For those that are uninitiated , this title was advertised in the 90's as an FMV game. When it reality, it originally only had 1 video in the game, and the rest of it was still pictures. But where I think that the game gets it's claim to fame is it's presentation mixed with it's outlandish storytelling. The soundtrack is also a lowkey banger in some areas. LRG did an amazing job with this remastering of the game. While I'm not really a big LRG fan, (because their games take a REALLY long time to get to me) I can really appreciate the work that was put into the version. It includes unused assets, behind the scenes, and developer interviews, with all of those locked behind a new 3-D maze mode which is similar to the first-person dungeon crawling experience of the original Persona. Overall, play this version if you have ever been interested in this game or have an interest in video game history.

Persona 3 Reload (P3R for short) is a game that I never really expected to EVER happen. But it seems that SEGA is finally getting on Atlus to release some of their older titles to make some cash, and I'm all for it. The original P3 is a cult classic, and after playing it for the first time it became one of my favorite games of all time. The remake fixes or does away with the major problems that came with the original game, due to taking ideas and mechanics from both P5 and P5R, on top of making other adjustments to the game. My favorite one being the added events for the members of SEES, since the male part members didn't have social links in the original, and they don't have them here either. Along with the female party members get their social links later in the game. But these extra events give those characters the depth that they desperately needed in the original, as well as making them seem more like a team, rather than just something equivalent to co-workers. The battle system is pulled straight from P5 and that's okay, as that battle system is really good. The new music is also a surprise to me, as at first I really didn't like the new singer that they had got for the remade soundtrack. But she grew on me the more I played the game. New tracks like "Color Your Night" and "It's Going Down Now", are amazing and being added to my playlist as soon as they are on streaming platforms. The new versions of "Master of Tartarus" and the credits theme, do an amazing job of hitting that new persona feel while feeling nostalgic. Overall, I believe that this release over shadows the original in every aspect. There was no aspect during my time playing the game where I went, "That was better in the original" or "This was missing from the original". For the people that didn't hop on the Persona train with 5, hop on with the one that got most people (myself included) into the series. Promise that you won't regret it

After having the amazing experience that was the first game, I patiently and eagerly awaited the follow up to the adventures of Ichiban Kasuga. With Yakuza 8 in our hands, I feel that this game delivered REALLY well in certain aspects but sort of fell flat in others. To talk about the positives first, the battle had much more added to it. Yakuza 7's battle system did not feel undercooked at all either, so with all of the new additions, I thought that it would all feel like bloating the really nice flow to battle from the first one. The biggest change that I noticed from the original was the addition of physics to the battle system. Such as using moves to knock enemies into other enemies, hazards in the battle area, or into allies to deal additional damage. This simple change to the battle system, just makes positioning with your party all the more important to a battle. Bonds also got an overhaul, as increasing the bond of a character and interacting with their story, unlocks more combat capabilities for said character. Along with unlocking more classes that they can go into, much like in 7. The new area of Honolulu is extremely fun to explore, and the new side stories are great to find and complete. My problems with the actual gameplay are minor, like the player not having really any control where their party members will move/stay during battle. One of my negatives is actually the ending to the game, as it feels really anti-climatic, especially for Ichiban and his story, and the narrative being split between two different parties. Overall, a fantastic follow up to Yakuza 7, but this game does seem more tailored to fans of the entire series, rather than fans of Ichiban and Yakuza 7.

Honestly, I started to play this game as sort of joke at first. But the more I had played this game the more I got sucked in, and started to enjoy the mechanics that the game has. For starters, the dungeon crawling is the meat and potatoes of this game. While it is very basic, as it is just walking down corridors looking for the exit, I really like the environments that these dungeons take place in along with the music that plays within them. The battle system is also something that gets a lot of heat, and I personally think that it is interesting. I like the idea of having to set up your party in a way, so that most or all of their attacks can hit the enemy. While it is fun, to figure out the battle system, once the configuration for the party is found, there really is no reason to change it again. I really like the story in this game, as it is a lot more darker than that of games later in the series. While the characters are nothing deep, they service the story very well.

In terms of a remake of Diamond and Pearl, it is great to experience if 1) you don't have an original copy of the game and want to own an official version of Diamond or Pearl, or 2) if you have never experienced gen 4 in any capacity. For the people in camp one, I would ask if you want a more authentic experience to the original. As in this version includes some of the more modern enhancements. Such as the ability to use any HM whenever the corresponding gym battle is completed, and the addition of the fairy typing into the gen 4 pool of pokemon. For the people in the second group, I would still seek out to play the original in any format. As I think that the art-style for this remake, is inconsistent and feels as if though the game was rushed. What I mean is that the character models and environments look really nice when in battle, but as soon as the player is taken in the overworld. The game adopts this sort of chibi-like apperance, which I personally didn't like. I get that it was to try and replicate the 2-D perspective of the original, but comes off as feeling cheap. So, personally, I wouldn't get this version of the gen 4 titles. I would recommend others to find a way to play the original, if they can. But if you only have a Switch and still wanna play it, then it is a serviceable version of the originals

When this remake was announced, I was in utter disbelief. I though that both Nintendo and Squenix would never touch this game ever again. I wasn't really a big fan of the art style at first, but it grew on me the more I saw on the game. When I started playing it, I didn't even think about how the game looked because I was having so much fun exploring the world again. From what I had found playing through the game, everything from the original is still present (they even used the old US localization). Only there are some changes to the battle system, with the major one being the gauge that can used on a big move depending on who is currently out in the party. To the people who have never played the original, I suggest you give this a try. As this definitely is a title that fans of video games should play, as it is just good ol' Mario fun. For people coming back to enjoy the game again, then it's just gonna be nice to see the game that we loved in a new light. With a few surprises sprinkled into the post game.

This installment in the Borderlands series is a much needed improvement over the previous Borderlands 3. While gun play was figured out in 3, stuff such as the world and story were things that needed to be worked on. All it took for them to finally get some decent writing was to go down from an M rating to a T rating, as they had to get more creative with their jokes and have some actual characters in the game. This also goes for the world as well, as they have returned to the smaller maps that were in Borderlands 1 and 2. As oppose to the huge and empty maps that Borderlands 3 had, to replace the huge maps there is know a much smaller over world map to connect all of the areas better than it was in the last game. This game is what I want Borderlands to be in its future installments, as I feel as if though this can be heavily improved on. If you enjoy Borderlands but had disliked 3, then I say give this one a shot. As it fixes most of the problems that I had with 3, and keeps the best part of 3, which is the gun play.

When this game was announced, I had very low expectations for this game. Mainly because of one of the main developers of the game being Arzest (who is mainly known for making minigames in Wii Play Motion, Hey! Pikmin, and co-developing Balan Wonderworld), not having the greatest track record. After playing the game with two other players, the game is really fun. The characters are all very different from one another. Speed and acceleration are the same, and the ability to spin dash. Sonic can use the drop dash, Tails can fly, Knuckles can glide and climb walls, and Amy can double jump. Kunckles and Amy can also break big rocks. There is another character that is unlockable that also has a double jump and climb walls. Levels are well-balanced, with all five characters being able to comfortably get through each stage. Although the co-op part of the game actually seems more like an after thought. The camera has no idea who to focus on during gameplay, and it leads to a lot of players out running the camera, and getting reset back to another players position. Bosses really suck this time around, since they are very slow and can take up to 3 minutes for each boss. If they were an active challenge, I would have like them, but they keep players from attacking by making them wait in between attack cycles, which once again bring the game to a halt, when the game is fast paced in the normal levels. If you have friends to play the game in local co-op, then I would say give it shot if curious, as we did have a great time with the game. Single player, on the other hand, I'm not really sure, especially at this price point. I would wait for a price for those who are curious about the game.

Phantom Liberty and the 2.0 update are the two things that I had been waiting for ever since it was teased last year. To lightly touch upon the 2.0 update, the game has been completely changed. The biggest change is how the skill trees work with the game, and it gives the game more varied play styles than the original skill trees gave. The game overall feels more premium than it did the year before I had played the game for a third playthrough, as the aiming on controller and the driving feels so much better. Moving on to the expansion, Phantom Liberty is what I had expected when the game originally released. Without giving spoilers, the story and characters of the expansion are fantastic. Once I got about an hour in, finishing the first big mission got me hooked on the DLC. I was very surprised to see how they had incorporated story changing choices into the main narrative. The new area, Dogtown, is a great new area of the map, and serves as a good contrast to its neighbor Pacfica. If you have played the game before this update and wanna try it again, or just hopping in for the first time. I would heavily consider getting the expansion.

The big draw of this DLC is the inclusion of more playable characters in the form of Tails, Knuckles and Amy. I was curious as to what they would do to differentiate them from Sonic. The main difference in comparison to Sonic is how each of their jumps work, where Tails can fly, Knuckles can glide and Amy is rocking a triple jump and float after the third jump. While that is the biggest change I can name, there are other changes, such as Tails being the only one to not have a homing attack, and they are not as fast a Sonic. The story content is what I hoped, how the base game would have ended, as the final boss is much more challenging and interesting than ending the game with a sh'mup. Speaking of challenge, this is the most challenging Sonic content in a very long time. The last one I remember having a hard time with is Sonic Advance 2. The Master King challenge is main reason why this game is really challenging, on top of making parry harder to use while on the hard difficulty, so I can only imagine how hard this is on extreme.

Big improvement over the first game. This game (for Sonic at least) adds more moves to their arsenal. These extra moves with the emphasis on speed, make the game feel really good to play when the player can keep that speed going. But much like the first game the later half of the game is extremely punishing in the form of bottomless pits, poor enemy placement and some tough bosses. The music, graphics and animation quality have also been greatly improved upon from the original. Great game though overall, and if the game was not as difficult as it was near the end. I could see people talking about this being one of the best Sonic games.