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And looking at this, the girl from the 2005 game looks much more attractive than the older woman from 2023, even though it's the same character.

Interestingly, the video made it seem the opposite to me; the new Ashley has a more pleasant voice (although you probably don't care about the English voice acting, only the Japanese one), and her ears don't stick out like an elephant's (they clearly overdid it in 2005). Well, the ballistics are a bit off, but in the new version, the overall style of clothing is more modest, which can effectively hide the ballistics if they exist.

Haven was always designed with a Western audience in mind (or at least, for the most part), so despite being a Japanese series, the English voice acting is the primary one. Although, I played the remake of the second game in Japanese, for example.

As for Ashley, I'll just say that a cute blonde is better than a gray-haired old woman.

I'll just say that Ashley is a cute blonde, better than a gray-haired old woman.

Yeah, in the remake, she's definitely older. In this regard, I even had the first impression that this is not a remake, but a sequel, like (I don't follow the Resident Evil series).

I replayed it too, but it didn't quite live up to Alpha Protocol, mainly because of:
- The outdated combat; I didn't get any enjoyment from mashing the left mouse button in melee combat or the clunky gunfights. Towards the end, after drinking the Chinese woman's potion, near the end of the Prince's tavern, I just got tired of it and activated invincibility through the console just to get it over with.
- The outdated engine, which sometimes caused me to get stuck in doors, textures, or other things.
Nevertheless, the atmosphere, setting, and plot are still great, and my opinion of it hasn't changed for the worse over the past, almost two, decades. Even among the characters, Jack and V.V. were still my favorites. The first is just a cool guy, what more can I say, and the second appeals to me because of the contrast created by her humanity, tenderness, and romanticism against all the harsh stuff that's going on around her.



While looking for fan art for something, I came across a cool cosplay...



I also saw information that a new installment in the series is in development, but in this age of mediocrity, unfortunately, I don't expect anything good.

If I were a fan of Souls games and a developer of this game, I would be very proud of my creation, because everything here is so wonderful. The game, specifically the engine, balance, and controls, work flawlessly. There are no slowdowns, no bugs, and every action is executed perfectly according to what you want it to do. Everything in the arsenal of magic and movesets that the game offers has a purpose. Moreover, it has the best implementation of elemental magic of all the games I've seen. And overall, I probably can't recall a better magic simulation game.
In terms of difficulty, it's exactly what I love – not too easy to get bored, but not too difficult to get tired. The bosses are as fair as possible; each one can be learned and strategically countered with a bit of effort. As a bonus, it's family-friendly, but without sickeningly sanitizing everything or injecting unnatural elements into this fictional world.
The plot is like a fairy tale, captivating and a little sad, but with a touch of warmth.

If all of the above hasn't made it clear, I really liked it... In theory, the only downside could be its shortness, but it doesn't feel unfinished or rushed. And everything the game wanted to say, it seems to have said, so I wouldn't call the length a disadvantage.

Oh, yes. There's also a fantastic artbook in the game. You can look at it and admire it endlessly. In conclusion, it's clear that the project was created with love. We need more games like this.

What are you doing, you scoundrel? I already want to try so many things, and now I also want to try this project...
I guess I'll have to watch let's plays sometime (((

It's a wonderful advertisement for consuming alcoholic beverages; it made me want to, like the main character and his friends, indulge in a bottle of sake while reading. However, you can't feel the same romance in a city of concrete and plastic. Overall, given the setting and plot, the contrast between the lifestyles of high-tech and traditional societies is very striking. On one hand, the reader is shown cold, soulless skyscrapers with advanced technology, while on the other, there are vibrant and colorful cities and the nature surrounding them. The same can be said about travel – there's something inspiring about undertaking a long journey, whether you're a monarch or a commoner; it's still a test and an adventure compared to buying a plane ticket and arriving on the other side of the world on the same day. And the same goes for work – ironically, given the protagonist's character, his actions can be inspiring, but in our reality, it never ends, and you never see the fruits of your labor. And about idealism – if here people are fighting for truth, dignity, and the future, then in our world, there is only deception, and there is no other choice but to turn a blind eye or become a nihilist. But, I think that's enough complaining for now. It's clear that another long, fascinating, and emotional journey has come to an end, and I have to return to the gray reality, which is hard not to feel down about, but instead, I want to finish this story with a feeling of gratitude for all the positive emotions it gave me.

I finished the first part some time ago, and then the label for the second part sat on my desktop for over a year – I read about five hours and stopped, I don't remember why, but it doesn't matter because after finishing the second and third parts, I was still delighted by the live music, beautiful illustrations, many inspiring and relatable themes, the well-developed world and culture, the endearing characters, scenes from their daily lives, the interesting plot, and the abundance of touching moments – one of which may have been the most emotional thing I've ever read or watched. I would say for sure, but such things are very difficult to "measure," let alone try to compare, but the fact is that I cried during it, and even the next day, just one memory was enough to make me feel emotional again and again. It's also worth noting the presence of gameplay – the fights and leveling up between reading were very welcome, and the fact that the characters have sprites is definitely a plus.

In general, in my opinion, this is a masterpiece worthy of study by future generations. If anything demonstrates the worth of a person as a species and the presence of a soul in them, it is works like this. From the "negative" side, perhaps the only thing I can mention is the communist-transhumanist villain and his henchmen – even the fat guy and the pathetic official could be pitied, but not them, but this was due to the plot, the kindness, and the mercy of some of the characters, so it can't be called a minus with a clear conscience.

I wanted to write a cool review, but it turned out to be a bit rambling 😞... So, I'm taking off my imaginary hat.

Cool side-scrolling spin-off arcade game set in the world of Gacha for men of culture (but not as much as the original). You need to explore a demon school with a couple of interchangeable sisters, each with different sets of weapons, and efficiently slaughter demons. Midway through, another additional layer of gameplay is unlocked.
You can also play in co-op, with each person controlling one of the sisters, and I think that's the best way to play, but since I don't have any friends, I had to grind it solo.
Regarding the banner, I looked it up and found out that the developers had to change the name a couple of weeks after release due to some copyright issue. In my opinion, they actually benefited from it because the previous name was a bland and uninspired. For example, I only realized what the game was when I launched it.



