i probably don't even need to tell you that this game is a dumpster fire, but i'm gonna say it anyway. i love the walking dead, i've seen every episode of every season, most of them multiple times. anyone else who has too has probably also wondered how things would go if certain events went down a little differently, and in case anyone was curious, this is not at all a satisfying answer to those questions! characters do not behave at all in character, many just basically taking the place of another character and being the exact same person as them for some reason. if you're looking for a good game to play, or just expecting something even mildly quality, look somewhere else.

if you're like me though and you love playing shitty games just to laugh at them and break them, this one is pretty great for that. i found a lot of really stupid techs in this game that made me die laughing, like using a heal and walking backwards makes you move like 10x as fast in reverse for some reason. or in stealth missions, if you're spotted by an enemy, just open the skill tree and close it and they'll forget they ever saw you! the stupid goofiness of how horrible this game can be is the only reason it's not 0.5 stars. there is some enjoyment to be siphoned out of this game, but none of it is because of the game actually being good

after a while of playing this game on and off for fun i decided to sit down and complete it, and i'm really fucking glad i did. unless you count resident evil 4's enemies as zombies, dead rising 1 is undoubtedly my favorite zombie game. though if i'm putting objective quality aside - i might like dead rising more than resident evil 4 anyway.

this will not be a game for everyone, you need to be pretty patient unless you just dont plan on saving survivors. i hesitate to give it 5 stars even though i enjoyed it enough for it to be a 5. putting it on the level of other games i've ranked 5 stars seems wrong. objectively, there are several problems with this game. it's got that old corny capcom dialogue, the controls are a bit of a mess (especially aiming), the survivor ai is horrendous, enemies can often catch you in a stunlock, some weapons are useless and others can kill any boss in the game in 3 hits.. i could go on about these flaws, but weirdly, all of them are things i kind of enjoyed a lot about the game? it's weird, but it's part of its charm. the level of difficulty constantly teeters right on that line of frustrating and challenging, where it feels AMAZING to succeed, and failing just makes me want to press on even harder.

i can only imagine this game was born from some conversation about where the best place to be during an apocalypse would be, and someone arguing for a mall. nearly everything you see in this game can be used as a weapon or a heal or something else, and it's so much fun to just grab the nearest object and just swing through a horde. i don't know what capcom employee threw in more weird ass ideas like having to kill random cartoony psychopaths or rescue old women from toy stores, or having the protagonist be a photojournalist and making photography an important gameplay mechanic for some reason? it's so stupid, but somehow, works so fucking well

anyways, this game is fantastic, but if you're impatient or just aren't really down for some kinda dated mechanics, you might not see what the hype is about with dead rising

i'll be reviewing this without the context of it being a remake. i played persona 3 FES to around october-november in game and stopped, always meaning to get back to it but never finding the motivation. then reload was announced, and as far as i'm concerned, it is the definitive edition of the game.. or at least it will be, when episode aigis releases. what they have added makes the game DRASTICALLY more enjoyable in every way possible. the new art, voice acting, music, theurgies, gameplay, and presentation in general are all miles ahead of FES and portable, lacking only male party member social links and the female protagonist. with that said, i'm gonna talk about some complaints that are relevant to persona 3 in general, not JUST reload, so view this as a review for persona 3 as a whole. spoiler free, aside from talking about some small gameplay mechanics and an incredibly minor reference to a hangout event lol

one of my very few gripes with this game is the social links, unfortunately. the order i played the modern persona games was 4 > 5 > 5R > 3FES > 3R. in every version of 4 and 5, social links are significantly more important than in 3. i understand this is due to the series evolving overtime, but it does have to be said. the lack of male party member social links is a surprise at first, and a bit disappointing, given how much i actually liked them. you do get little hangout events a couple times throughout the game but it's still not really a SOCIAL LINK, it's just going to get lunch with akihiko but getting interrupted or something. it does make up for it slightly, but it's still a little disappointing. the other issue with social links is that apart from a bonus to XP in fusion, and unlocking new personas to fuse, leveling up social links doesn't do anything. in 4 and 5, you will gradually unlock new, strong abilities as you spend time with people. your teammates will unlock new ways to assist you in battle, and non party members will grant you new ways to approach battle, or helpful abilities in the real world. in persona 3 you get none of that, which honestly really hurts the motivation to even pursue social links. of course, you do it anyway, because it's still important to do for a lot of reasons (and you don't have a whole lot else to do during free time), but i definitely missed that feeling of progression from leveling up links.

my last complaint is a simple one everyone probably shares, which is tartarus. the main dungeon in this game just gets old really fast. its randomly generated and changes each in game day and yet still manages to feel like the exact same thing every single time you go in. palaces in persona 5 are much more fun, i'm sure everyone would agree. but tartarus serves its purpose well, it's just very bland and stale by the end

now that i'm past complaints and anyone reading this is confused why i give this game 5 stars still, i can talk about how fucking incredible this game is. without a doubt, in every way except what i said above, this is the best persona game i have played to date. it was more difficult than 5 (though i still wouldn't say it was hard) which was a pleasant surprise. this one is a bit more slow burn than others, i didn't find myself immediately attached to any characters and even disliked a few of them at first, but by the end i fucking love all of these guys. i'd say i enjoy the overall cast more than i do P5's cast. i can't say for sure on 4, its been a while since i played vanilla and i need to get through golden.

i don't want to spoil it so just speaking generally here, the story here is fantastic. it isn't just rainbows and roses constantly, there are consequences, characters have FLAWS.. really refreshing stuff to see after playing 4 and 5. it's been hard for me to stop thinking about this game's ending, and the theme of the game itself is just really bittersweet and melancholy, i love it. the ending destroyed me a little bit. it feels wrong to even compare 4 and 5 to persona 3 in terms of story, it is leagues ahead of them.

i think i've come to see this as my favorite game of all time over persona 5, just by how much impact it left compared to 5. what they've done with this game is incredible, and it makes me excited to get around to playing persona 2, and eager to see where this series will go after this

although it takes second place in order of my favorite video games of all time, Outer Wilds is without a doubt the BEST game i've ever played. for many other games, like my favorite of all time, i love them despite acknowledging their flaws - in the case of outer wilds, i can't see any flaws.

from beginning to end this game is an absolute masterpiece, and saying anything detailed about this game could impact someone's experience by not letting them go in blind. i know literally everybody says that, but it's absolutely true - if you are interested at all in puzzle games, solving "mysteries", space, or just exploring a game world completely freely, you have to do yourself a favor and at least TRY this game without having any knowledge of it. even the steam trailers reveal too much, in my opinion. it's less than half the price of triple A games and a thousand times better than most of them.

just let your curiosity carry you along, and you will undoubtedly find something to love about outer wilds