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BACKER
I fucking love Persona 3. But for years on end, I always avoided The Answer. Discussions online would always conclude with The Answer being nothing but just grindy, non-canon filler. An expansion not worth your time. My impressionable 14-year-old self sadly dismissed it entirely because of its reputation and moved on to other entries in the Shin Megami Tensei series. With The Answer returning to Persona 3 Reload as ($35?!) DLC, I finally decided to proceed with my belated playthrough so that I may draw fair comparisons between the original and the remake when the time comes.
It's astounding how the message of this epilogue went over so many people's heads. The Answer is such a bittersweet conclusion to my favorite game of all time and its exploration of the grief felt by the cast after the main game's ending is beautifully told, albeit the player must endure exhausting gameplay in between each impactful scene, derailing the pace a bit. Nevertheless, it's wild how many in the community misunderstood certain plot elements like Yukari's behavior or the true reasoning behind what transpired on the Promised Day. Yukari was so valid here. I don't wish to speak much about it, but I cannot figure out how The Answer mischaracterize any of its party members nor how it "ruins" the message of the main game. If anything, it elevates my feelings of the original and now I loathe myself for putting it off for so long.
Hopefully Reload's interpretation of the Answer can offer more accessibility to those put off by its increased challenge and endless dungeon crawl and its absence of the fucking compendium because seriously that choice is the only thing that really bothered me. On any note, see you in September! Maybe I'll actually jot down my thoughts about Persona 3 Reload as a whole when that time comes.
It's astounding how the message of this epilogue went over so many people's heads. The Answer is such a bittersweet conclusion to my favorite game of all time and its exploration of the grief felt by the cast after the main game's ending is beautifully told, albeit the player must endure exhausting gameplay in between each impactful scene, derailing the pace a bit. Nevertheless, it's wild how many in the community misunderstood certain plot elements like Yukari's behavior or the true reasoning behind what transpired on the Promised Day. Yukari was so valid here. I don't wish to speak much about it, but I cannot figure out how The Answer mischaracterize any of its party members nor how it "ruins" the message of the main game. If anything, it elevates my feelings of the original and now I loathe myself for putting it off for so long.
Hopefully Reload's interpretation of the Answer can offer more accessibility to those put off by its increased challenge and endless dungeon crawl and its absence of the fucking compendium because seriously that choice is the only thing that really bothered me. On any note, see you in September! Maybe I'll actually jot down my thoughts about Persona 3 Reload as a whole when that time comes.
I declared that I will make September, my birthday month, a month playing important games on my backlog I've been dying to play. Video games I know I will rate highly and greatly enjoy. I was able to pull that off, to some extent, but what a shame this incredible month of mine had to end with a whimper. Sonic Frontiers was my game of the year for 2022. To say I am disappointed in this DLC is a massive understatement.
What the fuck happened at Sonic Team this past year that moved them to make this vile, frustrating content update that convinced me to think less of Sonic Frontiers as a whole. I appreciate the effort to make this last update a challenging experience for all players. I really do! I found most of the trial towers and cyberspace levels to be fun! The Cyberspace levels in particular has me excited for what's to come in Sonic Team's 3D level design. Branching paths and precise platforming to access shortcuts are what I expect a 3D Sonic level to feature. Rumors spread about a remake of Sonic Adventure, and I am confident that Sonic Team is able to pull that off. Sorta. Not really. Not at all actually. In fact, I am very, very worried!
The other 90% of the update fucking reeks. Bullshit trials given by the Kocos on top of Ubisoft towers where falling once just breaks the whole fucking climb where some mechanics restart to help you try again but some others straight up don't, requiring a full save reload so that you're not teetering on the edge of platforms where the slightest miss input can send Sonic flying down towards the ground. Remember that you can Drop Dash? No? Well, you fucking will when you accidentally hold the jump button for too long so when you carefully land on a platform, Sonic just boosts his dumbass straight off. Finally when you reach the top you're either greeted with the most frustrating challenge that'll make you tear the sticks off the controller or a braindead, easy parry trial that you wish appeared more often. Until the game takes away your normal parry and forces you to perfect parry through an entire boss rush with essentially a fucking timer. Perfect parries are garbage and I swear, do not work. Hit detection and animation problems already infested the base game, therefore introducing a perfect parry mechanic right at the end of a whole-ass game where parry timing didn't matter at all is insanity. Who even gives a shit about the other playable characters when you barely have any time with them at all? Hell, all three new characters are able to glide over puzzles making their whole gameplay a snooze-fest. Nothing much to say there. I wish they were playable more often in other Sonic games, that's all I guess. Final boss was pretty cool but still filled with awkward jank.
