Eternal Punishment exhibits a sublimely mature, dense, and compelling narrative that pairs flawlessly with it's cast of incredibly well-fleshed out characters that each carry their own near-insurmountable amount of baggage. The chemistry between these characters was engrossing and grounded in a way that very few works in this medium have achieved (at least in my experience) and I found myself completely absorbed as a result. In terms of gameplay, just about everything I enjoyed in Innocent Sin has been escalated and improved upon, while nearly all of the issues I had (primarily the speed of combat and the lack of difficulty) have been addressed and finely tuned with the only notable outlier being that I still find the demon negotiation and method of acquiring personas a bit too cumbersome and tedious. That being said, the only real letdown for me was Maya's transition to a silent protagonist as her uplifting sincerity in Innocent Sin was consistently a highlight of that experience. I can appreciate that the torch was passed to Tatsuya so he could become more thoroughly defined as a character this time around (which is certainly the case) but I couldn't help but yearn for a world in which these two fantastic characters can have genuine conversations with one another, even if it would require me to take more of a backseat as a player in the process.

Persona 3 was one of first video games I played where I felt myself become increasingly emotionally invested in the characters and the world as the game went on; eventually culminating in being the first game that invoked a cascade of tears upon my viewing of the ending. The subject matter was heavy but grounded and relatable, unlike many other JRPGs that strive to pull someone into their worlds only for it to feel a bit too alien and fantastic to have the same effect. As you could expect, Persona 3 has long been a favorite of mine as a result.

It would be very easy for me to put on my blinders and dismiss this remake as having no way of recapturing the feeling that the original invoked and I admittedly spent the first few hours pretty skeptical as I groaned over the new VAs, OST, and the lack of an ability to program your comrades as AIs. Thankfully, the more time I spent with the game the more I began to love it. While the new VAs can't quite stand up to the star-studded original cast, I respect the decision to give some newer talent the spotlight as opposed to sticking with the same industry mainstays we've grown accustomed to. The OST is a bit more of a mixed bag where I enjoy some of the new tracks (such as the fantastic new battle theme) while I'm not a fan of some of the rearranged tracks from the original (looking at you Iwatodai Dorm T.T). Presentation-wise, it looks sleek and stylish as you would expect but not quite as over the top and busy as Persona 5 which I appreciate; though I would recommend turning down the brightness a few notches from the default if you want the appearance of the game to be more in line with the original lighting-wise.

The amount of extra time dedicated to party members outside of Tartarus, specifically the ones without social links, is absolutely my favorite addition to the game as it really encouraged me to grow attached to and learn more about each of the characters who didn't get as much development previously. This really paid off with Aragaki in particular whom I did not feel nearly as invested in on my original P3 playthrough as I did in P3R.

I have some mixed thoughts on the large amount of additional tools/abilities provided in combat as they do result in the game being a tad too easy (I played on 'Hard' for reference) but they were to be expected and are overall pretty fun in execution. I especially enjoyed the new implementation of the Fusion Spell system which is far more intuitive and easy to take advantage of this time around. As alluded to previously, and I understand why a lot of players did not enjoy this, I was a fan of how your companions acted mostly independently in the original as it really made them feel like actual people, rather than merely pawns for the player to control. This really helped personify the characters and made me feel more immersed within the world; I don't believe it was too much of a hinderance either as the tactics menu provided plenty means of controlling them. I'd be lying if I didn't say I miss this system at least a little bit.

It's clear a lot of effort has been put into P3R to ensure that the soul of the original game is left intact while aiming to deliver a more thorough and fleshed out experience, which I can appreciate. Story and character-wise, I would say it certainly surpasses the original. Gameplay-wise, I think they dumbed down the dungeon crawling and combat a little too much but it's definitely more approachable and 'fun' now which I assume was their intention. Atmosphere-wise, it loses some of the lingering dread, uncertainty, and mystery of the original but only a small amount of each. I prefer the original overall but this was still a fantastic game and my time with it absolutely flew by.

I love this dev. They come up with such smart and high concept ideas, and though this didnt hit in the way 7 Days did for me, I still enjoyed the time I spent with it. Normally, personality tests as a concept are something I don't particularly subscribe to (especially as a gameplay format), but in the case of Refind Self it works incredibly well. Playing as an android, simultaneously teaching her humanity while also exercising your own freedom of choice is a very endearing route of storytelling. The grief and kindness expressed through the options you chose, the limited amount of time you have to play reflecting the wind-up android's existence... as seems to always be the case, this dev is very careful and smart in the way they go about presenting their world. I love their artstyle, love the philosophy behind it. The only thing I could say these games lack is music, as each only has a few tracks (few meaning 2 or 3) that don't loop especially well. Highly suggest this dev's catalog for anyone looking for a unique and short, lovingly crafted experience. Really excited to see what they put out next ☆