No other game has defined my childhood to such a degree as this video game. I can recall the exact moment me and my brother booted it up for the first time. the pure and utter joy and adventure this game took me on was unmatched. I had enjoyed video game before but this game started my love for games and the art of them. The art direction combined with an incredible platformer only speaks lengths to how much work was put into this game. I will never forget you, return to dream land, and thank you for all the memories you've given me.

I'm at the point where I'm not sure if this is a skill issue or not. I've hit walls before. I've overcome every single boss in every Souls game prior to Elden Ring. In Elden Ring I've taken down every single major boss fight and I've done all this without summons, playing the way I want to. I know how it feels to throw myself against a wall again and again and again.

But this is different

I am not enjoying the challenge. Overcoming this wall, fighting and fighting and fighting to ultimately win isn't satisfying this time and I don't have the words to describe it. I LOVE so much of this DLC. Getting to explore a whole new bunch of map segments that all are perfectly crafted and put together. This might be the peak of exploration in any Fromsoft game. l'll never forget fighting the dragon man outside of his dungeon, entering his dungeon and having to jump down a pit that would normally kill you, and then fight him again just to unlock a whole new area and questline at the end of the dungeon. If I had just took another turn I'd have found some other crazy segment of this world. The first thing I did when I entered the DLC was go to the right and run into the dude with the Beast Claws hiding in the woods while fighting shadow dregs. I loved the exploration so much. Every time I found a boss arena or fog wall I'd nope out and just keep exploring and find a new dungeon, legacy dungeon, Furnace Golem, and whatever I could find around the next corner. I wanted to see every single area I could find and try out every new weapon my stats would allow me. This was some of the most fun I've had playing any souls game.

But when that ran out and I was forced to fight the bosses I thought I was prepared for, just to be two shot no matter how many scadutree fragments I've collected. Well I lost the plot. I did overcome these challenges but they were pyrrhic victories. I wasn't relieved when I finally beat them because I knew the next, harder challenge was just around the corner.

So I'm torn, the DLC's have always been harder than the base game. But they've not felt like this. It's not like I haven't thrown myself against the wall before. The first time I beat Dark Souls 2 and came up against Fume Knight. I think I was stuck against him for like a week. Seeing that man in my nightmares. He haunted me and when I finally killed him I was ecstatic. I was not only happy, but eager to move on to the Burnt Ivory King. Beating the Dancing Lion wasn't fun because I had to fight Rellanna next. Beating Rellana wasn't fun because I had to fight Bayle soon. I got stuck on Messmer for so long I fought the Scorpion/Centipede boss in old Rauh before even trying and beating Messmer again. Seeing Radahn again wasn't even exciting for me. DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED AND COMMANDER GAIUS. This might need to be one I return to later down to the road to appreciate it fully. I just can't love this one as much as everyone else.

I just can't see myself returning to this anytime soon

Edit: Forgot to mention. My favorite area was the Frenzied woods area with the winter lanterns. Those were scary and fun to parry. The boss was my favorite of the whole dlc

I put a metric ton of time into this game, as I got into competitive Smash for this title. Was I any good? Enough to sometimes win money, but not very good when it came to the big picture. I think this game had some hype to it, like being the first Smash game to do character reveal trailers that carried into Ultimate. Last game to have trophies, had the absolutely genius idea of Master and Crazy Orders, and while Smash Tour could be a bit faster, it was a lot of fun sometimes. If that was faster, the customs were balanced and easier to get, and we got maybe one more balance patch, this could've been an even greater game. What we got was still good, but hard to go back to considering how much better Ultimate feels to play, as well as the unique content worth going back to in the installments prior.

REACH FOR MY HANDDD, I'LL SOAR AWAYYY, INTO THE DAWNNN, OH I WISH I COULD STAYYYY!

