pros:
- environment and level variety vastly improved from MGS2
- slight gameplay changes (ex. suppressor health) add a nice challenge
- volgin is easily the best villain so far
- story is anotha banger (shocker), while I do like MGS2's overall story a bit more, MGS3 definitely has better characters
- EVA and Naked Scenes were great

cons:
- lack of quick level restart is frustrating, especially when going for a zero alerts run
- camo optimizing became annoying rather quick
- no crouch walk :/
- when the game puts you in permanent 'caution' status and the enemies magically can sniff you out from a mile away (helloooooo ocelot unit)
- the fury boss fight

pros:
- gameplay is a massive improvement over the first game, even just the revolution of first-person aiming and clearer instructions of how to aim + run makes this a much more enjoyable experience
- story is fantastic, the final CODEC calls alone are mind-blowing considering the game is over 20 years old
- overall controls a lot smoother than MGS

cons:
- raiden is cool but man the game peaked in the tanker section
- early progression is frustrating due to lack of equipment and no map

a great addition to an already fantastic game. the new area is beautiful and really stands on its own apart from the other four main areas. leviathan is awesome, and overall served as a great excuse to come back to this game.

as for replaying the game on final fantasy, I had a great time. I was reminded of just how strong the cast of characters was, and by ignoring all side quests, save for a few, it really made me appreciate the story more, even if I do still have some minor gripes with the ending.

pros:
- great atmosphere + soundtrack
- memorable characters
- good humor

cons:
- gameplay can be pretty stiff, resulting in unintended actions
- some of the dialogue has aged not too well
- some boss fights are pretty annoying (this mainly due to gameplay limitations)

pros:
- the combat is insanely addictive, learning and finding new ways to defeat enemies (especially on hard mode) is very satisfying and rewarding
- the soundtrack is phenomenal, hard to believe they surpassed FFVII Remake's OST but wow, so many bangers
- character writing is fantastic, barret in particular is a real standout, as well as cloud + tifa's relationship
- story overall is great
- large majority of minigames are super fun
- side quests have vastly improved

cons:
- some minigames don't really hit (looking at you gears and gambits) and provide more frustration than enjoyment
- most of the open world stuff (not side quests!) get pretty boring towards the end of the game

in short, this game is a masterpiece. an easy GOTY for a new all time favorite for me. no doubt that FFVII part 3 is my most anticipated game now, and when it's all said and done, the FFVII trilogy will go down as a monumental moment in history.

pros:
- very enjoyable game that clearly had a lot of love put into it. the world building and set up for future games in the remedy universe is very exciting
- the side characters and overall environment design has improved greatly since the last game
- horror is great, thanks in large part to the suburb sound design
- art direction is phenomenal
- music is great
- ahti my beloved

cons:
- I wish the true ending wasn't locked behind NG+
- gameplay is very basic, almost annoying if enemies get too close (at least dodging is easier)
- once you get into the late game (ie trying to clean up stashes, riddles, etc), the map becomes a chore to move around, especially in the dark place
- almost forced to crawl while playing as Alan due to enemy vagueness
- some echoes bugged?

this was my first introduction into turn based games (and JRPGs for that matter) and woof what a game. Not to beat the dead horse, but the art direction and soundtrack alone really do make the game worth playing, as they're both absolutely fantastic.
My only real gripe with the game was how the story elements were paced out. Several of the palaces bosses felt extremely rushed and half-baked, resulting in a lack of emotional connection between the main characters and their respective palaces. The final boss also came out of nowhere and had barely any buildup (unless you recognized the voice of the Holy Grail initially), and came off as forced content to give a higher-stakes ending. Finally, I found it annoying that unless you were super anal about how you managed your days, it is practically impossible to max out all your confidants in one play through, which is frustrating since the large majority of the confidants have their personal growth and background built by hanging out with them and ironic because the game is over 100 hours long. On top of that, several confidants either don't become available until very late in the game, require high level social stats, or are available but aren't able to have their level ranked up.
As for the "weird" stuff, I didn't have too much of an issue with it, except for the fact that you could enter relationships with adults, and that some of the main characters were at times overtly sexualized.

being my first resident evil game I didn't really know what to expect, with whether it was going to be more serious or really lean into the goofiness. thankfully the game does a masterful job of balancing it's story with some over the top action and humor added in, mainly thanks to the memorable and stellar performances by the cast. while the gameplay was not as responsive and snappy as I would've hoped, the combat was still extremely fun, thanks to the wide variety of weapons, my only gripe is that enemies often became very spongey, which was annoying