89 reviews liked by AP66
Final Fantasy XVI
2023
I think the best way I could describe Final Fantasy XVI is that it’s one of the most “it’s so over -> we’re so back -> (repeat)” games ever
My favourite part of XVI was the combat, which didn’t feel like it got old even once for me. It was one of those types of gameplay that got better as you got further, especially with the amount of Eikons you get to unlock and chain together (Titan my beloved). I liked the story and Clive is easily one of my favourite protagonists in the franchise, I wasn’t too sure how I’d feel about him at first but he ended up growing on me a ton. And of course the boss fights were just perfect, with my favourites being Odin, Titan and Bahamut. There wasn’t a single one that didn’t have me at least slightly locked in, whether it was in Clive’s regular form or as Ifrit
With all that said though… I do kinda wish I ended up liking this game more? Don’t get me wrong I did really like it, but my god the lows of this game were enough to get in the way. I don’t think I need to say much about the pacing and amount of fetch quests this game throws at you out of nowhere since many people have said the same thing about them (for good reasons too). The part after the Titan battle especially because god that felt like it took foooorever to get through. I did enjoy the final parts but at that point, it did feel like it overstayed its welcome and I was more than ready for the game to be finished during the last few chapters
Despite all of that though, I enjoyed my time with XVI and felt that the ending was a satisfying one for me. I do wish I could call it one of my favourite Final Fantasy games, because it easily has so many parts that would make me think that if it wasn’t for the issues I had. If I spent a full £70 on this back when it first released, I would’ve been way more conflicted about it, so I’m more than glad that I waited. But with all that said, XVI was one that I liked and can definitely see why it was GOTY for many people
My favourite part of XVI was the combat, which didn’t feel like it got old even once for me. It was one of those types of gameplay that got better as you got further, especially with the amount of Eikons you get to unlock and chain together (Titan my beloved). I liked the story and Clive is easily one of my favourite protagonists in the franchise, I wasn’t too sure how I’d feel about him at first but he ended up growing on me a ton. And of course the boss fights were just perfect, with my favourites being Odin, Titan and Bahamut. There wasn’t a single one that didn’t have me at least slightly locked in, whether it was in Clive’s regular form or as Ifrit
With all that said though… I do kinda wish I ended up liking this game more? Don’t get me wrong I did really like it, but my god the lows of this game were enough to get in the way. I don’t think I need to say much about the pacing and amount of fetch quests this game throws at you out of nowhere since many people have said the same thing about them (for good reasons too). The part after the Titan battle especially because god that felt like it took foooorever to get through. I did enjoy the final parts but at that point, it did feel like it overstayed its welcome and I was more than ready for the game to be finished during the last few chapters
Despite all of that though, I enjoyed my time with XVI and felt that the ending was a satisfying one for me. I do wish I could call it one of my favourite Final Fantasy games, because it easily has so many parts that would make me think that if it wasn’t for the issues I had. If I spent a full £70 on this back when it first released, I would’ve been way more conflicted about it, so I’m more than glad that I waited. But with all that said, XVI was one that I liked and can definitely see why it was GOTY for many people
Dr. Mario
1990
idk why everyone keeps asking if I’m red-pilled or blue-pilled when yellow is clearly the superior of the three smh
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Dr Mario is a strange little game in the grand scheme of the Mario series; it’s both one of the first proper Mario spinoff series and a franchise that’s practically instantly recognisable to those in the general gaming space….while also being a game you rarely see people actually discuss outside of the occasional ‘yep that’s a Dr Mario game alright’ when you bring it up. However, after playing through some of the games on NSO again, I’ve gotten in the mood to chat about the one that started it all for a bit. So put on your lab coat and grab your (definitely legally obtained) PhD as we take a visit to the clinic of Mr. Mario himself.
The general conceit of Dr Mario is a decidedly simple one: you’re given a randomised layout of coloured viruses (red, blue and yellow) which you have to match with the colour of one of your pills. Match four of the same colour together and you clear a row; clear all the viruses and you beat the stage. It’s the same tried-and-true gameplay loop of many puzzle games from the 80’s/90’s (think Tetris, Puyo Puyo, etc.), albeit with a bit more of random element as the pills generated can be either entirely one colour or half one colour, half another. In much the same way the text on a doctor’s clipboard reads like complete gobbledygook on first inspection, the gameplay of DM sounds a hell of a lot more complicated than it actually is as, when you’re actually playing it, you start to fall into that classic sense of focused zen that competitive-minded puzzle games from this era manage to achieve so well. This is helped doubly by the excellent music which accompanies the action; from the infectiously catchy melody of Fever to the tense yet relaxed vibe of Chill, it does a great job at pushing you to hone your skills as the pills pile up in front of you.
Now while all this certainly sets DM apart from the crowd (even to this day), it does come with an unfortunate side effect that its contemporaries managed to evade: downtime. A frustratingly common occurrence in DM are situations where you’ll be down to about 1-2 viruses remaining where you just need one more colour to finish the stage off….only for the RNG to give you every colour but the one you need, resulting in you having to awkwardly push it to the side of the board and wasting far more time than is necessary. Dr Mario is also much more punishing than Tetris or Puyo Puyo in terms of making mistakes; while you can reasonably recover from a misplaced piece drop in the latter examples, an accidental colour placement in DM can pretty much doom a run from the moment it happens unless you’re REALLY deep into a stage, an issue that gets exacerbated to an obscene degree in some of the last stages where the viruses can spawn on the screen as high as the game will allow. The save states/rewind present in the modern VC/NSO releases can mitigate this issue somewhat but it’s still a massive pain regardless.
