In an era where Gods still rule and walk among people, the golden city of Dagsion sits in the center of the world: a sprawling metropolis, that houses everyone who's someone in the empire, with iconic landmarks like the gigantic Coliseum and the eight Temples of the Gods. Ruled by the Divine Sovereign Solel, in the Imperial Year 1449, the streets are aflame for a competition is about to start in the great city: the Heroic Games, where the strongest warrior of the realm will be given the title of Flame Lord of Dagda and granted a wish by Solel himself. As a single narrative divided in three parts, **Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave** cleverly creates four different point of views of the first part and makes it easy to play them all in one playthrough. While it can be overwhelming sometimes and it is the the longest game in the series by far, the _PoV_ structure results in a satisfying story with the most memorable cast of Fire Emblem characters to date. And because it is the same world as 2019's Three Houses, there's a sense of maturity and structure in the worldbuilding itself, expanding on themes and identities first introduced in that game. At a glance, and reading the route descriptions, things seemed to be predictable enough. I was surprised to see that every path somewhat subverts the expectations, with clever twists for everyone. Fire Emblem as a series is full of one sided characters, and while some are present in this game here and there, the protagonists with point of views and their inner circles are maybe the most well realized bunch of characters since Fire Emblem Path of Radiance, but unlike the old GameCube classic, where only 4 or 5 characters were given that importance, here, every Route protagonist and their closer crew are surprisingly flashed out. Each of these four different "paths" have 12 chapters, and completing one greatly enhances rewards from battles and experience through the Boons of Salvation mechanic, so seeing a full story before starting another one is advised. Still, I could change between routes at any time, and while progress on Part 1 isn't really shared between them, when everything merges later in the game, there are tangible gameplay rewards for finishing all the routes, like more units, items, accumulated gold and a way to mix characters to "inherit" bonuses. After all, Fire Emblem is a tactical role playing game, so having lots of units often equates in having more stuff to do in the game. The world is massive, but a timed structure dictates how exploration, battle and questing works: objectives must be met until a time limit arrives, so planning what to do is a important and addictive part of the game. Battles take place in an grid like arena where each tile matters. Units have different ways of interacting with the scenario, but generally speaking, walking into an enemy and fighting it is somewhat predictable, because the odds of the combat are shown to the player in the moment units are about to combat each other. **Fortune's Weave** has one of the clearest combat in the series so far, and it is easy to understand and remember what is good and what is not. 0:00 /0:25 1× Breaking some traditions of the franchise, this game is less about a "weapon triangle", where each weapon is stronger against another, and uses bonuses and special weapons to actually dictate what effective against what. Because of it, units are more unique, and a class in a specific troop can be really different than the same class on another. Intelligent System created a great structure where each character can be their own because of special traits that are unlocked at level 25 and 35 and is different for every unit. It ends up being a satisfying experience most of the times, and more balanced than I expected. In my opinion, the best class system of the franchise. Another strong aspect of this game lies with its customization and combat, greatly enhanced by cursed abilities and equipment – both gear and weapons – that can tangibly change how some spells and even passives work, creating opportunities to break or make the game. All of these have a downside that can lead up to less maximum life during the battle, so I needed to thread carefully when using them to avoid a permanent death. Also, I've played this game on Normal, mostly because of the game length, and I was again happy to see that while the Part 1 can gravitate towards the easier side, other two parts often challenged me in fun ways. I still think that the enemies could've been a little more aggressive, though, and use more combat arts, even on the normal difficulty. Although fast to navigate through, the menus can be messy and bloated. Why does the game feature three different buttons that go to three different – and relevant – menus? I've often found myself a bit lost on the UI, that can be a bit too much sometimes, mostly on the beginning of the third act. Beyond the occasional fetch quests, there are some bigger side stories in the later part of the first section of the game, named "Paralogues", and these have the best maps in this first act by far, with interesting challenges and gimmicks that made me even replay some in subsequent routes. These paralogues also feature interesting lore and character development with other contestants and feature great rewards that are worth it for late game. Admittedly, the part I enjoyed the most of the game was the first one, even if it was the easiest, mostly because It is where the world is enhanced, lore is created and everything is shrouded in delightful mystery. Also, the relationships between characters surprised me: in all routes, there was something that really stayed with me, and it marked the first time that I cried in a Fire Emblem game. Because the Playable Character is not really that relevant on the first part, it ends up having room to develop what otherwise would be simple units into relevant and important characters. And this strong supporting cast only enhances the uniqueness of each route, that not only has different stories that rarely repeat themselves, but special "gimmicks" and powers for each point of view. It is really commendable how a big game like this can have four different play styles, making two pillars of the game – combat and exploration – different enough for everyone. While Cai needs to learn, train and do acts of kindness to raise his renown, Dietrich needs to do find combats hidden in dungeons, Leda is tasked with performing in every city and Theodora constantly raises resources for the nation she leads. Making questing and exploration unique for the characters was greatly appreciated. What is very similar between the routes -- and the other parts of the game -- is the social element of **Fortune's Weave**. Raising the support level between units is important to see some character development and it even grants bonuses on the field, so having a intimate crew is important. The activities to raise support levels aren't that interactive, though, and apart from a funny theater, it is mostly a series of menu options. While combat and exploration are on another level, the social aspect is starting to show its age with simplistic systems introduced (and not changed much since) the 3DS era. Maybe the most overwhelming and also rewarding side of this game is the world map and its exploration. It is something present in the first and third part of the game, and it is surprisingly big and daunting. Moving