I really wanted to love this game, it has so much going for it, fantastic music, full voice acting, a surprisingly innovative and unique battle system and a strong story. Ultimately, where it falls short for me though, are mostly technical and artistic issues. This game pushes 3D on a console that can just barely support it, resulting in extremely low draw distances and characters losing most facial features and shapes to pixelation and low fidelity outside of cutscenes which made it difficult to connect to the story at all in the first half. This is a thing that has to be really bad for me to fault the game. The game is really short for a JRPG, which is a positive and it is paced really well for the duration of about 13 hours it took me, however the game still has to rely heavily on reusing areas and mechanics endlessly, seriously hurting my enjoyment when flying through the same corridors, fighting the same enemies and deactivating the same terminals for two hours. I can definitely see artistic appeal and justification for some of that. I really really like the whole aesthetic and universe the game builds, mixing Dune, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Star Wars and many other interesting influences into a unique blend creating a ton of mysterious lore of ancient civilizations. The game is way more subdued and restrained in its tone and presentation than most other JRPGs of the time and even since, often evoking the same serene melancholy and beauty seen in Fumito Ueda's games before tipping the scale of minimalism and beauty in simplicity to the side of dull repetition unfortunately. I believe a faithful remake of this game, mainly adressing the technical shortcomings and adding just a bit of environment art and enemy variety could be one of my favorite games of all time.

I believe Hollow Knight is a very nice experience that sadly contains many flaws. It looks gorgeous and does a great job with atmosphere and the combat, while simple, is fun to master. However, the areas are way too large, making it take far too long to get anywhere, whether going back to previous areas or getting back to a boss you died at. It's extremely annoying that tough bosses rarely had a checkpoint right before them, because the fights are fun to learn otherwise. While I wanted to see more major unlockable abilities from the game, I liked that there are instead a ton of charms that allows for lots of customization. Only thing is that I wish the game didn't take things such as the map or compass and make them unlockables or equipables. It took me 28 hours to beat, which is much longer than I believe a metroidvania should be, but I still enjoyed my time with the game.

This is a big leap from Yakuza 3 and for the series as a whole, expanding the cast to four playable characters. It mostly works incredibly well, the characters play and feel distinct and the plot takes away the focus from at this point repetitive clan infighting or foreign threats and instead shines light on different, fresh new players in Kamurocho. It ties back to older entries in the series ambitiously but unfortunately drops the ball hard with incredibly stupid twists and fake outs resulting in a mess of betrayals and feuds that I couldn't care to keep up with in the end. Still, this game has some of my favorite music and combat in the series so far and feels so much better to play than Yakuza 3.

I have realized that I really don't like course-based Mario games at all. 3D World is fine, sure, but wow did it leave me absolutely unfazed and cold. Perhaps it is due to the quantity of ideas devalueing the quality of the experience as a whole and robbing it of a cohesive identity. Part of it definitely is the fixed camera, which absolutely infuriated me to no end in many levels.

Bowser's Fury, on the other hand, absolutely slaps, might I say. From the first minute I had more fun than the whole of 3D World. The inventory system is a really neat concept that could shine in a dedicated game not tied to the confines of 3D World systems. I hope this is a test run for a truly open world Mario game, but this is a stellar product all on its own.

Easily by a landslide the best musou game since it actually has level design and so much gameplay variety that it barely feels like a musou game (thank god) so i'd recommend even musou detractors like me to play it!

Outside of that the music and art style are still as great as p5, the new characters especially zenkichi are great and the game is just so fun and addicting and i never thought I'd say that about a warriors game ever. The only things I didn't like were a few dumb tropes like the exact same bathhouse misunderstanding scene from p3 & p4 and the story having some predictable elements but those are fairly minor so all in all i genuiely loved this game way more than I thought I was going to.

Completely deserves its reputation as one of the greatest RPGs ever made.

This game does not waste your time. Battles load almost immediately, and are quick and fluid. It doesn't have a particularly long running time (~40ish hours), but there is almost always a sense of riveting urgency to the story, and it just feels like more things 'happen' in this game than some that are twice as long.

Visually, it has not aged a day. It looked fantastic 25 years ago, looks fantastic today, and will look fantastic 25 years from now.

Recruiting characters and growing your castle is an absolute joy. Some will be fighters for your party, some will run shops or minigames, some don't do much of anything but add humor or backstory to other characters. It's hard to make 108 different characters distinct, memorable and useful, and this game does an exceptional job at it. Add in one of the best antagonists from any game ever, and you have a truly special cast.

While entirely playable on its own, play Suikoden 1 first for some extra emotional oomph, as much of the cast returns for this game.

Absolute 10/10.

When I first touched down on the Sector 7 Slums, after getting off the train, I cried. It's difficult to really boil down those euphoric feelings floating in my brain, the complete wonder and majesty I was experiencing, or seeing something that I cherish captured in painstakingly incredible detail. This tipping point for me defines the whole game, and surprises me at every turn with how much it genuinely understands and soulfully carries the legacy it now seeks to work atop of and, in some cases, defy.

