speedymkw
Amazing game and probably one of the most well done sequels ever. I'm so glad I finally got around to playing the TWEWY series, its core themes are ones that really resonate with me, especially at the point in life I'm at. Truly a shame how much of a commercial failure this sequel was because it definitely deserves attention and it is 100% worth your time!
Painfully mediocre, and honestly I only decided to beat it now because I know I will never return to this after playing mario wonder. Also writing this review after beating bowser so I still got to do the extra world
2018
My new favorite RGG game. SO glad I saved the judgment games for last. Combat is amazing, blew me away with how much better it is than the other dragon engine games, the story is great and kept me engaged all the way through. I'm such a sucker for the ace attorney series, and this game feels like a spin on that but yakuza. I also love the side content a ton, its really fun. To think that lost judgment is probably even better makes me so excited to play it after I finish this games side content. 10/10
2016
This review contains spoilers
This game is fantastic, but its crazy to realize this story existed before 0. Yakuza 0 adds so much background to pretty much all the characters in this and makes it much more impactful. I heard kiwami added more nishiki scenes and I think that also adds much more of a hit. This game is just so sad to play after 0 because you basically watch Kiryu lose his whole world. Its funny how this game makes 0 feel a lot more lighthearted despite that story being incredibly tragic too. For the first story in the franchise, I think it was a great start, but its nowhere near as refined as 0.
I did every substory and a lot of them were just people trying to con Kiryu, like theres literally a 4 or 5 substory quest line where this same group of men keep coming back to try and make Kiryu pay for "injuring" someone he bumped into, so some stuff felt a bit padded. I loved Majima Everywhere it was just fun to see him a lot, but he doesn't really have much involvement in the main story otherwise, but I understand that wasn't the original vision for his character anyway. Amon's fight in this game was so god damn hard and I genuinely believe it is impossible to beat him without using tiger drop.
Overall this game is a weaker entry than 0 for sure, but this WAS the first yakuza game at least in terms of its story and I think it was pretty great for the start. I recommend starting with 0 because it just fleshes out this story so well
I did every substory and a lot of them were just people trying to con Kiryu, like theres literally a 4 or 5 substory quest line where this same group of men keep coming back to try and make Kiryu pay for "injuring" someone he bumped into, so some stuff felt a bit padded. I loved Majima Everywhere it was just fun to see him a lot, but he doesn't really have much involvement in the main story otherwise, but I understand that wasn't the original vision for his character anyway. Amon's fight in this game was so god damn hard and I genuinely believe it is impossible to beat him without using tiger drop.
Overall this game is a weaker entry than 0 for sure, but this WAS the first yakuza game at least in terms of its story and I think it was pretty great for the start. I recommend starting with 0 because it just fleshes out this story so well
2015
Reviewed on February 12th, 2023
Game completed on November 13th, 2022
Like many, Yakuza 0 was my first exposure to the series, and it was so damn good. The story was amazing, emotionally gripping and always wanting to know what was next, to the point where I never felt like doing substories during the main campaign. Being able to play as both Kiryu and Majima was great since you got access to 6 or 8 distinct fighting styles, making the combat incredibly fun. Furthermore, the outlandish but brutal heat finishers were so cool and there are so many that you likely won't see them all but its still fun to see how many you can do. The side content is also very well done with there being 100 substories, along with tons of fun minigames, not to mention the real estate and cabaret storylines and I enjoyed it enough to complete all of it
Overall, I highly recommend playing this if you want to get into the yakuza series as its the perfect place to start imo. The end of 0 has such a good cliff hanger for the rest of the series and makes the first game's story better by expanding on most of the characters introduced in it. Play it, you won't regret it
Game completed on November 13th, 2022
Like many, Yakuza 0 was my first exposure to the series, and it was so damn good. The story was amazing, emotionally gripping and always wanting to know what was next, to the point where I never felt like doing substories during the main campaign. Being able to play as both Kiryu and Majima was great since you got access to 6 or 8 distinct fighting styles, making the combat incredibly fun. Furthermore, the outlandish but brutal heat finishers were so cool and there are so many that you likely won't see them all but its still fun to see how many you can do. The side content is also very well done with there being 100 substories, along with tons of fun minigames, not to mention the real estate and cabaret storylines and I enjoyed it enough to complete all of it
Overall, I highly recommend playing this if you want to get into the yakuza series as its the perfect place to start imo. The end of 0 has such a good cliff hanger for the rest of the series and makes the first game's story better by expanding on most of the characters introduced in it. Play it, you won't regret it
2015
There is just something about the first Splatoon that just never hit the same with the later entries. Maybe it was how much more simple it was, the maps, the use of the Wii U gamepad, I don't know. But none of the later Splatoon games were ever as fun to me as the first one. I remember how much I loved the story mode and the splatfests when they were still on. Not really a review but more or less my own retrospect after playing a bit of the Spicy vs Sweet vs Sour splatfest.