Highly do not recommend trying this out. Watch the cutscenes on YouTube instead. What a shitter. I'm going to bed.
What the fuck happened at Sonic Team this past year that moved them to make this vile, frustrating content update that convinced me to think less of Sonic Frontiers as a whole. I appreciate the effort to make this last update a challenging experience for all players. I really do! I found most of the trial towers and cyberspace levels to be fun! The Cyberspace levels in particular has me excited for what's to come in Sonic Team's 3D level design. Branching paths and precise platforming to access shortcuts are what I expect a 3D Sonic level to feature. Rumors spread about a remake of Sonic Adventure, and I am confident that Sonic Team is able to pull that off. Sorta. Not really. Not at all actually. In fact, I am very, very worried!
The other 90% of the update fucking reeks. Bullshit trials given by the Kocos on top of Ubisoft towers where falling once just breaks the whole fucking climb where some mechanics restart to help you try again but some others straight up don't, requiring a full save reload so that you're not teetering on the edge of platforms where the slightest miss input can send Sonic flying down towards the ground. Remember that you can Drop Dash? No? Well, you fucking will when you accidentally hold the jump button for too long so when you carefully land on a platform, Sonic just boosts his dumbass straight off. Finally when you reach the top you're either greeted with the most frustrating challenge that'll make you tear the sticks off the controller or a braindead, easy parry trial that you wish appeared more often. Until the game takes away your normal parry and forces you to perfect parry through an entire boss rush with essentially a fucking timer. Perfect parries are garbage and I swear, do not work. Hit detection and animation problems already infested the base game, therefore introducing a perfect parry mechanic right at the end of a whole-ass game where parry timing didn't matter at all is insanity. Who even gives a shit about the other playable characters when you barely have any time with them at all? Hell, all three new characters are able to glide over puzzles making their whole gameplay a snooze-fest. Nothing much to say there. I wish they were playable more often in other Sonic games, that's all I guess. Final boss was pretty cool but still filled with awkward jank.
Highly do not recommend trying this out. Watch the cutscenes on YouTube instead. What a shitter. I'm going to bed.
2023
Finally, the PS5 has one game...and it's a damn good fucking game. Just having completed the game an hour ago, I must say, I am speechless and will write a full essay once I have beaten the harder game mode, as I will need some time to digest this mountainous journey. For now though, it is an easy recommendation for anybody who owns a PS5. Of course, there's still hiccups here and there, but none of those hiccups take away from my rating. The amounts of times this game took my breath away and left my jaw on the floor is unreal. Not even halfway through the game, you would encounter enemies that may as well be the final boss for other action RPGs.
Several of the boss fights left me in hysterics. Raw emotion took over me as I witnessed some of the best boss fights I've seen since Asura's Wrath. This is it. These are the battles my younger self would daydream about in 6th grade English class. Wearing an earbud hidden from teacher's view, I would blast away "epic orchestral battle music" as my imagination renders series of frantic colors and flashes. Two blurred, hazy characters dueling to the death in an arena ruined by their onslaught of magical strikes. These battles had no meaning. Those characters had no faces nor names. Yet, it still captivated me all the same.
Final Fantasy XVI are those daydreams brought to life. A video game that felt like its hand-tailored just for me. From combat to the music to the story. Felt like everything I ever wanted a video game to be and one I wish to see more of. I do want to become a game developer one day. I do want to create stories of my own and host battles of galactic proportions. Even if I don't though, I'm glad to live in a world where Final Fantasy exists.
Several of the boss fights left me in hysterics. Raw emotion took over me as I witnessed some of the best boss fights I've seen since Asura's Wrath. This is it. These are the battles my younger self would daydream about in 6th grade English class. Wearing an earbud hidden from teacher's view, I would blast away "epic orchestral battle music" as my imagination renders series of frantic colors and flashes. Two blurred, hazy characters dueling to the death in an arena ruined by their onslaught of magical strikes. These battles had no meaning. Those characters had no faces nor names. Yet, it still captivated me all the same.