Simultaneously, it's difficult for me to know where to begin talking about the game from here. There's so much to talk about that is just going to come off as fangirling gushing. And while I'm not ashamed of that, I still don't want to say more than I really need to.

I think I'd like to describe another scene, a bit of small spoilers ahead. There's a point of falling action where the cast has to decide what the next option should be. In the middle of the night you walk out to see Barret in the garden, thinking about what keeps him going. He talks to you about his reverence for the people he's known, implying that he's lost them. He tells a history of the wonderful happiness each of them brought, that he continues marching forward with. It's such a powerful characterizing moment for Barret. It as well is a heartfelt honest telling of how these characters act, and respond to what's in front of them.

There's a moment where the game goes full on against its legacy, cutting the threads metacontextually to forge a path of its own. That path is laid in with a next-level orchestration that blissfully captures the energy, and a combat system that is absolutely excellent and is tested to its complete limits here. The final bosses, like ones before, offer incredible tactics and balancing acts between the ATB management and correct positioning. And I fucking loved every single minute of it.

There are a few niggles of course. The pacing is off-center and leads to a lot of parts that outstay their welcome. The combat system while I can heap praise and honestly analyze in a lot more detail than I'm putting here, has issues in terms of feedback both in learning the systems as well as enemy telegraphs. There's also full-on meme additions that really should've been left to the cutting board.

Either way, FF7R surpasses all my memories and feelings of the original. Despite barely taking up like 15-20% of the original game's plotline, it exceeds the entire game. I really can't wait for the unknown adventure ahead.

Banjo-Kazooie is the platonic ideal of a video game to me; all throughout its assortment of colorful levels are opportunities to see and learn new control modes and special moves for its title characters to interact with the game world, either asking you to use them skillfully or cleverly to earn the next jigsaw piece. It can sometimes be unclear what to do next, and a game with this level of variety is obviously not going to be 100% perfect (ah, a refreshing game of Concentration awaits around the corner), but despite those shortcomings, Banjo-Kazooie is nevertheless so well-paced and courteously laid out that it maintains its appeal where many other 3D platformers fall short. Loads of secrets, too!

Incredible game. I used Royal as my first ever playthrough of Persona 5 in general. It was really addicting between the main dungeons with RPG turn based combat, and the "real life" social aspects and time management. That mix was really well done. I loved all the characters, and palaces, and time flew by as I beat this game in 2 weeks. The UI is sexy, the combat is dynamic, the music is godly. It was all masterfully written. That doesn't even include the whole new section with Sumi, who is by far my favourite character.

There are few experiences in life that stick with you for a long time after you've passed them. Out of those, only a handful affect you on such a deep level, that your outlook is changed on certain things. The Last of Us Part 2 is one of those experiences.

This is a game that has been controversial since its release, I am sure that many who play it will be angered, saddened and understandably frustrated. I sure was, however, this is not a usual story. Part 2 definitely took some risks, but I wholeheartedly believe that everything has a reason, and it definitely pays off in the end. This is a story centered around both the characters, and several important lessons in morality and philosophy. The way I saw it, the events in the first game blend perfectly into this one. They are two sides of the same coin. Love and Hate, Hope and Despair, Salvation and destruction.

The gameplay and visuals are spectacular, there were many moments that I enjoyed because of this. It gave me the chance to take a lot of good pictures. The controls and gameplay are the same as The Last of Us 1, with tons of accessibility options that I appreciated. I think TLoU2 sets a new bar for expectations in the gaming industry. You can tell that a large group of passionate developers worked hard to bring us a story that will stay with us for a long time. Having said this, I also think some people will not like the choices in the story.

SPOILERS FROM HERE

I think that Abby was a very well written character with strong and justifiable motivations. Her journey in the beginning of the game to get revenge on Joel is perfectly reflected on Ellie's journey to hunt her down. They are both fueled by grief they believe will only be cured once they accomplish their goal. No matter how much pain they cause to the people around them. Jesse, Dina, Tommy, Manny, Mel, Owen. They all were dragged into a battle between two unstoppable and determined forces of destruction. Playing the game from Abby's point of view is not a cheap way to make the players sympathize with her, it shows us how anyone can go through pain. Her journey with Lev somehow reflects how as anyone will go to far lengths for revenge, they will do the same thing for love.

This is the main lesson of The Last of Us 2, there are no protagonists or villains in real life. Everyone is trying to live their life the best way they can. I applaud this game for taking this path, giving us a depressing but thoughtful ending that hopefully provides a great example for storytelling in the future. I think anyone should give The Last of Us Part 2 a playthrough and form their own conclusion, for me it is one of the best games of the generation.

Final Score: 92/100

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