okay so. i LOVE metroidvanias. given how hollow knight is one of my favorite games, this just had to be exactly my type of game. and yes, i was right. the fourth installment of the series makes a complete shift in gameplay, giving it elements of souls like and metroidvania. its not a long game by any means but you can definitely get the most out of it by 100%ing it. the world is really great built and doesnt feel as small as the map is in the end. story is finally a little more meaningful and not just "there". you get several sidequests in this game, some collectibles that are just enough not to get annoying and 2 different endings you can get. my first playthrough took me about 6 hours and i just really enjoyed every minute of these.
music wise however, i think it took a step back. given how this game was obviously more focused on changing its gameplay roots thats not really a surprise. however the ost is not bad - just didnt stick with me as much as 2 & 3s ost did and still do.
anyway. play this!

i really wanted this to click with me but just at the start of the game you get confronted with far too powerful enemies and try to grind your way through. this by itself isnt that big of a problem to me but after the grinding and getting your hero to a decent level, the next area requires you to level up another 10 levels (atleast thats what it feels like). the battles are charming as the characters and writing itself of that game, but just not enough if you have to play the same area over and over again, the battles taking far too long and slowing the game and experience down. im not a graphic whore so i thought i should give this franchise a try by its roots at first, but thats just not it. music-wise however, this probably has some of the most recognizable tunes of the series in all their glory here. this game used the nes and its compacity to the maximum and you notice this just by music and just how many different dialogues have been written for this game. maybe try for yourself if you consider plaing this, its not a bad game and a good core for what led up to be nintendos first real rpg, just here i couldnt look over the insane grinding you have to do, coming from someone who did play og ff1. and that means something!

cave games have been my ultimate come to since the beginning of this year lol
dodonpachis ost is amazing and shines through (black label ost even better), the numerous modes you can play with give it some variety while, no matter what ship you selected, stage 5 will be the death of you. the shooting patterns are nice, the story is pretty decent for a shmup giving this game some depth as to why the game is restarting over and over from the start. overall i think this is really one of the peak cave games :)

i love persona 3 so incredibly much.
it's absolutely amazing seeing this game finally getting the real love it deserves with the upcoming remake and this re release.
while it is in some ways limited than other or more inportantly later entries of the series, it did never get boring for me even once. while people are disgusted by this games.. ahem.. "dungeons" i feel like this is one of the best persona ever had. tartarus feels like your own little champions road that gets more and more.. corrupted. it gets the point across for this game and a regular dungeon system wouldnt be fitting here at all. i love the small changed you get by every higher area you enter, the small things like colors changing on the floors, decoration that wasnt there before, the absolutely AMAZING track changing just a tiny bit every time you get an area higher. its has depth to it rather than later games giving you huge ass dungeons with the kind of same moral to it like the first one in the end (looking at you, p5)

the characters however are some of the best in this entire series and really make up for anything missing in this portable port. this visual novel style made me somehow get even closer to them in my mind.

the soundtrack my guys, is absolute peak. none of the versions of this game missed out on that and after seeing the opening of reload i am 100% sure not even that version will.

HOOOOWEVER.
portable is still the more trimmed down version of this game. while og and fes are shining through with amazing anime cutscenes and fes having a really, lets say, explaining post content episode, portable lacks on that. the port of this could have been handled a lot better by implementing the anime cutscenes the psp couldnt handle back in the day. by cleaning off some of these voicefiles because these are hella frisky at times. also the portraits of the characters are sometimes just a pixelated bunch. this could have been fixed but sadly, this seemed to be too much effort.

persona 3 is a game. a game that makes you not think into it too much, a confusing one at first. but after one playthrough this is a meaningful and maybe even life changing experience that really leaves you speechless in the end.

dark cloud is an amazing rpg. really. was a journey to play through last year.
basically you help rebuilding destroyed towns by collecting several lost pieces scattered in dungeons.
and its really fun!
the dungeons have really nice music, the designs are incredibly cool (my faves being the owl forest and the sunken wreck) and as a whole this game really tried to bring this genre in a nice new direction. crafting weapons, looking out for your weapons breaking status and your own thirst is a mechanic that somehow even added little survival elements to it.

however, its sad this game doesnt really embark in its world. it feels a little soulless, the teammates and characters in general have no real human feeling to them. they are just kinda there. we get some backstory on goro and the elder dude from the desert but other than that the game just wants you to treat them like a abillities more than real team mates. its sad because this is a big minus in depth for this game. it seems shallow at times and at certain points, especially the boss battles, you can notice this was level 5 first game. some bosses dont work at all, some are just incredibly weak and others, like the final boss, are just unfair.
dungeons having two parts, the front and back, was also a nice idea. just not really great put into work, not to forget that in the final dungeon, in the pal version of the game, the item which lets you go to the back of the dungeon simply doesnt spawn at all.
its also sad they forgot about the quick time events as the game progressed, i always love these kind of things.

but other than that this was a great entry into the franchise and still a really cool, magical journey! cant wait to play the second part :)