around spends some time, and because the game has only one save file, changing my mind on how I would explore during the periods would often lead to restart the chapter altogether. I think the save system can be too punitive sometimes, but after understanding the game and the world better, I started having time to spare, so exploring was always an option. Every character has something different to do on the world map. Cai can farm fields and lure mounts, while Dietrich can battle extra enemies and Theodora can rally people and raise armies in different cities across the continent. And beyond these specific activities, there are dungeons everywhere that can be explored by foot and have a more traditional, turn based battle inside them. While they're not complex, it is a nice change of pace, and these dungeons can be quite rewarding, both in experience and items. I don't really know if the turn based combat was really the choice here, because its simplicity made me skip or autoplay most of my encounters, but still, it is a different way to play with these characters and I liked exploring them when I needed to. As the second part finishes and the bigger plot unveils, I felt that some characters and conclusions were a bit rushed, and not everything is that clearly said to the player. I think that the game gets a little worse when the Playable Character becomes the protagonist, but the whole story still is very much worthwhile, even if a bit samey later on. The challenges on these later parts are great, on gigantic arenas with 17 or even 25 units to be deployed – in my opinion, **Fortune's Weave** successfully delivers on its scale without being overindulgent, with a balanced game and memorable experience for everyone who loves good role playing games. The best of the series, and one the best games on Switch 2. ## 9.5/10 0:00 /0:24 1×

Games often are predictable. Not because of some conspiracy-mongering about a hidden agenda — but because the cooperative artistry behind game development often results in studios and teams with a very specific set of strengths and weaknesses that shape the imperfect-perfect art that they deliver in the end. After a decent introduction in the first few hours, I've started to notice that **Marvel's Wolverine** was taking a bit too much to _really_ begin, if that makes any sense. My relationship with Insomniac's previous games was always highlighted by their exceptional open-world design, where they can weave interesting mini-games and side stories to really bring a massive map to life. That's what I remember the most from both the first game I've played from them, 2014's Sunset Overdrive, and from the last, 2023's Marvel's Spider-Man 2, the latter being exceptional at this design. 0:00 /0:13 1× Since the announcement of **Marvel's Wolverine** , it was clear to me that this was not going to be an open-world Action Adventure game like everything else both in the market and from the studio's previous output. I assumed that they were going to make a character-focused Action game, aiming for the absurdly technical, rewarding and explosive experiences of linear, replayable and 10-hour games like Bayonetta 2 and Devil May Cry 5. Instead, what Insomniac delivered is a Frankenstein of an experience: not quite actiony and not quite adventurous, on a stretched 20-hour campaign that can't quite _carve_ its own identity. Following some _absolute_ trends from the current Super-Hero comic book landscape, **Marvel's Wolverine** is a blank slate for the whole Mutant ethos in this universe, that features famous characters but swap their origins or intentions. Without any kind of canon needed to be followed, Logan is an amnesiac that only remembers the last 30 years of his life, even though he doesn't age. Before that, he was just a feral being, without any semblance of a personality whatsoever, roaming the world like an animal. The person that saved Logan at the time is now the same person that needs saving in the first mission of this game — Nathanial Essex — so Logan's back with the team, alongside Sabretooth and Mystique, for a "last mission" to save their leader. While the pitch for this world is good and it is a decent foundation for the mutants in this universe, the great opening act led me to believe that some characters were going to be way more important than what they actually are in the rest of the game. As the story progresses, the game blatantly stops focusing on the mutants that it introduced and the setting it created to start a more intimate story of Wolverine and this new red-haired mutant he just found: Jean Gray. This would not necessarily be a problem, in a game called "Wolverine", to have a more intimate story focused on him, but the writing of this game failed massively in creating any kind of chemistry whatsoever between the leads. Interactions are rushed and _cut_ to conclusions really quickly. Eventually, there is some kind of narrative explanation for this, but even considering the ending twists, the writing failed massively in making these characters themselves before their relationships, so everyone feels fake and a bit pretentious. Still, well, I'm here to press buttons, right? A good action game can have a terrible story and I wouldn't really mind. But, then, again, it doesn't really feel that the game has started. Wolverine doesn't have access to somewhat basic abilities, that are locked behind a leveling system, and by the middle of the game, the story sure has started, but the gameplay stays lukewarm at best. This middle section of the game is the worst in its writing, also, with cringe-worthy dialogues or expositions about the past. The story gets a bit better in its conclusion, but is that really an achievement considering what was happening before? I can't really say. Unfortunately, **Marvel's Wolverine** never achieved what it aimed for with its gameplay as well, delivering a gorgeous but anemic battle system that never really _slashed_ as it should. Logan can act both in a very basic stealth (in some encounters), or brutal action, that is indeed fast and somewhat reactive, but not different enough to really be a game where I'm playing as Wolverine. With Spidey in his games, web-slinging, shooting webs and traversing around the arenas were only possible because I was playing as Spider-Man. Here, Wolverine can't really climb other than few obvious structures, can't really leap other than at very specific targets and can't really maul like one would expect him to. Maybe the biggest aspect of Wolverine in **Marvel's Wolverine** gameplay is with its rage system. Doing combos make the rage gauge go up, and when it gets to its second section, Logan has an extra life at the expense of it, reaching third and maximum, most of his attacks become insta-kill for a while. This is nice, and honestly it is the only part of the character that I find it well realized in this game. Still, the simplistic gameplay can be reduced to mashing the square button and the occasional parry, so the gameplay loop isn't that unique. 