Not a bad game by any means, but it feels at odds with itself. Even as someone who has yet to fully play through the original game, you could really tell what was new and what wasn't. Nearly every piece of new content just felt.. A bit off.

By the second open area, the Ubisoft-esque world intel checklist already felt like a repetitive slog, and the ending felt kind of unsatisfying to me, though I try and chalk that up to this being Part 2 of a trilogy of games.

That said, everything old that's been remade was handled really well! The character moments were the biggest stand out for me, with characters like Cait Sith and Red XIII miraculously becoming all time favorites, and others like Barret receiving just as much if not more love than they did in FF7 Remake. A lot of care went into making the cast feel more like a family, with reasons to care about each one (save for maybe Vincent and Cid, who were sadly cut from being playable until Part 3, as selling points). The gameplay remains just as satisfying as Remake's, so if you enjoyed that, it's still here in spades. Here's hoping that they learn a bit from this game when it comes to the open world activities, as that was by far the sorest point for me in FF7 Rebirth.

Persona 5 Tactica is a weird game. Atlus had a myriad of quirky marketing tactics to stir up hype for it--like sand art and cakes--but even though I found myself pretty interested in the idea of a new strategy title within the SMT franchise, the excitement for it pre-launch was pretty sparse across the internet. A mere hour or two into Tactica was when I started to feel pretty lukewarm about it myself.

A lot of my complaints come down to one root problem; the price. Everything in and surrounding this game feels as though Atlus was clawing for any small justification over the full 60 dollar price tag, but nothing the game has to offer screams 'full price'. Padding is a noticeable issue throughout a majority of its runtime--most of the dialogue seems to either repeat already established plot points, or serve as fluff simply to allow every member of the Phantom Thieves equal opportunity to voice their thoughts. The first of the four Kingdoms--similar to the Palaces of Persona 5--hosts double the missions of any of the remaining three. Even before I knew the average mission count per Kingdom, I felt my interest in the first one slipping. The first and second Kingdoms, by comparison, felt the most interesting, as they seemed to contain the real brunt of the story that Tactica was trying to tell.

And make no mistake, it is an interesting story. Toshiro and Erina are the two new not-quite members Phantom Thieves, and the story centers very much around them both and no one else. When new aspects of their narrative were being revealed, I was definitely itching for more, however they're very stingily sprinkled between large swathes of same-y missions. The worst of this is within the final Kingdom, where you're made to fight through some of the longest missions in the game, and rematch each of the main bosses you've fought so far. There's no new story during any of this, it's just an excessive leadup to the final boss that had no place in being there save to justify the price tag.

Most of Persona 5 Tactica just had me asking... Why? Who is this game even for? It's not for strategy game fans, as the game is far too easy, even on it's harder difficulties. Fans of Devil Survivor will be yawning just as much as I did through most of it's gameplay. Then is it just for fans of Persona 5, and the Thieves? ... Maybe?? I couldn't shake this feeling of it being a middling game simply wearing the flayed skin of P5. The cool UI is there, but any further interaction with the Phantom Thieves is shallow at best. As for the music... When Persona 5 collabs with now dead mobile games have had tracks that go ten times harder than anything in your Persona 5 spinoff game, I think it's time to reevaluate.

I don't hate Persona 5 Tactica, there were fun times I had with it. Toshiro and Erina are likable, the story--when it's moving--is definitely cool. This is just another case of Atlus greed. I feel like if the 3DS were still alive, this could have legitimately been one of the crazier games on it. I just wouldn't pay more than 30 bucks for it, and sadly, I did!
Now more than ever, I think it's time to move onto other Personas. Unless it's another multi-cast game, I'd be happy if I didn't see the Phantom Thieves for another 40 years.

As a story, Peace Walker is a great time. It has characters that you get a good understanding of through the insane amount of conversations there are, as well as some interesting questions on the nature of nuclear deterrence. More than all of that, though, I mainly enjoyed the further exploration of Snake's feelings on The Boss and her legacy.

That all said, the gameplay is miserable, shooting in particular. The more long winded fights felt difficult not because of the encounters, but because wrestling with the controls during it was like having my fingernails yanked out. Maybe the HD port is better in that regard? Who knows.

By the time I had to start grinding meaningless side missions with no real narrative stimuli just to get the true ending, I was ready to clock out. Some sort of remake of this game would probably let it really shine, but unless that happens, I don't foresee myself going back to it, like I could with other games in the series.

I feel like all gacha games eventually fall to the need for constant key jingling and new tedious activities to keep players brainless and open to spending. Despite being one of my favorites of the genre for the aesthetics it offers, Cookie Run is ultimately no different.

When I take a month long break and come back to 20+ popups for an overwhelming amount of new lobotomy-tier activities, it's safe to say that I won't be chomping at the bit to get back into the swing of things.

I'll just keep taking my life sized cardboard cut-out of Affogatto Cookie out to public dinner dates, without worrying about the game. Dropping the 2 hours a day of cookie chores just gives us more time to kiss.