newtontlod
1999
The first game directed by the man who caused not just one, but two revolutions in JRPGs (Persona 3 and Shin Megami Tensei 3) and saved his own company, unfortunately, is a mixed bag.
Sure, being an Atlus game involving Hashino, Okada, Meguro, and Kaneko gives it plenty of vibes, but the game itself is rather weak.
The gameplay idea seems flawed from the start. A first-person game on a console like the Dreamcast and before these types of games were comfortable to play on the console. The camera works extremely poorly, the tracking of the game is quite awkward, and the combat is very tough and simplistic.
The game has a series of one-note enemies, the levels have sections with frustrating enemy placements, and the game never hits a nice rhythm. The brain jack system is a cool idea, but ultimately, the characters you play with are never different enough to justify it.
And of course, this first-person system never really works.
I love the idea of traveling the world; one of my favorite series does it (Shadow Hearts), Atlus has proven several times to be great at representing these real-world locations, and this game is no different, but the strong vibes don't save Maken X from being an extremely mediocre game.
That said, I played the early stages of the PS2 version and found a significant improvement. Of course, it loses some of the novelty of the game, but what it loses in that, it gains in a better experience. Not only in terms of camera and gameplay control (in an early PS2 style that I particularly enjoy) but with better features and quality of life improvements like save points in the stages.
Furthermore, there is also a manga that apparently is an adaptation of the interesting scenario found in this game.
In the end, the potential exists here but is never realized. This is one of the games I most wanted to see Atlus try again, but that must be impossible, unfortunately.
Sure, being an Atlus game involving Hashino, Okada, Meguro, and Kaneko gives it plenty of vibes, but the game itself is rather weak.
The gameplay idea seems flawed from the start. A first-person game on a console like the Dreamcast and before these types of games were comfortable to play on the console. The camera works extremely poorly, the tracking of the game is quite awkward, and the combat is very tough and simplistic.
The game has a series of one-note enemies, the levels have sections with frustrating enemy placements, and the game never hits a nice rhythm. The brain jack system is a cool idea, but ultimately, the characters you play with are never different enough to justify it.
And of course, this first-person system never really works.
I love the idea of traveling the world; one of my favorite series does it (Shadow Hearts), Atlus has proven several times to be great at representing these real-world locations, and this game is no different, but the strong vibes don't save Maken X from being an extremely mediocre game.
That said, I played the early stages of the PS2 version and found a significant improvement. Of course, it loses some of the novelty of the game, but what it loses in that, it gains in a better experience. Not only in terms of camera and gameplay control (in an early PS2 style that I particularly enjoy) but with better features and quality of life improvements like save points in the stages.
Furthermore, there is also a manga that apparently is an adaptation of the interesting scenario found in this game.
In the end, the potential exists here but is never realized. This is one of the games I most wanted to see Atlus try again, but that must be impossible, unfortunately.
2000
Classic, classic, classic. It was one of my favorite Capcom games for a long time, and replaying it after so long reminds me why.
Addressing the elephant in the room first, yes, it's not survival horror in the style of the REs and the first Dino Crisis, but I don't find that to be such a problem in the case of DC2. On the contrary, I think the series gains even more of its own identity and becomes something with its own style, it's a pity it was never replicated.
Visually, it's one of the most beautiful games of its generation, the controls are the best and most responsive tank controls out there, and the combo system and item purchasing probably make it my favorite arcade-like game. The way the game flows is incredible too, definitely the best pacing in the genre, and even the minigames here are fun and engaging. A significant and quite impressive leap in quality considering the first game's quality.
It's full of variety in enemies and scenarios as well, in weapons, in everything. And even though you control two characters, you never feel like it's bloated, it's setpiece after setpiece, cutscene after cutscene, gauntlet after gauntlet. You could almost call the game survival action or something like that. Few things in games are as satisfying as taking down Raptors with the Solid Cannon, Plesiosaurus and Pteranodon with the Missile Pod, and Inostrancevia with the Anti-Tank Rifle.
It's a shame it doesn't have an item mixing system like the first game, that's the thing I miss the most from the first one. I can understand the removal of the puzzles since some of the puzzles in the first game can be confusing.
