Pokerouge is the most fun I've had with a Pokemon game in quite some time, it really understands what it wants to be. It's extremely replayable and encourages trying new teams and strategies in a way that mainline games do not. Playing Pokemon normally is too braindead, playing nuzlocke is too luck based, Pokerouge nails the difficulty here.

Thing is, the difficulty can really, really spike sometimes, like you will be on top of the world and then swept like nothing. Certain trainers have their teams buffed to a ridiculous degree, it's nothing anyone could see coming the first couple plays through.

But yeah it's goated, been playing it a ton these past couple weeks and hasn't lost any appeal. Just glad Nintedo hasn't put their ban hammer on it yet.

While I don't think this is my favorite Metroidvania I've played so far, I think it's best in its class.

Playing Hollow Knight after playing my first few Metroidvanias, rather than before, set my expectations in a strange place for the game. I've heard so much talk about it, and witnessed even more excitement for the ever-illusive Silksong. I went into it expecting a masterpiece of not only the genre, but of everything that constitutes a great game.

I liked the story, even if it seemed a bit dense at times with all the bugs whispering gibberish into my ear. I'm the guy destined to become the new John Hollow. I'm pretty sure that's obvious, so I'm not marking this as a spoiler. Okay, cool. I was led astray so many times by NPCs who, it seems, you talk to in the first 10 minutes of the game and then have to revisit in the 90th percentile??? Obviously a bit of an exaggeration, but the layering of side quests and their progression is definitely the most complicated out of most games I've played. I don't think that's a bad thing either. I think it's done well enough and more of a reason to be more present when playing the game if you care about the story and its characters a lot.

I think it's easy to sometimes get swept up in the monotony of running back and forth throughout MVs. I touched on this in my Blasphemous reviews; it's incredible how there's a point around 40% percent through these games where you're slow, and the map is big. You're aware of countless areas that are unexplored, but you're lacking the abilities to get to them. This was me more than ever on HK. I loved exploring the map, but I think it's incredibly punishing. I can't imagine someone new to MVs having fun platforming on this game in the beginning. Granted, I'm not the greatest platformer in the world, but I'm certainly not the worst. See below.

I DID NOT FINISH PATH OF PAIN. FUCK THAT. FUCK THE DEVS. SICKOS.

The art direction is extremely cohesive. I didn't feel like anything in the game was out of place. From the sprawling backgrounds, to the enemy design, and the animations, I loved the way this game looked. The environments transitioned color pallets beautifully. I adore when a game isn't afraid to go all out with the colors while still keeping with their aesthetic. The orange of the infection is burned into my brain like one of the blobs was the sun and stared at it too long. Oh, and who knew so many amazing designs could be based around bugs? Looking back, it sounds so obvious because they're like the naturally gifted knights of the animal kingdom. They're quite literally born with armor over their bodies. If any of the bugs in HK were human-sized, I think we'd be doomed.

Combat is great and so are the bosses. I think the weapon upgrade system is balanced, as it incentivizes exploration and challenges the player to fight more bosses. Magic seems OP as hell, as usual. Magic users have tiptoed the line of baby gaming for far too long. It's time we banned all uses of magic from games. But seriously, the balancing of spirit when it comes to magic and healing is well done. Healing? What's that? Seems like they only put it in the game to use outside of combat. You definitely don't want to use it in a boss fight. I think the boss is coded to go ape mode when you start channeling spirit. Once you figure that out, I think you enjoy the combat even more. It reminds me of Sekiro in a way because you have to dance with the boss at a certain rhythm. While there is no parry (kinda) you still have your jumps and dashes to guide you across the dance floor.

The music hit all the notes. It was somber, energizing and grand. I sometimes felt like I was walking the pews at a funeral or receiving a medal for being the people's champion. I especially loved the Mantis Lords track. Inject that shit into my veins. It's incredible to me how so many studios can create such distinctive sounds for their games. Video game soundtracks are a genre of art that is probably the most ignored by the public. Anyway, listen to and appreciate more OSTs. If you're reading this on a video game review site, I'm sure I don't have to tell you that.

Overall, I loved Hollow Knight. Like with any title, there are small annoyances, but they pale in comparison to the radiance displayed during the high points of this game. I fully understand why Silksong is longed for. I fully understand why HK holds a special place in the hearts of many, as it now does mine. As always, I'm thankful to exist during a time when I can experience games like this. There's so much beauty in playing a game you always knew about but never gave a chance.

I was really looking forward to this game because persona 5 ost PLUS a rythmn game just sounds... PERFECT

And dont get me wrong, I did have SOME FUN, for a few hours.. Then you just realise they reuse the same song (just as mixes) over and over with their being only around 6-8 unique songs out of the MASSIVE catalogue they had to work with.

Im honestly happy I got this game through like a 90 percent off sale, that makes me feel it was okay for what I paid.

I also enjoyed some of the social events more than others, some came off as if different writers were given stereotypes of said characters like 'Futaba is the nerdy one who is an otaku who lost her mother' and that is just her character throughout the game. It makes them come across as 2 dimensional ignoring the base games confidaant ranks imo, SADLY!!! 😭😭

Atlus did it again! They reloaded the depression I felt after watching Persona's most melancholic ending ever. And I loved it all over again...

This might be one of the finest remakes I've ever played. Faithful to the core (too faithful, at times), and filled with accurate QOL improvements. Some of what I said about Persona 3 in my old review for the original still stands. But the whole game was refined.

You'll notice the difference right away. This game looks great! Not because its graphics are high-end, but because of how stylish and beautiful everything is. It contrasts a little to how FES looks, but it does its own thing. It feels like a very stunning saturated painting. Atlus is known for its stylish games, but this one, aesthetically, rivals P5.

After sorting through how good it looks, you'll get to how good it plays. And THANK GOD they polished it up! Did you play P3 or P4? Then you're home! But now you'll see how smoother it is. Grinding is not necessary, the challenge is more accessible, everything is faster, they filled Tartarus with new little details to make things a less sluggish, new small features to do while dungeon crawling, and even Shuffle Time is better.

ALSO, YOU CAN CONTROL ALL PARTY MEMBERS!!!!

And it's not just the meat of the gameplay that improved. The story got a small shine as well. The new translation sounds much better, writing flows well, there are new events with party members you couldn't interact much in the original, classic social links are all there and, plenty new stuff to do that helps the pacing and character motivation/backstory. They didn't change much, but improved upon it. I loved that characters like Aragaki, Chidori and even Aragaki gained a more screentime now. Made me appreciate the cast and story even more.

There are little things that FES did better, and some old flaws remain, but nothing terrible.

The tone, for example. Sure, the new artstyle is great, but the original feels much more moody and creepy. Even the anime scenes were more experimental then. It also took a bit of that mid-2000s feeling. Voice actors changed too. While they did a fantastic job, I still prefer how weird they most of them sounded back then. The music still sounds phenomenal, specially the new songs, like the new combat one, but some of the mixing in the original was better. It sounds cleaner now, which helps a few songs, like the school themes, but kinda takes the shine out of others, like the dorm theme.

And Tartarus is still... well, it still sucks. Much better now, for sure, since combat and traversing was improved. No more "fatigue", for example. But, like the original, just hurts the game's pacing. Even with everything new. But you'll get through that, for sure.

You'll get through because this game is fantastic! Feels like visiting old friends, but they all look better now. And if this is your first time here, well, lucky you! You'll get to experience my second favorite Persona game in its best shape.

Now they just HAVE to remake Persona 4...