The fact that a port, sequel, remaster, or remake does not exist is a terrible tragedy.

I love the narrative structure of the story. Centering around Alexandra Roivas in her grandfather's puzzle-filled, Metroidvania-style mansion, you gradually unlock new parts of the building and new chapters to play.

There's only 4-5 settings, but multiple revisits with different protagonists. They cleverly wrap around eachother throughout time, even encountering previous characters. The puzzle-solving works in tandem with your spellcraft a lot of the time, doubling up as tutorial. Discovering new spells is almost always useful and sequence-breaking to find more early is immensely satisfying.

Of course what everyone remembers is the sanity meter. It's such a brilliant idea that I wish had freer copyright limitations so I could see it implemented in new titles. The hallucinations, feints, and red herrings you and your hero encounter are always entertaining and baffling. My favorite is when a fly starts crawling across your HUD.

There are some shortcomings. The hacking combat and simplistic shooting wears a little thin. I also hate that they added a mechanic where your character runs out of breath after jogging for a while. The fatter characters run out nearly immediately and it really taxes the patience.

Fantastic voice-acting, sound design, and writing. It's not afraid to take bold twists and seep crawling, ancient, arcane fear into your psyche. It's not perfect, but I do love it.

This game's dedication in making every part of its world feel like a real lived place is outstanding, it's something I have always enjoyed about Final Fantasy as a franchise but this one particularly excels at just making you want to have your own adventure at your own pace
I've been fully on board with their vision of making more than a remake of the original story since the beginning but Rebirth truly fully sold me on the idea.
While not flawless by any means, it will be a long time until I encounter another game that feels this ambitious and for lack of a better word, "magical"

As with many players, my introduction to the franchise was through Persona 5. During the pandemic, I played the game, and it quickly became my favorite of all time. It was somewhat amusing because I'm not typically into JRPGs or Japanese culture, but Persona has something truly unique about it. That's why Persona 3 Reload was my most anticipated game of the year, despite being a remake of an older title.

It's nearly impossible to review Persona 3 Reload without comparing it to Persona 5. Since its announcement, Persona 3 Reload seemed like the kind of remake that the Pokémon Company used to do with its older games. And I was right: Persona 3 Reload takes everything developed for Persona 5 and creates a true and good remake.

Persona 3 Reload is a classic Persona game that divides into two parts: your normal life as a student, and a hero's journey to save the world. In the first part, you attend school to study and interact with friends, while in the second part, you face enemies called shadows.

The social aspect of the game is particularly enjoyable. In addition to your duties as a student, you'll need to socialize with various characters from the school and rest of the world. Each character has a unique story, and you'll need to meet them multiple times to complete their storylines. This mechanic is called social links. Compared to Persona 5, I found these stories even more engaging.

The "hero part" is a turn-based RPG. I know that many people don't enjoy games of this style, but Persona games offer dynamic combat. Personally, I'm not usually a fan of turn-based games, but Persona takes the genre to another level.

Despite the game being split into two parts, they converge seamlessly. The interactions you have with friends will make you stronger to face enemies. The game operates on a calendar system, allowing you to decide when to hang out with friends, study, battle against enemies, or improve your social attributes.

The main story of the game starts strong, slows down a bit in the middle, and finishes perfectly. While I still prefer Persona 5's story, it's incredible how Atlus is able to create such incredible characters that are truly charismatic and make you care deeply about them. I enjoyed learning about their lives and backgrounds while also worrying about their futures.

I do think that Persona 3 Reload has some minor issues, such as poorly placed activities in the calendar system. There are moments where you have nothing to do for a few days, followed by days where you're overwhelmed with tasks. This became a problem near the end when I had enough money and maxed out all my social attributes. Additionally, I didn't appreciate how much time it took to start social links with party members, and that it was limited to just the female characters.

Another thing that is truly incredible in this franchise, and it holds true here as well, is the soundtrack. Persona 3 Reload boasts one of the best soundtracks ever in the gaming industry.

It took me 75 hours to finish my first playthrough, and I almost completed everything that could be done.

In conclusion, Persona 3 Reload is one of the best games we've had in recent years, but I still prefer Persona 5. If you enjoy JRPGs or Japanese culture, it's a must-play game. Even if you don't, I recommend giving it a chance, as I promise you won't be disappointed.

"No cost too great."

Hollow Knight is a complete masterpiece. I've played a lot of indie and adventure games lately and there aren't many like this. The game is so thoroughly refined and fan-friendly. Who would have thought that a crowdsourced game could not only meet, but exceed expectations? This team polished it until it gleamed and then released FREE DLC, three times.

And it was made by three guys in Australia by crowdsourcing $57,000. And I paid $7.50 for it. Twice. But, "no cost too great", lemme tell ya. These AAA titles that get churned out every year, with hundreds of staff working ungodly crunch hours, can't manage to create a "GOOD" game, let alone put out a veritable classic.

Only a handful of titles can compare their worldbuilding, versatility of traversal, heartwarming charm, hair-raising anxiety, and clever environmental storytelling. I could sing praises for nearly every aspect of this game up and down, but just play it. It is a challenge, don't let the facade fool you. The first playthrough a couple of years ago was an utter smackdown, but gitting gud has eased it up a bit, personally. Out of all the similar titles I love with twisting, turning labyrinths and backtracking and mysterious ways forward, I mind getting lost in this one the least of all. There is ALWAYS something fascinating and fear-inducing just down the path.

Thank you Team Cherry. I can't wait for Silksong.

The hands of death could not defeat him. The Sisters of Fate could not hold him. And Zooos will not see the end of this day. Kratos will have his revenge!

The final of the greek saga, chronological speaking and a worth final to that. Kratos is in his most brutal and most psychotic in this game. He once again goes so far to mutilate those who don't deserve. In the games final moments though when he meet Pandora you can see some of his humanity shine. This is pretty much my favorite version of Kratos when looking at the greek and norse saga at once.

The games story is pretty much a long epilog to GOW2's ending. Going to all of Olympus and seeing Kratos deal with all the gods who stand in his way is very fun, bloody and intruiging. It's not as good as its two predecessors but still great. It might have the best boss fights in the series.

Once again the gameplay is similar to it's predecessors but with some minor changes. This time you are able to ride on cyclopses and cerberus dogs after stunning them. The weapon variety is great once again, though I would have prefered not to have so many blades with chains in it.

The score offers some new great soundtracks. Rage of Sparta anyone?

There isn't much else to say. Kratos development from an broken warrior who is haunted by his nightmares to a raging lunatic was done really well and it always makes me ask how this Kratos would have dealt with Ares.

9/10 Times the circle button gets pushed to it's limits.

"HIgher beings, these words are for you alone..."

I've had one hell of a journey with Hollow Knight, dropping it after a first few hours because I just didn't feel it, only to give it another try years later and finally click with it. Despite my praise and my rating, I don't think I love it as much as everyone else does but it's a special experience nonetheless.

What I love most about Hollow Knight are not the bosses, its combat, lore or its level design: it's simply the atmosphere. Many of the game's areas provoke such a striking feeling - sometimes serene, sometimes somber and other times just unsettling. It's magnificent, and the soundtrack is ironed into my brain.

Hollow Knight also feels super refreshing in its pacing. The progression is slow but every step, every item, every ability feels meaningful. It's a chunky game with plenty of content but despite the relatively slow pacing, it's not bloated at all. I also felt that my playthrough ended just when it could have started to drag.

So now here I sit, the experience still marinating inside my head, and I want to urge anyone who dropped this game on a first attempt to pick it back up - it's worth it.