Final Fantasy XVI are those daydreams brought to life. A video game that felt like its hand-tailored just for me. From combat to the music to the story. Felt like everything I ever wanted a video game to be and one I wish to see more of. I do want to become a game developer one day. I do want to create stories of my own and host battles of galactic proportions. Even if I don't though, I'm glad to live in a world where Final Fantasy exists.
2023
Literally the worst time to be employed right now.
No words. Everything I wanted and even more. Thank you Monolithsoft. Beyond excited for what lies ahead.
2023 really has been the year for shadowdrops so far, huh? First, Hi-Fi Rush, then Metroid Prime Remastered and now this adorable Sonic the Hedgehog visual novel! What's next, Bloodborne on PC? It's free on Steam so I highly recommend playing through this cute murder mystery. Best April Fools joke.
2023
Fire Emblem Engage, executed for committing a mortal sin of appealing to the "modern anime" audience. These negative reviews are undeserving honestly. At worst, FE Engage tells a campy story with some hit-or-miss character designs. At best, if you're a die-hard FE fan who has always loved the tactical combat the series have provided so far, Engage exceeds the expectations a fan may have for its gameplay and delivers fun, "engaging" systems with the Emblems and the myriad of activities to do at the Somniel. I recommend playing on Hard/Classic. I heard that the Maddening difficulty still has the tradition of being absolute bullshit.
Don't have much more to say. I mostly enjoyed my experience with this game. Buy it for the gameplay, not for the story/characters. I'm sure those who are critical of Engage's narrative will have their "dark" and "mature" stories about war in the next mainline FE where they can continue having countless reddit discussions over. For now though, while I can't say the plot impacted me, it sure did make me laugh with how melodramatic and silly it is. It's literally a story my 14-year-old self would write and claim that it's "deep." Not sure about you, but I found it pretty amusing. This may be the best 3/5 game I've ever played.
Don't have much more to say. I mostly enjoyed my experience with this game. Buy it for the gameplay, not for the story/characters. I'm sure those who are critical of Engage's narrative will have their "dark" and "mature" stories about war in the next mainline FE where they can continue having countless reddit discussions over. For now though, while I can't say the plot impacted me, it sure did make me laugh with how melodramatic and silly it is. It's literally a story my 14-year-old self would write and claim that it's "deep." Not sure about you, but I found it pretty amusing. This may be the best 3/5 game I've ever played.
1982
Have you played Pac-Man? Then you've played Taxman without even knowing it
2022
Was gifted this on Steam by a friend, and decided to give it a try. Suffice to say, I'm kind of glad I didn't drop $20 for this. Great gameplay concept but was not executed very well. "Stealth" segments were abysmal to play through and arguably should've been cut from the game to focus more time on Charles himself. Literally, these human enemies would spot you from miles away and chase you to the ends of the Earth. Fuck them.
Cute game. Not scary but it didn't have to be. Slaying a spider-train known as Charles is all it needs to be. Wait for a sale though.
Cute game. Not scary but it didn't have to be. Slaying a spider-train known as Charles is all it needs to be. Wait for a sale though.
2022
Bayonetta is back, baby! I waited years for this final entry in the trilogy. After being disappointed by Bayonetta 2, I hoped that this would reignite the love I have for this series. After all, Bayonetta is my favorite female video game protagonist. She truly deserves something extraordinary for her grand return, right?
Gameplay wise, she absolutely comes back guns blazing. Bayonetta 2 took a step in the wrong direction in my opinion. It didn’t have the same vigor and practically as the first entry. Thankfully they fixed their mistake here. The inclusion of controlling demons in combat is well welcomed too. My only issue here is Viola. Now, I love her. Her personality is adorable but unfortunately her combat felt lackluster. DMC was able to handle four fully fleshed out characters but this game can’t even handle two. Would’ve loved to see her moveset expanded or even have more levels just for her. Her battle theme is so kickass though. Ugh, the best theme in this game easily.