0:00 /0:06 1× While Insomniac aimed for a focused, more linear Action game, what it delivered is just an above-average experience, that isn't as iconic as playing as Batman or Spider-Man is, and not because of Wolverine as a character, but because of Insomniac's decisions on how the game is played: effectively, a simple, basic and decent action game with Wolverine as the main character. The camera can be a mess, with a problematic system to determine the target, and while the combat is somewhat decent in the open arenas, there are several fights in closed spaces, rooms etc., where the whole thing clashes with itself, resulting in a button-mashy cacophony of ideas that are always obstructed by the camera. Instead of designing the world for Wolverine, it is just a simple, polished and gorgeous action game with a bad story that can't really highlight its characters or its systems. The production value is what makes this above average for me, as the game has a decent amount of enemy variety and my playthrough was basically free of bugs, with impressive cutscenes and presentation. But a single attack button and a parry aren't really enough for the combat, even considering the leaps that Logan can do between enemies, and the serviceable but forgettable stages – that lack any kind of mini-games, stories or activities – didn't do a thing to make his powers or presence unique. With a rushed story that can't really live up to its characters alongside a wasted supporting cast, **Marvel's Wolverine** only delivered an above average experience for me. A samey, uninteresting love story full of melodrama and an action game that doesn't really have an identity other than mash square to kill grunts. ## 6.5/10

It is in the simplicity of its premise and the cleverness of its execution that great cooperative games actually shine the brightest. A funny thing – it is exactly what makes great puzzle games as well. **Big Walk** simply does the obvious by being a cooperative puzzle-solving game, but the journey within is far from dull: filled with brilliantly designed challenges, it is a memorable experience and a great respite to have with friends. Everything from the very start is endearing and charming, with clear and direct instructions that highlight something important to have in mind almost every time while playing this game: talking, coordinating, and interacting are key to progressing through the game. I've played with two other friends, and after a simple explanation with great environmental storytelling, we were good to go. It isn't hard at all to find what to do, with the first area being a bit more closed than the rest of the game. Soon, we found that there's a room inside a tower with strange fruit-like recesses that are blocking a key. Oh, look at that: the puzzles reward these same colorful rubber flora, waiting to be returned to these towers. As soon as our first puzzle was solved, the day and night cycle kicked in, and the total darkness of the night quickly became the biggest friction in gameplay so far. The night can be eerie, and getting lost sure is problematic. We finished the first section drenched in smugness: professional gamers blazing through this kids' game! After a... Big walk, the whole scope of the island opened to us: half a dozen of other similar looking towers, scattered throughout the place and lots of colorful structures here and there holding those damn orange papayas. The proximity voice chat made walking around and communicating something that we would need to keep in mind all the time, and I was pleasantly surprised by how it deepened the gameplay, making talking and walking around, especially in the darker wee hours, something that I actively needed to be aware of. Suddenly, this whimsical island started putting more in our way than I could ever imagine. And I was loving every moment of it. More and more, the regions started to have more of a character: some alps over there, jungles in that area, and beaches in another. We had a straightforward approach: one tower at a time, and respecting our limits. Still, chaos sometimes ensued, with one of us getting lost during the night only to appear on the other side of the island. Clever rendezvous points are scattered across the island, though, and with the help of some flares, we could reunite the next morning. Every day was different, and every session was as well – but always fun, because while the puzzles became more complex, they were never truly complicated or hard to understand. I was really impressed by how balanced this game is. Because there were always more puzzles than what we needed to progress, if something was too cryptic, going to another place was easy and encouraging. We also started trusting and understanding each other more, with the constant dopamine hit of being able to figure out what to do in each location going on all the time. Little by little, we started giving life back to the island, with the always-running modes of transportation being turned on again. It felt as if we had reactivated a theme park. It's like Jurassic Park, but with puzzles instead of dinos. I've played this game on the PlayStation 5, and overall, the performance was good. The more we progressed through the island, though, it clearly started to drop some frames once in a while, and the game geometry can sometimes be weird, resulting in movement clipping here and there. Fortunately, nothing that hurts the exploration. The island is big, and players don't always need to be together. I experienced one crash, though, but a handy "lost and found" system protected our progression. The gameplay cycle hides some surprises here and there, with unexpected moments of joy, panic, and fear—sometimes products of the feeling of being lost or misinterpreted. There are no spooky moments whatsoever in this game, but sometimes a butterfly may flutter in one's stomach. The island is quiet, but subtle sounds and different flora make it strikingly its own thing, as the main character in the game. Even in the wider areas of the game, the next little adventure was always clear. The puzzles themselves were varied on their own, but generally speaking, solving them often boiled down to the way to better explain something to each another in a myriad of different situations. Not everything to be discovered is a puzzle, though, with nice radios playing ambient music in each region of the game. Also, not every puzzle is the same: while one may require quick coordination between us three, another was simply waiting five minutes in a house and talking while resting for a while. Absolutely nothing overstayed its welcome. Another highlight of the game was the many different items that we could use to assist us during our journey, with flashlights that made progress possible at night and laser pointers to coordinate between one another. Not all puzzles can be solved with items, but most of them can, and sometimes an item can make solving something that much easier. Because equipment space is very limited, using a tool well becomes more relevant than having lots of options. Traversing through the world became easy and as pleasurable as the "plop" sound that our little rubber feet make while strolling. **Big Walk** was big fun with two big friends. It is a celebration of puzzle solving and cooperation, and it is strikingly effective in everything that it does, with an emotional and heartfelt gameplay-centric ending. A truly memorable time. ## 10/10 * * *