For a final diagnosis, Dr Mario is very much like real-life medicine: it can be exactly what you need if you’re feeling under the weather, but too much of it in a short time frame can just as easily make you feel even worse. Overall then, I’d prescribe a small dosage of the NES original every now and then for when you’re ‘sick’ of other puzzle games and want something just a little bit different.
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Dr Mario is a strange little game in the grand scheme of the Mario series; it’s both one of the first proper Mario spinoff series and a franchise that’s practically instantly recognisable to those in the general gaming space….while also being a game you rarely see people actually discuss outside of the occasional ‘yep that’s a Dr Mario game alright’ when you bring it up. However, after playing through some of the games on NSO again, I’ve gotten in the mood to chat about the one that started it all for a bit. So put on your lab coat and grab your (definitely legally obtained) PhD as we take a visit to the clinic of Mr. Mario himself.
The general conceit of Dr Mario is a decidedly simple one: you’re given a randomised layout of coloured viruses (red, blue and yellow) which you have to match with the colour of one of your pills. Match four of the same colour together and you clear a row; clear all the viruses and you beat the stage. It’s the same tried-and-true gameplay loop of many puzzle games from the 80’s/90’s (think Tetris, Puyo Puyo, etc.), albeit with a bit more of random element as the pills generated can be either entirely one colour or half one colour, half another. In much the same way the text on a doctor’s clipboard reads like complete gobbledygook on first inspection, the gameplay of DM sounds a hell of a lot more complicated than it actually is as, when you’re actually playing it, you start to fall into that classic sense of focused zen that competitive-minded puzzle games from this era manage to achieve so well. This is helped doubly by the excellent music which accompanies the action; from the infectiously catchy melody of Fever to the tense yet relaxed vibe of Chill, it does a great job at pushing you to hone your skills as the pills pile up in front of you.
Now while all this certainly sets DM apart from the crowd (even to this day), it does come with an unfortunate side effect that its contemporaries managed to evade: downtime. A frustratingly common occurrence in DM are situations where you’ll be down to about 1-2 viruses remaining where you just need one more colour to finish the stage off….only for the RNG to give you every colour but the one you need, resulting in you having to awkwardly push it to the side of the board and wasting far more time than is necessary. Dr Mario is also much more punishing than Tetris or Puyo Puyo in terms of making mistakes; while you can reasonably recover from a misplaced piece drop in the latter examples, an accidental colour placement in DM can pretty much doom a run from the moment it happens unless you’re REALLY deep into a stage, an issue that gets exacerbated to an obscene degree in some of the last stages where the viruses can spawn on the screen as high as the game will allow. The save states/rewind present in the modern VC/NSO releases can mitigate this issue somewhat but it’s still a massive pain regardless.
For a final diagnosis, Dr Mario is very much like real-life medicine: it can be exactly what you need if you’re feeling under the weather, but too much of it in a short time frame can just as easily make you feel even worse. Overall then, I’d prescribe a small dosage of the NES original every now and then for when you’re ‘sick’ of other puzzle games and want something just a little bit different.
Even though this game is a prime example of laziness on Atlus' part I still love it anyway. The social events are CUTE, definitely better than I thought they'd be overall and the gameplay is of course lots of fun as well. What surprised me the most was how much I ended up liking most of the remixes, with the standouts being Heartful Cry, Brand New Days, Want to be Close, Mass Destruction, i could go on. Memories of You though... whatever they were cooking, it BURNT. 🔥🔥 The only major issue with this game was the overwhelming lack of Burning Men's Soul, which,
PLAYABLE DAISY!
Sorry, I had to write that down otherwise I couldn't focus on the rest of what I wanted to write. All in all, I thought the game was solid. Controlled great, was responsive but the lack of a triple jump mixed me hard for the first hour or so. Is the game easy? As far as the stuff outside of the secret worlds in concerned, sure. I was so good on coins and lives that I was opting to kill myself in levels if I missed secrets instead of having to replay them without ever having to worry. The search party stages I think were pretty awful though, at least for a solo player. Jump around and find the hidden blocks so you can get the shit you need like its a shit mario maker level.
The badges while a decent implementation, I do feel like it ended up stripping the characters of any unique gameplay quirks (Luigi's past floaty-ness is a badges not for instance, he controls like everyone else now). Also how fucked is it that this game can have badges but Paper Mario can't? The few boss battles that there are were definitely lacking (some worlds didn't have a boss at all) outside of the final boss and while the wonder mechanic is visually appealing they started to repeat about halfway through. Like most I also don't agree with making Yoshi a permanant easy mode character but at least it made me not have to fight with myself over who to play. I also feel like you wouldn't lose anything if you removed the talking flowers. They rarely say anything of substance and half the time seem like they exist to fill dead air or are the intrusive thoughts of the dev team with such bangers as "I wonder what saltwater tastes like". If this is the start of the Switch's swan song, its a strong one.
Sorry, I had to write that down otherwise I couldn't focus on the rest of what I wanted to write. All in all, I thought the game was solid. Controlled great, was responsive but the lack of a triple jump mixed me hard for the first hour or so. Is the game easy? As far as the stuff outside of the secret worlds in concerned, sure. I was so good on coins and lives that I was opting to kill myself in levels if I missed secrets instead of having to replay them without ever having to worry. The search party stages I think were pretty awful though, at least for a solo player. Jump around and find the hidden blocks so you can get the shit you need like its a shit mario maker level.
