klonoa 1 is an INCREDIBLY special videogame. it prides itself on its dreamy visuals, cozy vibes and unique platforming mechanics: the wind bullet is a joy to use and the game also makes use of its 2.5d nature in a super interesting way that ive never seen done before. stages are a constantly unfolding diarama of fun puzzle platforming and by the end of the game, phantomile really feels like a living, breathing world that you've traversed through.
but what really makes this game special in my opinion is its ridiculously cruel ending sequence. throughout the game, ur friend huepow helps u platform by literally being the wind in ur sails-he's the wind bullet that allows u to inflate and use enemies for progressing through levels. he's also klonoa's best friend. he comes off as a bit cold early on but you can really see him warm up to klonoa and see him as a friend. but the thing is that its all a lie. klonoa's from a different world entirely disconnected from phantomile. he was needed to bring balance to the world so he was brought in by huepow and given fake memories in order to be motivated to save the world. this is all revealed to the poor kid right in the final cutscene of the game and he's just SHATTERED.
he refuses to accept the truth. but at that point, he's forced out of phantomile. he gets sucked into the vortex while crying and screaming and all huepow can do is try and fail to pull him back. its so so fucking depressing and it seems like pointless tragedy at first glance, but the way this connects to the second game makes it all worth it i think
im still floored by the boldness of the devs to end such a warm and friendly kid's game in such a cruel way. incredible stuff

persona 3 is incredibly thematically dense. it goes all out guns blazing, investing nearly every fibre of its being into expressing its overarching theme of death, and how our short time on planet earth means we need to cherish our time with the people we love for as long as we have them. from a storytelling perspective, persona 3 is one of the best videogames i have ever played. those characters and their struggles will stick with me for a long, long time.

but its gameplay really really irks me. its combat systems works wonders for bosses, but it really falls apart during regular enemy encounters, which often come down to fufilling the terms needed for an all out attack and then the enemy dies, rinse and repeat. ad nauseam. this makes tartarus a total slog to get through unfortunately, and it makes up the majority of the game's rpg side

the social links are hit and miss. the sun and hanged man were my favourite non party member links, the sun especially because it might as well be the game's whole message distilled into one side story, and its wonderful.
however, a lot of the other ones are more frustrating, either due to the characters themselves being terrible (nozomi, kenji) or the game forcing you to encourage their bad habits in order to progress the links (kazushi, hidetoshi). not to mention the fact that you have no choice but to date every girl that you have a link with, which of course triggers a jealousy mechanic and in general makes female sls a pain in the ass to do, which sucks because they tend to be really fun otherwise. also, male party members not having links is a fucking crime against humanity and i still think its the most baffling thing about this game today. i did love aigis's sl the most though. it was wonderful and super sweet

the finale is kickass in every sense of the word. i dont care that its cliche, the power of friendship is wonderful nearly everytime i see it used, in any piece of media. if i had any final complaints though, its that i wish i could have spent more time with sees as a whole. the whole sushi disscussion at the moonlight bridge is one of my fave scenes in the game and i wish there was more moments like it

but to tie this mess of a review together, persona 3 is a game i like a lot. its incredibly special, but also supremely flawed at the same time. as a result, i dont think i will ever revisit persona 3 (or at least, not this version) but, for all its issues, it was still an unforgettable experience

i am excited beyond belief to see what the other games in the series have to offer. That's 1/3 in the Modern Persona Binge!

katana zero is game that’s constructed from top to bottom (at least from a gameplay perspective) to be the coolest thing you’ve ever seen. every enemy dies in one hit from your katana, exploding into a bloody mess in a way that’s incredibly satisfying-and every room is designed as somewhat of a “murder playground” for the player. you’re given a variety of tools and ways to take out enemies (time stopping, bullet deflecting and item throwing being the main ones) and you’re encouraged to clear the level in the most badass way you can think of and it’s absolutely amazing-for a while at least. towards the end this formula began to wear a little thin for me due to getting a bit repetitive but at that point I was invested in the game’s surprisingly morbid and depressing storyline. the thing that really annoyed me is that the game is cut short hair with an ending that is incredibly unsatisfactory and I didn’t believe was supposed to be the actual end. this combined with the lack of interesting change in gameplay soured the experience a bit, but overall I really enjoyed this one