7.5/10
Enjoyed this a bit, was quite nice. While was cliché here and there, it wasn't like it was bad clichés and didn't mind it (Though quite a jarring difference between the clichés and the setting because of the real life war it took ideas from). Plot wasn't a world beater but did a nice job, simple to follow and engaging to a degree. Gameplay was interesting, overall a fun tactical rpg at times needing a lot more thinking than usual which is a good thing. The addition of Valkyries in a war story was nice and cool, though I definitely wish it was more prevalent within the plot, only really showing face a few times which is a bit off putting given the name of the series.

Best of the trilogy. Do have issues but thought Kevin and his whole thing was pretty decent and definitely related to certain aspects of his character, Reis was a nice addition also, nothing extravagant or big but did well, don't have anything to say on any of the other characters as they felt like bit parts. Kind of was expecting a bit more after the starting bit but was underwhelmed just a bit, but still overall was decent. So far in the series, seems to always have one section of the game that's either stale or padded out for length which really throws off the pacing at times and something I really don't appreciate and wanes my interest, iirc it was ch. 5 or 6 in this game where I got that feeling which was kind of a blow cuz as I said earlier, was expecting a good bit based off how the game started.

Hm, while I think this game kept my interest a lot more than it did for 1, I didn't particularly find it much better or good. Definitely feel there was a more engaging story here, just didn't connect with it, it didn't feel anything new to me and I guess was a bit predictable at times. I hate Joshua's character and background, was completely generic to me, wasn't a big fan of him prior to this game anyways. Thought Estelle's and Joshua's romance wasn't needed and forced while I much had rather preferred they kept their previous relationship and grew on that more than something shallow here for the sake of it. None of the plot beats really piqued my interest or got me feeling a certain emotion. I feel I have a lot more to say on the narrative and characters of the story but don't know where to start.
The gameplay itself, wasn't a huge fan of it before, but in particular this game, the bosses absolutely BLEW. The Loewe fight having a continue glitch was so jarring, the final boss having unnecessary stages with vats of HP that really did nothing to the narrative has me questioning the point. Multiple bosses throughout the game put you at unreasonably unfair advantages to the point there's nothing you can do before you get one shot by some super move at the start, and I was definitely not under leveled.
The pacing was better but at times it definitely was padding out certain events and making the experience longer

Umm, well this is not how you do an introductory game. Yes it's the first in a trilogy, setting up a story, it does it pretty poorly for the most part. Everything prior to the final chapter and a bit of chapter 3 was such a drag. Annoying character interactions (except Olivier, you get a gold star babes) and nothing about the world that got be interested in the setting. Felt like a quest completer for most of it. Thought the ending bits were pretty nice, nothing special and found a couple things about it generic? or nothing new for me, but was at least a step up from the rest of the game.

Ik it’s only the start but frankly it’s not good in any regard so far, not surprised. Hoyoverse managed to use the name of their best project, and turned it to boring slop like the other 2+ IPs they have. It’s a completely new game I really just don’t get the point of the “Part 2” (money reasons yes I know). Incredibly boring/bad designs, nothing of note or of interest to take away from the story so far. Boring storytelling and dialogue, since end of part 1 they’ve shifted the writing style to something w a lot of filler words, words of nothing, and it’s so much more evident here. Panders to a new fanbase but not to a returner player at all. How I wish I could see the downfall of this company, I need a money laundering scandal to pop up or something, I’ll be the first person to be there

Game w a lot of nothing. Face of things, aesthetically, it looks pretty nice with the world design and pixel style for the game. Gameplay is nice but the game difficulty is incredibly easy, didn't struggle at all through out. The plot isn't really there, would be harsh to say it’s not finished, but could be a fleshed out maybe? more to it? Feels generic to me. Only one character that was really of note for the game, a couple others solely cuz they looked or were cool, neither being the main characters, which is a huge problem in itself, but overall, characters lacked a lot, from main characters to antagonists. Also really don’t like the true ending cuz it devalues one of, maybe the only, the significant plot points and moment in the game

Starting with the point, I've only done 1 out of the 4 'route' or 'classes' you could choose for the game, the sage route. I will go back over time to finish the other 3 but for reasons I'll point out later, I'm not all too keen to go thru them at the moment
Honestly the fact this game was made by one single person is kind of baffling. Karekusa put a lot of thought, feeling, and passion into the game I don't know how long this took but major props to the sole creator, deserves all of it and hope since the game was made they've gone onto doing something they love. The raw fantasy setting, vibe and lore is insanely cool with nice OST accompanied to it. The Sage route offered a lot of what I was asking going into the game. For a RPGmaker game and not being the biggest fan of them, the gameplay isn't bad (though does get boring at times). I don't want to get into spoilers but the mystery and plot of the route was great, the game gave me way too many chills just cuz of everything surrounding it. It is kind of a choose your own way/route story which was nice at times but also something I did not enjoy always. The game is about as non linear as Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, it says its non linear when it kind of isn't. The lack of direction at times was quite frustrating and found my self at an impasse a few times which felt more tedious and annoying than fun. It still funnels you to a concluding point but I don't think it does the best of keeping the non linearity at the same time, giving me multiple headaches. it would be incredibly frustrating for me to play all 4 routes back to back hence why I'm deciding to take breaks. Some fights are weirdly placed where your not ready for them at all or if you don't have this specific item, you're basically fucked or in for a marginally harder time. That's about the only cons I have but it comes out as a net positive and would genuinely recommend this to anyone looking for a fantasy setting game to play

TLDR: Doesn't do much to improve on its original counterparts nor does it fix any of the issues the original counterparts had (The Tartarus slog, gameplay loop, unfinished characters, etc.)