And it's also a shame Dino Crisis didn't become another branch of Capcom's survival games; Dino Crisis 2 is the best game they made during that time and in that style.
Addressing the elephant in the room first, yes, it's not survival horror in the style of the REs and the first Dino Crisis, but I don't find that to be such a problem in the case of DC2. On the contrary, I think the series gains even more of its own identity and becomes something with its own style, it's a pity it was never replicated.
Visually, it's one of the most beautiful games of its generation, the controls are the best and most responsive tank controls out there, and the combo system and item purchasing probably make it my favorite arcade-like game. The way the game flows is incredible too, definitely the best pacing in the genre, and even the minigames here are fun and engaging. A significant and quite impressive leap in quality considering the first game's quality.
It's full of variety in enemies and scenarios as well, in weapons, in everything. And even though you control two characters, you never feel like it's bloated, it's setpiece after setpiece, cutscene after cutscene, gauntlet after gauntlet. You could almost call the game survival action or something like that. Few things in games are as satisfying as taking down Raptors with the Solid Cannon, Plesiosaurus and Pteranodon with the Missile Pod, and Inostrancevia with the Anti-Tank Rifle.
It's a shame it doesn't have an item mixing system like the first game, that's the thing I miss the most from the first one. I can understand the removal of the puzzles since some of the puzzles in the first game can be confusing.
And it's also a shame Dino Crisis didn't become another branch of Capcom's survival games; Dino Crisis 2 is the best game they made during that time and in that style.
1999
I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did, it's much better than I remembered.
It's certainly Capcom's classic survival horror game with the most tension. I also find the level design very good, perhaps as good as RE2's, and the controls work very well.
The differences between Dino Crisis and Resident Evil are all good and give Dino Crisis its own unique identity. The dinosaurs are extremely dangerous, which increases the tension of the game, the mixing system is much better than the herb system in RE (and with a complexity similar to the gunpowder mixing systems of RE3), and the puzzles are fun to solve. The voice acting is also wonderful in a goofy 90s way.
Of course, there could be more variety of dinosaurs (which we would see happen in the 2nd game), I'm not completely sold on the box system (I like the idea of having to spend items to open them, my problem is not being able to access the different colored ones). As for the pacing, many people don't like it, but I personally don't see any issues. In fact, it's a slower game than the REs, but not by much either; I think it ends up being more about memorizing the map to avoid walking more than necessary. I also like the choice of dinosaurs repopulating the rooms once or twice but never infinitely, since ammo is extremely scarce in the game compared to the REs (still enough to kill almost all the creatures, especially if you focus on fusing poison darts).
Overall, the game is Capcom goodness from the 90s. Good level design, striking visuals, a huge atmosphere, high production values. In the end, I was wrong not to expect a great game on this replay.
It's certainly Capcom's classic survival horror game with the most tension. I also find the level design very good, perhaps as good as RE2's, and the controls work very well.
The differences between Dino Crisis and Resident Evil are all good and give Dino Crisis its own unique identity. The dinosaurs are extremely dangerous, which increases the tension of the game, the mixing system is much better than the herb system in RE (and with a complexity similar to the gunpowder mixing systems of RE3), and the puzzles are fun to solve. The voice acting is also wonderful in a goofy 90s way.
Of course, there could be more variety of dinosaurs (which we would see happen in the 2nd game), I'm not completely sold on the box system (I like the idea of having to spend items to open them, my problem is not being able to access the different colored ones). As for the pacing, many people don't like it, but I personally don't see any issues. In fact, it's a slower game than the REs, but not by much either; I think it ends up being more about memorizing the map to avoid walking more than necessary. I also like the choice of dinosaurs repopulating the rooms once or twice but never infinitely, since ammo is extremely scarce in the game compared to the REs (still enough to kill almost all the creatures, especially if you focus on fusing poison darts).
Overall, the game is Capcom goodness from the 90s. Good level design, striking visuals, a huge atmosphere, high production values. In the end, I was wrong not to expect a great game on this replay.
