I feel like in order to truly appreciate what this game is going for, you need to be a very specific person. I hate to say it, but I think that specific person is me.

This game can be really esoteric at times. From a plot that fails at being truly meaningful, to ragequitting game design, to the way everything looks and sounds so comically terrible it's astounding how this is considered a remaster. There's so many things that should make this a bad game, and there were so many times where I wanted to throw in the towel and call it quits.

But I couldn't. There were so many other things it had going for it that prevented me from walking away.

The atmosphere created by the level design and the soundscape quality of the ambient tracks is one that truly feels lonely and barren. The combat system is addicting, with a sense of fulfillment stemming from you planning a well thought out battle strategy. It makes a very grind-heavy game not feel as tedious as it easily could've been. The game embraces the absurdity of the human condition through its not-always-so-human characters, which isn't fully the point of the narrative but I love it when its sprinkled in in anything I'm experiencing.

SMT III is the kind of game that sucks you in. Once you've taken the bait, you don't really want to leave. It's a game that you can play and have your fill of it, but after a while you start to crave for it again, and then you play some more until you're satisfied, and the cycle starts all over again. You get warped into this hypnotic loop of floating demons and glowing terminals and scorched wastelands that you kinda forget your whole purpose is to help forge a new society.

There's so much more I could say, but I'd be rehashing what I've already touched on. I have grown a strange attachment to this, and I do hope that one day, I will muster the energy to revisit this complex creature of a video game again.

I think the best way for me to review this is to rate each storyline, because it's the best way for me to explain what I love and don't love about this game.

5. Ted - His route was pretty simple, but so lacking in story. They never explain anything about his past, even though it was hinted at in the intro to the game. Very weak sauce.

4. Benny - Has the opposite problem, where the writing was really good (the inner monologues were especially effective), but the puzzles kept getting me softlocked. It wasn't always clear what the right choice was, which resulted in the most game overs for me.

3. Gorrister - Love his characterization, and his narrative was really strange and interesting. The puzzles in this one were the most esoteric, which adds to the oddity of the story, but makes the gameplay a bit of a slog... Didn't help that I also got somewhat softlocked because I did things in an order the game didn't like for some reason (even though I only used a guide AFTER I was having issues).

2. Nimdok - This one is so dark, I literally almost had to pause the game to get some air. Short too, which kept puzzles very concise and overall self-explanatory to a degree.

1. Ellen - I haven't looked at many discussions of this game due to spoilers, but the little I've seen don't mention her route much, which I think is criminal. She is easily the best written character of the bunch, and brings some extremely effective emotional highs and lows. The puzzles were straightforward, but definitely required good thought (with the exception of the last leg, though other routes had similar issues). I hope I'm wrong by saying her route is the most underrated.

I won't discuss the endgame for spoiler reasons, but I am so disappointed with the way they handled it from a gameplay perspective. It's a shame too, because this game has so much going for it despite its age and the genre it occupies.

Overall, I still would recommend this game to those who want to try a point-n-click and can handle the really heavy themes it presents. It does kneecap itself on multiple occasions, which makes me not like this as much as I want to. However, when the good moments come, they really shine, and will definitely stick with you.