For what it's worth, I think this is a testament to how beautifully this game has aged. It's more of the same Persona 3 that you have played before either through Portable or the original, but sprinkled with fairy godmother dust. It's a gorgeous game, the UI is incredible to just stare at, just like Persona 5.

A lot of people will simplify this to "just Persona 5-ifying Persona 3", and they wouldn't be wrong to make that assumption. Certain QoL features, like the Network surveys, trivialize the need for a guide to follow for quiz answers and what to do on a daily basis. Though most are a welcome addition, such as the limit break like theurgy system, or the Monad Passageways. I played through the game with my party on Act Freely to relive that experience I had just like the first time I played FES all those years ago. The game was easier in the later half once I switched over to direct command.

It's a true remake in the best of case: making the game prettier than ever, while adding minor modern changes to improve that experience for newer fans.

heaven, hell, heaven again

If Andrei Rublev becomes praying through film, teaching us how to bear the cruelty of its passages, The Last Guardian feels like a harsh meditation in which kindness is a piecemeal revelation as the only way to get through. Not as explicitly as an introspection you can hear from the person whose faith is challenged over and over, but even more confidently lies in the power of experience.

The game almost doesn't speak about any monument you're in contact with to the point that dialogues, most of them, feel very redundant because we are not supposed to get too much in the realm of representation. In one way or another, the game named and thought its narrative elements to steal imagination from our control, and that's why dream-like seems to be the proper way to describe it.

Honestly, I believe the unarticulated emotional vibrancy of this game is almost too much, and sometimes it needs the cliche appeal to distract us from the weight of nest's atmosphere. In the last segments (what we usually call a "Final Boss") the space almost drowns, but the peaks of motion, power and narrative intensity that follows are all as close to perfection as any visual media can get.

SOTC definitely handles better the darker themes, making it feel more grounded by giving a greater level of control to the player, but nothing conveys as much life and as much death attached to its gestures so well.

YoungNacho replaying dishonored 2?
What he gonna do???

He will give the game 5 fuckin stars thats what he gonna do.

Banger of a game all the way through. Are there problems? Definitely. With my main ones being certain features feeling underused and the non-lethal route for the final mission kinda just being a retread of The Brigmore Witches. But I don't give 5 stars for games that are perfect, because no game is perfect (except TLOU2). I give five stars to games that really stick with me, and games that excel in ways most others can only dream of. And Dishonored 2 does both of those things.

Right off the bat, the level design is just fucking incredible all around. As other chomos in these reviews have said, there are wayyy more routes to find and items to pick up when compared to the first. But unlike those chomos, I don't think thats a bad thing. Not at all. These levels are so densely packed that I always found it engaging to explore every nook and cranny. I've already played this game before, and yet on this playthrough I was still finding new shit, which I loved. It also helps that the world building is top tier and every building is worth exploring, and pretty much every note, journal or document is worth reading. I still can't believe how underappreciated the world of Dishonored is.

Combat wise, this game is so brutal and satisfying... if you want to go for high chaos. But I find sneaking around and playing non-lethal just as satisfying because of how many different routes there are, and how the game lets you mess with its systems. Hell, I even found out about new ways to complete missions this time around that I somehow fucking missed the first time because there's just so many options.

But what really surprised me this playthrough was actually the story. Now it's not amazing or anything, but I ended up appreciating it much more on a low chaos run. I liked seeing how Emily changes as the game progresses, realizing how terrible things really are outside the palace, and that she can't just sit idly by; she needs to be the one to take action. It's maybe a bit more subtle than I would have liked but I certainly appreciated it more this time around. Reshaping the world (and herself) to be better just feels much more satisfying narratively.

In the end, this game is legendary. Arkane have massive wangs, and you a goofy if you don't like this.

9.5/10

It's not the best shooter out there, i know!

But the style is immaculate. I wanna breathe this game in like a gas and trip out, dude. And the soundtrack? Maybe the most insanely good and goodly insane experimental music (if it can be called that, im not sure) i've heard in games right next to Drakengard's score. What a maniacal piece of art. This whole game is, actually, a piece of art, that should be displayed in a museum with thousand screens capturing each 10 meters of it's levels.

Put this thing in my veins, duuuude.

Really had a good time with this one, seems that RGG can't miss. Definitely engaged with the side activities more here than in previous like a dragon/Yakuza games but that's kinda of a double edged sword.

In previous RGG games usually the main story was too juicy to leave it alone for long and despite having awesome and fun activities and side quests I always found myself itching to get back to the main plot which was not the case with this game. It's the classic Japanese medieval history period revisited once more intrigue, samurai honor, assassinations', class division, political schemes struggle to deal with foreign powers and greed. Don't have particular qualms with the story its just that I've seen it many times in different media before although it certainly fits with the yakuza style games.

Now when it comes to extra stuff to do this game has it in spades. At first I couldn't move an inch without tripping into another mini game, sub story or some other activity with a long ass progression system tied to it begging me to try it out. I gotta say I enjoyed pretty much all of it from the farming simulator in "another life" to Bloodborne style chalice dungeon crawl to the equipment crafting at the blacksmith and so forth, now if you want to 100% things then you'll need to put in some serious hours grinding and it can become a bit dull. The idea is to balance all that and main story, kinda like making a nice salad, add a bit of karaoke, a bit of combat arena, some grinding for crafting materials, some sub story fiasco and you gonna have a good time.

Combat in the game started off a bit on the slow side while most of your moves are locked it feels awkward and stiff but as you level up things get better and better as it should. Really like the leveling system, you get exclusive skill points for using that particular style in combat and a universal skill point after leveling up your character. Cool thing is that you can use the universal skill points to progress in the specific combat tree which you enjoy using the most and once you obtain the exclusive point dedicated to that tree you can swap them out allowing you to either progress further and faster in one particular style or level up multiple ones at the same time. While we're on the combat the trooper mechanic is awesome, simple yet effective. As you progress in the dungeon crawl you unlock trooper cards that can be slotted for each one of your 4 combat styles. Now they range from cards that give you healing, damage or defense buff to the ones that grant you a flashy moves to use like summon a bear for a combo or even let loose a kamehameha, these trooper abilities charge up over time and as you engage in combat. Also depending what cards you have equipped they provide you with a health bonus and can be leveled up, they may also have synergy with other cards equipped as well for stronger effects. Great way to add a bit of flare and customization to the combat big fan.

Honestly don't know what else to say here good game is good more at 6. If you played previous Yakuza/Like a Dragon games this will all be very familiar just with the medieval Japanese coat of paint on it.

In a world where AAA gaming is dominated by C-suite mandates to create premium products made strictly by and for continuous consumption, it is a miracle we've gotten a game like Alan Wake II, with Sam Lake taking an even harder swing into the realm of the confident auteur. No concept is too obtuse, no idea too far-fetched, no mechanic too weird to attempt. To say it came together is to minimize the calculated post-modern approach to this gripping and looping narrative that Remedy Entertainment has accomplished. We are lucky to get a project like this that pushes the medium far beyond what many others are even attempting to do in this space. Alan Wake II has seriously restored my faith in what prestigious AAA gaming can and should be. Masterpiece.

...𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘱𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦...