I'm not here to give this game a rating or review, I'm here to give a warning.

I picked this game up because a friend told me to, and it was on sale for only 6 dollars. You want to know what I learned? This game crushes your soul and brings out the worst in people. DO NOT make the same mistake I did. DO NOT give in to any temptations like friends or sales. DO NOT play this game if you value your sanity. You've been warned.

I'll still hop on if they ask me, though.

If you want peak in digital form, look no further. It takes some of the coolest and most fun aspects from traditional fighters, and even platform fighters, then puts them into a turn based format. Not only does this make the game very accessible, it also makes it have seemingly bottomless depth in its fights. The mind games you play with your opponents that you see in fighters is amplified by a factor of a million, since you play this game like chess. Because of that, even though the combos are fairly easy to execute, you still get the same high from starting a combo knowing that you are in your opponent's walls. No other game does it like YOMI Hustle does. The closest I can think of right now is Toribash, but that's a lot different. It's a one of a kind, amazing game.

WHERE MY HUSTLERS AT?!?!?!

This game really fascinates me, because it blends being horrifying and hilarious in a way that makes it look easy. I even find myself thinking about it when I'm screaming for my life while five giant robots chase me down. When I look back on it, and from others' perspective, my insane overreaction into me dying right outside the ship is comedy gold. It really is lightning in a bottle game design, and even if I can't figure out how it happened, or if it was even on purpose, I have to say that this game is really something special.

In conclusion, if you want to improve your voice acting skills, play this game!

This is a game that I think has aged really surprisingly well, and more people should play it. Although, this is coming from a guy who cleared the game in five hours when the average is supposedly eight. In a perfect world, this game gets a remake that irons out all the little, but bearable issues. Mainly the camera. If that happened, I think many more people would like this game, because there's a lot to love.

- The setting is pretty cool.
- The voice acting has some charm, and the actors have some serious range.
- Cyan is a character.
- The levels are surprisingly well designed to the point where I believe the devs played their own game. (Shocking how I can't say that about some modern games)
- The art's cute and nostalgic.
- Did I mention Cyan?

Even more than twenty years later, the game's worth playing. My favorite part was when Cyan told Waffle "You'll have to go on without me... Afterall, you're the Tail Concerto."

This game made me weirdly introspective about some things and I wanna get my thoughts out about it. I just hope someone reads all of my off the rails rambling.

Over the years I've noticed something within myself where horror games (and media in general) just haven't been hitting the same. The name of Freddy Fazbear just doesn't command the same respect as it once did in my 8 year old head. I feel like playing those games would only end up being a fun distraction rather than something that'll screw with my mental state and traumatize me, which actually leads into something else. A truly good piece of horror doesn't just make you fear the dark corners of a room.

To use FNAF as an example again (I have issues, I know, but any other horror thing you can think of can probably work), if you don't have questionable fantasies, "omg, what if chica is around the corner of this dimly lit hallway" isn't a thought you'll be having after you turn off the game. Or unless you're a child more afraid of the concept of playing those games than you will be actually playing it like I was. You fully understand the threat is in the game/movie/whatever, and the threat is only present when you engage with it. Great horror media makes you fear the dark corners of your mind. Actual nightmare shit, I mean, and this game is probably the thing that's done that for me the most (although I didn't actually have nightmares). When I was playing, my thinking was along the lines of "Dear God, what horrific events will happen next?" When I was done, even when I was going to bed, and into the next few days, it was "That stuff happened, and it won't get out of my head. Send help." I recognized it wasn't real, but the horror didn't stay inside of the screen. To quote peak songwriting:

"And when the story ends, it becomes part of me"
- Undefeatable, Sonic Frontiers OST (I told you this was off the rails)

I feel like the reason why it got me so much, even after I was spoiled to hell and back because of the nature of the internet was because the game pulls off a really good bait and switch. I feel like if I went in blind without reading anything but the title and genre, I'd think "Man this game is well written and cute, why is this marked as horror? Is this a joke?" Instead, I was thinking "Man, this game is well written and cute, so what if the spoilers were a massive prank internet users made? It's gotta be. I will choose to ignore the warning signs." Ignoring the warning signs was a mistake. The writing definitely helped, though, because it made me want to believe it was a normal visual novel. The other additions to this version were also nice and well written, but I can't really talk about how on the off chance someone who wasn't spoiled is reading this. In fact, it'd be a miracle if anyone at all was. To the untainted soul reading this, the game will ruin your day, PLAY IT! I don't care if you know what the deal is, you don't know the details! Do it, or the sight of fictional anime girls won't be the only thing you'll have to fear...

To be honest, this feels like the best Persona 5 spin-off yet in terms of objective quality (which unfortunately is not a high bar). I like the occasional strategy rpg, and I begrudgingly like Persona 5, so this should be the perfect mix for me. And it was! The highest difficulty felt perfect, the story was consistent in its quality, unlike the game its a spin off of (although the start is a bit slow), and it doesn't overstay its welcome (the last part doesn't count, shut up). So what this means is that if Atlus decides to keep milking Persona 5, they should make games that only cater to ME!!! ONLY ME!!!!

The parents were honestly the best part of this game, because these siblings deserve to be PACKED UP!!!!

Anyway, I feel like this game had potential, but quickly nosedived in the quality of the writing. It's not that I think that the themes are too sickening or something, it's that it became so extremely juvenile in its presentation that I legitimately asked myself if the game was satire. I feel this could've worked if that weren't the case, but the writing style couldn't let me take it the slightest bit seriously, so nothing really disturbed me. What really made me sick were the titular characters, not because they're bad people, but because they annoy me. Fuck you, Andy, grow some balls.