I want to start out with, having played FES, I don’t think this is a good “remake”, “remaster”, “reload”, whatever you want to call it or class it. It adds some nice things here and there, but fails most of the bigger problems I had or in some cases, amplifying them. While I don’t agree with the whole “they made it P5” statement, I do agree that the game lacks the charm in some areas, for lack of a better word, that FES had. Found some portions Tartarus visually lacked the feeling it gave in FES (a few I liked the updated look) and lighting stuff in the overworld, or for the sake of visual effects, section(s) were made harder to traverse because of it, Adamah, but that’s nitpicks.
On a merciless run, I found the game way too easy for such difficulty, was pretty disappointed about that but also at the same time, didn’t want to spend any more time than I did on the game, so whatever. I thought the addition of Monad Doors/Passages was interesting as first, but as I traversed further into Tartarus, they felt more and more in the way instead of a good challenge. Most of the bosses just were not good or fun in challenging ways and a bit dumb at times, then after a certain point, I found myself fighting the same bosses in different Monad Doors? ok man
The game doesn’t do much at all to improve the gameplay loop of its original counterparts, in some areas it even being worse. There’s nothing that alleviates the slog Tartarus is, at times even feeling moreso than the original. It’s not rewarding at all, you go thru 30-40 odd floors per section, then what? Go back to what u were doing irl waiting for the next full moon, which when you get there, still doesnt do anything interesting, just fight an arcana boss then leave. Yea it does lead to something in the very end, but before that it shows no narrative for the most part and isn't something I looked forward to. The “lore” papers they added into Tartarus just aren’t enough, 30-40 floors for one paragraph of incomplete lore that frankly isn’t interesting did not do it for me. It’s just fighting fighting fighting with no reward, Combat is fine, but when your doing the same mind numbing battles over and over, it gets boring and not fun.
I don’t find the plot good or interesting at all, in FES, and Reload doesn’t do much, if anything at all, to make me want to change opinions. The full moon days are supposed to progress the plot, but I struggle to find where, you go in, fight a boss, then that’s basically it. You might get a few scenes depending on where you’re at in the game but nothing that really carries a narrative. When u finally get to points where it does push the narrative, it’s frankly disappointing, partially from the slow pacing of the narrative or it just not being interesting or incomplete. A lot of the characters feel unfinished or done in by their screen time (All 3 Strega characters, Shinji, SEES members, Ikutsuki, etc.).
Another small nitpick I have is that the SEES member social links are either locked by later dates or by social stats, there are a few Social Links outside of them that are interesting, but having to still wait for around for them sullied my interest throughout the game
I don't want to make this whole review negative, so I'll mention a few things, if I can, that I liked. Aigis and her character was one I liked in FES and it not having much change, of course I would like her in Reload. The final scene, both times, hasn't failed in giving me a knot in my throat. A few other social links I came to like, like Kamiki and Yuko. The voiced SLs did seem to enhance them a bit and appreciate that
Taking in the amount of idle hours I had on Reload, more or less, was considerable longer in hours played, which given its the same game for the most part, was not to my liking. The game overall is slower paced, whether it was Tartarus and its battle animation or overworld scene, didn't appreciate the extra time commitment
OSTs are worse for the most part, at least the remixes, are all worse than their older counterparts. Idk what their thinking was but a lot was missing the oomf and power that the originals had.

I really failed to connect with most of Part 1.5. It definitely pales in comparison to part 1 for many of reasons and with my doubts and concerns of the upcoming part 2, it definitely didn't leave me w/ many reassurances either. Seele's portion of 1.5 was nothing special to me, found it to be a lot of dross with pacing that did not fit me at all. Only really enjoyed the Senti portions, and didn't care much for Seele and Vita and the rest until towards the very end. The Fu Hua portion are marginally better with the first chapter (40) giving a pretty good start in my opinion and giving me something to look towards. Then 41 didn't deliver it for me, some pacing issues and the small vitas, Phosphorus, and Moriarty especially did not peak my interest then. 42 did give me some things I liked tho and enjoyed that part also. Griseo and Fu Hua during that were good, includes probably one of the best bosses in the game, then the epilogue of everyone from part 1 conversing was a nice little touch at the end and kind of sort of felt like a farewell to part 1. 1.5 didn't lead much into part 2 which I found a bit odd but thats whatever as I mentioned earlier, I am not excited about that at all and would like to do anything possible to separate part 1 and 2 as much as I can, but this isn't a doompost review. In summary, 1.5 was a little bit of a story of 2 halves, Seele's not being all that great while Hua's was definitely something that I enjoyed a decent amount

Incredibly good game, from the countless biblical and demonology references, to what was showed of what humans would do under dire circumstances and the different decisions they would make depending on their background and upbringing, and a few other things as well. Really liked the different endings that were available in the game and gave different perspectives on choices. Though as any Atlus game, it definitely didn't come without its frustrations and struggles, though overall, the gameplay was fine