Right from the beginning of the game one thing was perfectly clear: I can't really predict how the many stories from the region of Vale Sangora will end in **The Blood of Dawnwalker**. And these said stories not often end in a happy way: the whole land had been taken by Vampires (here called Vrakhir) and while the previous despot was far from being good, burning and killing people infected with the plague, the new Vampire overlords just see the Vale as big cattle field, with people to be protected, sure, but also drained. This bleak setting is very much in contrast with the sweet-hearted protagonist Coen, that has been transformed into a Vampire by their own regional leader, Brencis, as a punishment. Unbeknownst to all, Coen is actually a Dawnwalker, human by day, Vrakhir at night, and as soon as he discovers that the people of his village, including his family, were kidnapped by the new Lords, the clock starts ticking and there are only 30 days until the coronation that will solidify Brencis as the new Knyaz. It is a simple story and premise, but **The Blood of Dawnwalker** uses this setting as a game mechanic – the days are as relevant as they can be. Side and Main stories often require a time slot to be spent, and the day and night are each limited on their own. The first area of the game is a tutorial exactly for that: there may not be time to do it all. Before going a bit deeper on the game, this is the most important thing that needs to be addressed: The time limit is definitely **not** a problem. There **is enough time to do everything that one would want to do in a single playthrough.** Different from many other games in the genre, **Dawnwalker** is not particularly big – it is possible to finish it (even with a good ending) in about 15 to 20 hours on the day 15 at the latest. I finished the game with all side quests completed with about 40 hours, on the day 25. The time limit works more in a way to enhance questing and exploration while creating a little sense of urgency, but nothing else. Still, maybe in an effort to make the time progress for the completionists, some decisions were made that I wasn't sure about. Opening chests can sometimes cost time – but not always. This same confusion happens with other side activities as well. Still, it is easy to understand what story is really relevant to pursue and what is a time waster, as the time is only spent when the activity is complete. Also, the system doesn't really cares about a calendar, and I honestly felt that this was a missed opportunity to highlight this system even more. A holiday, maybe? Or having the Mass day to happen every Sunday. Not here. 0:00 /0:08 1× Either way, it is a strong aspect of **Dawnwalker** how some experiences can be strikingly different if done by day or night. Although the overall arc is straightforward, the stories in Vale Sangora can be everything but. Dark twists and turns everywhere paint a shadowy picture over the vale, and exploring both the big city of Svartrau and the smaller villas all around was always ominous and intriguing. As I said, the optimistic and empathetic persona of Coen gives an interesting layer of storytelling, because my good deeds and trying to help were actually rewarded with people that will remember what I've done. I was pleasantly surprised to see how the stories I've partaken actually affected one another. These are sprawling questlines that are very focused on smaller characters and their settings while effortlessly weaving them into Coen's mission. Be it a big brute I helped on a bar or a fasting Vrakhir in the middle of a murder mystery – these relationships that Coen creates throughout the game are very well done, and the only thing that I actually wanted to see more, story-wise. Mostly because some stories are bigger than others while every character is interesting on the supporting cast. Maybe adding some more quests for Vicho and Ocha and making them a romance option would have done it for me. The more realized characters, Lacra, Anca and Marat, were all great and very memorable. Because this game takes place in a fictional village in our world, the values of the region aren't always that progressive towards many people in society. **Dawnwalker** cleverly juxtaposes dark horrors made by fictional monsters with the horrors that human inflicted, and uses the narrative device of Vampirism, as in longevity and rebellion, to comment some harsh realities that people were facing at the time. In narrative twists emblematic of great role playing games, it allows victims to tell their stories, and these were the moments where the cast of this game truly conquered me. The same cannot really be said about the antagonists here. While Brencis is someone impossible to forget, most of his lackeys felt just like that, lackeys. All of their stories are basically tied to Brencis and only exist to actually develop him. Also, I couldn't really differentiate their fiefdoms, and that was a major problem within this game's exploration. Vale Sangora is pretty and well realized as whole, but I didn't really feel that Vampires were ruling the region for two years, unopposed. The world unfortunately can be a bit lost in the dialogue of its themes sometimes, and the repetitive encounters don't help, worsened by a bad enemy variety. Still, fantastic stories are sprinkled throughout the mountains and rivers of the vale. A region may be engulfed in mist because of an evil spell, hidden in a macabre convent full of zombie-nuns. A distant, magic tower may be housing a ravaging alchemist, who seems to be meddling with the occult and creating monsters using human flesh. These are the most special moments of this game, when twisted stories are able to live in Vale Sangora. 0:00 /0:07 1× The day and night cycle works wonders to enhance how unique it is to progress on all of these events. At night, it may be easier to traverse or even break in, but people might not be that receptive to Coen and attack on sight, while at bright sunlight, a guarded place might only be accessible with some social engineering. These clever, non-violent solutions to many stories are way more relevant than having "more points invested in persuasion" could ever be. The better stories can be done in either Vampire or Human form, with progress and outcomes tied to when the stories are done as well. The more people or animal Coen drains, the higher his Vampirism gets. I think that hunger should've played a bigger role in **Dawnwalker** , though. At night, the only real friction that being a Vampire may entail is talking with someone at low health, that is, hungry, Coen may succumb to the hunger and kill whoever is in front of him. But this is never really a problem because his hunger doesn't increases through night outside combat, and having blood is as accessible as using a potion can be. I don't really think that the consequences of vampirism are as well implemented as the powers of vampirism were. 0:00 /0:02 1× Another issue with this game is that most of its activities end up relying a bit too much on the combat system. Don't get me wrong, the combat is great and different enough, with interesting directional strikes and parries that can make or break a fight, but again, there's not much variety, effectively only two weapon styles and because the enemies are very repetitive, the combat feels like work. The great writing holds everything together, though, but the team at **Rebel Wolves** need to focus on having mini games and actual interesting activities and modes of traversal to make the roleplay really work on the next installments. Some aspects of the game are too formulaic and menu driven, like the uninteresting crafting and the bland equipment systems. The first is tedious and skippable entirely, a basic menu that lists possible recipes, and the latter is a "numbers go up" kind of gearing, without any special effects or builds really. Undeniably, gameplay rewards are greatly less interesting when simplistic systems are the building blocks of a role playing game, and more complexity was missed in many of them. Nonetheless, the trials and horrors of Vale Sangora are indeed compelling, resulting in an atmospheric world filled with rich lore. It's a remarkable starting point, with some nuisances here and there and great room to grow. ## 8/10