Once, a classmate shared his vision of an ideal world: there is a city surrounded by walls, inhabited by 1000x1000 boys and girls, and this city is constantly attacked by zombies. You have an unlimited supply of firearms to kill these zombies, and women are always willing to have sex with you. At that time, the only meaningful question I could ask him was: what if a critical mass of corpses accumulates outside the walls, allowing new monsters to climb over? He replied: well, then the walls could move and push this mass away.
So, nineteen and a half years later, my classmate's dream has come true in this video game, except for the moving walls, and it's set in a "fantasy-medieval world with guns."
The gameplay is quite monotonous: in one phase, you upgrade and equip your characters, repair and build fortifications and buildings; in the second phase, you defend against hordes of mutant zombies, and you need to survive for a certain number of nights and kill the boss in the final stage. Each stage takes place in different cities, surrounded by different biomes and terrain. However, to be fair, the gameplay tries its best to diversify itself as much as possible: there are many types of enemies; weapons with their own types of attacks, areas of effect, and effects; many stats to upgrade, which, by the way, increase randomly on level up; a large number of perks; dozens of types of equipment that are unlocked over time with meta-unlocks. Regarding the latter, the game can be called a "roguelite" in the sense that it has common content unlocks (buildings, equipment, upgrades) between runs, but there is no save scumming. If you lose a run or play a night poorly, you may have to start the entire stage over. And that's not as easy as it seems, because, I don't know about you, but on average, it took me about 15 minutes to complete the daytime phase (closer to the middle of the game, when there's more management), and 30-40 minutes for the nighttime phase. Let's say you need to survive 12 nights (the second city). The first time, I failed on the 9th-10th night, meaning I played one night very poorly, losing one character and 70% of the buildings in the city, and then I just finished the next night for fun, even though I could have quit earlier. But in the end, I was right to die completely in the game because I farmed some achievements/unlocks from it. I started over, played normally, but before the last night, I copied the save folder from Steam just in case. In the end, I failed on the boss because I didn't know his mechanics yet. Fortunately, I just save scummed and was able to copy the save into Steam and win easily. You might think that I acted dishonestly; for example, I personally know people who played Darkest Dungeon like that, and I thought to myself, "Well, that's casual." But in this case, believe me, after spending an extra ten hours in a city where you've already lost once, failing again and having to replay from the beginning for another ten hours is too high a price to pay. In Darkest Dungeon, you have several teams of heroes, and you can always farm on easier missions, but here, if you mess up, you mess up badly, it's a 100% loss for the entire run. Maybe when I was in school, I would have just kept grinding, but now I just don't have the morale, and I don't have the free time for that.
Well, there's not much else to say, but I can add that the music is good and the graphics are great - it's enjoyable to kill the creeps. In general, it's a step-by-step grind game with a specific theme. If you want something like that, you can enjoy it. The question is whether you have the patience to complete it. Although, perhaps it's not intended as a roguelike for binge-playing, but rather as something you can leisurely stretch out over a year, casually playing a couple of maps with a beer every couple of days after work.

While reading the previous one, I stumbled upon a new release from a publisher and localization team whose other works I enjoyed, and so here I am, back in this genre.

Very often, when I read visual novels, I feel a desire to be inside their settings, as the described way of life of the characters who inhabit them seems so appealing. However, this setting is Tokyo in 2199, during a new ice age. Not only has the average temperature in the world dropped significantly, but a new pandemic, spread by the American military, has also ravaged the world, destroying people in areas where it was still relatively warm (like a virus that only lives in warmth). On top of that, we have all sorts of technological horrors, including the invention of necromancy, but not only that. Tokyo itself, as you can imagine, is a cold and crime-ridden city, where life is not easy for anyone. In this cold age, Tokyo survives thanks to geothermal energy, and pipes carrying steam, the main source of energy, are visible everywhere. Of course, in such conditions, one can't even think about aesthetics; the streets and the cityscape evoke a sense of melancholy. And everything is controlled by the military police and an energy corporation, in addition to the fact that Necromancers regularly engage in their sinister craft, and one of their groups even carries out terrorist attacks. And even the food here is synthetic... Also, this story has two protagonists, and one of them is a foul-mouthed, aggressive, and loud lesbian. All of this, combined with a somewhat chaotic narrative, did not evoke any feelings of delight. However, once again, I was shown that with desire, effort, and love, you can make anything interesting and even make the reader feel connected to your work, even if it goes beyond their usual preferences.

The setting turned out to be very well-developed. The society of this post-apocalyptic Tokyo is described, as well as the lives of the people who inhabit it and the places that exist within it. The technologies presented in the story sound authentic, and their existence in the real future is quite plausible. Over time, you begin to feel connected not only to the characters but also to this city, which at first glance seems hopeless. I felt something very beautiful in the fact that, despite its repulsive nature and the overall gloom of the depicted world, people still try to survive and do not lose hope for a better future. And even the protagonist, despite what was written above, quickly becomes likable, and over time, you feel nothing but love for her. I also liked the other characters; you could say that each of them has their own "quirk," but this is easily explained by the way of life in 2199.

Regarding the technical side, I take my hat off to the localization team – I did not experience any irritation or disappointment while reading. Moreover, even my hated caps lock, which is often overused to emphasize a particular word, was replaced with bold italics, and unlike caps lock, this was no longer perceived negatively. A brilliant solution.
The fights here are animated in 3D. At first, I was not enthusiastic about this because the illustrations are still more beautiful, but the well-thought-out choreography of the fights managed to win my respect – it's still nice to read when the characters' actions are based on tactics and the confrontation is based on some kind of logic. And the music here is good; at one point, I praised myself for recognizing a studio that I had heard in another novel.

There were also many difficult themes here, which once again showed that I am still a vanilla person at heart...

In short, I unexpectedly liked it. If you evaluate it superficially, you might think that it is just a festival of shock content, but in reality, it is a beautiful and life-affirming story.

I thought this was a survival simulator. It turned out to be a death simulator.
You start dying from the first seconds of the game, and all subsequent actions are not exploring the world or immersing yourself in the game, but attempts to delay the moment of death. There's simply no time to look around; your health/mood/warmth/dryness/satiety depletes catastrophically fast... while poison/disease/hunger/smell increase... So you simply don't have time to enjoy the atmosphere. And don't think I just walked in, got disappointed, and quit. I started over four times, interacted with a bunch of homeless people, passersby, a priest, Meisner, Agnes and her dog, gypsies, etc. It's very interesting, even captivating. But while you're running between these characters, you inevitably and inexorably die. Death comes to you from trash piles, cops, thugs, rain, temperature, food, booze, even cigarette butts... In short, if there were a mod that at least slightly reduces the negative effects, I would play with pleasure. As it is... there's enough masochism in real life.



