In a lot of ways, this improved upon the first game but ultimately it is a tad too inconsistent for me to prefer it. Combat is completely different, it's an action RPG akin to FF7R now, it's very fun, but not as deep as the first game, however the first game can feel super slow sometimes so I think combat wise both games are equal to me. The dodge roll in this game also functions a bit like Dark Souls so timing the dodge roll for i-frames was cool. The gameplay also has a lot more varied aspects like the kingdom building and army battles which are fun distractions and break up the gameplay pretty well. Side quest content is also above average for JRPGs as they feature good writing and have some effort programmed into them instead of NPCs just dispensing boring text like Xenoblade.

However my biggest gripe with the game is the padding, specifically in chapter 9 where it forces you to level up your kingdom to level 3 which takes way too long. I like the kingdom building, but making it a requirement you invest heavily into it by doing dozens of side quests feels like it's a bit shoved down your throat. It's the same issue I have with Torna, however, as I said the side quests are actually good in this game so it's not as bad, still annoying though.

The story is interesting to me, while I think the consistency of it is questionable, the world building is genuinely incredible, probably the best I've ever seen. Each Kingdom feels extremely realistic in this world and the problems each kingdom face are interesting and a lot hit close to our reality like problems with poverty, war, racism etc. These topics are handled excellently in this game. And Roland is genuinely one of my favorite video game characters of all time, Chapter 7 and Chapter 9 were so peak, I genuinely believe Roland is the true main character lol.

While I think this is a bit inferior to the original, I still ultimately think this ambitious game is a worthy sequel to the first game, give it a go, just be prepared for the chapter 9 grind lol.

I want to first say, I got the bad ending in this game, as I didnt know the importance of the choice at the time. So I have missed out on some content. Around 30% supposedly. So I haven't seen the "true ending." But honestly, I am fine with that for the time being.

Combat wise, this is the peak of FromSoftWare. It's so much more fast paced and flashy compared to Elden Ring or Dark Souls. Spamming parry has never felt so good... Jumping over attacks, dodging, parrying. It all works so well. It's peak combat.

Areas are fun and easy to explore, unlike Dark Souls. Enemies dont really feel like much of a threat, since its super easy to run past everything with the amount of mobility you have. And I dont really mind that. Because bosses are definetly tough (and fair)! It has my favorite bosses in FromSoft.

Is this my favorite FromSoft game though? Probably not. It's fantastic, but Elden Rings exploration and open world was just so peak, so it eclipses Sekiro a bit. But Sekiro is really fantastic, a must play in my books...

I bought this game day one because I was intrigued by the premise of it being the first ever (popular) VR MMO. Was it any good? Well for an early access title it's damn good.

The combat is pretty decent, it's nothing amazing it's just ok, which is better than most MMOs already. The exploration is top notch, the world is massive and has zero loading zones.

The servers are usually full, going around this world and seeing random players roaming it feels so immersive. It's fun just to chat to random people out in the middle of nowhere and do events. Or seeing dozens of players at spawn. The best thing about this game is the social aspect.

However, I didn't finish this game. While fun, the combat did get repetitive, quest variety is very limited, and I dislike greatly how the main quest is level locked forcing you to grind. The story isn't very interesting either.

This is a really good start for the game though, I shall come back to it in a year or so and see how it's progressed, it could end up being one of the best VR experiences once it's finished.

Finally I've played the third part of Fates after playing Fates for like 7 years. I recently got it because the eshop was closing so I got it while there was still time.

I think this might be my favorite path? The main story isn't as good as conquest, and the map design for the main missions is super gimicky. However, with the sheer volume of units to play around with, it was fun experimenting with all the classes, and you have access to all of the paralogue missions which took up most of my playtime. So the side content really carried the experience for me. The music is amazing as expected of Fire Emblem. I had a fun time with it

I love DBZ. I grew up with it like a lot of people. And I've played a ton of Dragon Ball games too. So the announcement of this game excited me, as I think Dragon Ball's story could lend itself well in video game form. In fact, this was already done excellent in Monoliths DS RPG. However, this would be bigger, more ambitious, cover all the arcs. Does it succeed at telling the original story well in vidoeo game form? Not really?

