Infinite Wealth é sobre perda, luto, aceitação e, acima de tudo, segundas chances.

É a segunda chance de Kasuga Ichiban de dar a volta por cima quando o mundo se volta contra ele.
É a segunda chance da Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio de capturar os fãs que, até então, não cairam nas graças do jogo anterior.
E não menos importante, é a segunda chance de Kazuma Kiryu de sentir e viver a vida sob uma nova perspectiva.
E, assim como aprendemos durante a jornada de Ichiban em Like a Dragon 7, nunca é tarde demais para aproveitarmos cada pequeno momento e perceber que, sim, é bom demais estar aqui presente pra vivenciar tudo isso.

Before playing the game, I was very apprehensive about this remake. I was afraid that they would change or ruin many of the things that make Persona 3 such a special and unique game for me, but to my relief that didn't happen. Persona 3 Reload is an incredible game and one of the best remakes I've played. Of course, the game isn't perfect, there have been things that bother me and have left me upset. For example, I feel that the atmosphere of the game is weaker, largely due to the game's crappy lighting and the super clean color filter. Replacing some iconic scenes that were previously in anime format with a amazing direction for in game cutscenes without much inspiration is a very sad choice and doesn't help either. And though I find the UI generally good, I think it is excessively blue and didn't achieve a very good color harmonization, it's quite tiring for the eyes. Not to mention there's the new versions of the original Persona 3 songs didn't sit well with me, although Azumi Takahashi is a great singer, I think her voice doesn't really resonate with the game as a whole. Don't get me wrong, the soundtrack isn't bad by any means (alright, to be honest a few songs are pretty bad ), some of the remixes are nice and the new songs composed for Reload are simply amazing. "Color Your Night" and "Full Moon Full Life" are some of the best songs in the whole franchise. It's just that I don't think the songs hit me like they used to, mainly due to the lack of Yumi Kawamura's voice and even the instrumental part is a bit weak. But I guess that's okay in the end? Like, I appreciate the courage and attempt to do something different in such an important and fundamental part of the game, even if I don't like them as much. I think the new soundtrack fulfills its role in delivering a different and refreshing experience. But I have to be fair here and admit that Izumi's performance of Kimi no Kioku was surprisingly amazing. It was the song I was most afraid to listen to because, well, it's Kimi no Kioku, this song is very special to me, but fortunately, the Reload version didn't disappoint me.

But, that's where my complaints end because really, absolutely everything else is much better or just as good as the original game. The amount of content and events they've added relating to the SEES members is absurd. Not that this was a problem in the original game, but now everything about the characters is even more developed. The relationship between the SEES is now much more intimate and believable, and that ended up creating several very beautiful moments that I genuinely didn't expect, establishing the cast of Persona 3 as my absolute favorite from the franchise, I simply love these characters. Not only that, but the male characters in SEES have been given exclusive secondary events called Linked Episodes, which work like a Social Link, but much better written. And the biggest highlight of this addition goes to Shinji, who despite being a good character in the original game and his participation being quite important for the story, unfortunately, he had very little screen time, and here this has been improved. He now has a much more in depth character arc, and his relationship with Akihiko and Mitsuru has been elevated in a spectacular and deeper way, and that genuinely makes me very happy because I always thought he was a somewhat wasted character, and now he's one of the best and most memorable characters in the game. And as I said, it's not just Shinji, although he's received more attention, all the male characters in SEES have received a Linked Episode (including Koromaru lol), and they're all pretty good, special mention to junpei, who I already thought was a great character and here has become one of my favorites of the game. Even Strega and Revolver Jesus received the proper attention and are much more interesting characters here.

