"All that really matters is that we're proud of how we lived."

Persona 3 was the game that truly made me love video games and honestly changed my life. When the remake was announced, I was insanely excited to experience one of my favorite stories in an updated fashion.

I'm not sure exactly what my expectations were but I can say that they were surpassed. It was done justice and some.

The addition of new social aspects like the guys getting Link Episodes and the hangouts enhanced what I thought was already a strong cast of characters. The additional scenes and focus that the characters get made the story moments hit even harder.

I liked some more than others, but I very much enjoyed the Reload OSTs especially Color Your Night.

The gameplay is way more enjoyable than the previous versions of P3 and the Theurgy skills are cool as hell.

All-in-all, Persona 3 Reload is all I could've asked for and more. It has renewed my love for this game and cemented itself as an all-time favorite.

Sanabi is a linear, Action Platformer with a strong focus on its Narrative. A bit of a unique and bold take in a genre that’s usually light on dialogue even in a post-TLOU world, Sanabi chooses to ask you to stop and listen to the tale it has to tell, and if you give it that respect, I think you’ll find a very well woven story that takes advantage of the fact its a video game pretty well.

You play as The General, a retired war hero who’s called back for one last mission into the massive mega city, Mago City, to chase after the elusive SANABI and to investigate the disappearance of the inhabitants of the city, a mission he’s all to eager to take as it ties into his personal mission of vengeance. Inside the city, he meets the sole survivor of the investigation team sent in to investigate the disappearances. Together, the two climb the city and solve the mystery behind the City and The Geenral hunts down Sanabi.

To climb said city, The General is equipped with a Bionic Commando type grappling hook he can use to grapple and zip around. And it feels great to grapple and swing in this game. And the simple jump and swing controls are complimented with some excellently designed stages, both in terms of layout and challenge, as well as thematically. There’s only 2(?) more additions you get from his base kit, but they’re both well timed additions and feel super fun to use, and the stages feel varied and no gimmick overstays their welcome. This game does feel like it’s designed with WASD + Mouse in mind, but I played through on a controller just fine with a bit of getting used to.

Between each stage/chapter/whatever, there’s typically a lot of dialogue, expanding on the Mystery of the City, Mari’s goals or The General’s past. If you’re good at this type of game, you might feel there’s more dialogue than game play, and that may be off putting, I’ve seen many reviews criticising the pacing or questioning the choice of the plot focus. And while I get it, I think 1 – there’s a skip option and 2 – The story sets the stage wonderfully for some of the most entertaining and cool stages and boss fights I’ve experienced in a platformer in a long time, and these moments wouldn’t have hit as hard if the story hadn’t set up these stakes so well. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a 90s kid gamer, I can hold right for no other reason than Beat Wily or Kill Dracula. But I dunno man, something about Sanabi’s use of set pieces and dialogue mad moments like Justice and The Oversee stand out and I’m sure stick in my memory.

The real question you may be asking though is, if you pay attention to this Video Game Story, does it pay off? And I honestly think so, yeah. I’m a big on creators using the medium of video games to tell interesting stories, and Sanabi does just that. It’s not anything revolutionary, or is some deep dive into the human condition or anything. It’s just a touching story that takes advantage of you being the video game boy (or girl!) and does some interesting twists with it.

I hope this review sells Sanabi to you. It’s a delightful little product made with care and love for both storytelling and video games. And I want nothing but the best for Mari.