2007
Fixes the most obvious and problematic flaw of the previous game: the horrendous navigation. Just for that, it's immediately better than ZX, but honestly, not by much. Clearly, it's a huge mistake to make the protagonist transform into the bosses.
Their uses are very limited, and most of them are simply poorly controlled or sometimes even impossible, which for a Mega Man game is a crime. One of the main things about these games is how good it feels to control the character. Furthermore, it reuses a lot from the previous game like the armors and level design, although it doesn't have the atrocious backtracking of the previous game, it's also not the most inspired. Because of this, power-ups and abilities have never been as situational as in this game. Some things still don't make sense, like the life system in a game with this structure, and of course, the plethora of one-way teleports that the game doesn't save if you get a game over.
The game's boss collection is also quite hit or miss, with some taken from the previous game and the new ones being inconsistent in quality.
Having played practically all of the Inti Creates Mega Man games, I can safely say that they never quite understood what made the old games so fun and special to replay. I find myself replaying very few of their games (maybe Zero 2, Zero 3, and MM10) while I could replay several classic Mega Man games from 1-8 and MMX from 1 to 6.
Some of the things that stand out to me most clearly to say they don't quite get it is putting a metroidvania map in a franchise that never needed it to have great and enjoyable level design. Furthermore, the map itself is bad and easily ranks among the worst among several metroidvanias I've played. Additionally, the power-ups you gain after each boss in the Inti Creates MM games, especially the Zero/ZX series, range from mediocre to useless. In X4, for example, you can use Zero, and I found the balance there much better.
Moreover, this format of mundane and repetitive side quests, something that tries to function for hours like an RPG, and grinding in general for E-Crystals don't fit the style of game that Mega Man aims to be. At least in this regard, ZXA is more tolerable compared to its predecessor. (I wasn't required to complete a gigantic and unbearable quest chain to obtain the last sub-tank).
Even in the games I consider very good (Zero 2 and Zero 3), I still don't think they perfectly realize what was good about the other games.
For me, Mega Man 11 is much better than any game from this team, and I prefer that Capcom continue with an in-house solution if they want to make other games in the series in the future.
Their uses are very limited, and most of them are simply poorly controlled or sometimes even impossible, which for a Mega Man game is a crime. One of the main things about these games is how good it feels to control the character. Furthermore, it reuses a lot from the previous game like the armors and level design, although it doesn't have the atrocious backtracking of the previous game, it's also not the most inspired. Because of this, power-ups and abilities have never been as situational as in this game. Some things still don't make sense, like the life system in a game with this structure, and of course, the plethora of one-way teleports that the game doesn't save if you get a game over.
The game's boss collection is also quite hit or miss, with some taken from the previous game and the new ones being inconsistent in quality.
Having played practically all of the Inti Creates Mega Man games, I can safely say that they never quite understood what made the old games so fun and special to replay. I find myself replaying very few of their games (maybe Zero 2, Zero 3, and MM10) while I could replay several classic Mega Man games from 1-8 and MMX from 1 to 6.
Some of the things that stand out to me most clearly to say they don't quite get it is putting a metroidvania map in a franchise that never needed it to have great and enjoyable level design. Furthermore, the map itself is bad and easily ranks among the worst among several metroidvanias I've played. Additionally, the power-ups you gain after each boss in the Inti Creates MM games, especially the Zero/ZX series, range from mediocre to useless. In X4, for example, you can use Zero, and I found the balance there much better.
Moreover, this format of mundane and repetitive side quests, something that tries to function for hours like an RPG, and grinding in general for E-Crystals don't fit the style of game that Mega Man aims to be. At least in this regard, ZXA is more tolerable compared to its predecessor. (I wasn't required to complete a gigantic and unbearable quest chain to obtain the last sub-tank).
Even in the games I consider very good (Zero 2 and Zero 3), I still don't think they perfectly realize what was good about the other games.
For me, Mega Man 11 is much better than any game from this team, and I prefer that Capcom continue with an in-house solution if they want to make other games in the series in the future.
1995
A game inspired by Gunstar Heroes from the team that would make my favorite JRPG series (Wild Arms)? On paper, it seemed like a great idea.
