(Played using BetterSADX, Dreamcast Conversion and JP Retranslated mods)

"Aged poorly" is a meme phrase at this point but SA1 genuinely has. It must not be forgotten that these graphics and setpieces were mind blowing compared to the competition in 1998. It was well recieved in its day. The stage design and mechanics are a genuinely great adaptation of 2D Sonic to 3D no matter what Nintendo YouTubers said about "rocky transitions", it shows a dramatic emotional story from 6 different connected perspectives and has a killer soundtrack. At this point the Sonic series went full shonen. But playing it today you're really gonna feel the extreme jank, the emptiness of hub worlds, the pathetically easy boss fights, the awkward animations and timing in cutscenes, the lifeless English voice acting.

Most games that get remakes don't need them - I have never truly desired for something to be remade more than SA1. It has so much heart and should be able to wow people again. Today's Sonic Team are not the ones capable of doing it justice though

In 2005 Capcom released two of the best survival horror gameplay experiences, but sadly only RE4 got the attention it deserved... This was a constant thrill. Its expansive interconnected castle still looks amazing and somehow has zero load times on PS2, meaning the stalkers can follow you room to room basically anywhere and you have to learn how to lose them. You can hide in designated spots like wardrobes or under beds, but also just in the shadows, behind doors.. Eventually your pursuers will learn how you're tricking them. Something this ambitious, with an AI dog partner no less, could have been a disaster but the mechanics are really functional. It just doesn't hold your hand at all. I can see why it probably won't get rereleased today due to its themes (and the most disturbing game over screens ever) but it's something more people should try out... on PCSX2. I'm lucky to have a copy

I've always had mixed feelings about Persona 3.
When i played FES, I really didn't mind the combat, I more found issue with the ridiculously slow grind, but when I say I don't like FES' gameplay, its the social mechanics that I hate most. FES' (frequently) very bad slinks, reversing slinks, and forced romances are so infuriating to me, and apparently Makoto's route in Portable still keeps all these issues for some fucking reason, while Femc fixes them. I admit Portable's VN format is kind of lame, and P3 is still a grindy slog no matter what, but i believe Femc in Portable is an upgrade to FES in most aspects.
I don't wanna give story spoilers but I will mention, a lot of people despise the choices Femc can make and I feel the opposite (minus the grooming).
I'm a huge fan of P3's narrative, but I think it’s a bit heavy on the death and sadness, not like any Hashino game is particularly subtle anyways. So while I understand the "It's a game with themes!" argument, maybe i just don't really like those themes as much, and the positive perspective in the face of tragedy that Femc brings to the table is more meaningful to me.
I adore P3's character writing and i would be the last person to defend slinks as a replacement for that (i.e. 4 & 5). but with how many of them in FES fucking suck i couldn't say P3 has the best use of slinks until i played Portable, where only the best of them were kept + Femc's full S.E.E.S. slinks, which add a lot on top of the characters. I think this is the purpose social links should serve.

So the eternal curse of Persona 3 is that there will never be a definitive version and Reload is clearly not gonna change that, unless they make Persona 3 Reload Royal Red-Asshole Edition with Femc in four years or something.
In conclusion, I’ll really die behind Femc, her exclusion in reload is deterring, and I'm not really looking forward to have to play this video game again in a few months but alas i am the bearer of the curse. Glory to the people's republic of Atlus