The badges while a decent implementation, I do feel like it ended up stripping the characters of any unique gameplay quirks (Luigi's past floaty-ness is a badges not for instance, he controls like everyone else now). Also how fucked is it that this game can have badges but Paper Mario can't? The few boss battles that there are were definitely lacking (some worlds didn't have a boss at all) outside of the final boss and while the wonder mechanic is visually appealing they started to repeat about halfway through. Like most I also don't agree with making Yoshi a permanant easy mode character but at least it made me not have to fight with myself over who to play. I also feel like you wouldn't lose anything if you removed the talking flowers. They rarely say anything of substance and half the time seem like they exist to fill dead air or are the intrusive thoughts of the dev team with such bangers as "I wonder what saltwater tastes like". If this is the start of the Switch's swan song, its a strong one.
Demons Roots
2021
A great exploration of conflict and how prejudice towards a specific group can prevent understanding of one another. It has many glaring issues but the sheer passion and heart seeping out of every pore of it makes up for it tenfold. So many moments are executed with the utmost of sincerity that I can't help but just feel enamored by it.
The cast is also surprisingly well written with Deathpolca and Diana being the most standout. Deathpolca is an excellent protagonist that is perfect for the kind of story this is. Diana is one of my favorite JRPG party members ever with an incredibly strong character arc that had a cathartic conclusion. The rest of the cast are no slouches too with them being very endearing and having great dynamics. The weak link of the casts are sadly the antagonists but the Emperor and another one I shall not name are pretty good.
The way it functions as a prequel to King Exist is also unlike anything I've ever seen. This is a very uniquely executed prequel.
The one true flaw of the game that I can't ignore is definitely the gameplay and overall world design being boring. It is not very fun to play sadly, and when compared to other RPGM games such as Black Souls, it falls flat in this aspect for me.
I love Deathpolca so much.
King Exit translation when.
The cast is also surprisingly well written with Deathpolca and Diana being the most standout. Deathpolca is an excellent protagonist that is perfect for the kind of story this is. Diana is one of my favorite JRPG party members ever with an incredibly strong character arc that had a cathartic conclusion. The rest of the cast are no slouches too with them being very endearing and having great dynamics. The weak link of the casts are sadly the antagonists but the Emperor and another one I shall not name are pretty good.
The way it functions as a prequel to King Exist is also unlike anything I've ever seen. This is a very uniquely executed prequel.
The one true flaw of the game that I can't ignore is definitely the gameplay and overall world design being boring. It is not very fun to play sadly, and when compared to other RPGM games such as Black Souls, it falls flat in this aspect for me.
I love Deathpolca so much.
King Exit translation when.
Persona 3 Reload
2024
Being able to say that this is a real game that I’ve now finished doesn’t feel real, and definitely wasn’t something I would’ve expected a year ago
Persona 3 FES is (or was) my favourite game of all time, and the most important game to me. I won’t go into why since it’s personal but even to this day, it’s still the game that got me through one of the lowest points of my life so far and where I got the most out of its themes and message. It’s crazy, how at the time my 14 year old self spent £60 on some random PS2 game from a franchise I knew next to nothing about, only for it to have a huge impact both personally and in my taste of games (I don’t even want to imagine what I’d be playing now if it wasn’t for this), as well as showing me just how important storytelling can be to video games. If there was something I ever wanted since finishing it, it was a Persona 3 remake. Or a remaster, I even would’ve been happy with a port with no differences at all. But of course eventually we did get… P3P ports for Switch and PS4, which killed all hope of that ever happening. But some time later, a trailer for a Persona 3 remake… got leaked (You’ll never be forgotten ex-Atlus employee who is most likely locked in the Atlus dungeon 🫡). Less than a year later it finally releases, and this was everything I could’ve asked for
With the story, I mean it’s still P3. Not a “remake but it’s not actually a remake” that people feared, but the same old P3. Which thank god because I’ve always seen that ruin one main favourite of mine, I’d hate to go through that again. This is my favourite story in any game ever so I’m really glad it was left untouched. If there was one thing I was worried about, it was how SEES would be handled since they’re my favourite main cast ever, but I ended up coming out of P3R loving them even more. One new feature is the Link Episodes, a replacement for social links for male characters. And to be honest? I think going forward they should start doing these with party members instead of social links. I was originally fine with them not having social links in the original since it felt like they got enough development in the story, but these are even better. Also man I really missed how the ultimate awakenings were done… I wish they kept it like this instead of how they were done in P4/5. Speaking of social links though, they’re finally fully voiced! I went straight from Yakuza 8 to this so I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about going to non-voiced SLs after the fully voiced drink links, but this was something I’ve always wanted so it’s really good to see it here. The SLs are pretty much untouched here which I don’t mind. Whilst you can tell that P3 was their first attempt at them, I always liked them for what they were and some of my favourites in the franchise are here, so I’m glad they left them as they were instead of rewriting them. Man, it’s just going through P3’s story again and seeing how SEES all grow throughout it… no offence to P4 and P5’s cast (ok maybe P5 because of that fucking cat) but they just can’t compare for me, they just feel so different in an unexplainable way. It was also really cool seeing them add more scenes with Takaya, it definitely gave him what he always needed