And this leads me to another point of the game: the narrative. Which for many people has bad pacing and an uninteresting story for most of the time, as nothing relevant happens. I've seen comparisons to the format that Persona 4 and Persona 5 use to develop their stories, as they find it much more engaging and interesting, mainly because there are more events. Well, I disagree with that, the way P4/P5 uses to tell its story, using a "villain of the month" format per arc (in P4 it's a bit different, as they are not exactly "villains" in each arc, but essentially it's the same formula as P5), where initially it can make the story more thematically and conceptually interesting, with more events and moments of tension being built, creating an expectation of how things will unfold, it turns out to be usually disappointing and potentially wasted. Because it's always something presented at the beginning of the arc, but, soon after the presentation, everything is forgotten just to be developed again at the end, leaving a void in the middle, and this not only negatively affects the story and the themes they want to address, but consequently affects the development of the protagonist in the arc, making everything a bit shallow and poorly explored. The fact that Persona 3 does not follow this formula is what makes me find the game narrative so good, with characters so memorable and well-developed. "Nothing" happening in the story is actually what makes Persona 3 so special. It doesn't require major recurring events and new villain arcs being introduced to remain interesting and engaging, and Persona 3 is aware of that because it chooses to focus on what's important: the small moments in the live of the characters in this story. Moments that may seem insignificant to the grand scheme of things, but they contribute to what matters: building these characters and showing that they too live lives marked by moments just like ours. In Persona 3, "nothing" ends up being everything. It takes the time it needs to delve into the SEES members, be it their respective dramas or even their relationships with each other and their perspectives on everything they are experiencing throughout the game. There are no gaps, no obstacles, and no wasting time with things that do not contribute. The game chooses to focus on explore the characters continuously, from beginning to end, never stopping. Also, the absence of a "protagonist" per arc or anything similar to that also ends up being one of the biggest positives aspects here, because in addition to developing all these characters in a spectacular way, it is also a shared development among all the SEES members. I mean, they are in this together, they are comrades in battle, and above all, friends. Their dramas are intertwined, one thing leads to another, everything is connected and the level of their bond is elevated, making the whole experience much more personal, resulting in the chemistry between them being extremely captivating. And all of this culminates in the month of December/January, marking the narrative and thematic peak of Persona 3. All the events these characters have gone through now put their perseverance and tenacity to the test. Making the conclusion of this journey one of the most beautiful and cathartic I have ever experienced. For me, that's what makes the narrative engaging and interesting. What makes me find this story so remarkable. And the remake has decided to stay very faithful to the original game in this aspect, focusing only on intensifying all of this, making what was already great even better.

Another very welcome addition was the voice acting, not only in all those secondary events I mentioned but also in the Social Links, and damn, I didn't expect that a simple addition like that could make the characters so much more memorable and interesting. I particularly think Persona 3 has the best Social Links in the franchise, besides being the Social Links that touched me the most, I believe they are the ones that best engage with the themes explored in the game. And now seeing these characters voiced has made me appreciate them much more, really making them more alive. Talking to Aigis and hearing her voice, sometimes sweet and at other times extremely frustrated and confused during her arc of self discovery, and pondering the meaning of life. Or talking to Akinari and hearing his voice as he tells the bittersweet story of his book or talks about his sadness and anguish of having a terminal illness and such fragile health that prevents him from living his life to the fullest, it hits much harder, especially the conversation with his mother at the end of the game. And I identify a lot with Akinari's situation, as I have had a very serious illness and fragile health since childhood, and I know how sad and terrible it is to deal with it. So listening to Akinari's mother now fully voiced, pouring her heart out about all of this genuinely broken me and made me cry in a way I didn't even know I was capable of. It reminded me a lot of my own mother who has suffered and still suffers because of this. All this made me realize how powerful the voice really is. And I hope that from now on, fully voiced social links becomes the standard in the franchise.

And of course, there's Tartarus, the most hated part from Persona 3, and being honest here, I always liked Tartarus and here it's not different. I thought it was perfect the way it was done and its better than the original. People complain about Tartarus because it's repetitive and exhaustive, but I've always thought that was the point. It's not meant to be enjoyable. You're climbing an extremely immense and dangerous tower, with infinite corridors and random paths that change every night, and the further you climb, the more twisted and uneasy it becomes. It feels like there's no ending, and if there is one, you have no idea what awaits you there. It's exhausting, it's repetitive, and it can be monotonous for a good part of the exploration, but that's exactly what makes Tartarus such a despicable place to be, which makes perfect narrative sense within the game and in how the characters feel when they explore Tartarus. But I can understand why many people hate it, really. It's just that I've always found the concept and exploration in Tartarus interesting, and most of the time I was engaged in this unpleasant journey, which is to explore Tartarus. And for me, the most fundamental part of Tartarus remains untouched in Reload. There were subtle changes, but they worked very well, such as making the floors smaller and more tools to make exploration smoother, and now there's a better balance between making the encounters and exploration engaging, leaving you more motivated to keep exploring, while maintaining the more "negative" part of climbing that infernal tower.

The combat has also become much more enjoyable and fun here, I think it flows better and I like the fact that it's more dynamic. I've seen a lot of people complaining about the difficulty, saying that it's too easy, but fortunately, I didn't have that feeling because I played on Merciless difficulty, and it was a very balanced and enjoyable experience. I didn't find any boss fights too easy or too hard (except for Reaper). Ah, and the addition of Theurgy is fucking awesome. But, I have to admit it's a bit OP and made the boss fights relatively easier.