In practice, not so much. The game is quite frustrating overall, with enemies constantly juggling you, stages being too long, bosses taking too long to defeat with few attack patterns, lack of checkpoints before bosses, and a somewhat limited system overall for a game of this caliber on consoles.
A pity overall, but at least visually it's quite beautiful, and various elements such as some weapons appeared later in the Wild Arms games, so I can't be too negative about the game.
It's worth at least testing and playing a bit, but each stage will become more frustrating and require more and more precision than the last.
In practice, not so much. The game is quite frustrating overall, with enemies constantly juggling you, stages being too long, bosses taking too long to defeat with few attack patterns, lack of checkpoints before bosses, and a somewhat limited system overall for a game of this caliber on consoles.
A pity overall, but at least visually it's quite beautiful, and various elements such as some weapons appeared later in the Wild Arms games, so I can't be too negative about the game.
It's worth at least testing and playing a bit, but each stage will become more frustrating and require more and more precision than the last.
The definitive way to experience a significant portion of the original Age of Empires campaign. Sure, the building logic and balance of the first one aren't as good as the second, but just using the engine from 2 already improves everything by 300%. The completely new campaigns are also very good, and I believe that here is a good compromise between using the content from the first game and modernizing it enough to be tolerable.
Of course, it would have been better if all the original campaigns had been ported, but at least not much was lost. And 30 hours for the low price they charge for this DLC nowadays is more than worthwhile.
Of course, it would have been better if all the original campaigns had been ported, but at least not much was lost. And 30 hours for the low price they charge for this DLC nowadays is more than worthwhile.
2010
It's still unnecessarily antiquated and ignores all the progress that happened from Mega Man 5 to Mega Man 8, but at least it's a much less unfair game and also does have functional menus, L-R function for weapons, and overall better flow than MM9. It also doesn't have the unnecessarily slow shop like in 9. That said, these two games were overall a disaster for Mega Man's natural evolution, but I would be much more forgiving with 10 if it had come out after 4.
Releasing it after 8 is like trying to use candles instead of light bulbs. Looking at it this way, it almost seems like a miracle that 11 turned out as good as it did.
Releasing it after 8 is like trying to use candles instead of light bulbs. Looking at it this way, it almost seems like a miracle that 11 turned out as good as it did.
2008
Terrible. By far the worst classic Mega Man game and a strong contender for the worst game in any Mega Man series. The design choices in this game are profoundly stupid. All of them. The removal of charge and slide, the outrageously slow menus with the same texts being repeated endlessly, the overuse of spikes and jumps that require perfection, among other things.
When it comes to retro games, it's true that they're often associated with high difficulty, but also with well-crafted level design and overall good progression. This game lacks an interesting one. Instead it is repetitive, and excessively frustrating level design. It also amplifies the worst flaws of these retro games like terrible navigation menus. In some cases, it goes beyond that, EXACERBATING these issues. Mega Man 2, for example, was nowhere near as clunky as 9 is.
I'd probably give it an even worse score, but visually, the game has a charm and a few stages are decent. It's a game from 1986 stuck in 2008. But not from a competent developer like Capcom, but rather on the level of bad stuff like LJN games.
When it comes to retro games, it's true that they're often associated with high difficulty, but also with well-crafted level design and overall good progression. This game lacks an interesting one. Instead it is repetitive, and excessively frustrating level design. It also amplifies the worst flaws of these retro games like terrible navigation menus. In some cases, it goes beyond that, EXACERBATING these issues. Mega Man 2, for example, was nowhere near as clunky as 9 is.
I'd probably give it an even worse score, but visually, the game has a charm and a few stages are decent. It's a game from 1986 stuck in 2008. But not from a competent developer like Capcom, but rather on the level of bad stuff like LJN games.
Probably the worst RTS I've ever played. I believe the Definitive Edition doesn't help, as it apparently adds a bunch of bugs such as stages where the enemy AI simply doesn't function correctly unless on a specific difficulty.
The pathfinding is atrocious (it was already bad for its time), the game is quite clunky, and clearly quite unbalanced as well. It's a shame because many things could have been fixed in this version and simply weren't.