Ok so if there was anything I was worried about, it was the gameplay. Well obviously the gameplay itself would be a huge improvement, but I mean more how Tartarus would be handled. It wasn’t exactly the most liked in the original but it was always something I loved, and I was worried about them making it more like the P5 palaces. But this is the same Tartarus, even better too. Two new features that come to mind were the monad doors and… the other door that I can’t remember the name of lmao, but both of these added even more challenge and were satisfying to get through. The gameplay itself is honestly Persona at its best imo. It’s pretty faithful with some new mechanics. One being Shift which is similar to the baton pass but a lot better since it doesn’t make you stupidly overpowered, although I didn’t use this a lot since I’d often forget about it. There’s also Theurgy attacks which was an interesting addition. Minato’s (you couldn’t pay me money to call him Makoto Yuki) Theurgy spells were the fusion spells from the original which was really cool to see. But these are basically ultimate attacks which are nice, and are good when you’re stuck, and can get added onto later on. I had Yukari and Koro in my main party, so by the endgame I was only using Theurgy for charge/concentrate. One interesting part is how different characters feel in terms of balancing. This was the first time I kept Koro and didn’t have Akihiko in my party, adding normal dark/light attacks really saved my life since I don’t like using instakill attacks. Tactics here did get a nerf compared to FES, I know a lot of people probably won’t care about that since not controlling your party members isn’t fun, but I did always like that in FES and it kinda sucks for people who wanted to play that way
Moving onto presentation and this is kinda where the nitpicks start to come in but there’s still a lot of good here. I’ll start by saying what definitely hasn’t been said 1000 times already but these menus are so beautiful. You can always trust Atlus to make even the pause menu look really nice. Anyway I really need to talk about the portraits. Don’t get me wrong, it’s cool to see all of these characters in the modern artstyle but… there’s just something missing? The sprites in the original P3 were full of different poses and expressions, these being lost was always a problem in P4/5 too, but it especially shows here. Characters will have maybe 2 different poses, but they’ll always be way too similar to each other. I think the only character to not get it as bad here was Junpei. I mean this is far from a major issue for me but it did slightly bug me throughout the whole thing. The lighting was a common complain and I can agree with that. You could lower the brightness to make it less of a problem I guess? But with those aside, I don’t have any other complaints since the rest of the game looked really nice. It’s hard to compare the animated scenes in both versions, I like how clean they look here but I also love how they looked in the original, which wouldn’t have been able to be replicated. Overall I’m happy with them, although Reload’s cutscenes felt kinda weak around the beginning in comparison, especially with the opening cutscene and Minato’s awakening
I’ll talk about the audio for this last part and I’ll start with the voice actors. I played the game with JP audio and the cast were amazing as always, so there isn’t much I can say about the dub, but at least what I’ve heard of it sounds good. Can I just mention how Zeno Robinson was perfect for Junpei, I’m glad he finally has an English VA after all these years. The soundtrack got a complete redo and… unlike what I thought, these ended up growing on me a ton. Hearing that Yumi Kawamura wouldn’t be returning had me worried but Azumi Takahashi did an amazing job with the vocal tracks. Tracks like Mass Destruction took a long while to grow on me, and Unavoidable Battle… yeah no I’m still not big on this new version but that’s the only one I can say that about. But then there are ones like Changing Seasons which sound so much better here imo. There are some entirely new tracks here and… I really wish there were more because these are some of my new favourites in all of Persona. Colour Your Night is easily the biggest standout here, and my favourite in the whole game. It’s Going Down Now is probably my new favourite battle theme too. Full Moon Full Life feels like Burn My Dread 2 and I mean this in a good way, Burn My Dread is still my favourite OP but it comes really close. I know I’ll be listening to all three of these a lot now. Originally I was disappointed when there was no title music, especially with how much I love the piano version of Brand New Days in FES, but after finishing it… man. I have to mention the new version of Kimi no Kioku too. It’s difficult to live up to the original, but damn the new version completely ruined me just as much as the original
So is this the ultimate replacement for FES that makes it completely irrelevant? No not at all. As much praise as I’ve given Reload, there are still things that I think FES did better, and offers its own experience that I can’t recommend enough to people that played Reload first. However, P3R is quite literally everything I could’ve asked for in a P3 Remake. I never wanted a complete replacement for FES, since it’s irreplaceable for me. What I wanted a fresh new experience on modern consoles that could coexist with it and that’s exactly what I got. Incredibly faithful, more fun to play, little to no changes in the story/writing, keeping the same magic that made P3 amazing. This was my dream game and I couldn’t be any happier with the final result. It always felt like P3 would never come to modern consoles, especially when P3P was the one to be ported first which almost made it look impossible… but then not even a year ago, this ended up not just getting announced and but also releasing. There were many times years ago where I’d imagine a P3 remake releasing, but having to wait a long time for the localisation, so it feels crazy getting it on the exact same day as the Japanese version. I hope we get The Answer as DLC eventually. I haven’t played it since my very first playthrough which was all those years ago, so it’d be nice to go back to it with better gameplay. Ok well it’s been confirmed now, I’m glad to see Sega’s shitty DLC practices continue to get even worse with my two favourite franchises 👍. Anyway this is easily my new favourite version of P3, and pretty much making it my new favourite game of all time