Fire Emblem: Three Houses is the sixteenth installment of the series Fire Emblem. As much as I like to joke about the game, I really enjoyed my time with the game, and from time to time I actually come back and play it. If I could describe it, it's essentially a persona-fied fire emblem, and that's not a bad thing, I love both series. It's definitely a lot different for people used to classic Fire Emblem but I think it has enough going for it to be a great game.

Just want to say that this was the first Fire Emblem game I completed. I had previously started Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright but got extremely bored near the end and never finished it, so this review may be a littleeeee biased, but I'll try to be as objective as possible!

Now, let's talk about the story, which I will try to keep spoiler-less. I love the concept of 'Three Houses' and us, as the protagonist having the choice of what house to teach as a professor. The game interests me with it's deep lore and many organisations, like the Church of Seiros, and then we have the three nations of Adrestia, Faerghus, and The Leicester Alliance. I'm a sucker for world building so I just love all of the lore about the game and it really gets me to hyperfixate on it. Now, time to talk about the actual story. The starting chapters make sense, considering every unit you have besides the protagonist is a student that isn't accustomed to fighting and killing, so no marks off for me. For the most part, I actually enjoy most of White Clouds, with peak being Chapter 7 (imo). I will say one major flaw I have with the story in this game. I just feel like the game is terribly designed for a replay, especially for a game that emphasises 'Three Houses' and therefore multiple routes that you can do. At the time, I had no issue replaying White Clouds three times in the span of the month, I was in the Fire Emblem rabbit hole, but now that I think back to it, that's probably what has drained me from Fire Emblem for a little bit. Honestly, that's really one of the only faults I have with White Clouds, it's essentially a set-up for the second-half of the game. Depending on the house you chose, you get a specific route to play, and I've played the three main ones so I'll focus my review on those three. I feel like Crimson Flower is good, but the ending just isn't it for me. It feels like we have a lot more to do, but it just ends. However, Crimson Flower has my favourite map of the game in the final chapter, so it doesn't lose that much points from me. Azure Moon seems much more cohesive (in my personal opinion and from what I'm remembering, it's been almost 5 years give me a break). Azure Moon seems much more character-driven, and that's probably why I enjoy it more. Not to mention I think I just enjoy the characters in Azure Moon much more. Verdant Wind was my starting route and probably my favourite because of how epic it is. Though, I dislike how much it shares in common with Silver Snow, but I guess there were time restraints in development time? Overall, I enjoy the story, and although there might be a couple of loose threads, they aren't terrible by any means.

Now time to talk about the characters. I enjoyed them a lot, and the three house leaders do make a good first impression, but Claude will forever be my favourite character. I wish we got to interact a bit more with the characters from each house before making a decision. I love seeing the supports between different students as I just love seeing the different interactions and situations that each support goes through. I enjoy the faculty and how much some of them bicker with each other, I love it. Also, I can't forget mentioning the ultimate Gatekeeper, what a great character. I actually don't think there's a single character I hate in this game, I might be meh on some, but there's none I can really say I hate (unless they're antagonists but I believe that's the point of what an antagonist should be).

Gameplay! This game was my first true introduction to fire emblem, and I enjoyed the gameplay. I want to start by saying that I played this game on Normal because for some reason I just suck at Fire Emblem on hard mode. There's Combat Arts, Crests, Gambits, and Hero's Relics. Combat Arts are interesting because they have different properties and consume a different amount of durability on a weapon depending on the type of combat art you used. Some can even hit from multiple tiles away. Crests are innately built into some characters kits based on a lore reason that I won't delve too deep into. Essentially they provide the wielder with a specific effect that enhance their combat capabilities. Some of them are quite good when they actually activate. I enjoy them, but I don't go out of my way to get them to work. Gambits are new to Fire Emblem, and this comes with monster enemies having multiple HP bars that need to be depleted in order to defeat the enemy. Gambits can hit multiple squares and can stun these monster enemies, and some even have supporitve properites like increasing movement or healing. I love abusing Stride on certain maps to achieve the win condition in one turn. I'll be honest, I rarely used Hero's Relics because I hate having to go to the armory to repair them with specific material that I may not have. Although, they're good to have when I might be unable to kill an enemy unless I use a Hero's Relic. Also, I want to talk about the elephant in the room, which are the Certifications. I love how they made it so that every character can become any class (except gender specific ones), but that is kind of made obsolete thanks to the fact that certain classes are just superior to others, and some are just not worth the investment. It's also painful to get skills from specific classes because of the number of times you have to engage in battles with enemies. Despite what I've said, I enjoy the gameplay in this game.