About 15 years ago I launched the third part, but dropped it at the metro because I didn't understand where to go.
About 13 years ago I finished the first part, cursing its clunky PS1 graphics, the infamous PS1 fog hiding everything within five steps, tank controls, and overall some kind of pointlessness — you run through random, illogical levels, beat on mobs in clumsy combat, solve puzzles from the "TV Guide" section of the "Antenna" newspaper, all sprinkled with a primitive story about a chthonic cult. In short, it aged very poorly and left a bad impression of the series.
Over this past year and last, I grit my teeth and decided to give the series one last chance, especially since the second part, as far as I remember, is considered the coolest online.

2. Same tank controls, but this time the graphics are reasonable, and the game is clearly perceived much better — the fog isn't just 5 steps ahead, but 10, so we're no longer feeling our way through milk; the mobs look a bit more oppressive; the hero has more than ten polygons.
The combat, however, is just as sluggish, so it's easier to run past mobs on the street — just wasting time on fools, especially since they sometimes respawn. Also, I didn't see the point of setting the difficulty higher — the essence of combat is to catch a mob close up and bash it with a club until it completely freezes, so higher difficulty just means more kicks needed on the fallen body. I tried starting on Hard, but ended up switching to an easier setting solely because of this — every fight took 5-7 minutes of real time, and the AI is so dumb that except for a few particularly cramped corridors, you can still run past it, and it won't do anything to you. That said, the game has several boss fights, true to the early genre samples — not quite balanced, where you need to not only expend all your ammunition but sometimes poke away with a toothpick for half an hour after, serving merely as a test of the player's patience.
As for the story, overall it's decent this time, though fed to you in drip-feed fashion. The protagonist and NPCs are developed, the story makes sense, and the town isn't just there for its own sake but as a tool to reveal the hero, without deep diving back into the dreary lore about the cult. I especially liked the multiple ending mechanic, influenced by a huge number of hidden factors, such as interacting with certain items at specific moments, timely healing of wounds, and so on — all this ultimately gives the feeling that we've truly reached a particular resolution according to our (the protagonist's) mental state and beliefs, because without knowing the variables, it's nearly impossible to predict what will lead where.
And I'll add that I don't recall any particularly tedious levels in terms of level design, which is a plus in itself, though running around the foggy hub town, while not as bad as in the first part, is still dreary, because it pushes you to vacuum every village nook and cranny clockwise for loot, which is, you know...

3. I can't say I particularly liked the second one, but I don't consider the time spent on it a mistake either; in other words, it didn't give me a solid resolution on whether this series is overrated aged garbage or okay, so I decided to give the third one another chance.
This time I found where to go in the metro, and overall, I breezed through this part — it seemed focused on action/horror(suspense) at the "expense" of story, which isn't so bad overall because I've long since gotten used to the tank controls, the combat, though clumsy, dispatches mobs in a jiffy, and the levels are quite pleasant in design and atmosphere, and this time there was no blind-man hub.
The story seemed like nonsense to me — a girl lived, now she's in Silent Hill. A bit later they explain why, and that's it, plus the cult is back in full force. Only two endings — good and bad — and they're nothing special, with the methods to get them boiling down to just killing mobs/taking hits.
Overall — gameplay-wise slightly more playable, short and not too stressful, in short, fine for a couple-three evenings.

4. Again I couldn't make a decision, so I decided to polish off "The Room," especially since long ago I saw its announcement in a computer magazine, and it stuck in my memory, and also because it's the last part with a decent user rating, after which the decline began, if the internet is to be believed.
A pretty good setup and interesting mechanic in this part — you sit like an owl in a locked apartment, spy on a neighbor through a hole, and can only leave through a portal to the Silent Hill world, always returning to the apartment after finishing a level, observing changes in it, listening and peering through the window/hole/peephole at the neighbors, who discuss you or try to break into your apartment. On the levels themselves, there are sometimes portals through which you can return to the apartment, the only place in the game to save and regen health.
However, this is tied to a stupid move — limited inventory. In previous parts, except for hub treks in 1-2, there was no backtracking; you could carry whatever you wanted, and it didn't negatively affect difficulty/immersion/survival horror. Here, due to the described movement mechanic, a chest for items was placed in the room, and the hero's capacity was mercilessly limited, leading to tedious back-and-forth running when you need to dump looted junk or make room for a story puzzle item. This is absolutely awful; I despise such a thing and can't remember a single game in any genre in my lifetime where this was justified. It's not about making sacrifices and missing loot, or making a serious choice — take a gun with ammo and be more protected, or rely on luck and have a few extra inventory slots. You just run back and forth like a courier, never use firearms throughout the game because one magazine kills one enemy or drops a couple to the ground, takes up one slot, and you have only ten inventory slots, more than half of which might be occupied by story items, healing items, consumables. Meanwhile, as in the old days, the enemy is just as easily beaten with any club, dying just as fast as from firearms.
Setting that aside, the first half of the game is quite good in level design and story delivery — except for a couple of the most tedious places (metro cars and especially the entire lighthouse — that's just a crapfest, conceptually, sure, but so boring and energy-draining; plus a special "thanks" for the phone in the nurse's apartment). But in the second half, the madness begins. On the plus side — the story picks up pace and there's a cool moment in the apartment, while simultaneously cutting off your health regen there, so now you can only heal with medkits.
On the downside — absolutely all the gameplay, I don't even know if to attribute it to laziness, lack of time/resources, or an attempt at conceptuality, but it incredibly undermines the successful start:

😫😫😫

They make you go through all the previous five levels again, adding new enemies, new loot, and one new conditional puzzle, but you have to carry a mutilated neighbor in a cast, guiding her from the start point of the level to the end point, while your usual paths don't work — she can't climb or descend vertical ladders, so you have to make completely crazy detours through the levels and find shortcuts for her that weren't there before. Of course, all this time she limps along behind you, occasionally stopping to catch her breath or mumble a chthonic curse. You can give her a weapon, which takes up a slot in your already tiny inventory, so she can poke enemies, and she herself is immortal, but depending on the damage taken and moments when you leave her alone, her condition can worsen significantly, preventing you from saving her in the final boss fight and unlocking two of the four possible endings.

Otherwise, the story is pretty good with an interesting concept, the hero is a completely dead blank slate, even more so than the girl from the third part, but that's not critical because the story isn't about him this time. Again, they made multiple endings, four this time, and within the part's concept — the conditions for them aren't particularly interesting, but logical, I can accept that.
Overall, the part could have been great if not for its second half, for which full disrespect, and a couple of times I genuinely thought about dropping it, which didn't happen in 2-3, but I had to grit my teeth.


There's another part that came out on PC, but its ratings are already pretty sad, and frankly, after the second half of The Room with its brilliant game design, I definitely don't plan to start it.