2009
I played and beat FES a few years ago and decided to play the game through Portable on the male route and did not use party control to emulate my original experience. This game, while I think FES is better in every way, is still Persona 3 and is still amazing. I had a lot of fun playing this and experiencing the story again and doing social links I didn't have a chance to do my first time around. I really do think though that the game is and will always be best experienced through FES just because there are no compromises to its presentation, so you do not miss details. In any case, still an amazing game, and I plan to play the female route possibly soon or when the HD rerelease comes out next year.
Written on February 6th 2022
Finished on November 17th 2021
This game has an amazing premise, in both its story and cases, but it falls short in its execution.
Every single murder in this game on paper would make for a super interesting case, but the way they are executed in game leaves a lot to be desired. Case exclusive characters were usually annoying, or the case overstayed its welcome with being longer than they really should.
The plot of the international smuggling ring chase was great in my opinion, and the characters like Kay, Yew, Badd and Lang were awesome. Also more Gumshoe in this game which is a big plus. Game made me appreciate and admire Edgeworth as a character even more than I already did with the trilogy.
Music is also the best so far in the series to me, lying coldly is fire.
At the time of writing this, I finished Investigations 2 recently. Even if you end up not liking this game that much, it is worth it for 2 alone. Such a good fucking game.
Finished on November 17th 2021
This game has an amazing premise, in both its story and cases, but it falls short in its execution.
Every single murder in this game on paper would make for a super interesting case, but the way they are executed in game leaves a lot to be desired. Case exclusive characters were usually annoying, or the case overstayed its welcome with being longer than they really should.
The plot of the international smuggling ring chase was great in my opinion, and the characters like Kay, Yew, Badd and Lang were awesome. Also more Gumshoe in this game which is a big plus. Game made me appreciate and admire Edgeworth as a character even more than I already did with the trilogy.
Music is also the best so far in the series to me, lying coldly is fire.
At the time of writing this, I finished Investigations 2 recently. Even if you end up not liking this game that much, it is worth it for 2 alone. Such a good fucking game.
Review written on February 6th 2022
Game finished on October 16th 2021
After how nicely Trials and Tribulations wrapped up everything regarding the story, I was honestly wondering how they were going to continue the story.
I think they did a great job in that regard. The premise of Phoenix losing his badge was really interesting since this is the guy we have known for 3 whole games, and it made me want to keep playing the game to find out what happened to him.
The cases were good, and the new characters too. I loved the Gavin brothers, they were really good, and Trucy is cute. I found myself liking Apollo a lot too, he is pretty dope.
One problem I guess I have is that this game clearly wants you to focus your attention on Apollo and believe the story is about him, but the story is really more about Phoenix than Apollo. Apollo just does the stuff in court that Phoenix cannot do since he is no longer a lawyer.
The music in this game is top notch, they really went hard with it. When "Tell the truth" played for the first time I literally had to stop playing cause the song was just so good it distracted me from the trial LOL.
In any case, while there are some glaring issues about this game, I still think it is really good. I am super excited to see how they handle the post trilogy story in Dual Destinies, and Spirit of Justice.
Game finished on October 16th 2021
After how nicely Trials and Tribulations wrapped up everything regarding the story, I was honestly wondering how they were going to continue the story.
I think they did a great job in that regard. The premise of Phoenix losing his badge was really interesting since this is the guy we have known for 3 whole games, and it made me want to keep playing the game to find out what happened to him.
The cases were good, and the new characters too. I loved the Gavin brothers, they were really good, and Trucy is cute. I found myself liking Apollo a lot too, he is pretty dope.
One problem I guess I have is that this game clearly wants you to focus your attention on Apollo and believe the story is about him, but the story is really more about Phoenix than Apollo. Apollo just does the stuff in court that Phoenix cannot do since he is no longer a lawyer.