And that becomes even worse when you consider that many of the campaigns and civilizations in this game are quite cool and quite iconic for history.
Apparently, some of the campaigns from the first game were remade for the second one in the Return of Rome DLC. I guess that must be the best way to experience a bit of the first Age of Empires.
The pathfinding is atrocious (it was already bad for its time), the game is quite clunky, and clearly quite unbalanced as well. It's a shame because many things could have been fixed in this version and simply weren't.
And that becomes even worse when you consider that many of the campaigns and civilizations in this game are quite cool and quite iconic for history.
Apparently, some of the campaigns from the first game were remade for the second one in the Return of Rome DLC. I guess that must be the best way to experience a bit of the first Age of Empires.
2021
A great return for the series, after so many years. Clearly heavily inspired by how Age II operated rather than III, but still with a strong overall production value. The game is quite solid overall; the cutscenes are all very well done with excellent visual clarity and many aesthetically pleasing moments.
The Mongol campaign is clearly the highlight here, where you are incredibly powerful and leave an incredible trail of devastation. One of the best and most enjoyable moments in the entire Age of Empires history is the mission to create a super-trebuchet to destroy the walls of Xiangjiang.
Another incredibly fun mission is defending against the Mongols on the Ugra River.
That said, the pathfinding isn't as good, and the UI options aren't as robust as in previous games, making you struggle quite a bit with the keyboard and mouse. Just for that reason, it possibly ranks as the least enjoyable among the three good games in the series (the first one is easily ignorable), but still something entirely worth playing.
The Mongol campaign is clearly the highlight here, where you are incredibly powerful and leave an incredible trail of devastation. One of the best and most enjoyable moments in the entire Age of Empires history is the mission to create a super-trebuchet to destroy the walls of Xiangjiang.
Another incredibly fun mission is defending against the Mongols on the Ugra River.
That said, the pathfinding isn't as good, and the UI options aren't as robust as in previous games, making you struggle quite a bit with the keyboard and mouse. Just for that reason, it possibly ranks as the least enjoyable among the three good games in the series (the first one is easily ignorable), but still something entirely worth playing.
2006
Mega Man ZX annoys me. I desperately wanted to like this game more than I ended up liking it. But I find its map implementation to be one of the worst I've ever seen in a metroidvania. In fact, it's not even a proper metroidvania; its map handles things in a very strange way. And the backtracking is unbearable, the areas have an extremely confusing layout and some of the worst padding I've ever seen in a game.
Something that should last two, maybe three hours, ends up lasting seven because the game developers either hate the players or disregard their free time.
Even the dialogue and the distance you have to travel for mundane things within the ship are a huge time sink. The sub tank in the fire stage is one of the biggest absurdities I've seen in a game of this style. I literally gave up trying to get the last sub tank after that one because it is a even bigger waste of your time.
The game having three different items to collect also makes the rare HP healing items too scarce. The implementation of currency in this game is simply bizarre and very unnecessary. With the amount of useless space this game has, it would have been easier to include armor upgrades there instead of the bizarre system of final strike on bosses.
And I say all this sadly, because I really wanted to like this game. It has a wonderful visual style (better than whatever the fuck they were trying on Megaman Zero), the armors themselves have great designs (although I'm annoyed they baited and switched with X's armor), and the gameplay itself is the enjoyable Megaman X gameplay as always. I honestly hope they've fixed at least some of this in ZX.
Furthermore, if you're going to make a horrendous map like this, it's better to do it like in the classic series and X. You select a stage and that's it. Better than a half-assed attempt of a Metroidvania. Furthermore, this lives system, reminiscent of the old Mega Man system, doesn't even make sense in a game trying to be a faux-metroidvania
Anyway, the formula of selecting a stage and it being just the right size has been repeated for over 20 games for a very simple reason: IT JUST WORKS, DAMMIT!
Something that should last two, maybe three hours, ends up lasting seven because the game developers either hate the players or disregard their free time.