Persona 3 FES is (or was) my favourite game of all time, and the most important game to me. I won’t go into why since it’s personal but even to this day, it’s still the game that got me through one of the lowest points of my life so far and where I got the most out of its themes and message. It’s crazy, how at the time my 14 year old self spent £60 on some random PS2 game from a franchise I knew next to nothing about, only for it to have a huge impact both personally and in my taste of games (I don’t even want to imagine what I’d be playing now if it wasn’t for this), as well as showing me just how important storytelling can be to video games. If there was something I ever wanted since finishing it, it was a Persona 3 remake. Or a remaster, I even would’ve been happy with a port with no differences at all. But of course eventually we did get… P3P ports for Switch and PS4, which killed all hope of that ever happening. But some time later, a trailer for a Persona 3 remake… got leaked (You’ll never be forgotten ex-Atlus employee who is most likely locked in the Atlus dungeon 🫡). Less than a year later it finally releases, and this was everything I could’ve asked for
With the story, I mean it’s still P3. Not a “remake but it’s not actually a remake” that people feared, but the same old P3. Which thank god because I’ve always seen that ruin one main favourite of mine, I’d hate to go through that again. This is my favourite story in any game ever so I’m really glad it was left untouched. If there was one thing I was worried about, it was how SEES would be handled since they’re my favourite main cast ever, but I ended up coming out of P3R loving them even more. One new feature is the Link Episodes, a replacement for social links for male characters. And to be honest? I think going forward they should start doing these with party members instead of social links. I was originally fine with them not having social links in the original since it felt like they got enough development in the story, but these are even better. Also man I really missed how the ultimate awakenings were done… I wish they kept it like this instead of how they were done in P4/5. Speaking of social links though, they’re finally fully voiced! I went straight from Yakuza 8 to this so I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about going to non-voiced SLs after the fully voiced drink links, but this was something I’ve always wanted so it’s really good to see it here. The SLs are pretty much untouched here which I don’t mind. Whilst you can tell that P3 was their first attempt at them, I always liked them for what they were and some of my favourites in the franchise are here, so I’m glad they left them as they were instead of rewriting them. Man, it’s just going through P3’s story again and seeing how SEES all grow throughout it… no offence to P4 and P5’s cast (ok maybe P5 because of that fucking cat) but they just can’t compare for me, they just feel so different in an unexplainable way. It was also really cool seeing them add more scenes with Takaya, it definitely gave him what he always needed
Ok so if there was anything I was worried about, it was the gameplay. Well obviously the gameplay itself would be a huge improvement, but I mean more how Tartarus would be handled. It wasn’t exactly the most liked in the original but it was always something I loved, and I was worried about them making it more like the P5 palaces. But this is the same Tartarus, even better too. Two new features that come to mind were the monad doors and… the other door that I can’t remember the name of lmao, but both of these added even more challenge and were satisfying to get through. The gameplay itself is honestly Persona at its best imo. It’s pretty faithful with some new mechanics. One being Shift which is similar to the baton pass but a lot better since it doesn’t make you stupidly overpowered, although I didn’t use this a lot since I’d often forget about it. There’s also Theurgy attacks which was an interesting addition. Minato’s (you couldn’t pay me money to call him Makoto Yuki) Theurgy spells were the fusion spells from the original which was really cool to see. But these are basically ultimate attacks which are nice, and are good when you’re stuck, and can get added onto later on. I had Yukari and Koro in my main party, so by the endgame I was only using Theurgy for charge/concentrate. One interesting part is how different characters feel in terms of balancing. This was the first time I kept Koro and didn’t have Akihiko in my party, adding normal dark/light attacks really saved my life since I don’t like using instakill attacks. Tactics here did get a nerf compared to FES, I know a lot of people probably won’t care about that since not controlling your party members isn’t fun, but I did always like that in FES and it kinda sucks for people who wanted to play that way
Moving onto presentation and this is kinda where the nitpicks start to come in but there’s still a lot of good here. I’ll start by saying what definitely hasn’t been said 1000 times already but these menus are so beautiful. You can always trust Atlus to make even the pause menu look really nice. Anyway I really need to talk about the portraits. Don’t get me wrong, it’s cool to see all of these characters in the modern artstyle but… there’s just something missing? The sprites in the original P3 were full of different poses and expressions, these being lost was always a problem in P4/5 too, but it especially shows here. Characters will have maybe 2 different poses, but they’ll always be way too similar to each other. I think the only character to not get it as bad here was Junpei. I mean this is far from a major issue for me but it did slightly bug me throughout the whole thing. The lighting was a common complain and I can agree with that. You could lower the brightness to make it less of a problem I guess? But with those aside, I don’t have any other complaints since the rest of the game looked really nice. It’s hard to compare the animated scenes in both versions, I like how clean they look here but I also love how they looked in the original, which wouldn’t have been able to be replicated. Overall I’m happy with them, although Reload’s cutscenes felt kinda weak around the beginning in comparison, especially with the opening cutscene and Minato’s awakening