With all this praise, why can’t I still give this game five stars? Two main reasons. The story and the visuals. The visuals are more of a nitpick, they are honestly just fine, but still, there is not a massive leap in graphics from Bayo 1 to 2 to 3. If anything, this is more of the Switch’s fault. As it already tanks through certain cutscenes and combat scenarios. Dear Jubileus though, the writing in this was AWFUL. Worst than Bayonetta 2 even, which was just a rehash of the first game. Another generic garbage villain that spouts nonsense lines expecting me to actually care? These character action games, primarily by Capcom and Platinum are at their best when they’re silly, goofy fun. Not taking itself very seriously. Instead, becoming self-aware. I have no idea what they were thinking for the finale. It actually upsetted me how baffling the writing was. I just want to forget that ending, that total schlock. Bayonetta 1 is still superior in story it seems.
Even so, I still think it is worth playing through Bayonetta 3, especially if you’re an action game fan. Better money spent than the new COD, right?
Gameplay wise, she absolutely comes back guns blazing. Bayonetta 2 took a step in the wrong direction in my opinion. It didn’t have the same vigor and practically as the first entry. Thankfully they fixed their mistake here. The inclusion of controlling demons in combat is well welcomed too. My only issue here is Viola. Now, I love her. Her personality is adorable but unfortunately her combat felt lackluster. DMC was able to handle four fully fleshed out characters but this game can’t even handle two. Would’ve loved to see her moveset expanded or even have more levels just for her. Her battle theme is so kickass though. Ugh, the best theme in this game easily.
With all this praise, why can’t I still give this game five stars? Two main reasons. The story and the visuals. The visuals are more of a nitpick, they are honestly just fine, but still, there is not a massive leap in graphics from Bayo 1 to 2 to 3. If anything, this is more of the Switch’s fault. As it already tanks through certain cutscenes and combat scenarios. Dear Jubileus though, the writing in this was AWFUL. Worst than Bayonetta 2 even, which was just a rehash of the first game. Another generic garbage villain that spouts nonsense lines expecting me to actually care? These character action games, primarily by Capcom and Platinum are at their best when they’re silly, goofy fun. Not taking itself very seriously. Instead, becoming self-aware. I have no idea what they were thinking for the finale. It actually upsetted me how baffling the writing was. I just want to forget that ending, that total schlock. Bayonetta 1 is still superior in story it seems.
Even so, I still think it is worth playing through Bayonetta 3, especially if you’re an action game fan. Better money spent than the new COD, right?
1998
This review contains spoilers
How the fuck did people's balls not explode when playing this game for the first time back in 1998? Even playing today in 2022, I am still awed by Metal Gear Solid's tense and isolated atmosphere. Hideo Kojima's passion for action cinema is clearly illustrated by the revolutionary in-game cutscenes I was shocked to find on a PS1. Now, I don't want to sound like those kids in the bottom of some 80's band YouTube comment section saying they "were born in the wrong generation," but holy shit if only I was there to experience this on an actual PS1 when it first launched. Metal Gear Solid and Half-Life are the only two games where I can play decades after release and completely understand how they influenced the gaming industry back then. If it weren't for Xenogears, this would be my favorite game on the PlayStation.
Also, I do not get the memes about Solid Snake not knowing what sex is. He was MEGA flirty throughout the whole game.
Also, I do not get the memes about Solid Snake not knowing what sex is. He was MEGA flirty throughout the whole game.
1998
Fei fucks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjPWTEtuv74
Literally the best boss theme in gaming. Nothing comes close. Feel free to argue in the comments.
EDIT: Just heard Dancing Mad from FFVI. Fuck.
Literally the best boss theme in gaming. Nothing comes close. Feel free to argue in the comments.
EDIT: Just heard Dancing Mad from FFVI. Fuck.
This review contains spoilers
I lost my fucking shit when Shirakaba took off his shirt to reveal that he was fucking jacked. RGG please never change. That final boss alone is worth 5 stars.
2007
This review contains spoilers
Tomorrow I’ll be graduating from high school. Finally, those four years of studying and socializing will all pay off for this very moment. The moment when I hear my name and walk on stage to receive the diploma I worked hard for. But before that, I decided to replay through my favorite game of all time, Persona 3 FES. It took me the entirety of May to finish everything this game has to offer. Well, everything in the Journey. I have no idea when I’ll finally play The Answer but anyway…I originally played through Persona 3 right before high school, so I figured the time was right for a re playthrough and reevaluation. Is Persona 3 FES still worthy of being my favorite game of all time? Did it age well or am I too used to the modern JRPGs of today? Has my taste changed over the years to no longer enjoy the repetitious day by day gameplay?
