We are forever cursed to wonder what a definitive version of Persona 3 would look like. To echo the sentiment of everyone: the decision to not include the female protagonist from P3P or other additional content from P3 FES was bizarre, and it's a decision that haunts an otherwise incredible remake.

I finished Persona 3 FES on PS2 a few years ago, and warts and all, I found it to be a really profound experience. I'm really happy more people will get to experience this narrative, and I hope they find it to be even half as cathartic as I did.

It's a game centered around death that makes the case our lives are beautiful because they end, and that the day-to-day moments where we find small joys and connections amount to something in total we have no words for.

If you enjoyed P4G or P5R, definitely give this one a chance. And while you're at it, maybe play FES and P3P too. Perhaps it's fitting we now have three versions of 3.

Ugh...

Okay-- so, on one hand, this game plays extremely well. Engage's interpretation of the weapon triangle and the titular "Engage" mechanic make combat a blast. Maps are cleverly designed and the battle animations are incredible. The hub world is also fun, and overall, the game has a very rewarding loop that's hard to walk away from.

Unfortunately, I actively dislike everything else. The story is rough and the supports feel AI written. I went in with low expectations given many reviews explicitly stated this game was more focused on tactics, and I still found myself feeling disappointed by the narrative.

I know very well that not every FE game prioritizes story, but there's absolutely a way to have a lighter stakes journey that doesn't take itself too seriously. Instead, we get a plot that echoes the beats of an epic fantasy tale without giving us any reason to care.

Despite my issues with Engage, I am still enjoying the game. My advice is to skip the cutscenes, give everyone sunglasses, and have fun with the incredible tactics.

TLDR: Help, I miss Garegg Mach so much...

I am eternally destined to like games that are divisive because people are too joyless to appreciate em, and Fire Emblem Engage is absolutely no exception.

Don't get me wrong - my first impression of this game was far from stellar too. I had half a mind to avoid using Alear entirely because I hated their design so much.
But with every bit of gameplay features we got to see, I got more and more excited for this game - and man, I'm so glad I did. It is such a ridiculously fun game.

We haven't had such a heavy focus on player-phase combat in the series since FE12, which was already my favorite FE gameplay-wise - but this game just goes above and beyond. The Break system took me a while to get used to, but when it finally clicked it was so ridiculously satisfying.
The low deployment slots and gigantic amount of Emblem Ring combinations you could pull off means it's gonna be great fun to replay too, and I can't wait to give that a shot.

The story definitely takes a while to get going, and I don't blame anyone for losing interest relatively quickly, but I'm glad it picks up as well as it does.
Didn't think I'd ever say this about Fire Emblem but the ludonarrative harmony is what especially fascinated me about this game - there's some really impactful moments where you're supposed to feel powerless and it shows SO goddamn well through the gameplay that follows. It's incredible.

Despite the story being pretty basic at first, the characters are still as enjoyable as always - and although it takes more of a GBA FE approach of having some quick and simple supports, there's still plenty of meaningful and enjoyable ones. Ivy was a really stand-out character to me, because she's one of the few that tackles issues that are very specific to the game's setting. I think you could've taken any other character in a different setting and they'd still work - which doesn't bother me too much, honestly - but she's definitely the most layered character I've seen in the supports in my playthrough. Pleasantly surprised about that!

All in all, I'm really happy with this game. It's not perfect by any means, but I think any long-time fan should really be able to appreciate what this game's going for. Tons of subtle nods to older games and tons of direct fanservice with the Emblem Rings and how they play.
Couldn't think of a better (regrettably delayed) anniversary celebration!

Really excited for Fire Emblem's future after playing this game. Fantastic gameplay, a story that works more than well enough for what the game's supposed to be, great fanservice, incredible animations and hell - the game looks gorgeous in general, honestly.
With so much going well for it, I can't wait to see what's next!

Pokémon goes open-world! You can travel through most of the world seamlessly, and the creatures are visible everywhere. This is the actualization of my childhood dream! But after playing Violet, I had a realization: open-world Pokémon doesn’t work. At least, it won’t work with series gameplay as-is unless the franchise goes through major overhauls.

The incompatibility arises from the menu-based combat. Beyond the rock-paper-scissors of types, fighting is entirely stats-based. Unlike other open RPGs, you can’t brute-force much higher-leveled enemies with execution skill, making open-world freedom an illusion. Twenty level jumps from stepping in the “wrong” direction and level caps deciding which Pokémon are usable don’t help, making the experience feel more railroaded. Deviations from the implied path resulting in temporary satisfaction from increased difficulty lead to the tediousness of steamrolling skipped areas. In other open RPGs this is mitigated with gameplay more involved than using a menu to spam your most effective attack.

Battling is ultimately the vehicle for the real goals: completing the story and/or the Pokédex collect-a-thon, both of which see improvements in Gen 9. The story is composed of three separate plots that eventually converge into one, and it’s generally solid. It has some good characters and emotional beats, and even characters with only five minutes of screen time feel distinct. Starfall Street is bizarre in how woefully inept it makes the school staff look, though. Pokédex hunting feels better than ever without random encounters, but some species placements feel off. Version exclusives will never not feel like a cash grab to convince players to buy both games.

Systems are a mixed bag. Terastallization is a cool new gimmick affecting Pokémon typing that can be used offensively to boost attack damage or defensively to change resistances or gain specific passives (such as Grass to resist Spore). While it’s a cool mechanic competitively (VGC), the long, unskippable animation makes it tedious and unusable for the quick battles in solo play. TMs were hit with a huge downgrade, abandoning infinite use in favor of a shoehorned crafting system in yet another series that didn’t need one. Raids are 90% waiting for text and animations, and rewarded Pokémon rarely have useful tera types.

The presentation is beyond awful. If you’ve heard anything about the game, it’s how plagued with technical issues it is, and none of it is exaggeration. Environments are so bland they’re almost painful to look at. The music feels really underbaked with bland area themes and battle themes that sound poorly mixed, grating, or unfinished. Good tracks are saved for the endgame, but they only encompass a small part of the total runtime. Overall, Gen 9 is unfinished in many areas which is disappointing because the main draws of Pokémon (story and collecting) saw huge upgrades. Its success despite glaring issues doesn’t inspire much confidence in the future of the series.

This is a patch for Overwatch 1 that has (unsuccessfully) attempted to gaslight the masses into believing it is a full sequel. It both does fix issues prevalent prior (every game isn't a sea of shields) while creating entirely new ones (supports are less fun to play because less protection, DPS get healed less now that super tanks get all the support resources).

With that being said, they made D. Va's ass 2x fatter and she sometimes says "skill issue" when killing a hero so I am legally obligated to say that Overwatch 2 was a worthy successor to the original.