Hey you! Like Donkey Kong Country? The first game was a little bit archaic for my taste. But when Nintendo released Donkey Kong Country 2 in 95 I think the series really came into its own, commercially and artistically. The whole game has really challenging platforming, and an angelic ost that really gives the game a big boost. It's been compared to Super Mario World, but I think DKC2 has more satisfying platforming. I think this game is Rare's undisputed masterpiece. A game so good that most people don't even think about the level design. But they should! It's not just a game about monkeys, It's a personal statement about the developers themselves.

Persona 3 is a game I hold near and dear to my heart. When I replayed this game last summer I was a total loser, I hated my life and just wanted to give up. The story of Persona 3 is about fighting that feeling, the feeling of just wanting to give in to despair, to fight giving up and staying in bed due to having a lack of motivation to live. Near the end of the game the cast of Persona 3 is thrown into a situation where they have to fight the very embodiment of death and despair. The characters all have a reason to continue to live, to fight against the sometimes overbearing feeling of despair. Akihiko continues onward in order to gain the strength to protect his loved ones, Yukari simply wanted to learn why her father had to die, Ken lived to get revenge on the man who killed his mother. Junpei doesn’t even really know why he fights, he isn’t particularly good at anything and the protagonist is way better than him at the one thing that he is good at. Sometimes it’s okay to not know why you continue onward in life, because just like how Junpei eventually finds a reason to fight so will you. Then there’s Shinji Aragaki, someone who had made a horrible mistake in his past and has lived in guilt ever since, he had given into his despair and decided to stop fighting. He simply just wanted to forget what he did and move on. Of course running away from your mistakes doesn’t solve anything, the only thing that will lead you to is down a path of self hatred. It isn’t until Akihiko convinces Shinji to rejoin SEES that he’s able to continue fighting against his guilt, despair and finally take accountability for his actions that allows him to find peace. The main character lives to spend time with people. Time is limited, you might not be able to spend time with certain people in the future, you might not be as close to certain people as you are now in the future. So don’t waste your time living in self hatred or living as a shut in. Walk away from your soundless room, spend time with the people you care about, and go do things you always wanted to do. Sometimes it might be tedious, sometimes you may want to give up, but refusing to give up and finding the strength to carry forward will make life a lot more fulfilling.

I just finished my ironman of this game, it was the first ironman I've ever attempted and I can confidently say that you should at least try ironmanning a game in this series at least once. I didn't reset my entire game if I got a game over however and if you just want to casually play around with permadeath I recommend you do the same. Permadeath is actually a really fun mechanic and can really bring some overlooked units into a new light. For example I used Kane in my playthrough because aside from Finn all my other cavs had died and he was the next best thing and he ended up being one of my favorite units to use. I can say the same about Homer who got 2 lucky move level ups on the map he joined in and with use of paragon I was quickly able to turn him into a power house. Permadeath is a really interesting mechanic, and it'd be a shame to not at least do one playthrough of any fe game enforcing it. Kaga was right, you shouldn't worry about the perfect ending where everyone lives or the super optimal plays everytime you play this game. Create your own story of how Leif clawed his way back and retook Leonster while preceding to take down a faction of the Loptr church. You'll probably make an unforgettable playthrough and discover some favorite units you would usually overlook.

Here I am, I'm about to talk about this small game about lawyers. Well not the full game, just one single case that little did I know would influence my future career.

Shortly after Phoenix proves Edgeworth innocent in court and Maya leaves for her home village, we see our favorite ace attorney clientless and caseless. Turns out he hasn't been taking any cases despite getting numerous offers. That is until a brown haired highschooler comes knocking on his door and begs him to take a murder case. Phoenix eventually decides to take the case because the girl reminds him of Maya.

The girl's name was Ema Skye by the way, and Phoenix's client is her sister, Lana Skye (who just so happens to be the chief prosecutor). Not sure why I started this review like I was gonna recap everything that happens in this case BUT now I can talk about how this dumb ass game inspired me to go into forensics.

I absolutely love Ema, her passion for forensics, her funny little quips, and of course the dumb little minigames she makes you do. The fingerprinting minigame, and testing every little area for luminol reactions had me hooked. Of course this barely scratched the surface of forensic science but it still caused that spark of interest within me. And this was just around the time where school was asking me what classes and future career path I wanted to take so I decided to really get into chemistry to pursue forensics.

I probably would've gone into the medical or engineering fields if I didn't play this game, would I have been better off financially if I didn't? Yes, would I be happy? No. It's really interesting how this silly game about lawyers being bad at their job has inspired people to pursue career paths they wouldn't otherwise. I know people who got into law just because of this game, and for me it got me into criminal investigations. The amount of people I've gotten to bond with because of this series and the amazing people and teachers I've met because of the classes this game encouraged me to take is insane. I don't really know where I'll be in 10 years, whether or not I'll still be talking to the same online friends, whether or not I'll still be hanging out with the same in person friends, but I do know that I'll always be able to come back to this series and be able to go back to a much simpler and happier time in my life.