I really understand the criticism the game has received and I think it's fair that many people didn't like this version of the game as much as the FES or Portable, especially in terms of content. I also love Kotone/FeMC and knowing that I'll never have the opportunity to play her route with improved graphics and all the QoL of Reload makes me really sad. And the fact that this game is the fourth re-release of Persona 3 and there's still no definitive version is absurd. But Persona 3 in general was an incredibly personal experience for me, and the themes explored throughout the game resonate so much with me. I first played Persona 3 FES during a tumultuous and depressed period of my life, where I was totally lost. The game made me rethink a lot of things about me and how to deal with my problems at the time. It made me ponder my decisions in that hazy moment, how I should deal with the people around me and how they were dealing with me in that situation, it made me realize I am special to my friends and my family and that I don't live just for myself. And honestly, to this day, I keep thinking about everything that Persona 3 has provided me and how it has changed my perspective about my future and on my way of living. So, seeing how this remake worked on these characters who are so dear to me and developed the themes with so much love and care, make all the issues this game has simply don't matter to me. Persona 3 Reload made me realize how much happier I am just for loving this franchise and especially Persona 3.

In the more than 100 hours playing this, Persona 3 Reload turns out to be a very solid way to experience this story. But no matter which version of Persona 3 I play, even though they're all different, they all end up being the same thing: an extremely special experience for me and one of my favorite games. Persona 3 Reload is still Persona 3 - and that's what matters.

i cried like twice in the Special Story mode. it shows an unwavering confidence in its own narrative that's pretty rare to see in those licensed Naruto games. it's completely focused on the impossible romance between Boruto, who's a modern-day kid in a country without any active wars, and Nanashi, who lived as a "weapon" in one of the most cruel periods in the Naruto world. even without any bombastic battles or moments that were previously a selling point in the Storm series (which are prolly gone because of the focus on that depressing "History Mode" or maybe Bandai being a dick with deadlines/budget), i still think this is an incredible achievement because it commits almost-wholesale to telling Nanashi's story. like many kinda non-canon anime spinoffs, this can't interfere with the ongoing manga story, but in this case, this is used to the narrative's advantage by furthering the tragedy of the situation.

Boruto travels through his dad's past through a godlike connection inside an MMORPG and falls in love with someone who initially seems like just a goddamn NPC. the story frames them as just friends, but i also think that has to do with the sorta non-canon thing here. Boruto's way too innocent view of the world clashes with the horrors Nanashi lived through, and they both understand each other. they beautifully parallel Naruto and Sasuke's relationship in the original manga. this Special Story mode never stops to question its existence. it just fills itself with a lovely indulgence in its own characters. love it!! i wish Nanashi existed outside of this game lol

Há alguns anos um filme com proposta de comédia me arrebatou lágrimas copiosas e saí em um estado deplorável do cinema. Este filme, "Click!", doeu no fundo da minha alma com suas cenas dramáticas que me deram um soco no coração e mostraram como família me afeta de uma maneira tão profunda.

Paralelamente, obras e jogos com temática de comida me atraem bastante pois sou entusiasta da culinária, e apesar da preguiça habitual, curto muito sentar pra cozinhar com os amigos, encarando o desafio de reproduzir uma receita.

Cooking Mama, Battle Chef Brigade, Culina, Cook Serve Delicious, são alguns títulos que já joguei e cada um com suas propostas diferentes em cima da temática de culinária. Mas Venba se destaca de uma forma bem distinta de cada um desses jogos.

Normalmente, o processo de preparo dos alimentos é uma série de minigames, focada em imitar e simular as etapas do processo de forma lúdica. Venba opta por ser bem mais simples que seus colegas, adotando uma abordagem mais focada em "desvendar" um livro de receitas deteriorado com o tempo, passada de mãe para filha, de maneira que o jogador precisa muito mais entender a ordem de executar as etapas do que simular o ato de realizá-las.

Entretanto, o gameplay é apenas um pretexto pra desenvolver um aspecto ainda mais importante de Venba: a memória afetiva que envolve os pratos que comemos. Acredito que este é seu mote principal, uma vez que é a ponte que liga o gameplay à narrativa.

O roteiro intercala as cenas de diálogos similares ao gênero Visual Novel com trechos de gameplay, e sempre relacionando estes com memórias da personagem principal, Venba, em contraposição aos momentos atuais de sua vida.

Quando está na cozinha, Venba se distrai dos problemas do cotidiano e tenta resgatar suas raízes culturais por meio da reprodução das receitas tradicionais que sua mãe preparava quando morava na Índia, embalada por canções indianas que sempre tocam em seu radinho.

Ela e o marido são imigrantes que se estabeleceram no Canadá na cidade de Toronto, e juntos constroem sua família enquanto lutam contra as adversidades internas e externas.

A narrativa de Venba intercalada com o gameplay explora temas como infância e adolescência, problemas familiares, desemprego, preconceito racial, necessidades financeiras, vocação x subsistência, perda familiar e acima de tudo, o amor.

Por meio de uma sutileza emocionante, tece sua trama com intensidade dramática contida em seus elementos visuais e ludonarrativos, abrindo mão da verbalização que caracteriza o famoso "show, do not tell", tão comum e apreciado pela crítica literária e de cinema.