I’ll talk about the audio for this last part and I’ll start with the voice actors. I played the game with JP audio and the cast were amazing as always, so there isn’t much I can say about the dub, but at least what I’ve heard of it sounds good. Can I just mention how Zeno Robinson was perfect for Junpei, I’m glad he finally has an English VA after all these years. The soundtrack got a complete redo and… unlike what I thought, these ended up growing on me a ton. Hearing that Yumi Kawamura wouldn’t be returning had me worried but Azumi Takahashi did an amazing job with the vocal tracks. Tracks like Mass Destruction took a long while to grow on me, and Unavoidable Battle… yeah no I’m still not big on this new version but that’s the only one I can say that about. But then there are ones like Changing Seasons which sound so much better here imo. There are some entirely new tracks here and… I really wish there were more because these are some of my new favourites in all of Persona. Colour Your Night is easily the biggest standout here, and my favourite in the whole game. It’s Going Down Now is probably my new favourite battle theme too. Full Moon Full Life feels like Burn My Dread 2 and I mean this in a good way, Burn My Dread is still my favourite OP but it comes really close. I know I’ll be listening to all three of these a lot now. Originally I was disappointed when there was no title music, especially with how much I love the piano version of Brand New Days in FES, but after finishing it… man. I have to mention the new version of Kimi no Kioku too. It’s difficult to live up to the original, but damn the new version completely ruined me just as much as the original
So is this the ultimate replacement for FES that makes it completely irrelevant? No not at all. As much praise as I’ve given Reload, there are still things that I think FES did better, and offers its own experience that I can’t recommend enough to people that played Reload first. However, P3R is quite literally everything I could’ve asked for in a P3 Remake. I never wanted a complete replacement for FES, since it’s irreplaceable for me. What I wanted a fresh new experience on modern consoles that could coexist with it and that’s exactly what I got. Incredibly faithful, more fun to play, little to no changes in the story/writing, keeping the same magic that made P3 amazing. This was my dream game and I couldn’t be any happier with the final result. It always felt like P3 would never come to modern consoles, especially when P3P was the one to be ported first which almost made it look impossible… but then not even a year ago, this ended up not just getting announced and but also releasing. There were many times years ago where I’d imagine a P3 remake releasing, but having to wait a long time for the localisation, so it feels crazy getting it on the exact same day as the Japanese version. I hope we get The Answer as DLC eventually. I haven’t played it since my very first playthrough which was all those years ago, so it’d be nice to go back to it with better gameplay. Ok well it’s been confirmed now, I’m glad to see Sega’s shitty DLC practices continue to get even worse with my two favourite franchises 👍. Anyway this is easily my new favourite version of P3, and pretty much making it my new favourite game of all time
Persona 3 Reload
2024
Good morning. The tears won't stop falling since I woke.
In my timezone it's currently March 5th, 2024. This one's for you.
In my timezone it's currently March 5th, 2024. This one's for you.
This review contains spoilers
Hot take: I like Justice for All a little better than the first game. Not by a ton; it has a lot of issues with the writing, which I'll get to in a bit, but I think the pacing is greatly improved and the magatama adds a lot to investigations.
The Lost Turnabout: A better first case than The First Turnabout, imo. Nick having amnesia is a pretty cool twist that also justifies re-tutorializing the mechanics. Maggie and The Drift King are really fun characters and Gumshoe is also there which is good.
Reunion and Turnabout: A very good second case. I like how it build's on the backgrounds of Maya, Kurain Village, and the Fey family. Pearl and Morgan are also great characters and it was fun getting to see Lotta again. The central mystery surrounding Ini Miney and how it plays out are also pretty neat. Franzy's my least favorite main prosecutor of the trilogy, but she's still got a lot going for her (even if it doesn't get fully resolved until Trials and Tribulations).
Turnabout Big Top: Hoo boy, this one's rough. You've probably heard before about how badly it handles the love triangle, and the defendant, and certain leaps in logic in the deduction, and certain parts of the trial, and all of those are true. With that said, I don't hate it, even if I think it's the weakest case in the trilogy. Moe the Clown is actually a pretty good character when he's not being so unfunny it gets a man convicted of murder, Acro's a really interesting killer, and I like the conversation between Franziska and Phoenix.
Farewell, My Turnabout: My second-favorite case in the trilogy. It has everything you could possibly ask for from an Ace Attorney case: High stakes, great characters, an intriguing mystery, Edgeworth catching the phone, and so much more. Edgeworth's return is absolutely glorious and really highlights how he's grown since the end of the first game, with him simultaneously being a rival and an ally. I love how the game tricks you into thinking it's just another Turnabout Samurai before immediately placing Maya's life on the line. And holy shit, Matt Engarde is a fantastic villain. Forcing Phoenix to defend a guilty man is probably the most interesting thing you could possibly do for his character, and it's fully explored here. All of this culminates in an insanely satisfying conclusion and an enticing set-up for the next game. This case deserves every bit of praise it gets.
The Lost Turnabout: A better first case than The First Turnabout, imo. Nick having amnesia is a pretty cool twist that also justifies re-tutorializing the mechanics. Maggie and The Drift King are really fun characters and Gumshoe is also there which is good.
Reunion and Turnabout: A very good second case. I like how it build's on the backgrounds of Maya, Kurain Village, and the Fey family. Pearl and Morgan are also great characters and it was fun getting to see Lotta again. The central mystery surrounding Ini Miney and how it plays out are also pretty neat. Franzy's my least favorite main prosecutor of the trilogy, but she's still got a lot going for her (even if it doesn't get fully resolved until Trials and Tribulations).
Turnabout Big Top: Hoo boy, this one's rough. You've probably heard before about how badly it handles the love triangle, and the defendant, and certain leaps in logic in the deduction, and certain parts of the trial, and all of those are true. With that said, I don't hate it, even if I think it's the weakest case in the trilogy. Moe the Clown is actually a pretty good character when he's not being so unfunny it gets a man convicted of murder, Acro's a really interesting killer, and I like the conversation between Franziska and Phoenix.