Overall for the series, I can offer this opinion:
1: crap
2: above average
3: average
4: above average transitioning to almost crap

Summary — not as bad as I thought 13 years ago, but average at best.
Though now I wouldn't call the title overrated, because certain unique moments of narrative, continuity between parts, gameplay, atmosphere, and level design, which I can't readily recall in a similar format in other titles, are still felt here — another question is how much they resonate with each individual player. As for me — pretty vague, but I can understand the opposite opinion too. Overall, however, I don't think I'll return in my thoughts to any warm memories of the several dozen hours spent in this world.

I don't remember exactly when, but I started reading this (about 10 hours of it) shortly before I moved a couple of years ago, but since I left my computer at home, I kind of unintentionally dropped this novel. To be honest, at that time, I didn't feel any particular enthusiasm, nor did I feel any excitement about the abundance of philosophical reflections that were presented to the reader in quite detailed forms, so maybe it was all for the best, because this time I started reading it again and enjoyed it much more.

Of everything I've read, it reminded me most of Fate/stay night. The premise is this: there is a relatively small modern Japanese town that will soon be visited by "heroes" from the past, and they will clash in order to achieve some wonderful, mysterious goal, while our hero, an ordinary young man, is unwittingly drawn into the chaos of the events, but he is not so simple. For this reason, I think this comparison is quite appropriate. Well, and, in fact, if I had to recommend something to someone, regardless of my imaginary interlocutor's experience, my choice would be Fate, but personally, I liked this novel much more. The essence of this contradiction lies in my only complaint about what I read. The fact is that in terms of content, the four routes that make up this novel do not differ much from each other, and you end up re-reading approximately the same thing several times, about 15 hours each. That is, the same things said in different words, but with similar scenes. If it weren't for that, I wouldn't hesitate to say "10 out of 10!" and I wouldn't complain. On the other hand, maybe if it weren't for my crazy obsession with focusing on something, it wouldn't have been such a problem. Maybe, on the contrary, I would have enjoyed the opportunity to savor it longer. Oh, and continuing this comparison, in Fate, the "rules" of the world were more consistent.

I really liked the characters, all of them – even though most of them are scoundrels, you can more or less trace and understand the motivation of each one, but the witch, the protagonist's friend, and both villains were the ones that caught my attention the most. One of them, by the way, is very similar to Gilgamesh, but no matter how much I like him, I can't help but admit that the blond guy here turned out to be much more impressive. He is also a kind of "god-like king," but unlike his colleague, he has never tarnished his supernatural greatness with anger or arrogance, maintaining grace in any situation and even in communicating with those who, in comparison with him, would be like an ant compared to a tank. In this respect, he is very similar to the chancellor from Berserk. The protagonist here also appealed to me more.

The musical accompaniment is excellent, definitely one of the best among visual novels, which, given the high standard, is a very big achievement. A wealth of historical, literary, and philosophical references from different eras also added to the interest, and some of the voiced themes and thoughts made me think, although mostly about unpleasant things, such as the loss of youth and the associated view of life, for example. Or about my lifestyle over the past 15 years, where I can say that I "stopped in my tracks." In general, these are some depressing revelations.
I haven't watched movies in a long time, so I won't judge, but in games, anime, and visual novels, love in the context of friendship is rarely shown and often takes a very simplified form, but here it was one of the key themes, which I also liked.

While I was reading, I wanted to write something else, but I already forgot what, so never mind. In the "children's" version, there seem to be some additional scenes (since it was released later), so there is still an opportunity to enjoy them.

...
Oh, I remembered one thing. If you listen to modern English speech or read translations of Japanese games/anime, you might think that it is a very primitive and devoid of any beauty language, but in this novel, the translation is very eloquent, I even had to look up words in the dictionary from time to time, which I haven't done in several years.

Another Japanese story-rich, turn-based tactical game about a war between kingdoms, with some intrigue reminiscent of "Throne".
Overall, the story is good, well-presented, and the characters are well-developed, although it's not without some flaws. It even offers a degree of non-linearity in terms of plot branches, which is important in terms of recruitable heroes, playable missions, and certain moments in dialogues. However, ultimately, everything boils down to a few available endings, which are quite well-executed (or to a "true" ending, but you need to put in the effort and make the right choices). These endings may also be partially locked if you don't meet certain hidden and unpredictable parameters. However, the exposition is very long and tedious - in the first few hours, you get a couple of tutorial battles, and the rest of the time is filled with tedious cutscenes, introducing one unremarkable character after another, and this is perhaps the weakest point, but then it settles into a normal rhythm.

The music is mediocre in places, but good in others; overall, it's acceptable.
The graphics are over-pixelated, like in Octopath Traveler, and the maps are deliberately cubic and rough, like in Minecraft. At first, your eyes might strain, but you quickly get used to it.
The quality of the port, however, is disappointing. But it's not about bugs or unplayable moments; it's simply about the console developers and their PC porting team having a very poor understanding of convenience and ergonomics. There is nominally mouse support, but it is implemented very strangely - Brigantina sends its regards. As a result, I recommend playing either strictly with the keyboard or with a gamepad.
The design and functionality of the menus are also frustrating - to check some important screens that you frequently need to access, you often have to click a completely tedious and ill-conceived combination of keys. To load a game from the main menu, you need to press "yes" twice; the same goes for exiting to the main menu, and the same for certain moments in the game, and the same when moving from the world map to a battle and back, and so on. I don't know why it was designed this way, nor do I know whether to blame the native console with its "cultural peculiarities" or the port itself.

As for the gameplay, it's a tactical game. Not a dream come true, but in some ways more interesting than other recent games. The hero customization, however, could be better - you can give them an accessory, or simply slightly improve their stats or basic ability by spending crafting resources, which are very limited, and that's it. No subclasses, no special variety.
Overall, the combat is not very interesting - all abilities are combinations of attacks/movement from a certain range or in an area, plus buffs/debuffs, with rare exceptions. There is also a "elements" system, where, for example, an electric spell will spread through water, or you can set a puddle of oil on fire, but it is done very clumsily, inconveniently, and, most importantly, ineffectively, and overall it looks either like something added at the last minute for the sake of it, or like a heavily cut-down version of the original idea, and ultimately has no impact on the game.

If you like the genre and don't mind following the story - which is the strongest part of the game - then it's probably worth an 8 out of 10.

I'll also briefly mention the translation - I've long been used to the terrible localizations from the Anglo-Saxons, but here they have reached a new (actually, not new) level - in some places they have started to replace proper names, but strangely, not Japanese names with something drastically different, but quite European names with something slightly different.
For example, Greenburg became Glenbrook, Aurora and Taras became Avlora and Talas, etc. The comedic effect remains a mystery.