Is Persona 4 truly the better game? No.
Persona 3 FES is still absolutely perfect in my eyes and the peak of the Persona franchise. The cycle of walking through Iwatodai, socializing around in Gekkoukan High, and grinding away in Tartarus is still enjoyable after all these years and at times I appreciated it more than ever after playing through all the other Persona games. Yes, I may be exaggerating a bit when I mention this game being “perfect,” because it is certainly not. Ultrakill is. But this isn’t Ultrakill, so I’ll mention all the problems I’ve noticed now that I’m more of a critic these days. I will mention though, I have installed mods for this second playthrough to make the game more difficult and make it look better with HD mods. Yes, I emulated it. Yes, I played on hard mode. And yes, you are submissive if you installed control party mods or played P3P only for a controllable party. Just kidding, I completely understand. Despite all the mods I installed to improve the party’s AI, I can’t deny that I would much rather prefer Persona 3 with gameplay more similar to the most recent game in the series, Persona 5, than constantly hoping that your party members do the thing you want them to do. Utilizing the tactics command helps of course (and it’s a shame that most players will tend to forget that) but it still doesn’t allow for certain strategies nor spontaneous change in plans whenever the enemy decides to change their own strategy. If the protagonist gets knocked down in combat, the protagonist will spend his turn getting back up, not allowing a chance to change tactics. All you could do in that situation is sit down and watch your teammates continue to use the same tactics you may not want to use anymore or them not doing anything at all. It could lead to some frustrating moments in time. Especially in boss battles. Doesn’t help that there is no shared EXP system, so if you want to progress the game at a steady pace, then choose three other party members and stick with them for the majority of the game. Not being able to view other party members’ skills nor equipment with the menu feels outdated. I don’t want to talk to Fukka, then check the status of everybody just to look at what another party member has equipped outside of Tartarus. I like to plan accordingly when I go out and buy equipment. This choice in design just makes planning feel more like a chore. Grinding is also another major issue. I didn’t have a problem with it when I was younger because I had all the time in the world. Being older, I now can understand how slow leveling can feel at times. The first month felt excruciating slow. With the second somehow feeling worse. After that though, the pacing improves alongside with the leveling thankfully.
Outside of battle though, my major issue is the social links. They suck. I’m sorry, but really, there are only five social links I enjoyed the writing and pacing of. That being the Empress, Hermit, Sun, Hanged Man, and Aeon arcanas. Lovers and Tower arcanas were okay too, but those five truly shined above the others. You can tell that this was ATLUS’s first dive into this social link system. A majority of them have pacing issues where they feel too slow throughout, only to have problems brought up and resolved within three ranks. Another issue with these social links is that they are too short. The social link would say five lines, the protagonist responds with an answer that sucks up to them, the player earns points, and the most annoying sequence would play every single time you rank up a social link where a voice speaks in your head, a tarot card show up on screen, and sparkles wrap around the protagonist informing you that you have become closer to a friend you only spoke a sentence to. If that friend happens to be a girl, the game will always inform you of the status of the relationship you two have. Almost like it’s reminding you that your sole objective in befriending and learning more about these girls is just to date them. Not exactly a big fan of that aspect and I hope they change that in a future remake.
Those are all the negatives I have with Persona 3 FES though. In fact, these negatives are so minuscule compared to the positives that they don’t affect the rating at all. The real heart of Persona 3 lies in its plot and characters. The SEES cast is by far my most favorite RPG party in history. All of them have proper character development (with the exception of the dog, for obvious reasons) that matters in the long run of the Persona series. What bothered me the most about the Persona 4 and 5 spinoffs is that those games don’t account the development that each party member has been through. Their Ultimate Personas that they obtain in their social links don’t transfer over with them to spinoffs that take place after the original game. It’s like their development throughout their original game’s story didn’t matter at all. For the Persona 3 party members, each of their character developments matter as their Ultimate Personas, a sign of their evolving personality, carry to the later games in the series. It further highlights the significance of their development that happens in the events of The Journey. It doesn’t reset after the story’s over. That little detail further makes each party member appear more realistic. I adore the dark tone present in every corner of this game’s appearance. The animated cutscenes stand out to me more than any other from the Persona series due to its abstract nature that matches the aesthetics of the Dark Hour. The protagonist's awakening cutscene is absolutely the best awakening scene in a Persona game. The imagery is insane in these cutscenes compared to later game’s animated cutscenes feeling ripped straight out of a generic seasonal anime. At least in style.
