This game gave me the best possible first impression into the SMT/Persona universe, and an experience that I will cherish for a long time. I was so addicted to this game from beginning to end, to an extent that only has happened for me for a select few games. As my first Persona game, I was not sure what to expect when it came to the balance of the RPG/combat sections and social sections, particularly considering I'm not a big fan of visual novels, but I found that I loved both parts equally. The gameplay loop is what kept me hooked the entire time, and I really love how in-depth the social side of things is. Some RPGS can feel like there is entirely no gameplay apart from the battles themselves, and this isn't always a bad thing, but I really like how the social part of Persona feels like a whole other game that compliments the battle system, which itself I was a huge fan of.

Persona fusion is such a fun mechanic, especially for someone that hasn't ever done it before, discovering all the personas and skills for the first time. The combat is easily some of my favorite turn-based combat in anything I have played. Each aspect, from downing, to Theurgies, to the variety of elements, buffs and debuffs, and potential customization from the fusion system, all compliments each other excellently. While I did have certain characters I used most frequently, I liked how easy it felt to be able to use all of the party members throughout the game (due in part to the Grand Clocks), with the exception of maybe on. Particularly thanks to the Theurgies, which I’m aware are a new mechanic in Reload, each party member truly feels like they have a particular niche.

Not too many of the social links particularly moved me but I was invested in the vast majority of them regardless, and the payoff for completing as many as I could was absolutely worth it. Themes of life and death are easily some of my favorites in media, as I love existentialism, and this game memorably and successfully implements them in each of the main characters and overarching story as a whole. There's so many great moments and lines of dialogue throughout, particularly near the end of the game, and overall messages that I'm sure will continue to stick with me.

This was such a great experience and I'm excited to play more Persona and SMT games in the future. I'm so glad this game was remade as to give myself motivation to experience it, and it has easily become one of my favorite games of all time. Any minor issues I might have with the game are nearly completely diminished for me by just how much fun I had and how memorable it has already become.

10/10

I think, in addition to this being an excellent remake that is authentic in all the ways that matter (and every change made to the source material feels like its so at home that youre surprised it wasnt there to begin with), this remake was also exactly what the Persona franchise needed at this point in a post commodified-P5 era.

Ive always thought favorably of P3 in its black-sheep status amongst the Persona games but getting to experience Persona 3 in this modern, polished light in a post P5 world has quickly shot it up to my favorite Persona game, and has become the blueprint in terms of quality that Id want any future Persona game to follow. More natural focus on characters, more attention paid to pacing and themes, just a much more back-to-basics mentality.

With the atmosphere and presentation of Signalis, I was sure I would fall in love with this game. In the first few hours, the gameplay was interesting and fun, motivating me to solve the puzzles laid before me through its mechanics that very much reminded me of the classic survival horror genre.
Unfortunately, the horror aspect of Signalis isn't very appealing and while everything is stunning to look at and play through, there's never a feeling of tension and that's a huge miss.
Nearing the end, those mechanics that I found so engaging towards the start, started to dwindle and became monotonous with countless times feeling burdened with whatever comes next.
I stopped caring and I dropped it.

i dunno, let's keep this quick. to say it's a bit clumsy is an understatement - and there are certainly aspects of the overall narrative i struggle with - but the depths of its sincerity won me over. i have no particular attachment to yakuza 7 either, and in fact i find much of that game to be very awkward, stilted, and grating so ultimately no one's more stunned than myself here.

when it's not luxuriating in this chilled-out ocean's twelve vibe which i loved, infinite wealth is written with far more intentionality and consideration than most entries in the series; while one might accuse of it of verging on threadbare or cloying for its strict emphasis on theme, i think the game trusts its audience to take some of the emotional leaps necessary to make the storytelling work. character writing for the leads and the party members has seen a dramatic improvement across the board. ichiban as usual brings a lot of levity to the table - thankfully none of it quite as irritating in the zany sense as 7 liked to employ - but kiryu's portions of the game are comparatively sobering. collecting memoirs has a weird psychological effect at times but the series has earned the right to do this by this point given how much of the kiryu saga can feel siloed or compartmentalized - in the same vein as gaiden, the game almost damns him for this, for never taking a chance to stop and reflect, for the consequences of his interminable martyr complex

that tendency to bury the past is only contrasted further by infinite wealth being maybe the most direct sequel the series has seen yet - the events of that game are still fresh in everyone's mind and sets the stage for the overarching conflict and everyone's investment in said conflict. it's a surprisingly natural extension of a lot of 7's themes, and i found it worked better for me this time. 7 often felt more gestural than anything else - to me it balanced far too much as this metaphorical (and literal) tearing down of the old ways, handling the introduction of a new protagonist, paying lipservice to series veterans and setting up parallels to the original ryu ga gotoku. infinite wealth to me feels more fully-formed, more confident; i think the team was able to use this title's unique hook and premise to really bring the most out of 7s promise of something new, and it could only have achieved it by taking the time to reflect on the past.

