms of character design, and the music is once again a feast for the ears.
The handful of flaws I had at launch have already been addressed with the latest patch. I thought the dash felt slightly delayed, that gathering resources was too grindy, and that the inability to cancel out of some animations was annoying, but all of these things have since been fixed. These were all common complaints, showing how receptive Supergiant is to community feedback and how quickly they work to improve things. By the full release, I’m confident that anyone who currently has misgivings about the game will be able to hold it in either equal or higher regards to the first one.
2024
This has always been my favorite Persona game, so I'm stoked that this remake is getting so many new players to experience it for the first time. That being said, although the game itself is incredible, I would say that in terms of being a remake, this is only good, not great.
Visually, there's not much to complain about. The opening animation and UI are arguably the cleanest so far in the series. I thought that a lot of the new 3D cutscenes were better than their 2D counterparts, with only a few exceptions. Every block in Tartarus has been upgraded to actually look interesting and unique. I just think that some areas feel off aesthetically, such as the dorm lighting, or are ugly to look at, such as the beach in Yakushima.
The music is where this remake falls off the most in my opinion. Having no option to toggle the original soundtrack is a baffling decision. The new singer lacks the power that Yumi had in the original ost, so a lot of the songs just feel underwhelmingly sung, if that makes any sense. She sounds fine in the new songs, but I think that those ones just lack the distinct Persona 3 feeling -- you can tell that a different composer worked on them.
The new voices are fine. Although I do prefer a majority of the old voices, these new ones really do still fit the characters. The only one I dislike is Aigis's, not because of the voice itself, but because of the direction. In the original games, she sounded like a robot at first, but became progressively more human as the game continued. In this one, she already sounds very human from the beginning, so it's sad to see that element of her development taken away.
They also amped up the difficulty of a lot of the fights, which made the combat a lot more fun. Specifically, the fights against Strega were some of my favorites. In the original games, they were way too easy to beat, so I was very satisfied to see Jin and Takaya shifting to each other, Chidori's fight becoming a trial to survive long enough, and Takaya busting out a theurgy during his final stand. I also like how much more screen time they get in this game, even if Takaya's arguments are completely braindead.
I like the inclusion of linked episodes for the male party members, but it hurts how a lot of them include stolen content from femc's links with them. With confirmation that The Answer is coming as DLC while femc has been sidelined once again, it's hard not to be bitter when her inclusion could've finally made a single complete version of the game. Overall though, I had a blast playing this. You get the most enjoyment out of it when you stop thinking about would could have been, if only Atlus cared a bit more about this game.
Visually, there's not much to complain about. The opening animation and UI are arguably the cleanest so far in the series. I thought that a lot of the new 3D cutscenes were better than their 2D counterparts, with only a few exceptions. Every block in Tartarus has been upgraded to actually look interesting and unique. I just think that some areas feel off aesthetically, such as the dorm lighting, or are ugly to look at, such as the beach in Yakushima.
The music is where this remake falls off the most in my opinion. Having no option to toggle the original soundtrack is a baffling decision. The new singer lacks the power that Yumi had in the original ost, so a lot of the songs just feel underwhelmingly sung, if that makes any sense. She sounds fine in the new songs, but I think that those ones just lack the distinct Persona 3 feeling -- you can tell that a different composer worked on them.
The new voices are fine. Although I do prefer a majority of the old voices, these new ones really do still fit the characters. The only one I dislike is Aigis's, not because of the voice itself, but because of the direction. In the original games, she sounded like a robot at first, but became progressively more human as the game continued. In this one, she already sounds very human from the beginning, so it's sad to see that element of her development taken away.
They also amped up the difficulty of a lot of the fights, which made the combat a lot more fun. Specifically, the fights against Strega were some of my favorites. In the original games, they were way too easy to beat, so I was very satisfied to see Jin and Takaya shifting to each other, Chidori's fight becoming a trial to survive long enough, and Takaya busting out a theurgy during his final stand. I also like how much more screen time they get in this game, even if Takaya's arguments are completely braindead.
I like the inclusion of linked episodes for the male party members, but it hurts how a lot of them include stolen content from femc's links with them. With confirmation that The Answer is coming as DLC while femc has been sidelined once again, it's hard not to be bitter when her inclusion could've finally made a single complete version of the game. Overall though, I had a blast playing this. You get the most enjoyment out of it when you stop thinking about would could have been, if only Atlus cared a bit more about this game.
This game has a bad rep for its weird controls, but the controls are precisely why I like it so much -- learning them adds another layer of challenge, and once you get used to them, playing the game is super satisfying, especially at higher difficulties. This is only for controller though; NEVER play this game on keyboard, it's absolutely awful, even after remapping the keys. The game is short, but there's some replayability with tackling higher difficulties. The songs are also pretty catchy, all remixes of Chopin's music. Definitely not for everyone; I hated it when I first played, but then grew to like it out of spite when a friend challenge me to finish it.
This is the best VN death game out there in terms of writing and characters. I think it gets off to a bit of a slow start, with some parts of chapter 1 being annoying to get through. But once you get to the actual death game portion, the game peaks and only gets better. Each chapter introduces new gameplay gimmicks that increasingly intensify each trial, always keeping you on the edge of your seat. However, it's the writing that really makes this game shine. Every character gets a chance in the spotlight -- even those that die early on are still relevant in unexpected ways. Additionally, there's the element of choice that makes this game different from others in the genre, as who lives and dies can be determined by player choice, which in turn has a large bearing on how the story and the main character's personality develops. The game isn't yet finished, but I highly recommend playing it regardless, especially since it's free.
2020
I'm not much of a roguelike fan, but Hades is the exception that I keep coming back to. I think it's a combination of the addictive gameplay loop, the narrative and characters, the art, and the fact that the end never feels too far out of sight. The combat takes a bit of getting used to (there's a lot of things on screen to keep track of), but it feels amazing once you get the hang of it. Coming up with new weapon and boon combos makes each playthrough unique, and on top of that you can increase the difficulty with different handicaps once you beat it for the first time. The speedrunning aspect is my favorite part; some of my best memories of this game come from getting together with my friends for races to finish a run the fastest. It's just a great game all around, and one of the only ones I've bothered to 100%.
2023
A captivating Undertale prequel that parallels and arguably surpasses the source material. This game takes everything that Undertale does and makes it even better, from more fluid animations to a slightly darker but still gripping storyline. The humor and music are also on-par with Toby Fox's work; if I didn't know that this was a fangame, I would've thought that this was made by him and his team. It wasn't until leaving the Wild East town that this game went from good to great for me, but after that point I was utterly hooked. I also appreciate how insanely different the pacifist and neutral routes are, unlike normal Undertale where all that really changes in the neutral route is the ending. Without spoiling anything... the final fights in all routes are pretty crazy, but especially the neutral one is worth doing. TLDR if you liked Undertale then you'll like this as well -- it's probably the closest a fangame will ever get to the real thing.