An open-sea fishing simulator with a Lovecraftian twist.
To be honest, the "horror" element of tension quickly fades away - when you realize the intricacies of the mechanics of moving at night and understand that, in essence, there are no restrictions on you, but at least there remains an interesting story in this style.
Otherwise, there is not much to say - you sail on a boat through several biomes, catch fish, upgrade the ship, do quests for NPCs to catch something special, and they treat you with eldritch stories about the archipelago.
Casual, but I enjoyed it - we old-timers don't need much.

Disco Elysium

Well, finally, I was persuaded to play it too, and a sudden cold helped facilitate this plan.

Indeed, a rather interesting and fun RPG, plus I realized that I generally like these text-based "choose from several answer options", as they aren't too taxing and run perfectly on my laptop without needing to turn on my desktop.

What follows is more a description of my playthrough than a review (I'm not sure what there is to review here). So it's basically full of spoilers.

When starting a new game, I already knew what I wanted from it, so with a swift motion I discarded the suggested builds and created a MADAO.

MADAO is an acronym of many meanings, describing a tragic character who is hopeless at life. Here are some phrases that the acronym stands for:

• Middle Aged Dumb Ass Oldies
• MAtomo ni DAkaretakunai Otoko (men no one wants to date)
• MAjide DAssai Oyaji: (the really uncool old man)
• MAssugu ikite no DAinashi na jinsei na Ojisan
  (old man who lives as he wants, but accomplishes nothing)

Stats: 5 in psyche, 3 in physique (1 in intellect, 2 in perception I think). Main skill: Empathy (to feel more sorry for myself). Later I also leveled Inland Empire, Endurance (as much as I could), Pain Threshold, Shivers (a little bit), Volition (a tiny bit).
Well, that's about it. I deliberately didn't level any Rhetoric-Suggestion and other stuff that is supposed to help manage people... I got a true MADAO, who walks around, feels sorry for everyone (himself first and foremost), but can't really do much.

Day 1: Who am I? Where am I? However, I'm not really worried about the memory loss, but about the fact that I can't fix that terrifying face in the mirror with my single point in Intellect; now I'll apparently have to look at it until the end of the game.
I wander around. First, the kids in the yard laughed at me, then my cop buddies (I called the station and tried to ask them who I was), then the fat racist at the newspaper kiosk (?). A typical MADAO day. Oh, and we also failed to get the corpse down from the tree, but at least it has one more hole in it now.
Of everyone in the city, apparently only the little girl at the bookstore thinks I'm a good cop. Not as good as Dick Mullen, but I'm real and he's not — she said so herself... Though I don't really deserve that treatment, I just told her she bites her fingers...
I passed a 3% Conceptualization check and got excited about the idea of painting something on the wall.
Towards the end of the day, I suddenly realized that those circles around my head, of which I had three or maybe even more at certain moments, were not quest markers.
Kim pawned his cool disc covers (not sure what to call them) so I wouldn't have to sleep on the street... Yeah, well.

Day 2: On the second day, I first humiliated myself by answering the racist test of the guy at the gate, and then I was humiliated by the Union boss. I just mumbled something incoherent, took damage from the chair and the humiliation, took his checks, and agreed that yes, the door needs to be opened. But the Union workers helped us get the corpse down from the tree, which delighted the yard kids...
I'm maybe not the most hardcore player, because I allow myself to change clothes before an important check. That's what happened this time too — after putting on some drama clothes, my detective managed to convince the bookstore clerk that Kim and I were paranormal experts. Honestly, I have to say that my game was surprisingly built around these "took a check and pulled it off", which maybe lowered the MADAO factor a bit. Surprisingly, at certain important moments (though not all), MADAO is quite lucky. Earlier, he somehow pulled off a "Visual Calculus" check analyzing sole prints, later he'd pull off the same check on car tire tracks and bullet trajectories...
So, we managed to get a fridge for the corpse this way.
But still, the biggest achievement was that MADAO managed to convince the bookstore clerk (who had softened up after the examination) that her daughter needs a school education. For that, Annette gave me a cool hat.
Finally, I figured out how to use the bag for bottles, and spent the rest of the day collecting them. I also opened the door for the Union boss, snooped around there, but haven't told the boss yet.
It's getting late, time for bed... Except the hotel clerk won't accept checks. And "Fritte" had been closed for a long time. Such authentic slacker behavior could only happen on a first playthrough; I was almost sure I'd be sleeping on the street. But then I remembered I had earlier begged a hair clip from old lady Lena: I pawned it at the (fortunately) 24-hour pawn shop, and now I had enough money.

Day 3: Closed the bridge and went to explore the fishing village. Generally, from this point on, two things happen: first, more and more checks are passed using the "put on some ridiculous clothes, passed" method, which arguably dilutes the playstyle... Sure, there's still inaccessible content, but somehow... And second, I suddenly realize I'm becoming rich. Annette's hat, which boosts Encyclopedia, combined with the thought that gives money for passing Encyclopedia checks, quickly netted me dozens of reál, essentially unlocking all shop content. Another thought — the one about being a "Sorry Cop" — allowed me to not spend much on healing items, because failing red checks (and there are still plenty of those) now gives you health, either physical or morale. No, don't get me wrong, I found all this really interesting... The nuance is that yes, a somewhat less beaten-down-by-life MADAO was emerging.
My MADAO became so brazen that, having resolved the door issue with the Union boss, he declared he wouldn't sign any papers regarding the amusement park. I don't care about your gun, I'm sick of your corrupt schemes, Prince of Baka, I no longer work for you, and I won't take your money anymore, goodbye forever, you scoundrel.
Bought back the hair clip from the pawnbroker and returned it to old lady Lena 😎

Day 4: Still running around checking the cryptid traps set up by Lena's husband. No results.
Living with the old woman in the fishing village, of course, since it's free.
Somehow resolved the quest chain regarding the church; I had to invest in Physical Instrument to find common ground with the programmer. Our company (the programmer, two cops, and four junkie partygoers) found a 2mm crack in the universe, but I'm too dumb to formulate any conclusions from it. Still, common ground was found with everyone. That's good.
Called a random number from a payphone and got through to (apparently) my ex-wife, taking some morale damage. That's sad.
For the second time in the game, I showed principle by stealing speed from Cuno's dad but not giving it to Cuno. You won't wrap me around your finger, kid, yee-haw!

Day 5: Since I managed to get the local Union guys to talk, and even become blood brothers with Titus (yes, using the changing-clothes method to maximize checks), we follow Ruby's trail. We find her. We die.