Before the flood of games that I'm interested to play in the coming months, I've decided to play some older titles that were in my backlog since forever. I've started this with the first Knights of the Old Republic, then with Persona 2: Innocent Sin. Both of these have sequels, but KOTOR 1 didn't really end in a way that begged for it, as the story is pretty much done by the end of that first game. And because of the _finality_ of the previous entry, it was clear right ahead that the story of **The Sith Lords** was somewhat bound to have lots of exposition early on to address every little detail of the previous game progression and consequences. Conversations right away will ask the gender and actions of the _previous_ game's protagonist in an experience that can be quite alienating for both new players and people that played the first game. I played as the Exiled, someone that was expelled from the Jedi Order because of their choice to participate in the Mandalorian Wars against the will of the order. The aftermath of this war was really relevant on the previous game as well. Unlike many Jedi, though, the Exiled returned to have his trial, and faced his consequences diligently: a harsh exile and being severed from the force. I thought that this was an interesting way to give me a backstory that could easily be light or dark-side, nothing felt predetermined from the start. Undeniably, the first stage of this game is a bit too much. Because **KOTOR II: TSL** tries to be both a sequel and an entry point, it juggles between tutorials, expositions, game defying choices and character introductions in a terribly paced and underwhelming introduction. Still, I didn't hate this beginning, but some hours in, I was already with a feeling that this game was going to be a bit on the shadows of its predecessor. My two favorite character were introduced here, though: Atton Rand, someone that's shaky about sharing his past but seems eager to help and is charismatic to a fault, and Kreia, a mysterious and presumed dead Jedi that returned to life because of a eerie connection with the Exiled. Other characters also appear on this introduction as the supporting cast, like one of the villains and Carth Onasi from the previous game, now a republic general. Both of them are after the Exiled, touted to be the Last Jedi. Famously enough, **KOTOR 2: TSL** wasn't complete at launch, and lots of content were cut from the final game. Unfinished files were found, though, and a fan effort started to restore this content to the game. I've played it with both the TSL Restored Content Mod 1.8.6 (TSLRCM) and the M4-78 Enhancement Project 1.5, the two biggest mods regarding this missing content. Not much after these trials and tribulations, I was already at the **Ebon Hawk** , the same ship from the previous game, and also with some new party members – even if one of them is turned off: two droids from the previous game. Still, the mysterious connection I had with Kreia was enough for the story to continue. See, in KOTOR, it is possible to see the each party member alignment (light side, dark side) when the character enters the group. Atton was somewhat good, the droid T3-M4 was very good, but Kreia... Is very on the middle. A total equilibrium between light and dark side. It is clear early on that the Exile is a very good and inspiring leader. My choices throughout the game influence the alignment of the other party members, but not Kreia, always on the middle. This was the most interesting character in the game by far, and made me imagine that **The Sith Lords** would have as much difficult and conflicting choices as the first game. In many ways, the world here on the sequel is even more black and white than the first game, unfortunately, with very clear good and bad people on every planet, and not much of a grey area, a third path. I was a bit disappointed because the game led me to believe that was going to be the case. Although it was released, like, one year after its predecessor, **KOTOR 2** indeed felt a bit more responsive to play, and it is prettier than the previous game as well – but definitely it isn't as complex, with several mechanics not being used and a lesser reliance on dialogues and more on combat, that is greatly improved here, with a better equipment and crafting. So I won some, lost some, and it makes sense giving the circumstances of release. It is difficult to not circle back to the story, but as the game progress, I actually noticed that the party is too much available to the main character, and some party members were way more developed than others. While Kreia is making valid critiques and delivering interesting point of views for the Force and Star Wars as whole, almost every other character was one sided, maybe because of the mechanic of making them "aligned" with me. There weren't interesting side character quests like the previous game, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes when yet another party member from the previous game joins the group in the third act. Every plot point culminates in one of the worst endings that I've ever seen in videogames, with an unbelievably simple final boss fight that ends the game as abruptly as it can. I think that for every good part of **Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords** there's a bad counterpart. It is a game with interesting concepts and a nice character here and there, but the rush to be released made this one a rather dull sequel, that couldn't really outshine what it came before, in my opinion. Maybe what made the first game so incredible to me was how unpredictable and revolutionary the characters and choices were, with actually compelling villains that have a story to tell. Both of the main antagonists were terrible here, and while there's something to like on the ending story wise, it is rushed, dialogue heavy and so, so abrupt. Eventually I started to notice that the better quests on each planet were from the TSLRCM, and that the best parts of this game were about the characters and events of the previous one. I left underwhelmed, but still happy to have played it – I just can't stop imagining what would this game be if Obsidian Entertainment also had the time and resources that Bioware had for the first game. What I played, though, is just a mediocre version of the greatness that came before. ## 6.5/10

