The only pre-awakening Fire Emblem game I ever played was Shadow Dragon which I didn't like very much, so I was always a bit scared of playing any of the other older titles that lack the easier difficulty option. I like tactics games quite a bit but I would say I am only pretty average at them, so the rpg-lite mechanics and permadeath of Fire Emblem are a bit much for me. Luckily this one was a lot better (up until the end where I had to resort to cheats just to get through the final stages, I can't seem to figure out how to get my units to a point where they are strong enough for the endings of these older FEs, I had the same issue in Shadow Dragon). The story and characters in this weren't as appealing as the newer games to me but I did find myself interested in the overall plot just not the nitty gritty, and I really liked Lyn as one of the three protagonists. I am glad I played it, I will try out Sacred Stones eventually knowing I will probably struggle quite a bit at the end.

I had a great time playing this game, exploring the world, and finding secrets / hidden items. The soundtrack is 1000% my sort of deal, it's incredible. However there are a lot of weak links that keep it from being truly amazing.

#1, the characters are incredibly weak. Eve is the most nothing protagonist I've seen in a while. Yeah she has cool animations when she kills some of the bosses, but other than that she's totally sauceless. I like the customization of her hair, outfits, however, it erases the strong identity a character like 2B or Bayonetta has. They are the most likely candidates for comparison, and Eve has N O T H I N G going for her personality to even put her on the same level as either of them. (And I also think 2B is boring, A2 & Kaine are way cooler chars in that series, but like, Eve is far more boring than all that). Adam, Lily, the support cast are just sort of there, and only really exist to hit you with a "twist" that you can see coming within the first hours of gameplay.

#2, the story, is just fine. There are some really good beats here, but it's so insanely derivative of Nier, that it made me just like, ok, I just want to go play Nier again now... it's fine to be inspired by your faves, but look at Alan Wake 2. Takes crazy inspo from Twin Peaks, but isn't, just Twin Peaks reskinned. It has its own identity and commentary etc on top of what influenced it. Stellar Blade, adds nierly nothing.

#3: the great desert. I took extreme issue w this area of the game. It's the second new bigger more open area in the game and they're both fucking deserts. That's weak. Not only that, but comparing to FF7 Rebirth's vast, sprawling areas & incredible topography, this is just a huge, waste of space & time desert that is largely flat, with just a few more explorable areas separated by minutes of running. It's poorly done. After the beginning of the game guides you through linear, tightly, smartly designed areas that have tons of small offshoot paths to explore, getting dumped into 2 large worthless wastelands back to back grinds the game's speed to a halt. which leads me to #4.

#4: pacing / endings. This is a really big misstep imo. There is a point of no return in the game that is about 60% through it, and in order to get the real ending you basically have to do the majority of all side content. This completely t-bones the pacing of the game, bc you are forced to spend an excess of time here wrapping up anything you want to take care of. In fact, my first run's playtime was DOUBLED at this segment. The game itself isn't really all that crazy long, but there is so much fluff in here, it's kind of a detriment, as you will not be progressing the story for a long while if you go for completionist stuff in this segment. The split at this junction gates you off from a lot of quests, and other things, and the balancing is bad. Once you're done w this you can go get one of the 3 endings. Now, there is only one save file. So if you want to plat the game, or maybe you just care about seeing all the diff ends, you can either: A: desync your PS5 from auto uploading save data, so that you can get 2 endings on 1 run, (you will, I guess, NEED to do 2 playthroughs regardless) B: defeat the final boss without dying--this will prevent you from being sent back and forced into an autosave so you can pick up at the final camp. So then you're forced to replay the game to get the other thing you missed.

#5 minor gameplay: the platforming can be extremely wonky, and there are some other minor complaints, like the lack of a map in many, but not all areas, and then the fact you don't have access to your robot doing anything until 25% through the game. The game is just trying to slowly dole out some mechanics here, but for me I found it kind of lame for the first 1/4 of the game--just too big a chunk of main progress imo for it to work. Fishing also kinda sucks unfortunately, I got more used to it, but. eh.

