why do vanillaware titles always cause so much melties LMAOOOOOOO, notice how none of the review bombers have actually talked about the gameplay.

anyways, this shit is really good (so far - only 11hrs in), so if you're on the fence about picking up a cool srpg - i'd strongly say go for this.

also i carnally need berengaria so bad

I'm surprised by how much I adored Tears of the Kingdom considering my impressions going into it. I wasn't incredibly hyped leading up to release, in stark contrast to its predecessor for which I was a day-one Switch buyer. Tears looked good, but it also looked like Breath of the Wild, with the same map, engine, and a lot of the same problems; as much as I loved Breath of the Wild for the things it did right, there was so very many flaws with armour balance, combat exploits, healing, and other imbalances, as well as the shrines feeling repetitive and disconnected from the rest of the world, all of which has been carried into Tears marring my initial impressions.

By the end, Tears had totally won be over. It's both a fantastic game on its own right while being more different that Breath than I initially expected, improving on that game while not overwriting its strengths, allowing each to shine separately and as a duology.

While the similarities are apparent, the design philosophy is quite different. For all its scope for mechanical interaction, Breath of the Wild was relatively minimalist for an open-world game. All the beautiful detail and minute-level interaction supports a simple framework of learning and mastering the game's world to bounce from shrine to shrine. It's a spiritual journey of sorts, with the Buddist-like monks at the end of each Shrine symbolising the deeper connection with the world Link developed to reach there. Tears, by contrast, is maximalist. It takes the world of Breath and builds complexity upon it, creating a game that is enormous in its mechanical, geographic, and narrative scope.

Thematic elements were woven through the narrative and gameplay. Much in the way BotW's monks served a thematic purpose, so to does the image of Rauru and Sonia at the end of each of Tear's shrines. To put it simply, in connecting we strengthen ourselves, through consumption we lose ourselves. The whole sticking-shit-together gimmick isn't just a fun, mechanically liberating set of abilities, it informs the themes of the narrative.

There's like a million things I could get into, but I'm finding it difficult to gather my thoughts on something this huge. I'd like to compliment the music, particularly the use of motifs to convey meaning - returning to Rito Village while playing with headphones was one of the more immersive experiences I've had in a game lately. I'd also like to compliment the cinematic direction, which is far more compelling this time around.

Overwhelming feelings on this one, struggling to form coherent thoughts. I adored it, was genuinely affected by the ending. All the issues melt away in the ocean of the things it excels at. Just a magical experience.

In light of the announcement that this is getting remade for Persona 3 Reload, I thought I'd mark my thoughts on The Answer here.

People get very upset over this addition to Persona 3, and I partially understand this anger. The gameplay for this epilogue is plagued by the same issues that the original Persona 3 faced, and then some. I consider Persona 3 FES a 5/5 game, however The Answer contains some issues with its gameplay that go beyond what was featured in the base game.

For one, the removal of the Compendium is a let down. It's not needed nearly as much as in base game, as there are no Social Links to buff your fusions and the runtime of this expansion is pretty short to begin with. The lack of the compendium, to me, simply makes the gameplay experience more grindy. The Abyss of Time, while not awful, can drag simply because The Answer offers players very few breaks from the "Tartarus procedurally generated dungeon crawl" present in base P3. Life sim and virtual novel elements do a good job of breaking up this monotony to prevent it from becoming stale in base, not much of that to go around in Answer.

Despite these flaws in gameplay, I find the story presented to be as special and touching as the one presented in base Persona 3, and a perfect conclusion to the narrative there. Each character's growth is showcased throughout the runtime of this epilogue, some characters (namely Yukari and Aigis) are made to grow even more, expanding upon and completing their arcs from the base game. I can't say much for spoiler reasons, but I find the representation and growth of each character as they search for "the answer" to life absolutely captivating.

Beautiful game. It serves as a really nice sendoff to one of the most legendary video game characters ever and further pushes Ichiban as one of the most interesting protagonists of gaming today. The overall story isn't as heavy as some other games in the franchise, but I think the character work is excellent and I adore this game's approach to reform. The message that 'even if you've been bad in the past, if you show genuine remorse for your actions and work to improve the world' is pretty simple but it's still nice to see.

The combat is still relatively simple, though I do think the positioning quirks give it more legs. I only got tired of fighting at the very end of the game. And even then, with Yakuza games, if you're tired of one form of gameplay they always have about 85 million different ones for you to tinker around with. And boy, the side content here is truly next world good.
Long story short, it will be difficult to top Infinite Wealth this year.

It was night. I was talking to Fuuka in the dorm, but suddenly we both hear the door opening.
Fuuka and i were expecting that Junpei would enter, since he was late... but that's when i hear a familiar voice.
- "Great vegetables!" says the voice.
It was Dojima. He discovered my new location and decided to invade.
Fuuka looks at me dead in the eyes
- "Great vegetables!" says her.
- "NO! IT CAN'T BE" i scream.
Junpei opens the front door and enter
- "i heard a scream! What is going on?" he says
Fuuka and Dojima look to him dead in the eyes.
- "Great vegetables!"
Junpei starts to scream, but suddenly stops.
- "Great vegetables!" he says.
i start running to the backdoor, but then i hear Aigis.
- "MAKOTO! WHY WAS THERE A WHITE LIQUID IN..."
They all look to Aigis and repeat
- "Great vegetables!"
Aigis suddenly stops and starts to repeat with them.
- "Great vegetables!"
- "Great vegetables!"
- "Great vegetables!"
...
I decide to escape.
I open the door.
The last thing i hear is a sound from the people at the streets.

- "Great vegetables!"
I stop and then say...
- "Great vegetables!"