to this end: they made the game a JRPG this time, that counts for something. and not just a JRPG but one that feels as close to traditional RGG action as possible. some excellent systems this time with a lot of fascinating interplay and the level curve is fantastic. not necessary to sum up all the changes, you've seen them, but they really promote a lot of dynamic decision-making with respect to positioning and once you figure out how status effects can correlate with them you feel like your third eye's opening. very fond memories here of navigating around a crowd of enemies - some of whom have been put to sleep - and figuring out how best to maximize damage without waking anyone drowsy up. lots more strategy and enjoyment to be had here than pretty much anywhere in 7.

that said, i know RGG prides themselves on the statistics relating to players completing their titles, but they could really afford to take a few more risks with enemy waves in the main campaign. i felt like my most interesting encounters were usually street bosses or main story bosses, but the main campaign's filled with trash mobs. and i'm not saying every fight has to be some tactician's exercise - in fact i think that's the opposite of what people actually would enjoy - but i really wish the game took the time to play around even more with positioning. there are some exciting scenarios in the game that are too few and far in-between. stages that split up the party, encounters with unique mechanics...would really liked to have seen more in that vein.

some extra notes - would like to dig a bit deeper into the strengths of the narrative as well as some additional hangups but i can't be assed to write more
- honolulu's great, it gets probably a little too big for its own good but it's a real breath of fresh air for most of the game
- yamai is the best new character they've introduced in years
- dondoko island feels like a classic yakuza minigame in the best possible way, might even represent the apex of this kind of design. not obscenely grindy but just something casual and comfortable with enough layers to dig into without being overwheming and enough versatility to express yourself. shame you can't really say the same for sujimon!
- kiryu's party is disarmingly charming and they have some insanely good banter
- despite what some have said, i think this is a good follow-up to gaiden. it's not explicit about it but this is still very much a reckoning with kiryu's character and his mentality; it is every bit as concerned and preoccupied with the series mythos, the core ideas and conflicts driving a lot of installments
- honestly found the pacing to be on-par for the average RGG title if not better. i can concede that the dondoko island introduction was a bit too long but that is the most ground i can afford. if we can accept y5 into our hearts we can accept infinite wealth; IW makes y5 look deranged for its intrusiveness despite both titles occupying a similar length. if any of it registers as an actual problem, i think people would benefit from revisiting yakuza 7 to find it is almost exactly the same structurally if not worse
- IW is home to maybe the best needle drop in the medium
- played in japanese, like i usually do, so no real interest in commenting on the english dub since it's not real to me but i will say that what i listened to seemed like a bit of a step back from the dub quality in previous RGG games. yongyea isn't a convincing kiryu either and while i could be a bit more of a hater here all i will say is there is a STAGGERING whiplash involved in casting a guy like that as the lead in a game with themes like this. in a grouchier mood, i think it would genuinely be a bit difficult to look past this and it does leave me feeling sour, but ultimately the dub doesn't reflect my chosen means of engaging with the title and it never will
- what is difficult to look past is the game's DLC rollout, which arbitrarily gates higher difficulties, new game +, and a postgame dungeon. i acquired these through dubious means (which i highly recommend you also do) so i feel confident in saying they're really not at all worth the money unless you had a desire to spend more time in this world, but what a colossal and egregious failure to price it in this fashion. new game + specifically has tons of bizarre issues that make me believe a revision of some kind was necessary.
- you will not regret downloading this mod that removes the doors in dungeons


long story short, ryu ga gotoku's journey began in 2005 with a simple motif: to live is to not run away. so much of infinite wealth is about taking that notion to its furthest extent. it couldn't have possibly hit at a better time for me. at times it might be a classic case of this series biting off a bit more than it can chew for a sequel, but i don't think there's anything you can reliably point to that would make me think this is one step forwards, two steps back.

also awesome to have a game that posits that hawaii is filled with the fire monks from elden ring and then you have to travel to the resident evil 4 island to beat them up

I do not find it beautiful. I do not find it moving. I find it precious. Delicate but gaudy, restrained but excessive, fluid but deeply static. I find it so goddamn boring.

It asks me to admire it. Insists upon it even. But I don’t. My breath is untaken, my awe uninspired. It’s all so monotonous and hollow. It tells me to feel, but I do not feel. What a terrible thing: assumed feeling unfelt.

There is nothing to hold onto here. It strikes the most self-serious art game pose — I Am Become Grief, Destroyer of Girls — but dodges all specifics. Yet grief is always specific. Trauma is always specific. Depression too, even when it feels absolutely diffuse and general. Each is rooted in a specific self. But Gris ditches the self and gives us instead the everygrief. Or is it the everytrauma? There’s no telling

We cross tiresome landscapes, past uninspired iconography, through bland mechanics, and nothing lands. Nothing lands. The game just sits there, faceless and cool, daring you to question its beauty.

This is the one.

Back in December 2023, I decided that my gaming New Year's resolution for 2024 would be to get good enough at a fighting game to play at an advanced level. While I wouldn't say I meet those conditions just yet, I believe I'm steadily making progress towards this goal. As of writing the review, I have completed the story, the Arcade Quest mode and reached the orange ranks in Ranked.