The detective was found dead of a heart attack

O_o

New game

O_o That was interesting, the continue button genuinely disappeared...

Alright, actually I just slightly under-leveled Endurance and Pain Threshold, even though I planned to. I load up a save and go. This time, I endure the psychomachine's trial, manage to ask all the necessary questions, successfully break the device, and... successfully convince Ruby not to shoot herself in the head! The latter, being a 20% Rhetoric check, was unexpected but pleasant.

Now I'm almost completely sure I'm a good cop. With a brisk stride, Kim and I head to Revachol, my Harry wearing that very hat Annette gave him... Actually, not that very one, but the second one. It turns out if you lose one hat (for example, by giving it to the junkie girl near the church), Annette will give you another one. Life is beautiful... I've blessed everyone and didn't forget myself, and the case is almost solved; I just need to question Klaasje one more time about what she's hiding this time (it's always like this with her).

In Revachol, near the hotel, there are three armed Federation cuirassiers about to kill the Union guys. And I still don't have a weapon?! Uh-oh. Looks like it's time to panic.

Or not? I'm so cool and lucky, what's that, a Rhetoric check? We'll pull it off now and explain everything, it'll be fine...

FAILURE.

INLAND EMPIRE: Tell them you killed the Federation commander, it'll be fine, trust me.

HARRY: Actually, the killer is me.


(It was very funny failing the dodge checks, while your HP bar empties, but you get +1 HP for being a Sorry Cop. In a way, you're unkillable, which unfortunately can't be said for the other participants in the shootout)

Day 7: Wake up with two holes in my body and my self-esteem back in the gutter. Kim finished me off by saying that the wounds weren't actually that bad, partner; you just had a heart attack because of your alcohol problems.
Only three of Hardy's boys are left; the rest were wiped out (not that I didn't warn them). Somehow tried to calm the survivors.
Klaasje left a clue in her room about the actual bullet trajectory... Not that it was unexpected; we just hadn't checked the island yet.
We sail...

The dialogue with the old senile communist is sad, of course, but that's basically the whole game. Yet another surprise pass of a 20% check — and now Kim is taking a photo of me in front of a previously unknown type of giant insectoids. Lena will be happy...

Lay down to rest in the fort before sailing back — and failed the most important check of my life, trying to kiss the only woman in the world I love. And it was over 50%... (((((((( Tell me, why did I need that passed 3% check for the ability to write "MOTHER OF ALL WALLS" on the wall, if now I failed this instead, was it worth it?! I wake up, promising myself to start drinking again after the case is closed.

Sailed back to the mainland and endured yet another humiliation from my colleagues. However, Kim saved me. It seems he's the second person, after Annette, who thinks I'm a good cop, despite all the times I've let him down.

I'm a loser, but not as big a loser as you thought. I wasn't fired (unlike the real MADAO), the case is closed, and life goes on. Somehow.

It took nearly three years (no joke this time, I still have three months left😎) since the day I started playing Fallout: New Vegas. For some reason, it feels like it was a random impulse. Usually, you prepare for a chosen game for a while, or you pick a genre and then look through the list for something you want to play right now. You only spontaneously start simple games. I don’t remember exactly how it was this time; maybe I just missed the wasteland, or got tired of third-party chatter about the game and decided to finally see it for myself (though after Morrigan I should have taken a longer break), or maybe I picked something relatively old while the game wasn’t too outdated and still runs stably (spoiler: no) on modern systems.
By the way, in the summer I sometimes choose old stuff/etc. because it doesn’t heat up the PC, and in winter, conversely, something more demanding x)