The music in this game is top notch, they really went hard with it. When "Tell the truth" played for the first time I literally had to stop playing cause the song was just so good it distracted me from the trial LOL.
In any case, while there are some glaring issues about this game, I still think it is really good. I am super excited to see how they handle the post trilogy story in Dual Destinies, and Spirit of Justice.
Written on February 6th, 2022.
Beaten on September 9th, 2021
I love this game. After playing and loving nocturne, I picked this game up and in my opinion it is even better than nocturne.
I love how they put more emphasis on a group dynamic with Walter, Jonathan, Isabeau, and Flynn. It made the parts where the difference of opinion, and them becoming foes more painful and sad to see.
I love the world in this game a lot. Underground Tokyo has got to be one of my favorite settings in any video game, or media in general. They really nail the atmosphere with the people who live there, and the environment.
So far, I would say this is my favorite mainline SMT out of the ones I played, and I would totally recommend it to anyone who has not played it but enjoys SMT.
Beaten on September 9th, 2021
I love this game. After playing and loving nocturne, I picked this game up and in my opinion it is even better than nocturne.
I love how they put more emphasis on a group dynamic with Walter, Jonathan, Isabeau, and Flynn. It made the parts where the difference of opinion, and them becoming foes more painful and sad to see.
I love the world in this game a lot. Underground Tokyo has got to be one of my favorite settings in any video game, or media in general. They really nail the atmosphere with the people who live there, and the environment.
So far, I would say this is my favorite mainline SMT out of the ones I played, and I would totally recommend it to anyone who has not played it but enjoys SMT.
It's a fun time if you can get a group of friends to play it. This is my first experience with Mario Party aside from dipping my toes into 6 a few times. The online was definitely the deciding factor in me getting this game since I've never had the people to play this game locally, at least not in several years.
The game is absolutely gorgeous to look at, and the mini games are really fun to play. It's really funny to do a 1 vs 3 and just watch one guy just try their best to not get bodied by the other three. I can definitely say this game brings out the worst in people, but from the amount that I have played, I just have fun whether or not I get bs'd.
This is probably just due to the nature of the game, but for the most part you'll just be waiting for your friends to make their moves and this can get pretty boring so I find myself doing other things in between my turns. Another problem is that this game does take a huge time commitment as a game can span as long as a few hours.
Overall if you have a group of buddies to play this with, I think Mario Party Superstars is a great choice.
The game is absolutely gorgeous to look at, and the mini games are really fun to play. It's really funny to do a 1 vs 3 and just watch one guy just try their best to not get bodied by the other three. I can definitely say this game brings out the worst in people, but from the amount that I have played, I just have fun whether or not I get bs'd.
This is probably just due to the nature of the game, but for the most part you'll just be waiting for your friends to make their moves and this can get pretty boring so I find myself doing other things in between my turns. Another problem is that this game does take a huge time commitment as a game can span as long as a few hours.
Overall if you have a group of buddies to play this with, I think Mario Party Superstars is a great choice.
My favorite one in the trilogy. Every case in this game was pretty good and it definitely has the best consistency in terms of quality.
The story in Trials & Tribulations is definitely the biggest and best part of this game. It pretty much connects with everything that happened in previous entries and ties any loose ends making it an amazing conclusion to the trilogy as not only does it give good closure, it is also a very satisfying ending, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
The story in Trials & Tribulations is definitely the biggest and best part of this game. It pretty much connects with everything that happened in previous entries and ties any loose ends making it an amazing conclusion to the trilogy as not only does it give good closure, it is also a very satisfying ending, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
2020
This review contains spoilers
For a spinoff, this game is very high quality. It is amazing to see how many different places in Japan you can go to in Strikers.
While I did enjoy this game, I honestly just feel like it is very uninspired. Atlus really took the safe route with this one.
First of all, none of the characters really develop or change past the first game. They are all the same characters you know and love. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but considering the fact that this game takes place six months after the end of Persona 5, I feel like the characters should have changed at least a little bit. Also kinda feels like they are no longer as careful or vigilant as they once were in the first game like at the part where the party openly talks about phantom thief business at the Madicce conference which is a bit weird and out of place.