You know, I’ve never really been able to decide on a favourite game—I’ve always had a list of an ever-changing top 10 roughly in my mind, but it’s never been definitive in any way. It’s difficult to place a rating on a game; I’ve never been able to label a game as 10/10 because I figured they just didn’t exist—a game always has some flaw to keep it in check at 9/10. These ratings aren’t exactly nuanced either; some of my favourite games and how I rate them are probably influenced heavily by nostalgia; it’s far from objective, so I guess rating a piece of media like a video game is largely quite personal—your definition of an 8/10 is likely quite different from mine and could mean something entirely different depending on the game you’re judging. However, ever since finishing Persona 3 Reload, my opinion on this idea of rating games has shifted quite drastically, as I’ve finally found a game that I would personally consider a 10/10.

I find it interesting that I came to this conclusion about Persona 3, as it feels contradictory to what I’ve just said. Tartarus, the game's central dungeon, isn’t perfect and can feel tedious at times, certain social links vary in quality, and the plot pacing occasionally slows down. The boss battles are straightforward to not soft lock you out of progression. Despite these flaws, I still consider Persona 3 to be my first favourite game.

I’ve found that this isn’t a matter of good vs. bad and coming to an average rating; this is something much richer and something I have only discovered after over 2 decades of gaming, and that is impact. I could list all the things I loved about Persona 3, but it wouldn’t adequately describe the feelings the game left me with upon its conclusion. The way it masterfully explores delicate subject matter in terms of its themes and manages to offer such a profound perspective on death is what has created this impact for me.

After reflecting on this, I look back at the ratings of my other favourite games and what they mean to me. The ratings I’ve given them aren’t a balance of positives and negatives, as much as my conscious mind might argue otherwise, but they represent the impact the game has had on me, a window into the time spent with it. The reason Persona 3 has managed to attain this unreachable pinnacle of impact is a personal one.

Throughout most of my mid-twenties, my view of the world began to change. I’d become more apathetic towards it, even relating to many nihilist ideas. I found myself relating to the antagonist group Strega a lot more than I would like to admit—Strega being a group who has lost the will to live and view death as salvation—an idea I previously wouldn’t have been entirely opposed to. However, one of the entire points behind Persona 3’s narrative is in challenging the idea that life is worth living, no matter how fragile, short-lived it is, or how terrifying the concept of never waking up again might be. It’s about leaving your legacy through the bonds you’ve shared with others, the fear of losing something you love, and still finding meaning to live despite that. Knowing that things will eventually come to an end, but making the most of the short time we have.

This is why Persona 3 has left such an impact on me and why it’s my favourite game. Memento Mori—remember death—echoes as a bittersweet saying, urging us to embrace the fleeting nature of existence and live each moment to its fullest.

Persona 2 has a lot of potential, but I ultimately found it VERY sluggish and boring.

This is a very different Persona than what I'm used to. I knew it was different from 3, 4 and 5, but I didn't know that it would be such a completely distinct experience.

The atmosphere is here at least and the game excels in it! Innocent Sin still gives off that chill Persona energy, with a high school story that starts off silly and ends up getting darker and darker, while not losing its cozy vibes. And that's actually the best thing of the entire game.

The story starts off very slow, introducing the setting and characters. It all develops very well, turning into a very mature tale filled with twists and mysteries up until the very final scene. All characters and villains are great, with simple but interesting backstories and fun/engaging personalities. I loved how it all progressed and that's what keeps me curious to play Eternal Punishment.

Demons/Characters designs and soundtrack also diserve to be mentioned on the positive side. Design is not as good as future games would be, but they're still charming enough. Especially main Personas and their evolutions. As for the soundtrack, it's good, a few tracks stand out, but it's not as special as Persona 4's, for example.

But I can't lie to you, I did not like this game very much. I didn't hate it, of course, but if it wasn't for story and characters, few things would get me to play Eternal Punishment or even Persona 1.

The dungeon crawling aspects from Innocent Sin are awful. Dungeons are exceedingly long, battles are slow, side quests are very unrewarding, dungeon designs are bad, negotiations are unintuitive and the RNG is insanely off. I just hated this part of the game. It feels so different from games like Persona 3 or SMT Nocturne. And being different isn't the bad thing, the bad thing is that it's not engaging at all!

There is no press turn battle system and while that would be ok if they had some other solution, it's not. Instead, you get the cards system, which is absolutely tedious. Collecting cards and having to manage them on the Velvet Room (which you'll hardly ever be in one) feels like a chore. Weaknesses are meaningless, negotiations make even less sense and it's all just helplessly slow. Even the fusion system is absent.

In fact, Innocent Sin felt a little too laid-back. The only battles I liked were boss fights, because they actually felt a bit more tactical and challenging. For the rest, I just couldn't care less. I'm REALLY glad it's not grindy and sort of chill, but they couldn't find a good balance, it seems. Takes a long time to level up and it simply does not compel you to battle much. Besides, the way dungeons are built just fuck up the story's nicely paced moments.

I do not recommend Persona 2, unless you have played the other games. I know there's a lot of people out there praising it, but I just found it tedious.

The story is great and I will play Eternal Punishment to find out what will happen with the cast, but other than that, it all feels like an unnecessary time-consuming adventure.

What a masterwork in gaming; it flawlessly encapsulated all my beloved media clichés and would be my go-to pick if I could only play one game in the event of a global catastrophe. My eternal gratitude goes out to Atlus and Persona for reawakening my passion for video games and introducing me to a fantastical world I never would have discovered without the remaster. If Persona 5 Royal hadn't existed, I'd definitely call it Atlus's magnum opus, but I suppose the title of #2 would be fitting as well.