I forgot how to write reviews, so I’ll try to organize my thoughts and write them down point by point.
Character. 👨
Although I’ve played through all the previous games in the series (I know about builds), I still decided to check what people were saying about leveling in this installment. In the end, I learned about some features of Vegas (including Hardcore mode, which I played the game with). I decided to invest in Luck and be a crit build, especially since Charisma here doesn’t affect the number of companions (otherwise, I might have leveled it as usual). The appearance took me a bit more time, given the crappy editor and the fact that the result in-game is slightly different from what the editor shows. I didn’t want to copy my handsome bearded character from the 3rd game, so I decided to come up with some new look. The result was a dark-skinned rogue with a mustache, who didn’t stay a rogue for long, and eventually got boring (not the first time this has happened in games with face editors). I could post a screenshot, but I think most have already seen it (upd.). And I want to ask, why the hell, and most importantly, why are there 20 types of mustaches in the editor but only three beards?
First Steps. 🦶
That was quite a while ago, but I remember the beginning well, maybe because I thoroughly went through the first location and replayed the initial battle several times. Not because of the difficulty, but simply for enjoyment and a desire for it to go according to some personal scenario (old habits that resurface in such games). In the end, I stripped all the scoundrels and piled them into a cart, where they lay for quite a long time, and one named corpse even lay in the garden until the very end of the game (I didn’t encounter any others like it). Overall, it was a pleasant beginning. The return of mantises, which I suddenly discovered near the school, was a nice touch. At first, I didn’t even understand what was attacking me and got a little tense, especially since it was nighttime. But I liked that moment (including inside the school) because it was atmospheric. Plus, it’s just cool when enemies are present in a peaceful location. Then I was also given the chance to dig up graves, which is essentially a small thing, but a pleasant one. After that, the memories are fuzzier, though some segments stuck with me, like clearing out the prison and so on. At some point, I dropped the game, then came back and dropped it again. I think it happened about three times, counting the long breaks. Only last fall did I start playing more consistently, when I was around Novac and finishing Boone’s quest.
Expectation/Reality (Disappointments). 🌗
In this section, I’d like to note two things.
1. Vegas. The city itself, which I personally imagined as a large, vibrant place for "the insiders", guarded by cool guys in helmets and cloaks from the game’s cover, shooting down any wastelanders outside the walls. The intro video planted that exact image in my head (and they weren’t even in the city in the end, plus getting inside was pretty easy). When I was wandering around the walls in the game, that impression partially remained, although the map markers made me realize there wasn’t enough space left for the city, so I started assuming there was a separate map for it. Alas. Well, 50/50. Yes, the center itself turned out to be one street divided into three small parts, which was pretty dull. I don’t quite understand that decision, given the cities in games like Oblivion. However, Freeside was a pleasant surprise, reminding me of the Den from the 2nd game. Those are exactly the kind of locations I want to see, and as many as possible. I enjoyed every chance to kill another druggie-wastelander who decided to attack me (as well as the three muggers from the alley). In general, those two slum locations were the main highlights, though they weren’t very big either. Westside appealed to me less, and I got there much later. And yes, if you’re going to add big cities, then do it this way and in this form, not like the abominable city from the third game. The only thing worse than that is the metro from the same third game.
2. The final battle. Honestly, I expected more, at least something on the level of the third game’s battle with the giant robot. Admittedly, it’s not as big a downside as the first one, considering the battle lasts about 15 minutes and happens once, whereas you hang around Vegas for a long time.
Bugs... bugs never change.🐛
At the beginning, there didn’t seem to be any, but somewhere around Novac (when I resumed the game), they started appearing. Let’s start with the usual crashes (especially when everything is shooting around), which might have occurred earlier and I just forgot about them, since it’s common in many places and to some extent normal. But then freezes during loading started, and that became a serious problem because I had to restart. This happened when loading a save (both when entering the game and during the game itself), when fast traveling, and sometimes possibly when entering a location, but that’s not certain. I spent a long time looking for a solution, tried following various advice, but couldn’t fundamentally change the situation. However, I did use one trick that seemed to help. It concerned the initial load. The idea was to load a save with the character in an enclosed space and preferably a small one when entering the game. For this reason, I made a save in Pete’s house and always loaded that first (before that, I had a different one). During the game itself, I obviously didn’t do that anymore, because it would be a hassle, and it’s not certain it would have helped anyway. So I still caught those freezes sometimes. Though I do have a theory regarding this sub-point, as well as the fast travel issue. Maybe it was about rushing. Take yesterday’s case, when I left the house, quickly opened the map and tried to fast travel, immediately catching the bug. Maybe the game simply can’t keep up with the processes—like there’s an autosave running in parallel, I’m pressing buttons and activating other processes, causing the game to hang. I’ve noticed this bug many times in similar situations. Or when you quickly load several times in a row, like when hacking a computer. Fail-load, fail-load, fail-load = bug. Although there were cases where there was no rush, but the freeze still happened, though those instances seemed fewer. If I’m not mistaken, it occurred more often somewhere in the center of the map, near the NCR camp. It was pretty annoying, though towards the end I encountered it less often, maybe because the DLCs worked better in that regard. I’d like to say the bugs ended there, but no. After clearing the camp near Boulder City, I discovered that the game died (or also froze completely? I don’t recall exactly, it was a while ago) when opening the quick-access menu. That is, I couldn’t assign weapons to hotkeys for quick switching between them. I tried loading an older save, but the bug was already there, and replaying from an even earlier one seemed too much trouble, so for the rest of the game I manually switched weapons through the inventory. Over time, I even got used to it, though it wasn’t very pleasant, especially since I was carrying several types of weapons. There were also minor bugs in quests and other situations, but all that is trivial. I’ll only mention the stupid Legion patrols that started attacking several times a day at some point until I completed a specific quest.
upd. Idk if it’s a bug or a feature, but crafting at a campfire worked oddly—specifically, the list would stop scrolling.
Style. 🤠
Somewhere around the middle of the game, I suddenly realized I don’t really like the atmosphere of this installment, specifically the whole cowboy theme that’s almost everywhere. Everyone’s in hats, half are carrying rifles and revolvers, making it closer to a post-apocalyptic western than something more familiar. It’s understandable—it’s about the setting (there are even real-life differences), and I agree with a friend who explained it as there being no unified country anymore, only some remnants of the past that people try to recreate in the new world, often without fully understanding them. And while some imitate Elvis, others find their own symbols and do other things. I won’t even talk about the Legion; it’s a very strange concept, in my opinion. Apparently, they thought ordinary raiders wouldn’t cut it anymore. But they didn’t stop there and for some reason added Khans on top of that, which is a lot for one game. Thank goodness there aren’t any Huns or something)
Gameplay. 🎮
It’s hard to describe the game in detail, given my attitude towards stories and the fact that it differs from the 3rd game (which everyone played) mostly in content (which again, you wouldn’t retell) rather than anything else. Overall, it seemed better than the third installment. I think that’s logical and even correct. Especially since there were almost no gameplay issues, aside from some DLC moments and bugs. So for the most part, it was pleasant to run around, explore locations, do quests, and dive back into the wasteland world, even if I sometimes got tired of it (the usual story with games from Bethesda and Co.). I’d like to highlight the vaults and the stories they held as a separate point. It was really interesting to learn about them, and in my opinion, that’s one of the main positives of the game.
upd. Liked the references to the old games.
DLC. 🧩
I liked that they were connected to each other and the main story. In that regard, it’s better than the DLC from the third game. Though the first and third ones don’t easily associate with the Fallout universe for me, so they feel more like separate sci-fi stories.
1. Money. Who the **** created this town? In my opinion, one of the worst locations in the series, if not in games overall. I got sick of wandering through these identical mazes with tons of passages. In the end, I couldn’t find Dean’s last stash. Just an abominable place. The casino itself is better, the atmosphere is eerie, and the idea with the holograms is cool—they essentially are real ghosts (extra point for the singer). The story was also good; I generally liked the second part of this DLC. Too bad I never got to hear the mutant’s story, and not all the companions survived х)
2. Hearts. Visually pleasant, and you can really take a break from the grayness of the main game by immersing yourself in more colorful and vibrant landscapes. I’d also like to note specific locations, like the bus that fell from the bridge (a small thing, but atmospheric) and the campsites. Nothing was particularly annoying, except the constantly respawning mobs behind my back. What the hell was that? But it was cool that plants returned. The storyline with the tribals didn’t particularly move me, but the survivor’s notes were engaging, and it was interesting to learn his story. + I found out the fate of the vault dwellers.
3. Blues. In my opinion, this DLC has the fewest positives. Yeah, there are a couple of jokes, but that’s it. The location is crap, not very convenient to explore. The story is so-so (though the ending slightly redeems it), + it stands out the most from the rest of the game. The mobs are ****. Worse than in the last DLC. They appear even more often and very suddenly, as if crawling out of an incubator. Why do that? The little scorpions look cool, reminded me of the Aladdin cartoon. Also caught a bug with a dog that couldn’t get out of the building.
4. Road. The most pleasant DLC to play through, since for the most part you just go forward and that’s it, though there are many hidden secrets too (I didn’t find 5 posters!). The story is a bit strange, honestly. They built it up so much, but in reality... I dunno, I wasn’t particularly impressed. But otherwise, it’s fine—interesting landscapes and good locations.

There were probably many other thoughts about the game, whether about weapons, armor types, or more global things, but I’ve forgotten them now.
upd. And yes, I played through the game completely and poked into every possible nook and cranny. Except I didn’t complete the slave liberation quest entirely correctly—I freed them before getting the quest, so I couldn’t turn it in to the main questgiver (though the quest itself completed immediately), and those idiots stood in the Mormon Fort for the entire game.