It is fitting how much mystery surrounds the Persona franchise before its third entry. With rumors becoming reality as its central idea, **Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 2 - Innocent Sin** is surprisingly relevant while being interesting to unveil. Some aspects of the game were not that well thought out, including some narrative and battle decisions on the third act, still, it is a story worth visiting with characters that are worth remembering. I think that it is fair to say that the Persona series started for most people with P3, 4 or 5. Like a mythical being, no one seems to talk about the earlier games as much. Originally for the PS1, all of the classic titles were remastered between 2009 and 2012 to the PSP. It is relevant to say that Persona 4 is from 2009 – so the Persona series wasn't that unpopular when the remakes were released. I completely ignored this games until now, 2026. It is not that they don't look appealing, as these titles are arguably better looking than the Persona 3 Portable for the PSP that I'd indeed played. There's just... Something about this old titles that made me say someday, but not today. Well, it finally happened. If I started at the third game all these years ago, I guess it makes sense for me to continue not making sense. Yes, I could've started on Persona 1. The allure of the second game, though... So many people saying that it is, in fact, the one that I can finally be in a relationship with someone from the same gender and the best, most serious story in the series with the nicest cast. Some of the praises were true, some were not. Actually, the game starts in a very calm and silent way, with silly moments here and there. Rumors are roaming about the main character school's emblem and a fight between rival schools is about to happen – you know, growing up. Demons and the occult are way less... Occult in this city, as they roam even the school: it seems that these said rumors are becoming real, and things are prone to escalate quickly. **Persona 2: Innocent Sin** 's setting actually impressed me for how current it is, with characters using cellphones, taking pictures and acting a bit more like their ages than in the more recent titles. Also, the Personas, demons used by the party characters, aren't a story device as strong as I expected, because everyone can become a Persona User: one just have to play the "Persona Game", a child-like playtime activity that summons these demonic but protective guardians and gift their users a life of super powers. The beginning of the game is very story heavy, introducing the main characters of the game. I really enjoyed how they are diverse not only in appearance but also on their background. Eikichi "Michel" is the gang leader with the heart of gold, sure, but he is also flamboyant and actually very caring. Lisa is a person that is constantly pressured because of expectations Japanese society have for people of mixed heritage, while Maya is more of the mature person of the group, still, she insists on keeping things to herself. **Innocent Sin** went out if its way to make everyone more believable, with positive and negative traits that were convincing to me. After all of these introductions are made, the game gets way less chatty, and the exploration and battle systems are finally introduced. The PSP version can speed up some conflicts, but there's a lot of random encounters and dungeon crawling in this game. Using a map, remembering places and rushing to get the "Estoma" ability as soon as possible are paramount to be able to enjoy this game. It is like a "repel" that makes random encounters less frequent. Still, the problems with the battles are their frequency, because **Persona 2** is a remarkably easy game for most of its duration, while it tested my endurance and my ability to do repetitive stuff all the time. Because the "Personas" don't level up, having to interact with the confusing and not much rewarding Summon system creates some challenge, but more because of trial and error than actual game design. I say that because in the third act, most enemies – and bosses – use insta-kill abilities in every. damn. turn. It is more about creating builds to protect against these annoying encounters than actually role playing or choosing what I wanted. There are several usable demons that are actually terrible, regardless of level. 0:00 /0:22 1× Outside the dungeons, the world is divided between several different neighborhoods in this Japanese fictional city, and exploration on it is very straightforward with a birds-eye view and an abstraction of traversing through the city. There are lots of places that I could enter, though, to talk to people and eat delicious meals. The biggest incentive for exploration outside the dungeons is with the Rumormongers – we can gather rumors from them to spread everywhere later. This is the way to start side quests and make stores sell real weapons for underage people. It is sadly not a very well realized system, and it stays without new content for it throughout the third act. Every dungeon has a specific music, and almost all of them are great. The character themes are as good as both the battle themes. The songs are way lass catchy, though, with less sung tracks when compared to most recent Persona games – but this wasn't a problem for me in the slightest, I liked almost everything I heard. The visuals can be pretty sometimes, with expressive character sprites for everyone, including the demons. The explorable sections are strikingly simple, with unused spaces and a black boxes for the sky. It wasn't pretty for the PSX, nor the PSP nor today, in my opinion – but it isn't a disaster or super ugly like some _other_ PSX titles. While the battles are on to the simpler side, there are some spells that can be mixed and discovering them was nice. It is a very basic battle system, not that hard, and too repetitive. The unfair battles are like that because they were designed to be that way, and I'm actually pretty happy to live in a world where the Persona series moved away from this boring system. I was surprised to see that the demon negotiation is not only present in this game, but it is more predictable and complete than most of ATLUS's recent games. Each member of the party have 4 different actions and the demons will react accordingly. Discovering the right answers to understand the demons was actually pretty fun for me, and I liked that it can be tense to negotiate with the occult. There's a very big and... Unexpected twist that happens on the end of the second act of the game and I honestly didn't like it that much. Although I see how in a society where rumors become real _that person_ would be revived, everything alongside made it too over the top to me. And when the main plot became bigger than the character driven adventure, I found myself a bit bored playing it, expecting only the next cutscene with my party members, but not really caring to how the story would end. Fortunately, the next character cutscene was always rewarding. With the theme of believing in the best judgement of the people we love, I liked how everyone interacted, and while easy to predict, it was nice to see how they grew, bit by bit. It is not a game that focus on romance like Persona 3, 4 and 5 – but there are some "options" and indeed one of them was with someone of the same gender of Tatsuya. It isn't that well thought out, though, and the game really wants him to be with someone specific. Still, I liked to have the choice and the special dialogue with my soon-to-be boyfriend. As I knew when I started it, **Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 2 - Innocent Sin** is the first part of a duology, so while I actually liked the ending, there are some clear points that beg for a sequel, and I'll play it. I do believe that everyone who liked Persona 3/4/5 should give 2 a chance. It has a great cast of characters that are worth following, even when the story loses its footing or the battles become unbalanced in the third act. ## 7.5/10 This game was played in the PPSSPP emulator with an HD Texture Pack.