Even the dialogue and the distance you have to travel for mundane things within the ship are a huge time sink. The sub tank in the fire stage is one of the biggest absurdities I've seen in a game of this style. I literally gave up trying to get the last sub tank after that one because it is a even bigger waste of your time.
The game having three different items to collect also makes the rare HP healing items too scarce. The implementation of currency in this game is simply bizarre and very unnecessary. With the amount of useless space this game has, it would have been easier to include armor upgrades there instead of the bizarre system of final strike on bosses.
And I say all this sadly, because I really wanted to like this game. It has a wonderful visual style (better than whatever the fuck they were trying on Megaman Zero), the armors themselves have great designs (although I'm annoyed they baited and switched with X's armor), and the gameplay itself is the enjoyable Megaman X gameplay as always. I honestly hope they've fixed at least some of this in ZX.
Furthermore, if you're going to make a horrendous map like this, it's better to do it like in the classic series and X. You select a stage and that's it. Better than a half-assed attempt of a Metroidvania. Furthermore, this lives system, reminiscent of the old Mega Man system, doesn't even make sense in a game trying to be a faux-metroidvania
Anyway, the formula of selecting a stage and it being just the right size has been repeated for over 20 games for a very simple reason: IT JUST WORKS, DAMMIT!
2019
The original Persona 5 was a somewhat bittersweet experience for me. On one hand, the game had its qualities like the stylish UI, the solid gameplay system, and now you were facing the classic demons of Megami Tensei instead of shadows in battle.Also, its new dungeons had great level design. But on the other hand, the game lacked some of the soulful content that the previous entries had. It was also overly long, especially the first few months felt quite dragged out. The party wasn't as likable as in the previous games, the protagonist's rival was somewhat bland, and the villain fell short compared to the predecessors. There was also a lack of overall cohesion, or at least a theme that tied everything together as well as "memento mori" did in Persona 3 and "bonds of friendship" did in Persona 4.
But Atlus, in another excellent job of improving what was already good, managed to fix almost everything in Royal.
I'm completely amazed by everything new in Royal. Persona 5 went from a game that, despite liking it quite a bit, didn't even come close to Eternal Punishment, Persona 3, and Persona 4 for me. Now, it is for sure something very close, in some cases maybe even surpassing Eternal Punishment and Persona 3 FES in my eyes.
Of course, the game is still excessive and unnecessarily long at over 100 hours. While Reload and Golden shortened the time of their original games, Royal ADDS more hours to what was already the longest Persona to date. The dungeons for example are all excellent but all take too long. And there's another set of a gigantic procedural dungeon to do before the game ends...
That said, a lot of things also improve. The first few months are less of a slog and the two new characters are very special, the new social link and deepening of an old character turned out really well, the game remains quite fun in its dungeons (although all the quality of life additions have made the game even easier), the music and new opening are very good, the new palace is very good...
But when I stop to think, almost all the profound improvements of Royal pass through one character: Maruki Takuto.
Ah, Maruki... How to explain what this character was during part of those 107 hours of gameplay. How this character fascinated me, moved me, made me wander through my thoughts. The last time I remember such a great impact from a fictional character in my life were probably with Gon Freecs, in my formative years, and with Fei Fong Wong, over ten years ago. I probably never wanted to give a fictional character a hug and tell them everything would be okay as much as I did with him.
He retroactively improves the entire cast of characters, gives Kasumi one of the most interesting and intense plot twists I've ever seen in a work, and gives a new meaning to the themes addressed in Persona 5. The original 5 failed quite a bit in dealing with serious themes since it wanted to address them as 3 did at the same time it wanted to have the light and laid-back atmosphere of Persona 4. And these things didn't match. Maruki and the Royal move away from this and from these themes and deal with something new, and the outcome as a whole is something more sentimental, more human, a soulful content that makes this game something special for me just like the other Personas.
That January, which begins shortly after the end of the original game, is and will always be for me one of the most brilliant arcs of a video game. The only time in my life I played such a good extra content/DLC was with Artorias of the Abyss. And much of this because this incredible character finally shows what he came for.
Paraphrasing him: His existence and Persona 5 Royal's are an amazing miracle.