I took too long to finish the game, as usual (especially with open worlds). But I’m glad I did. Not sure if I’ll decide to play the 4th game when the wasteland calls again. More likely, I’ll play the fan-made 2D games, of which there are already several. In any case, I need to take a break now and tackle something less ambitious/return to other started games, and then maybe someday I’ll finally get around to Skyrim... though Starfield is already on the horizon х)
ps bring back the WoW topic or let it sit here?

If only she knew the meaning behind that name...

Before I share my impressions of my playthrough, let me highlight two important points.

First, I approached this game series with some prejudice. This is due to the fact that:
- Console exclusives sometimes tend to generate a lot of hype around themselves, which later, upon release on PC, doesn't quite live up to it (subjective example - Detroit). The same applies to iconic franchises in general, regardless of platform (subjective example 2 - Final Fantasy).
- I had come across screenshots - uneven UI elements, its overall design, and character designs seen in the GBF collab didn't exactly spark much desire to play.

Second, two factors coincided that physically prevented me from trying this game: 
- I don't have a console, and after the port's release, nobody cracked it and apparently has no plans to.
- A couple of years ago, wanting lower prices on Steam, I changed my region, which turned out to be a mistake given recent events. 
So on one hand there was no way to buy it, and on the other, a pirated copy simply doesn't exist. The situation resolved itself last month when a buddy offered me to play from his account. For that, of course, many thanks to him.

Those were the circumstances surrounding my introduction to this game. Now I won't beat around the bush and will say right away that it was really cool. Even just from a technical standpoint - the game allows you to play practically every day over a very long period of time. During this period you can engage in a wide variety of activities - spending time with friends and acquaintances, studying, reading something, playing video games, and all sorts of other things. At the same time, all activities are limited by time and certain other constraints, and each character has their own schedule, so you get the impression that there's some level of life in the world, and you have to plan your actions a bit. Along the way, together with progressing through the story and building relationships with other characters, more and more new mechanics unlock, and right up until the very end you keep encountering something fresh. The city as a whole and its individual locations in particular are very well crafted — there are all kinds of little shops, entertainment venues, and such everywhere — and you can interact with all of it. I especially liked the school, even though there wasn't too much content there — but the very fact of its detail couldn't help but please. The subway is also worth highlighting — probably the first time in my life that its concept evoked anything besides gloominess in me — you board these trains not out of desperation but so they carry you on the wings of the wind toward something interesting or pleasant.
Another amusing thing — during the brief lessons the protagonist attended, I probably learned more interesting facts than in a decade spent at a real school. Speaking of the protagonist — aside from being able to live through almost every single day of his life, I really liked how the guy meets new people, builds connections, makes friends, finds love, and grows as a person. He doesn't say much, being a "self-insert," but his role among the characters and within the story is clearly visible. As for the other characters — the main group is very harmonious; each member has their place both within the group itself and against the backdrop of larger events. Nobody was just tagging along like a sidekick or serving as an accessory to the protagonist. Non-playable characters are interesting and likable to varying degrees, especially the confidants (heh). It's a bit of a shame I couldn't max everyone out and thus see each individual scene, but maybe someday in the future I'll fix that. By the end of the game, the ranks looked like this, by the way:

Header

Fool: 10
Magician: 10
Priestess: 10
Empress: 7
Emperor: 4
Hierophant: 10
Lovers: 10
Chariot: 3
Justice: 10
Hermit: 9
Fortune: 1
Strength: 0 (dragged her all over town, but the task completely slipped my mind... later during the game I found out I'd cut off potential functionality for myself)
Hanged Man: 5
Death: 10
Temperance: 10
Devil: 4
Tower: 1
Star: 10
Moon: 10
Sun: 4
Judgement: 10
Faith: 7
Counsellor: 10

The hierophant and the magician deserve special mention from me. The former is something of a father figure, while the latter is a great friend and helper who's always by your side. Both help you cope with life's difficulties and mold yourself into a better version of yesterday's self. Well, at least that's how I saw it. That said, this applies to all the other friends as well. Regarding the girls, I already mentioned above that when I encountered their designs in the past (GBF event, screenshots, various merch like figurines), my eyes weren't popping out of my head with enthusiasm, but in reality most of them (or at least those I got to know more closely due to the "event point" limit) are superb. Seriously ranking them in this situation wouldn't be very smart, especially considering I haven't seen all the scenes, but I'll do it anyway for fun: 

Header

1. Star.
2. Lovers.
3. Priestess.
4. Death. 
5. Empress.
6. Hermit.
7. Strength.
8. Faith. 
9. Temperance.
10. Fortune.
11. Devil.

Regarding the character outfit designs and their personas, I could say I'm not particularly a connoisseur of what was presented here, but since it all served as a reflection of their inner selves, accepting these looks in a positive light wasn't hard for me, especially if you view the cognitive world in the same vein as dreams — where the human subconscious simply seeps outward without asking our opinion. The same can be said about the "palaces" — each was unique and interesting in its own way; I'm even curious what my own would look like, or those of certain people in my circle of acquaintances. 

Throughout the game, many philosophical questions were raised regarding the morality of various deeds, and I liked that each vice had a clearly established root cause, while the villains' rationalization of their actions was quite respectable, and I perceived the Phantom thieves' raids not so much as their fight against obvious "evil" but rather their following of their personal sense of justice — so even if one might occasionally wonder whether their "social reform" carries a willful and somewhat selfish character, often stemming from their personal issues with society, I saw no problem in that. And speaking of society, I especially liked how well the mechanism of public opinion was depicted.

Header

The final boss deserves a special mention due to his altruistic nature and goals. There's understanding and respect between him and the game's heroes, and ultimately it all comes down to a clash of perfectly viable yet contradictory beliefs on both sides. The only thing I regret somewhat is that although I can agree with the game's message, the more I look at the world and think about where it's heading, the more reality keeps defeating that message day by day and makes me think that this character's ideas aren't so bad after all. Though, of course, calling it "happiness" would be a stretch:
 
(Ironically, that's exactly where we're headed)

All in all, I'm even sorry to part ways with someone else's account — that's how much I enjoyed the game and how polished it is. If Utawarerumono nearly made an alcoholic out of me, Persona 5 made me seriously consider getting into coffee on a slightly deeper level. 

Lastly, the persona I used for most of the game: 

Why? Just thought it looked cool despite its plain appearance. Here's what skills I taught it: 
Attachment 70097
Closer to the end of the game, of course, plenty of other powerful/cool ones appeared.