Secondly, the story is VERY similar to the original game. It does do a few things differently, but for the most part it feels like a glorified rehash of the original story. The villains this time are given backstories, and while this isn't inherently a bad thing and makes them feel more human, it doesn't have that amazing feeling of taking down a shitty human being like Kamoshida which kind of lessens the impact also considering how the change of heart thing has happen so many times already. The new characters Zenkichi, and Sophia also feel pretty uninspired. While I really liked them and thought they were good additions. Zenkichi is very similar character to Persona 4's Dojima as both are single fathers to a daughter, whose wife were both killed in a hit and run, not to mention both work in law enforcement. Sophia feels very similar to characters like Aigis and Morgana as just like Morgana she is first introduced as an amnesiac, and is like Aigis since she learns what it means to have a heart and be human.
Even though everything I said previously may have painted this game in a bad light, I still really enjoyed it. It is because of how much I love Persona 5 that I am able to recognize that this game is very flawed, but at the same time it is very impressive from a developer standpoint. It is very cool how they developed Persona into an action RPG while keeping it true to its original roots. Even from a writing standpoint I do think its pretty well done despite everything I have said so far. Some parts such as the okinawa jail and police being stationed at the hotel in Kyoto were some amazing peaks that I think somewhat surpass the original game.
Overall, while I do have a few gripes, if you are a fan of Persona 5, I have no doubt you will find enjoyment from playing this. If you have not played 5, play it first.
While I did enjoy this game, I honestly just feel like it is very uninspired. Atlus really took the safe route with this one.
First of all, none of the characters really develop or change past the first game. They are all the same characters you know and love. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but considering the fact that this game takes place six months after the end of Persona 5, I feel like the characters should have changed at least a little bit. Also kinda feels like they are no longer as careful or vigilant as they once were in the first game like at the part where the party openly talks about phantom thief business at the Madicce conference which is a bit weird and out of place.
Secondly, the story is VERY similar to the original game. It does do a few things differently, but for the most part it feels like a glorified rehash of the original story. The villains this time are given backstories, and while this isn't inherently a bad thing and makes them feel more human, it doesn't have that amazing feeling of taking down a shitty human being like Kamoshida which kind of lessens the impact also considering how the change of heart thing has happen so many times already. The new characters Zenkichi, and Sophia also feel pretty uninspired. While I really liked them and thought they were good additions. Zenkichi is very similar character to Persona 4's Dojima as both are single fathers to a daughter, whose wife were both killed in a hit and run, not to mention both work in law enforcement. Sophia feels very similar to characters like Aigis and Morgana as just like Morgana she is first introduced as an amnesiac, and is like Aigis since she learns what it means to have a heart and be human.
Even though everything I said previously may have painted this game in a bad light, I still really enjoyed it. It is because of how much I love Persona 5 that I am able to recognize that this game is very flawed, but at the same time it is very impressive from a developer standpoint. It is very cool how they developed Persona into an action RPG while keeping it true to its original roots. Even from a writing standpoint I do think its pretty well done despite everything I have said so far. Some parts such as the okinawa jail and police being stationed at the hotel in Kyoto were some amazing peaks that I think somewhat surpass the original game.
Overall, while I do have a few gripes, if you are a fan of Persona 5, I have no doubt you will find enjoyment from playing this. If you have not played 5, play it first.
2021
Very short and sweet game. Lake Lapcat was an absolute joy to play through and explore. It feels like Bowser's Fury combines things from every 3D Mario into this one game. Cat Shines and the black goop are very reminescent of Sunshine, while the movement and powerups were that of the linear 3D games, and the world design and open sandbox feel felt like Odyssey. My only complaint really is that it sucked to have so many cat shines locked behind having bowser show up, it wasn't challenging, you just had to wait and thats it.
If this was just a small project trying to test new things, I absolutely can't wait to see what the next potential 3D Mario game has to offer.
If this was just a small project trying to test new things, I absolutely can't wait to see what the next potential 3D Mario game has to offer.
It might be a hot take but I really enjoyed JFA. I liked how it introduced the Psyche-Locks and being able to present profiles of people. I do understand the general consensus that JFA is the weakest of the original trilogy and I agree but it was still a blast to play through. ESPECIALLY the last case, it is probably my favorite case in the trilogy.
In any case, despite playing this back to back with the first game, it was able to keep me hooked as the cases were able to stay fresh and present new ideas.
In any case, despite playing this back to back with the first game, it was able to keep me hooked as the cases were able to stay fresh and present new ideas.