What really makes Persona 3 my favorite game of all time is with the themes and message. Nihilism is the true villain of Persona 3. I don’t mean to sound unprofessional in this review, but that is incredibly based. Peak fiction. The last few months of Persona 3 is the peak of writing in the Persona series. Everything mixes together in a beautiful symphony to convey the message that life is meaningful. "You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life... Sometimes all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of.” Those two lines spoken by Aigis changed my philosophy on life completely. When you're just a freshman in high school it can become easy to start thinking life as being meaningless or something not worth celebrating. High school is a struggle. Playing Persona 3 the first time, I was a completely different man than I am today. He embraced death as he had nothing to live for at the time. Today, I embrace life as I have everything I need to celebrate it. I found my meaning in life. I have Persona 3 to thank for that. I don’t need to become the world’s most famous writer nor the man who saved the world. I don’t need the approval of the world. I only need the love of one. That is my calling. Tomorrow when I walk on stage, dressed in cap and gown to receive my diploma, I will remember my meaning in life and be thankful for the opportunity to live. I will look forward to the future and realize that my life is only just beginning. If I kept that edgy, nihilistic mindset I had when I was younger, I would not be able to realize any of this. I wouldn’t appreciate the small things I have in life. I realize that I am completely off course for a review of a video game. Persona 3 FES is different for me though. Every time I talk about it, it always leads to something like this. I’m not writing this review to persuade others that this game is good. I’m writing this review for myself. For closure. And to thank Persona 3 for changing my life. Everybody has that one piece of media that changes them forever. Mine just happened to be a game about teenagers shooting themselves in the head. If you have anything to take from this review…Replay your favorite game again. You’ll end up loving it even more than before.
EDIT: Made some minor changes to stances that doesn't really fit my opinion today.
Is Persona 4 truly the better game? No.
Persona 3 FES is still absolutely perfect in my eyes and the peak of the Persona franchise. The cycle of walking through Iwatodai, socializing around in Gekkoukan High, and grinding away in Tartarus is still enjoyable after all these years and at times I appreciated it more than ever after playing through all the other Persona games. Yes, I may be exaggerating a bit when I mention this game being “perfect,” because it is certainly not. Ultrakill is. But this isn’t Ultrakill, so I’ll mention all the problems I’ve noticed now that I’m more of a critic these days. I will mention though, I have installed mods for this second playthrough to make the game more difficult and make it look better with HD mods. Yes, I emulated it. Yes, I played on hard mode. And yes, you are submissive if you installed control party mods or played P3P only for a controllable party. Just kidding, I completely understand. Despite all the mods I installed to improve the party’s AI, I can’t deny that I would much rather prefer Persona 3 with gameplay more similar to the most recent game in the series, Persona 5, than constantly hoping that your party members do the thing you want them to do. Utilizing the tactics command helps of course (and it’s a shame that most players will tend to forget that) but it still doesn’t allow for certain strategies nor spontaneous change in plans whenever the enemy decides to change their own strategy. If the protagonist gets knocked down in combat, the protagonist will spend his turn getting back up, not allowing a chance to change tactics. All you could do in that situation is sit down and watch your teammates continue to use the same tactics you may not want to use anymore or them not doing anything at all. It could lead to some frustrating moments in time. Especially in boss battles. Doesn’t help that there is no shared EXP system, so if you want to progress the game at a steady pace, then choose three other party members and stick with them for the majority of the game. Not being able to view other party members’ skills nor equipment with the menu feels outdated. I don’t want to talk to Fukka, then check the status of everybody just to look at what another party member has equipped outside of Tartarus. I like to plan accordingly when I go out and buy equipment. This choice in design just makes planning feel more like a chore. Grinding is also another major issue. I didn’t have a problem with it when I was younger because I had all the time in the world. Being older, I now can understand how slow leveling can feel at times. The first month felt excruciating slow. With the second somehow feeling worse. After that though, the pacing improves alongside with the leveling thankfully.