Effectively, **Granblue Fantasy: Relink** just got a meaty endgame with **Endless Ragnarok** , a definitive version of the 2024 game, designed in a very specific way: to make all the best parts of Relink even better, while ignoring the lesser areas that could be fixed. Finally, Relink feels complete, and the payoff to dozens of hours of "spreadsheet gaming" to polish my builds ended up being rewarding. With extravagant but precise movement, each of the gazillion characters available to play are really different from one another, and to make everyone feel like the protagonist, **Relink** doesn't sacrifice any of the flashiness required to make an action game _feel_ like an action game. Precise parries and dodges are absurdly rewarding at the same time that unleashing damage at the right time is as much "main character energy" as it can be. Because of the character variety, gameplay difficulty can range from somewhat easy and button mashy to mandatory perfect dodges and specific timings. **Granblue Fantasy: Relink** really does know how to make playing well rewarding, so more complicated characters also have more complex and wide arsenals. I loved how many abilities could be better if I played better, and mastering the kinks of my characters always delivered great fun. It is really difficult to _care_ about this game's world, though. The story is... Messy. It doesn't really feel like the beginning of anything, but rather a great conclusion for something that came before. And everything on this game's story and cast is derivative, with plot points from famous animes and characters that are, frankly, _very_ similar to other games. I know that there's a hint of originality here and there, but frankly, it is as standard and as generic as the first hours imply it to be. I still giggle a bit when I remember that the protagonist's name is "Gran". The whole 140 hours that I had with this game and its fresh, new epilogue were in two very, very simple cities with absolutely nothing interesting going on other than the places that I needed to go to upgrade my armor or gear. I don't know if I was too naive to expect a new city in the "Epilogue: Endless Ragnarok" part of the game, but I sure was, and not having a third city was let down. There aren't mini games to play or actually interesting stories to read or secrets to discover: both the hubs in this game are ascetic and uninteresting after the first 30 minutes in them, so you can imagine in 100 hours. In another bad note, this game suffers heavily from spreadsheet gaming syndrome. Too many hours looking at rows and columns, navigating through shiny and samey interfaces just to know if my "attack" stat has "reached its maximum". Discovering what is adding to these values is another challenge entirely. This constant tweaking could be better handled, it is often overwhelming even when I knew what I was doing. A myriad of important values are mysteriously missing, and calculations are not transparent. It is a mess. Still, the way **Relink** plays cooperatively is great, with everyone needing to be a bit in sync all the time for the battle to actually work. Each time someone dies, a bit of life is drained from a shared pool, and the more it happens, the faster the gauge depletes. Nailing dodges and parries is not only good for me, but for everyone. Also, The Link mechanic rewards focusing the boss at the right time to unleash a powerful, slow motion moment where abilities cooldowns are almost zero. If the enemy still lives, a very powerful finisher can be performed by up to 4 characters in sequence, to devastating effects. 0:00 /0:12 1× This balance between solo and group accountability made the harder fights that much more rewarding, and because most of them are located in the endgame, added in this definitive edition, making a strong character is finally worth it, with interesting content to play for hours. I was a bit disappointed to see that most of the fights were with returning – but buffed – foes, but the new fights, exclusive to the endgame, are by far the best in the whole campaign, and are worth it. Progressing through the game is posting quests in a counter and doing them to unlock the next quest to be posted in a counter. It is a boring way to deliver a story, and there isn't really a reason to pay much attention... The "fates", which are glorified power point slides, are required to unlock some of the progression and everything related to the story was a massive bore for me. The way I played the most was with three other friends and sometimes with randoms on the internet. The reason for this is because I haven't actually progressed with _four_ characters to be able to face the challenges in the endgame. I actually have one great character and one that does the job, but it isn't actually easy to face most of the late endgame content offline. Gearing them was possible, but I find it to be a bit too grindy, and the granularity of the builds and compositions makes gearing 4 characters feel like work. One was enough for me. I know that there are ways of "auto playing" the grind, and the 'rent-a-character' system helps, but still, I wish the game rewarded me better or at least enough to make 4 characters as strong as I wanted. Also, even on this definitive edition, the first part of the game can only be done alone, with some quests that can be done with other players, until a certain point of the game, where it opens up for everything to be played with others. The biggest part of the game is playable with friends and other people, but the beginning isn't, and this is just another thing that they could've been fixed. It is not that big of an issue anymore, though, because the endgame is really big. Most of the challenge is on the new endgame, and tweaking and understanding the characters is now more rewarding than ever with tight battles and interesting mechanics from time to time. Also, this epilogue made possible to make several different builds for the characters, with options that are good for the same character. I felt that I could better customize my play style in the epilogue more than any other part of the game. Also, most of the more menial grinding before the epilogue now can be performed in a new mode called Conflux. A rogue-lite, "choose three" mode that rewards handsomely and is featured throughout the base game. Although fun and well crafted, I thought it was a bit of a missed opportunity, as there aren't any endgame content for the Conflux itself, nor multiplayer to it. It'd be amazing to do the runs with my friends, and I can't really understand why it isn't possible. As a solo, single player game, **Granblue Fantasy: Relink - Endless Ragnarok** is almost there. As a co-op game, or even for someone who is willing to play with randoms online, it is a very fun and rewarding time. It is worth it, even if forgettable. His name is _Gran_?? Seriously? "_Gran_ " from _Granblue_?! Alas... ## **8/10** _for reference, I gave 2024's Relink a 7/10 on my_ Backloggd_, at that time_