Farewell, My Turnabout: My second-favorite case in the trilogy. It has everything you could possibly ask for from an Ace Attorney case: High stakes, great characters, an intriguing mystery, Edgeworth catching the phone, and so much more. Edgeworth's return is absolutely glorious and really highlights how he's grown since the end of the first game, with him simultaneously being a rival and an ally. I love how the game tricks you into thinking it's just another Turnabout Samurai before immediately placing Maya's life on the line. And holy shit, Matt Engarde is a fantastic villain. Forcing Phoenix to defend a guilty man is probably the most interesting thing you could possibly do for his character, and it's fully explored here. All of this culminates in an insanely satisfying conclusion and an enticing set-up for the next game. This case deserves every bit of praise it gets.
This review contains spoilers
Rather than talking about the full game here, I figured I might as well use these reviews to talk about the individual cases in each AA game.
The First Turnabout: It's a good first case. It does a good job introducing the main character and the basic mechanics. Not much else to say here.
Turnabout Sisters: I love how quickly the game raises the stakes here. Mia's dead and you have to prove her sister innocent of murder. Then, when things are finally looking up, suddenly Phoenix is accused of murder. Then Mia gets brought back to life and bails his ass out which I will probably talk more about at a later date. Great case. Also, I don't know why Edgeworth updating the autopsy report became such a meme when it only happens in this one case.
Turnabout Samurai: The best third case in the original trilogy. It does go on a bit too long for my liking and I do not like Sal Manella, but the other characters are great and the central mystery is actually really well-done. Also, it gave us Unnecessary Feelings so that automatically makes it good.
Turnabout Goodbyes: The best case in the game, and my third-favorite from the trilogy. It establishes the DL-6 incident as the basis for the rest of the series, adds a ton to Phoenix and Edgeworth, and has so many memorable moments: Larry showing up at the last second, cross-examining the parrot, pulling out the metal detector on Von Karma. A near-perfect send-off and set-up. Also what was Grossberg doing at the boathouse
Rise From the Ashes: It's the longest and most complicated case in the original trilogy. I haven't played Apollo Justice so I can't say how well it sets up those characters, but within the context of the case they're great. Ema is really fun, even if she is just "we have Maya at home" for the time being, Angel Starr and Jake Marshall are fun witnesses, and Damon Gant is a fantastic villain. There's some great stuff with Edgeworth and Gumshoe, too. The case can drag on quite a bit, and the mechanics can be really annoying at times (especially the Blue Badger stuff), but for the most part they're really good. It definitely elevates the game quite a bit imo.
The First Turnabout: It's a good first case. It does a good job introducing the main character and the basic mechanics. Not much else to say here.
Turnabout Sisters: I love how quickly the game raises the stakes here. Mia's dead and you have to prove her sister innocent of murder. Then, when things are finally looking up, suddenly Phoenix is accused of murder. Then Mia gets brought back to life and bails his ass out which I will probably talk more about at a later date. Great case. Also, I don't know why Edgeworth updating the autopsy report became such a meme when it only happens in this one case.
Turnabout Samurai: The best third case in the original trilogy. It does go on a bit too long for my liking and I do not like Sal Manella, but the other characters are great and the central mystery is actually really well-done. Also, it gave us Unnecessary Feelings so that automatically makes it good.
Turnabout Goodbyes: The best case in the game, and my third-favorite from the trilogy. It establishes the DL-6 incident as the basis for the rest of the series, adds a ton to Phoenix and Edgeworth, and has so many memorable moments: Larry showing up at the last second, cross-examining the parrot, pulling out the metal detector on Von Karma. A near-perfect send-off and set-up. Also what was Grossberg doing at the boathouse
Rise From the Ashes: It's the longest and most complicated case in the original trilogy. I haven't played Apollo Justice so I can't say how well it sets up those characters, but within the context of the case they're great. Ema is really fun, even if she is just "we have Maya at home" for the time being, Angel Starr and Jake Marshall are fun witnesses, and Damon Gant is a fantastic villain. There's some great stuff with Edgeworth and Gumshoe, too. The case can drag on quite a bit, and the mechanics can be really annoying at times (especially the Blue Badger stuff), but for the most part they're really good. It definitely elevates the game quite a bit imo.
This review contains spoilers
Trials and Tribulations is the best game in the trilogy, but I know I'm far from the first to say it, so I might as well give my reasons why, one case at a time.
Turnabout Memories: This is an awesome twist on the classic AA formula. We get to learn about Mia's career, Phoenix's past, and of course, Grossberg's hemorrhoids. Dahlia is a great villain and I love how blatantly guilty she is thanks entirely to Mia's POV. It also sets up a great central mystery, though we won't see the fruits of it until much later. The best first case in the trilogy.
The Stolen Turnabout: The best "filler case" in the trilogy. A case that's not a murder mystery (at first) is incredibly refreshing and something I wish the series would do more often. Seeing Adrian and Larry return and how they've moved on with their lives is awesome, and the new characters are just as good. Luke Atmey is a really entertaining villain, and Ron and Desiree are very sweet and I love them. But that's not even the best part of the case. No, this case graces us with my favorite character in the trilogy: Godot. His design and mannerisms are top-notch and the mystery behind his character is both immediately intriguing and immensely satisfying (but more on that later).