MUSIC. My favourite part. The music slaps. Edge of Dawn is GOATed. The battle themes arer so intense that they just make me pumped. The Spirit Dais is just so mysterious and it fits the theme. And he monastery themes are honestly perfect to convey the start of a chapter compared to the end of a chapter when you embark on a mission. Overall, great music.

Okay, I think it's time to actually talk about the main elephant in the room, which is the Monastery. As a concept, it's great, an explorable main-hub where you can do multiple things, such as improving stats on your protagonist, raising your support level with other units, tea time, gifts, buying things from the marketplace, gardening, fishing, petting animals, battling at the training ground, cooking, eating meals with different units, doing choir, and talking to the many NPCs around the monastery. Those are all great additions and the little sidequests make you go all around the monastery, however, on replays, the monastery is kind of draining. And if you decide to slack off at the monastery, then you're kind of screwing yourself over because there are just so many benefits that come from the monastery. Honestly, I enjoy the monastery, but I know that it is one of the main complaints of the game.

And finally, let's talk about tutoring/seminars. I actually like being able to set a course for each unit in terms of what stats they should aim to improve. They get different combat arts, and some units have budding talents that give them a boost when they are fully ranked up. Honestly, I have zero complaints with this system, except when you get a terrible session and all of their motivation goes down, that sucks.

Overall, this is a great entry into fire emblem if you're coming from some more story-focused games, though there are other entries into the series that might be a little better. I highly highly highly recommend you play this game! It's great!

Now I face out! I hold out! I reach out to the truth!

Persona 4 Golden is a fantastic entry into the Persona Series. Although the game does not have the most striking story or gameplay, what it does best are definitely its main cast of characters. Coming to this game after P5R, I thought I wasn’t going to like it as much as I did, but here we are, with a 5 star rating. I can’t really put my finger on it but there’s just something that this game does that make me love it so much.

Going to try keep this spoiler less, but I will talk about several characters. Now, first, let’s talk about the story. I think it’s really interesting that the game just starts talking about a marriage scandal straight away and you’re just so confused. Honestly, I thought I missed something when that started, but I guess not. The game slowly develops into a sort of murder mystery where the gang and you have to catch the culprit because the Inaba Police Department are incompetent and you don’t want anymore people dying. Honestly, a lot of the story parts just feel like filler, and some of them just don’t need to happen, but it definitely gives the game personality and allows the characters to develop. As expected from a murder mystery story, the game doesn’t really ramp up until the late game. The game is so formulaic that it starts to get a bit boring, but after Heaven, yeah, that’s where the good shit happens. I will say the culprit reveal did feel underwhelming, but it did make sense. I also enjoyed the final dungeon that occurs on the final day, it really highlights how close the protagonist and his friends have truly gotten. Overall, the story is good, but I wouldn’t expect an extremely stellar one.

Quickly, I want to talk about the setting. There’s just something about Inaba that is oddly nostalgic, and maybe that’s just why I love Inaba so much because it reminds me of where I grew up. I think the setting just also works in favour of the theme of the game, and how people in small towns still need to accept themselves for who they are.