Originally, I didn't even intend on playing Tekken 8 at all. My schedule from late January into February was reserved for the new Yakuza game and Persona 3 Reload. January eventually came and I had a great time with Infinite Wealth, but Tekken 8 launched at the same time, so naturally I saw many people on social media hyping it up and how great it is. This was the catalyst for me actually researching stuff about the game by myself and was looking at reviews, character trailers and all the cool customizations others made for their characters. This went on until early February, where I just decided to pause Reload for the time being and try out Tekken 8, since this could be the one fighting game to help me fulfill my gaming New Year's resolution. As you could read from my opening sentence, it is exactly that.

Tekken 8 has all the things to keep you hooked, including visually impressive graphics and stages, adrenaline-inducing soundtrack, fantastic animations and a huge roster in the base game. Out of the 32 available characters, I'm sure anyone can find atleast two or three characters to their liking. It's also a very newcomer friendly game, the replay system shows you how to improve your gameplay in certain situations and the Special Style control layout lets you perform special moves with simplified inputs (similar to the modern controls in Street Fighter 6). I wouldn't recommend using this control scheme in the long run, but it's a great way to test new characters or to get a hang of the fundamentals at the early stages.

The game feels polished, the UI is clean and the menus aren't cluttered at all. You can set shortcuts to your favorite modes in the main menu or change the soundtrack of a stage or literally every major song in the game to pretty much any song from any past Tekken game. So even if the new soundtrack doesn't land for you, just make a new one yourself from your favorites! Customization in general is a big part of the Tekken series, it's really fun to cosplay as many different game or anime characters. Options are a bit limited as of right now, especially in terms of eye colors and hairstyles. Many iconic legacy outfits are also still missing, but it's pretty cool how you can just use the Tekken 7 outfits as presets.

The main story is pretty enjoyable for a fighting game, definitely enjoyed this one a lot more than the singleplayer mode in SF6. Arcade Quest is a nice tutorial mode and actually really helpful for beginners. I would urge every newcomer to check it out in order to get a hang of the mechanics overall, since it's not particularly long and it's definitely more interactive than just watching a youtube video on the mechanics. However if you like learning with videos, I would recommend checking out this beginner guide from PhiDX, it covers most of the basics you should know and should be easy to follow.

Tekken 8 sure was a pleasant surprise and I'll gladly spend many more hours with it to reach higher ranks with a bunch of my favorite characters. It's not going to happen overnight, but learning new things in a fighting game and incorporating them into your playstyle is arguably one of the most satisfying things you can do in a video game. Despite all this, I didn't forget about Persona 3 Reload. I'll finish it soon, but as of now - thanks for reading.

Death with Legacy

Persona 3 Reload, as you may quite expect is a remake of Persona 3. Atlus hasn´t been particulary good with remaster or remakes, most of the time dressing them under re-releases with added content in top that can either add or take back part of the original experience. This was pretty common back then as they needed to have an excuse for you to buy that set game again, on a new console or the same with more content as sort of a "Revision". Persona 3 Reload is already the 4th official re-release of Persona 3 in general not counting mangas or the anime just the games themselves. Reload had a task of making itself stand out of the likes of Portable and FES re-releases, specially Portable which released last year with a lukewarm reception.

Reload instead of changing what made the original made special, it fixes key areas that made Persona 3 quite a chore to play in consequential playthroughs. Reload gives Persona 3 even more purpose to everything that the original stands for, while making it more enjoyable at a long run. It doesn't change any principals or adds a convincing new untold chapter or character, it is Persona 3 all over again but vastly improved. And believe it or not, Reload made me appreciate Persona 3 even more than I did originally. If anything I'd say Reload is a testament of how well Persona 3 story's aged throughout the years. It's one of those timeless stories that tackle a subject as human as it is natural and inevitable: Death.

Persona 3 was a game that I personally never connected with, over the years I had just bad experiences with everything Persona 3 related. I'd even say I never quite liked Persona as much other people do. It felt like old-fashioned, anitquated any synonyms you want to give it and for me at least wasn't up to what I expected from a modern JRPG and yes, I'm talking about Tartarus. It was the only reason that kept me from playing the original Persona 3 FES for so long. I did complete Portable last year when it came out. Now that I think about it, Persona 3 was the reason why I joined this page in the first place, check out my first review game is right there. I didn't connected with Portable either as it just was a slim-down version of the original Persona 3 that didn't quite live up to what a full console release could've been. This is what I been looking up for so long.

Everything here is new and lovely reworked. It takes inspiration from concepts that were present in Persona 5 to make this easier for newer audiences and refreshing for people that already experienced Persona 3 such as myself. One detail that made love Reload was the extra interactions or events that you can have with some of your teammates. They're not Social Links as it is not part of the same system, it is rather something extra but they quite work the same way. This opens up the possibility of having personal conversations with Junpei or Akihiko, even Shinji and Ken. I'd love to see that system implemented in future releases.

The original Persona 3 still has it's place on being the first game in a trilogy that sparked the popularity of Persona here in the west, and for being the game that modernize the series and gave it the distinctive charm that sets it apart from other SMT games. Reload will never replace Persona 3 at all, but it will stand tall alongside it's older brother as a celebration and the ultimate embodiment of the original release.