Recipe for Turnabout: ...Okay, nobody's perfect. I consider this the second-weakest case in the trilogy, just behind Big Top. I know a lot of stupid shit happens in Ace Attorney, but the Sonic Adventure 2 plotline with Don Tigre is where I draw the line. Also, I don't like Kudo or Armstrong. It's not all bad, though. Maggie's still a fun character and I like the arc with her and Gumshoe. And despite my complaints about his mysterious shapeshifting abilities, I think Don Tigre's a good villain. Also, I like how we get more time to learn about Godot as a prosecutor and the foreshadowing about how he can't see red. That's cool.
Turnabout Beginnings: Speaking of Godot, OH NO HE'S HOT. With that out of the way, this case is great. I love its use of dramatic irony and twists on the AA formula to set up the tragedy of Terry Fawles: You're gonna lose this case, and you know it. You just don't know how. It manages to build up Mia, Godot, Edgeworth, and Dahlia as characters in an interesting way. It's effectively half a case that exists as setup, but it's really good setup that leads to an even better payoff.
Bridge to the Turnabout: Talk about saving the best for last. Bridge to the Turnabout is, without question, my favorite case in the trilogy. True, the setup may seem convoluted and require a little suspension of disbelief, but those are minor nitpicks in the face of everything this case does right. It immediately sets up the mystery of a girl who looks mysteriously like Dahlia, set against the backdrop of a serene temple in the mountains. Then it raises the stakes, placing both Nick and Maya in mortal peril, leaving Edgeworth to step in and defend Iris. Franziska finally gets the conclusion to her arc in a fantastic twist on the series' signature courtroom battles. And it only gets better: Upon Nick's revival, everything involving DL-6, the Fey family, and Godot's past comes to a head, using everything the trilogy has built to craft an intricate web for the murder of Maya's mother. Immediately after, we get what is easily the best use of spirit channeling in the series: a cross-examination of a ghost revealing a plan to keep Maya safe, ending in Phoenix banishing Dahlia's soul to Hell (I am not joking).
But that's not even the best part. The reveal of the true killer finally gives Phoenix the conclusion to his arc, proving his capability as a lawyer to the man who doubted him the most. And of course, Godot's backstory and motivations are an expertly crafted combination of compelling and tragic. This is the only case in the original trilogy where I cried, and it's all thanks to him. Overall, Bridge to the Turnabout, like the game that bears it, is a perfect finale.
Turnabout Memories: This is an awesome twist on the classic AA formula. We get to learn about Mia's career, Phoenix's past, and of course, Grossberg's hemorrhoids. Dahlia is a great villain and I love how blatantly guilty she is thanks entirely to Mia's POV. It also sets up a great central mystery, though we won't see the fruits of it until much later. The best first case in the trilogy.
The Stolen Turnabout: The best "filler case" in the trilogy. A case that's not a murder mystery (at first) is incredibly refreshing and something I wish the series would do more often. Seeing Adrian and Larry return and how they've moved on with their lives is awesome, and the new characters are just as good. Luke Atmey is a really entertaining villain, and Ron and Desiree are very sweet and I love them. But that's not even the best part of the case. No, this case graces us with my favorite character in the trilogy: Godot. His design and mannerisms are top-notch and the mystery behind his character is both immediately intriguing and immensely satisfying (but more on that later).
Recipe for Turnabout: ...Okay, nobody's perfect. I consider this the second-weakest case in the trilogy, just behind Big Top. I know a lot of stupid shit happens in Ace Attorney, but the Sonic Adventure 2 plotline with Don Tigre is where I draw the line. Also, I don't like Kudo or Armstrong. It's not all bad, though. Maggie's still a fun character and I like the arc with her and Gumshoe. And despite my complaints about his mysterious shapeshifting abilities, I think Don Tigre's a good villain. Also, I like how we get more time to learn about Godot as a prosecutor and the foreshadowing about how he can't see red. That's cool.
Turnabout Beginnings: Speaking of Godot, OH NO HE'S HOT. With that out of the way, this case is great. I love its use of dramatic irony and twists on the AA formula to set up the tragedy of Terry Fawles: You're gonna lose this case, and you know it. You just don't know how. It manages to build up Mia, Godot, Edgeworth, and Dahlia as characters in an interesting way. It's effectively half a case that exists as setup, but it's really good setup that leads to an even better payoff.
Bridge to the Turnabout: Talk about saving the best for last. Bridge to the Turnabout is, without question, my favorite case in the trilogy. True, the setup may seem convoluted and require a little suspension of disbelief, but those are minor nitpicks in the face of everything this case does right. It immediately sets up the mystery of a girl who looks mysteriously like Dahlia, set against the backdrop of a serene temple in the mountains. Then it raises the stakes, placing both Nick and Maya in mortal peril, leaving Edgeworth to step in and defend Iris. Franziska finally gets the conclusion to her arc in a fantastic twist on the series' signature courtroom battles. And it only gets better: Upon Nick's revival, everything involving DL-6, the Fey family, and Godot's past comes to a head, using everything the trilogy has built to craft an intricate web for the murder of Maya's mother. Immediately after, we get what is easily the best use of spirit channeling in the series: a cross-examination of a ghost revealing a plan to keep Maya safe, ending in Phoenix banishing Dahlia's soul to Hell (I am not joking).
But that's not even the best part. The reveal of the true killer finally gives Phoenix the conclusion to his arc, proving his capability as a lawyer to the man who doubted him the most. And of course, Godot's backstory and motivations are an expertly crafted combination of compelling and tragic. This is the only case in the original trilogy where I cried, and it's all thanks to him. Overall, Bridge to the Turnabout, like the game that bears it, is a perfect finale.
