What a fantastic game this was! Unparalleled acting, excellent jazzy soundtrack, fun gameplay, immersive environments and amazing story with some really emotional moments, especially near the end. The partners Cole Phelps works with are all unique and entertaining in their own ways, ensuring that even the ones who are less likeable as people are still likeable (or even lovable) as characters. As many others have said, the open world wasn't utilised as well as it could've been but I don't think that's a huge issue as I'm not sure there would've been a way to do that without sacrificing the realism of the setting/investigations. I will also say that there are some parts of the story that I wish were more fleshed out rather than just having the player piece things together from some vague hints here and there (no spoilers but if you've played the game you'll know exactly what I'm talking about) but that aside, I adored my experience with this game. This is one of those games that I think will stay with me for a very, very long time.

If I had the VR version of this game I wouldn't get anything done cuz I'd just spend all my time hugging Bekowsky

I'm enjoying it and I do have genuine fun doing shared dives, finding new creatures, going to the bottom of the ocean and discovering mysteries on the board but the story mode is a whole lotta nothin and being able to find all the creatures at random really detracts from the wonder I felt playing the first game. The larger and rarer (and in Thanatos' case, scarier) creatures don't excite me that much because they're everywhere, so nothing feels novel. That being said, customisation is fun and it is a nice, relaxing game if you view it objectively. Still, being in a series does inevitably warrant comparisons to previous games so I can't say it's not disappointing in some aspects.
In short, it's undeniably fun but don't go in expecting anything like the previous entries.

I'm technically still playing this but I'm marking it as Completed because, while I'm very near the ending, I don't actually know how long this game is gonna take me to finish and I might forget to change my played status when I actually do finish it. I say that because while it's been a really fun game, good GOD is it fucking long. I've kinda burnt myself out playing it but knowing that I'm so near the finish line, I can't bring myself to drop it. I think it would be a much better game without all the bloated, unnecessary dialogue/text convos, tropey anime scenarios and the "how about we meet up tomorrow to discuss this further?" bullshit instead of just finishing whatever they needed to do there and then. I've actually found myself wishing this game would just END already so I can call this time well spent and move onto something else.

That being said, it has a really strong start. The first villain is appropriately awful as a human being and sets the tone really well. Meeting new party members and helping to reform society with them quickly becomes an exciting and empowering experience. The campy, comic-style aesthetic is just plain awesome and has cemented this game as one of the most stylish out there without sacrificing its substance, instead adding to it.

Overall, it's a great game that unfortunately overstays its welcome and I could honestly do without the Royal-exclusive last semester as the ethical dilemmas presented therein are only explored on a very superficial level. It kinda made me wish there was a whole game that delved fully into that concept instead of just "you're definitely doing the right thing and your opponent is definitely doing the wrong thing even though you're both kinda doing the same thing just in a different way". It actually put the Phantom Thieves in a less favourable light for me, which is a massive shame. I have enjoyed the game but I can't recommend it without some caveats. I'd recommend it to either a fast gamer, a gamer with a lot of patience for lollygagging and beach/festival episode wankery or just a gamer who really wants to play Persona 5 Royal because - and I would know from experience - this game is so huge that if you really want to play it that badly, you're going to at some point anyways.

It's whatever. I'll have to play again and possibly update my rating/review once the dev adds the extra modes. As of now, it's pretty basic and I kinda wish there was an option to make the text go faster. Other than that, props to the dev for making a very simple game that somehow spawned a whole legion of Milkman fans seemingly overnight. Shit like this makes me want to conduct research into/write a dissertation on the elusive mystery that is the Tumblr sexyman phenomenon because, much like DeviantArt fetish art, while I can never explain what exactly makes a sexyman, I can always recognise one when I see one.

This is such a weird game for me. I have no idea what to rate it because while in hindsight, I think that what I played of it (I got to the third main boss I think?) didn't really do anything that new, I can't say I didn't enjoy it. I ended up quitting because I kept dying at that boss and I just wasn't motivated enough to play anymore since everything was so repetitive and none of the stories for the bosses really stuck with me but it had a lot of potential. The art was awesome, the combat was fine, the story was... there, I guess. Besides that, gameplay and environments were just the same thing over and over again and a lot of the assets were just recycled from Experience's other games. It was obviously made on a budget so I don't get why it's so expensive (and no, being a long game alone does not warrant that hefty a price tag).

Basically, I kind of liked and disliked a lot of the same features at the same time. Plus points for letting me have Kazuo Yashiki from Death Mark (a much better Experience game) in my party, minus points for letting me have Kazuo Yashiki from Death Mark in my party as a cardboard cutout that heals me occasionally instead of actually coming up with new and interesting characters who contribute to a gripping story. I dunno, maybe it's just because I like plot-heavy games but a bit more originality in general couldn't have hurt.