"I'll keep on rooting for all of you to have the best lives possible"
But Atlus, in another excellent job of improving what was already good, managed to fix almost everything in Royal.
I'm completely amazed by everything new in Royal. Persona 5 went from a game that, despite liking it quite a bit, didn't even come close to Eternal Punishment, Persona 3, and Persona 4 for me. Now, it is for sure something very close, in some cases maybe even surpassing Eternal Punishment and Persona 3 FES in my eyes.
Of course, the game is still excessive and unnecessarily long at over 100 hours. While Reload and Golden shortened the time of their original games, Royal ADDS more hours to what was already the longest Persona to date. The dungeons for example are all excellent but all take too long. And there's another set of a gigantic procedural dungeon to do before the game ends...
That said, a lot of things also improve. The first few months are less of a slog and the two new characters are very special, the new social link and deepening of an old character turned out really well, the game remains quite fun in its dungeons (although all the quality of life additions have made the game even easier), the music and new opening are very good, the new palace is very good...
But when I stop to think, almost all the profound improvements of Royal pass through one character: Maruki Takuto.
Ah, Maruki... How to explain what this character was during part of those 107 hours of gameplay. How this character fascinated me, moved me, made me wander through my thoughts. The last time I remember such a great impact from a fictional character in my life were probably with Gon Freecs, in my formative years, and with Fei Fong Wong, over ten years ago. I probably never wanted to give a fictional character a hug and tell them everything would be okay as much as I did with him.
He retroactively improves the entire cast of characters, gives Kasumi one of the most interesting and intense plot twists I've ever seen in a work, and gives a new meaning to the themes addressed in Persona 5. The original 5 failed quite a bit in dealing with serious themes since it wanted to address them as 3 did at the same time it wanted to have the light and laid-back atmosphere of Persona 4. And these things didn't match. Maruki and the Royal move away from this and from these themes and deal with something new, and the outcome as a whole is something more sentimental, more human, a soulful content that makes this game something special for me just like the other Personas.
That January, which begins shortly after the end of the original game, is and will always be for me one of the most brilliant arcs of a video game. The only time in my life I played such a good extra content/DLC was with Artorias of the Abyss. And much of this because this incredible character finally shows what he came for.
Paraphrasing him: His existence and Persona 5 Royal's are an amazing miracle.
"I'll keep on rooting for all of you to have the best lives possible"
2024
A bit more complex and slightly better performance than the previous game. Just for that, it deserves half a point more. Few things are more satisfying than assembling a team almost entirely made up of players from your own academy. The ability of this type of game to suck me in is incredible. And a danger for someone with insomnia (and who works the afternoon shift). Before I know it, it's already six in the morning.
Regarding considering the game completed: I've won everything there was to win with my favorite team multiple times and became the greatest national and continental champion.
Regarding considering the game completed: I've won everything there was to win with my favorite team multiple times and became the greatest national and continental champion.
It's a shame I didn't play this game when I was much younger and addicted to RTS games. Nonetheless, it was a good journey, a quite enjoyable campaign with very diverse missions. The wall of fire level and the final stage are good highlights, with a nice level of difficulty. Others have good setpieces, like the mission where you have to transport your troops by ships and release invisible specters to pre-emptively kill enemies.
Many good moments on this one. That said, the upgrade system is kind of dull, and I couldn't get used to the camera using arrow keys instead of WASD. Probably a problem from a casual gamer of RTS games but as someone who never played much RTS competitively, things are as they are. Oh, interesting lore too. Eventually, I should play both expansions.
Many good moments on this one. That said, the upgrade system is kind of dull, and I couldn't get used to the camera using arrow keys instead of WASD. Probably a problem from a casual gamer of RTS games but as someone who never played much RTS competitively, things are as they are. Oh, interesting lore too. Eventually, I should play both expansions.
2021
The low-poly visuals are so cool. Especially the bosses that all follow the same theme of aquatic animals. They would look great in papercraft. That said, the game has a lot of noise and is one of the most challenging shmups to navigate for this reason, making the difficulty somewhat artificial. The amount of content and options in the PC port is commendable and should be the standard for this type of port.