Nier gets away with this repetition of multiple endings because you gain different gameplay mechanics and different perspectives into the storyline. In Stellar Blade, this is not the case. It is truly just. The same game. But now you can unlock some outfit alt color variants which is fun.

I loved the soundtrack, the gameplay really gel'd with me; I didn't expect sluggish souls like 1v1's, but it really grew on me. Parrying was satisfying to me. I liked the design of the smaller, tighter levels. The graphics, textures, etc are great. The gameplay is probably better / smoother than Nier for sure. Overall I really liked it, and my personal experience is prob more like an 8/10 because I found it generally, extremely fun, but I can't in good conscious rate it higher bc it's not on THAT level, it doesn't succeed on every front.

This was a great improvement over the first game which was already very good itself. The game really treats you like you have already played the first one so it very quickly starts adding more unit types and complex mechanics so the challenge is much greater (even on casual, I was fighting for my life in the last few stages). Having more diverse level design and objectives is a great thing in a game like this and kept me hooked plaything through the 34 mission campaign, which is also much longer than the original. You also get to play as the COs from the other armies for lots of the game, plus there are more additions so you have some fun different playstyles. The remake is very good and I love the art design of the COs and the map (I still don't like the battle animations though).

So first of all a giant thanks to my buddy Brandon for gifting this to me. Realistically if this doesn't get gifted to me I never play this game. The trails game (falcom other series) burnt me out. I had zero desire to play any more of their games. However this game was a delightful surprise in so many ways and fixes so many issues I have with the trails series.

First of all the comabt is way more fun for me. Just simple hack and slash and dodging around but super quick and easy to pick up. The story is really solid hear, it takes a while to cook (like all falcom stuff) but once it does it cooks hard. The characters are all great here. There's real consequence and meaning and sadness to the plot here, and at times reminded me of a final fantasy like story in that regard.

Being able to explore just a giant island and feel like a pirate was pretty cool. Finding all the people that had washed ashore kept it interesting.

I do wish the story got going sooner or some hours were cut here, and the map was finnicky and I wish was stronger.

There's some falcom jank here too (the slow pan introductions/the presentations/cheesy dialogue/everyone way too happy)

But overall this was a great game and one I can easily reccomened. Can't wait to check out ys ix at some point!

Advance Wars was the first tactics series I ever played, I loved it back then and turns out I still do now. I like all the different units with their pros and cons, as well as the different operators with their unique abilities. The story is simple but the characters are pretty neat at least, you are really here for the tactical combat anyways.

The game is just as fun as ever and the game looks mostly good… the map and COs look good, but man they really ruined the combat animations in my opinion. They lack a lot of the charm of the GBA release which is sad, I honestly just turned them off cause I couldn’t take looking at them….

Really fell in love with this game far more than I was expecting to. It has an amazing atmosphere and gorgeous colour palette, lots of dim blues and greens, beautifully lit. I loved how much freedom it gives you to explore, how it buries away secrets and encourages you to find them. There’s a great balance between how cute and funny the characters can be, and how dark and dangerous the setting and plot is. Straight away I fell in love with the Knight, the grubs, Hornet, Greenpath and the City of Tears, and knew I wanted to see more.

The soundtrack took me by surprise with how beautiful and melancholic it is. It adds to the atmosphere and adds to the identity of each area. There’s a great mix of areas that feel like the heart of civilisation, to wilder gardens and further reaches, to others feeling very mysterious and dangerous. The controls also feel superb too. The jumps, dashes, wall climbing, pogo-ing with your nail, it’s all introduced very well until the point it became second nature. It has a bug-like springiness to it, giving you both a sense of overcoming great odds, but also feeling a growing sense of power and expertise in your own character and abilities. I was also impressed by the upgrade charms, which all felt distinct, worthwhile, and fun to experiment with.