Em sua breve duração, afinal o jogo tem pouco mais de 1h, Venba oferece emoções encrustadas em seu duo jogabilidade e narrativa que denotam uma vivência real, com uma carga dramática humana e dolorosamente verossímil.

Quanto mais experiente e vivido você for, provavelmente mais irá encontrar em Venba algo relacionável, verdadeiro e emocionante, capaz de arrancar lágrimas, bater uma bad ou ressoar em suas memórias de diversas formas, negativas e positivas.

Afinal de contas, estamos todos de passagem, a vida é um sopro, e nem sempre conseguimos dedicar o tempo que gostaríamos com aqueles que amamos. Mas nunca subestime o poder que tradições familiares, raízes culturais e laços familiares possuem. Especialmente a comida que você come.

Celeste é uma experiência incrível em diversos sentidos. Poucos jogos conseguem casar tão bem mecânicas com história, criando um laço de interconexão que engrandece a obra como produto e como produto de arte.

Além dessa questão metalinguística, que prefiro deixar breve assim pra que não seja spoiler pra ninguém, a trama entra em um desenvolvimento temático passeando por assuntos maduros e que ressoam melhor com pessoas com maior bagagem emocional, se vendo na protagonista Madeline. Autocuidado e autorreflexão são duas temáticas trabalhadas por meio das cutscenes e seus diálogos.

A narrativa cuida de desenvolver o pano de fundo com algumas cenas que fogem do local onde se passa a ação principal, mas sem ir muito a fundo, mantendo a carga narrativa leve, ficando os diálogos com a tarefa de apresentar um desenvolvimento mais intenso e cheio de nuances implícitas.

Isso é importante porque cria um espelho mais amplo onde diversas pessoas com diversos panoramas se sentem representadas por fragmentos da história de Madeline, já que diversos detalhes são omitidos, aparentemente com esse propósito em mente.

Em outras palavras, é na falta de mais detalhes sobre a natureza dos problemas pessoais da protagonista que encontramos uma história mais relacionável pra um número maior de pessoas, no fim das contas.

Não somente em seu desenvolvimento temático, Celeste também é incrível em como consegue ensinar à indústria de forma geral como se desenha um jogo difícil, árduo e recompensador sem excluir ninguém. Isso vem por conta dos auxílios opcionais que permitem aos jogadores menos habilidosos ativar opções de jogabilidade que irão de forma majestosa ajustar a dificuldade do jogo.

Essas opções eliminam qualquer necessidade de se criar modos de dificuldade pré-programados, que exigem um trabalho de balanceamento muito mais complexo por parte dos devs, enquanto funcionam de uma maneira muito mais customizável como modalizadores de dificuldade. Assim o jogo se torna muito mais acolhedor e acessível

Em uma outra perspectiva, Celeste também oferece pra jogadores mais habilidosos fases mais exigentes e conteúdo extra mais desafiador, agradando praticamente quase todo mundo.

Incrível também o jogo é em seu gameplay e game feel. O time que trabalhou no excelente Towerfall utiliza da experiência com o antecessor de Celeste para entregar um platformer com controles precisos e responsivos, que conferem uma sensação de domínio sobre o movimento da personagem impecável. Assim, o jogo proporciona um aprendizado e melhoria de coordenação que engrandecem o próprio jogador para o futuro. Quem joga Celeste e encara seus desafios certamente sai com habilidades mais finamente desenvolvidas.

A sensação de controle encontra um level design que gradualmente exige mais do jogador, com um posicionamento de checkpoints estratégicos que provocam sensações satisfatórias de superação a cada etapa avançada e cada fase concluída.

Por último, Celeste arrebata todos os outros sentidos com animações fluidas, trilha sonora cativante, uma variedade de mecânicas secundárias amplamente exploradas, personagens com personalidades bem marcadas, e cenas em desenho mais detalhadas que quebram o estilo PixelArt momentaneamente e transmitem como uma história em quadrinhos a sensação do momento ilustrado.

Ah, não posso deixar de pontuar que o jogo tem uma excelente tradução para nossa língua, com expressões adaptadas ao nosso linguajar moderno, com a única crítica de ser terrivelmente paulistano.

Pode parecer bobagem, mas é um pouco incômodo como se utiliza uma pretensa “linguagem neutra” cheia de “paulistanidades” como “mano do céu” no texto. Talvez seja essa o único ponto criticável que eu consigo ver em Celeste, e ainda consigo justificar com o fato de que expressões como a mencionada são amplamente difundidas nas redes sociais. Dá pra passar esse pano.

Fora isso, é impossível não reconhecer os motivos que levaram Celeste a ser indicado como um dos melhores jogos de 2018. É uma obra incrível e que merece ser destacada sobretudo por sua bela mensagem, e que pelo que apurei conseguiu emocionar e ressoar em muita gente, do jeito que merecia.