The issue is, throughout the game, it felt like the game was constantly rushing from plot point to plot point, missing a lot of the detail and character of the anime. For example, in the Nappa fight, in the anime, Gohan is meant to be afraid/ reluctant to fight the Saibamen and Nappa. This is good characterisation because it makes his bravery later on in the show hit better. But here, it's just not even hinted at? You just fight the Saibamen and thats it. Or how in the Cell Saga it shows Trunks fight Perfect Cell and show the disadvantages of just buffing up your power at the cost of speed. But this is skipped... Heck, it doesnt even show the Final Flash (one of the best scenes for Vegeta). Its too focused on moving the plot forward, that it misses crucial moments and characterisation compared to the anime. It's just not a viable replacement for watching the show personally. The storytelling is disappointing. But sometimes, there are moments of brilliance, a lot of the key moments are animated amazingly. So at least it has that.

Gameplay wise, it's good but very basic. It feels way too button mashy at times, and enemies spam super armor constantly which can get old. It's still fun though. I dont have much to say about the gameplay, it's just a fun beat em up. It rarely felt like an RPG to me besides the Frieza DLC which I had to grind loads for because I was a 100 levels under levelled lol.

Honestly, I'd give this game a lower score if it wasn't for the Trunks DLC. That in my opinion leans into the storytelling way better and adds crucial detail to Trunk's character.

I'd recommend playing this game because it is fun, but dont play this for the story. Watch the anime for that.

I reviewed this game here before a couple of years ago, it's been a while. I remember remarking at the time how the gameplay was mediocre but honestly I've changed my mind. I like the battle system and I really like how intricately designed the dungeons are. These are the best dungeons in the series next to Persona 5 and Q2. Some puzzles are a bit too hard for me but most of the time it felt fair and satisfying to explore. The encounter rate could be tweaked a bit but it wasnt that bad for me. I enjoyed the battle system, felt like it had a lot of strategy like Q2, the enemy encounters are tough as hell so binds and ailments are required to beat the enemies. The choice of making all out attack chance based depending on how many boosted characters you have was an interesting one, I used to hate this change but it makes you play in a way to avoid getting hit so honestly I didnt mind the change. But I must stress Q2s battle system is 100x better, that game's battle system is the gold standard of JRPGs while I consider this just "great." Enemy variety could be better however, I found myself facing the same group of enemies a bit much. But since they were challenging enemies I didnt mind too much.

The story, this is a divisive topic. I agree with the criticism that the main cast feels a bit too flanderised some times. But this isnt always the case, sometimes they genuinely feel fleshed out and some characters do get minor development which is cool. And the interactions were really well written. For being a crossover between P3 and P4 the actual characters from those games arent actually the focus. Which some people cant excuse but for me, I dont mind entirely. The focus are the newcomers Rei and Zen, which I loved from the first playthrough and I love now. I wont spoil anything, but the backstories they hold are heart-breaking, and their development comes from both Persona 3 and 4s theme, of facing truth and accepting death. Narratively it's really smart to combine these two themes into one. The conclusion these two characters have is both incredibly sad but inspiring. Even if you accomplish nothing in life, even if your life has no greater meaning in the grand scheme of things, even if you thought your life was nothing but suffering and despair, you mattered. It's a nice message to end on, it's something I cant forget and thats stuck with me since I beat it all those years ago.

So, while I understand people's disdain for this game, I personally enjoyed the gameplay and story even if they held faults. Honestly, a reason why I wanted to replay this game was because I'm attempting to make a game and one of my main characters from Persona Q is inspired me to start making it so this game was on my mind a lot during the last year, so I'm glad I finally got to play it. Thanks for reading