This game is BIG, especially if you delve into the optional stuff, which I did after I beat the story. I’ve still got some to do, which I’ll pick up as and when I feel like it. But I’ve done a lot of it and have beaten the Radiance, which felt like a good cut off point. I’m sad that there’s not really much more for me to discover, as that aspect of the game is second to none, but it’s still a lot of fun to jump into and try to beat a challenge. Really I just want to keep playing it, and like many people I will now be waiting eagerly for Silksong to arrive. No pressure!

Taking the GOAT & making it even better, this was a great remake of Atlus' best. There is not an entry in this series with stronger themes & tighter writing than P3. From the cast, the social links, there is growth among everyone, as the game reflects bittersweetly on life, death, grief, and the purpose of life. It is a beautiful narrative, that I don't feel they'll ever be able to match that again. Some QoL upgrades to combat & other things make this an incredible journey. There is some really great VA work here, Junpei went crazy. I'm not really bothered with the re-working of the VA's, or the soundtrack changes, tbh. They are good interpretations in their own right.

The art style is incredible, visually stunning. Tartarus looks so good, with its interesting floor designs. The game in general benefits so much from the strong sense of dread, permeated by the ever present, small sparks of hope. There is a deep mystery and ominous feeling throughout that 5 utterly abandoned. All of the social links share deep connections to life, death, grief, and the tarot. I think the Sun link of P3 is one of the best & most interesting the series has had. The sun typically is a new life, rebirth, a dawn. However, we see a man who is terminally ill and trying to come to terms of what the purpose of his life was. It is truly a beautiful reflection, and an interesting subversion of the card's meaning. I think what I admire so much about this game's links is the fact that many aren't just the people you'd expect to befriend. You become friends with an alcoholic monk, a deeply flawed gourmet, and a really greedy & sketchy salesman. In life, we sometimes cross path with people & befriend, or at least connect and learn from people we don't expect. I think Persona 3's links feel less contrived, because there is some element of "ok I'm really just going to deal with this person's super odd flaw / problem right now I guess." The link involving the MMO is also so funny, and emblematic of the time.

I first experienced P3 with P3P 10 years ago, almost exactly, and it blew me away. I hadn't played anything like it, and it really revitalized my love for RPGs and greatly invigorated my interest in visual novels. It was immediately one of my fave games of all time, and this has re-solidified that feeling.

For my petty moment of the year: P5 could never. Replaying Persona at its best has made me infinitely more disappointed with how bloated, redundant, obvious, and impersonal P5 is. I can see where P5 tried to re-spin some of the ideas that were present in P3, to much lesser effect. I can only hope Atlus will surprise me with the next entry, because while P5R did improve, I cannot deal with another slog of playing the same mediocre 100+hr game twice in a row again.

Also P3's soundtrack is just better, I do not care. Yea, production, dumb lyrics, whatever, you clearly are not a 00's jrock/jpop person. I will take nonsense lyrics over on the nose cringe any day.

Rise of the Ronin was my first Team Ninja game, so going in, I didn’t know what to expect. As someone who isn’t the biggest Souls-like fan, it could’ve easily not been for me. It was the opposite. The story, being a sucker for 19th-century historical nonfiction (with some player choice thrown in there), is quite good. However, I felt as if there were too many allies, a little over 30, with most of them being pretty bland, with a few exceptions. I can’t do this review without mentioning the frame drop and how dated the PS5 already is. Frequent dips into the 30s for an action-heavy game can be off-putting, but it was helped by a patch after launch that stabilized it mostly.

Where the game really shines is the combat. Boss gauntlets, stealth, parrying, a variety of weapons and builds to play around with—the whole nine yards. Once you get the parrying down pat, it’s one of the more satisfying games I can remember playing. The stealth doesn’t feel forced, the gunplay is excellent, and the main antagonist is fun and difficult but has a good balance.

Overall, this was a good game. The beautiful setting of Japan during the Edo period, decent characters all around, and masterful combat. If that’s what you’re looking for in a game, I say go for it.