Now, characters. There are just so many good characters. Yosuke, Chie, Yukiko, Kanji, Rise, Naoto, Adachi, Dojima, Nanako, Yumi, Hanako, etc, there’s a lot. Some personalities can get a bit much at times, like Rise’s horniness or Teddie, but other than those instances, I think the cast is great overall. Yosuke is the bro and I just love his character arc. They should’ve made a gay romance option for him. Chie has superb voice acting and has a very endearing social link. Yukiko is my spirit animal, however unfortunately falls under the spell of Priestess Social Link syndrome, but I also find it endearing nevertheless. Kanji is great and really shows the theme of the game. Rise is a double-edged sword, you either hate her because of her horniness, or like her because of her horniness. Joking, Rise has great moments in her social link as well that make her a great character, not to mention, some of her lines are just hilarious. Naoto is the same as Kanji, and probably one of my favourite social links. Adachi is a goof, and Dojima is essentially your second father figure. Nanako is the sweet sunshine child that must be protected because she’s more mature than the entire cast, and Yumi has one of the strongest social links in the entire series in my opinion. This sounds like a rant, but I just fell in love with the characters in this game.

Now the gameplay. The TV world is meh. I don’t love it but I don’t hate it. I hate how RNG dependant fighting the Reaper is though, no more jump-scares screaming ‘I Sense Death!’ I love shuffle time and how much customisation it has, from ranking up persona skills to increasing persona stats, to giving skill cards, to giving increased money or exp, I just love the system. Almost makes me sad that P5R didn’t have something similar. Fusing doesn’t seem all that different besides no extra velvet room functions, but I don’t mind it. I want to talk about the bosses, because I think each of their gimmicks are just really creative, and the bosses overall are just much more difficult than in P5R, even if they aren’t that difficult. They’re just really fun to take on. One thing I hate about the gameplay though is that you cannot do essentially any of the social links in the rain, it really sucks. Overall, good gameplay and very few complaints from me.

Music! IT SLAPS! Time to Make History, Your Affection, Reach Out To The Truth, Heaven, Specialist, Nevermore, Heartbeat Heartbreak are stellar. I also grew quite fond of the opening, Shadow World. Honestly, the songs in this game are bangers.

Overall, a great game, and I just love it so much. The P4 cast will always hold a special place in my heart. Despite having an above-average story, I believe the best part of this game are the characters and the themes that it brings to the table. I highly recommend playing this game, it’s awesome!

I liked most of the main characters, I think they have a good characterization, I just think their participation in the story isn't the best, overall I think the direction and narrative fail them in some points. Secondary and extra characters? Undertale did better in this area.

I like the idea of ​​each route. Pacifist, the protagonist gains empathy for monsters and becomes a kinder, gentler person. In the genocidal route, they seeks to avenge the dead humans and becomes more aggressive and cold. On the neutral route, they ends up wanting to abandon is mission and reveals themself to be a very different figure from the protagonist of Undertale. It's not the kind of thing I see Toby Fox doing, especially considering how little meta-commentary there is in this game. I have no problem in that area, I'm not against franchises going for different ideas and concepts, as long as it at least doesn't offend the source material, which isn't the case with this game. It was just designed with the Undertale universe more in mind, whereas in the original Undertale the universe existed more as a pretext for its message. To end positive points, I think that all the routes suffer from indicating something interesting to happen and this ends up never happening or the execution was much more mediocre than expected.

Combat is a yes and a no for me. I like the higher difficulty, I always found the original Undertale very easy. It has more animations and sound effects, which help bring more life to combat. I like the way of attacking more, especially when you acquire another weapon, getting all six shots right is very satisfying. The problems start in the act and its little function throughout the game, it even helps to finish some battles faster, however, on the neutral and genocidal route the effect is minimal, killing enemies is faster and more practical. Bosses are even worst, act is just a flavor text almost all the time. The way defense and attack work in this game would have my preference in an orthodox RPG, but Undertale Yellow is a game designed so that it can be completed between level 1 and level 20, just increasing attack and defense makes the game extremely easy in neutral route if you follow at least a few levels, and the genocidal route despite having exclusive bosses that were designed with a high-level protagonist in mind, the rest remains as pathetic as the neutral route. Attacks are generally competent and even creative, but I'd be lying if I didn't think certain attacks needed more testing.

It has its flaws, but the emotional moments make the journey worth it.