Outside of battle though, my major issue is the social links. They suck. I’m sorry, but really, there are only five social links I enjoyed the writing and pacing of. That being the Empress, Hermit, Sun, Hanged Man, and Aeon arcanas. Lovers and Tower arcanas were okay too, but those five truly shined above the others. You can tell that this was ATLUS’s first dive into this social link system. A majority of them have pacing issues where they feel too slow throughout, only to have problems brought up and resolved within three ranks. Another issue with these social links is that they are too short. The social link would say five lines, the protagonist responds with an answer that sucks up to them, the player earns points, and the most annoying sequence would play every single time you rank up a social link where a voice speaks in your head, a tarot card show up on screen, and sparkles wrap around the protagonist informing you that you have become closer to a friend you only spoke a sentence to. If that friend happens to be a girl, the game will always inform you of the status of the relationship you two have. Almost like it’s reminding you that your sole objective in befriending and learning more about these girls is just to date them. Not exactly a big fan of that aspect and I hope they change that in a future remake.
Those are all the negatives I have with Persona 3 FES though. In fact, these negatives are so minuscule compared to the positives that they don’t affect the rating at all. The real heart of Persona 3 lies in its plot and characters. The SEES cast is by far my most favorite RPG party in history. All of them have proper character development (with the exception of the dog, for obvious reasons) that matters in the long run of the Persona series. What bothered me the most about the Persona 4 and 5 spinoffs is that those games don’t account the development that each party member has been through. Their Ultimate Personas that they obtain in their social links don’t transfer over with them to spinoffs that take place after the original game. It’s like their development throughout their original game’s story didn’t matter at all. For the Persona 3 party members, each of their character developments matter as their Ultimate Personas, a sign of their evolving personality, carry to the later games in the series. It further highlights the significance of their development that happens in the events of The Journey. It doesn’t reset after the story’s over. That little detail further makes each party member appear more realistic. I adore the dark tone present in every corner of this game’s appearance. The animated cutscenes stand out to me more than any other from the Persona series due to its abstract nature that matches the aesthetics of the Dark Hour. The protagonist's awakening cutscene is absolutely the best awakening scene in a Persona game. The imagery is insane in these cutscenes compared to later game’s animated cutscenes feeling ripped straight out of a generic seasonal anime. At least in style.
What really makes Persona 3 my favorite game of all time is with the themes and message. Nihilism is the true villain of Persona 3. I don’t mean to sound unprofessional in this review, but that is incredibly based. Peak fiction. The last few months of Persona 3 is the peak of writing in the Persona series. Everything mixes together in a beautiful symphony to convey the message that life is meaningful. "You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life... Sometimes all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of.” Those two lines spoken by Aigis changed my philosophy on life completely. When you're just a freshman in high school it can become easy to start thinking life as being meaningless or something not worth celebrating. High school is a struggle. Playing Persona 3 the first time, I was a completely different man than I am today. He embraced death as he had nothing to live for at the time. Today, I embrace life as I have everything I need to celebrate it. I found my meaning in life. I have Persona 3 to thank for that. I don’t need to become the world’s most famous writer nor the man who saved the world. I don’t need the approval of the world. I only need the love of one. That is my calling. Tomorrow when I walk on stage, dressed in cap and gown to receive my diploma, I will remember my meaning in life and be thankful for the opportunity to live. I will look forward to the future and realize that my life is only just beginning. If I kept that edgy, nihilistic mindset I had when I was younger, I would not be able to realize any of this. I wouldn’t appreciate the small things I have in life. I realize that I am completely off course for a review of a video game. Persona 3 FES is different for me though. Every time I talk about it, it always leads to something like this. I’m not writing this review to persuade others that this game is good. I’m writing this review for myself. For closure. And to thank Persona 3 for changing my life. Everybody has that one piece of media that changes them forever. Mine just happened to be a game about teenagers shooting themselves in the head. If you have anything to take from this review…Replay your favorite game again. You’ll end up loving it even more than before.
EDIT: Made some minor changes to stances that doesn't really fit my opinion today.