an immensely impressive update to one of the strongest rpgs i've ever played. with a minor caveat.

95% of this game rules. the models look insanely good, and are super expressive during the cutscenes from within the engine. the art direction as a whole is beautiful, with the new UI being really eye-catching. gameplay loops improved on nearly every front, but of course, caveat. theurgy and all the added stuff is fucking awesome. the new super moves serve as a good way of building/demonstrating character personality, and adds a layer to the battles. that being said, i played on hard and at literally no point did i even game over. i get persona is easier than mainline smt, i do get that. but also when the final boss ended, i actually gasped because of how simple/easy it was. I MEAN WHERE WAS THAT FUCKED UP VEIL! WHERES THE INSTA-KILL? NOTHIN?

regardless. the story is completely in tact here, with the added content adding even more to enjoy. character hangouts are cute, and i love doing stuff like petting the dog after school for new buffs. it gives incentive to do it outside of just wanting to see the characters more.

the caveat i mention at the start of this is uh. the ending was neutered. like real fucking bad. to the point i didn't even get weepy during the last scene which is a crime in itself. just playing Memories of You gets me a little red eyed.

when you add a bunch of new shit to your remake, add a layer of flourish and gussied up presentation, and then leave the ending the exact same is uh. odd. the battles with Jin and Takaya didn't really do anything for me in the og so i expected much like everything else, there'd be more attention put on it. maybe it'd be a bit longer, maybe there'd be some dynamic framing. no. they show up. we fight. thats it. then Nyx happens. i don't hate the oppressive green lighting, in fact, i really fuck with that. the moon, which has been central to the games iconography, is... green. and we are real close to it. so fine, super green boss fight. but to gut the fucking 2D cutscene with that iconic upward pan to reveal the unnerving hollow face of Nyx? fuck, dude. the fight itself was cool, i appreciate the new animation for switching the arcana. but it still felt.. mostly flat.

and then. we get to the end end. and they skip all the playable parts just to close the story out. and that genuinely crushes the impact of the ending to me. to play those last few days, see Makoto's dwindling energy, and still push him just a bit more. it was touching. i mean removing the bit in 3/5 where you actually walk around removes impact. suddenly, we're on the roof, and its over. actually playing during that segment is poetic! it felt like a LITERAL death march. but alas.

i'd still recommend Reload to anyone who wants to play P3, or just likes rpgs period. it's a massively impressive remake, one that reads MOSTLY as a labor of love. like the guys at Atlus really did want to revisit the first title that really broke out beyond their typical niche. i mean over here in the states, i can't remember anyone talking about p1 or 2. but i remember on seedy anime forums seeing discussion about Aigis fucking so. take it as you will.

go play it. form your own opinion. i'll be back for more when the Answer drops.

perfectly fine game, but not one i care to see through to the end.

i feel once a game starts to feel like a chore, that means i've had enough. this game began to feel like a chore. it's not bad. it's got some cute moments but nothing is really giving me a reason to finish it. the story is paper thin, the gameplays fun but repetitive, and i feel like there's just nothing going on.

i know for the time this was cool but even comparing it to games around then, Paper Mario has left me much more impressed. sucks cuz i know the M&L games have a huge following but this is just so whatever to me.

played for 10 hours, i got to little fungitown.

technically haven't finished it yet as i'm on the Rainbow Rocket postgame content, but i'm considering it beat.

this game's weird, man. i remember adoring Sun and Moon on release, being caught up in the hype. i recall getting USUM on release, playing for a bit, only to drop it forever.

picking back up, i was hit with a weird blend of some incredibly obtuse game design, some fantastic character designs, memorable music, and a mostly in tact plot. while i don't 100% remember what went down beat to beat in SuMo, i do feel like this one suffers more than its predecessor. the plot hitches more than once due to the inclusion of the Ultra stuff, most glaringly when Lusamine is off-screened and then beelines her development. it's weird. i also recall the plot being delivered less awkwardly, less broken up pacing to stop and start a new cutscene. still like the game, but it's an odd thing that stood out.

i also feel like the game restricts exploration a lot. soooo many arbitrary blockages, linear hallway maps, and claustrophobic caves. i feel like even in spite of their flaws, none of the 3DS era Pokemon games have aged well. tho, i do wanna revisit more of them. USUM just felt like a fucking chore at a certain point, and it broke my heart because i always wanna go to bat for these ones but damn, it was not as smooth as i remembered.

still overall liked it, but it's got a lot more in the way than i recalled. its kinda boring. but when its good, its got some GREAT stuff to display.