Years ago, while I was still a Prime member, somewhere hidden in the depths of hell, I mean, Amazon, were digital licenses distributed for the subscribers of (at the time) Twitch Prime Gaming or something. Although I never really downloaded anything from them, I still redeemed the games, because you never know, right? Now, 2026, not a subscriber anymore, and I am remembered about this service because of an app on my current Linux computer: Heroic Games Launcher can list, display and install everything from hell– sorry, I mean, Amazon, and it works like a charm. Buried in my library, between a shovelware and a retro fighting game, there it was: **Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic** (and the second, too!). **KOTOR** was always something around me. Growing up, I remember playing a lot of it on my family's computer, but progress was daunting at the time. After replaying it now, I can see that I've gotten as far as the second star map, about, what, 50% of the game. There were places that I entered, but never finished. Others that I've done more than once because they were easier to understand. I decided, then, to finally play the game as grown up and finish it properly. Amazon's version was something. Although it was very easy to mod controller support for it, the widescreen mod isn't applicable because I've installed through a compatibility layer on Linux. But I played on a big TV, so the 4:3 aspect ratio wasn't actually that bad, and the resolution could scale properly to 2878 × 2160. It doesn't take long to understand why the writing in the **Knights of the Old Republic** is so good, even if it starts full of tropes. The playable character is really a blank slate, with a short backstory and a curious case of forgetfulness. After a big attack on a Republic ship that I was in, I find myself partnered with the Republic Soldier Carth, in a mission to find Bastilla, a Jedi with incredible powers that was stranded somewhere on the city planet of Taris. More than anything, **KOTOR** is an RPG and cleverly uses the "light side" "dark side" alignments of Star Wars as a gauge of player decisions, and from the very beginning it is important to talk with everyone having those goals in mind. Conversations are surprisingly deep, with character not always available for the Protagonist, and choices that don't show their consequences at the moment of choosing, unlike more modern RPGs. So it is required an unexpectedly high amount of reading and interpretation when doing some choices. Of course that "I'm a hutt in human form and I'm poised to destroy the Republic" will lean me to the Dark Side, but some interactions are way more nuanced, mostly with the stellar cast of party characters. The visuals of the game have some kind of... crunch and texture to it. The maps aren't big by any means, but most of them are big enough, with shops and NPCs scattered throughout as well as a wide array of similar looking Cantinas across the galaxy. **Knights of the Old Republic** adds some clever mini games throughout the planets, with most being fun and story related, even with quests attached to them from time to time. Winning a podrace tournament in a planet may result in special dialogue and interactions in another – and this synchrony between the side activities and the main progression is one of the best implemented in any RPG. The worldbuilding does feel reactive not only to the choices I'd made, but also their consequences. As the game progresses, the quality of writing only improves. Almost every side character has some kind of a strong personal flaw, regardless of their ethical alignment inside the Force. Carth Onasi, the ex soldier, doesn't know how to trust others. Bastilla Shan, one of the galaxy' strongest Jedi, has doubts about herself and the Force. Mission Vao is too naive and can't face reality, while her lifelong friend and partner, the wookie Zaalbar, was exiled from his home planet of Kashyyyk for reasons that he simply won't share. Understanding these characters is key to progress on their storylines, and it was surprisingly fun how they also interact with each other, in some brief but endearing conversations that often happen between them and are presented in cutscenes without the protagonist input. **KOTOR** creates a livable and interesting world not with cutting edge visuals of today standards, but with rewarding and reactive writing that is timeless and unique. The game isn't ugly, but it isn't a looker as well, due to the overall tone being bit dull, with some exceptions. The battle, though, is always fun to watch, with lightsabers reacting accordingly, and acrobatics that really remind the Prequel Trilogy from the early 2000s. Each character could be leveled up as I wanted, but their Classes are set and cannot be changed, so there's some limitation with the party members. The game was clearly designed with characters that _won't_ be able to do everything, so each run can feel unique depending on the choices made. Still, some traits and attributes are way better than others, and playing the game without any form of persuasion doesn't even seem to be feasible for me (but I know it is!). The progression in the game is somewhat non-linear, with several moments that gave me freedom to do whatever I wanted, even returning to other planets if I needed to. No fast travel means lots of walking, but the said party members conversations can only happen while exploring the game, so even walking around felt rewarding. It is one of those games that a bit of text and dialogue feels like a major reward. No intrusive quest markers make paying attention that more important to know where to go next as well. As the game goes, more and more characters enter the party, like the recluse but passionate "ex" jedi Jolee Bindo, that needs some insistence with persuasion to be befriended and the evil – but hilariously sassy – droid HK-47, that can be cured of his missing memory cores if I have enough repair skill. I can't overstate how unique and awesome the party members in this game are, not only when compared to other RPGs, but also with Star Wars in general. It is a colorful and brilliant cast. Because each character has a different class, it is often required to wear many different hats while traversing through the galaxy. The combat may seem real time, but it actually isn't: each character can have 4 queued abilities, and the turn "rolls" a dice for these abilities. The game can be paused (both automatically in the end of the turn and with user input) at any time, so while managing three characters and their queues can be haptic, pausing helps a lot to better plan the encounters. It works well with a DualSense controller, but I needed to use a mod to make it work with the Amazon version of the game. Building the mystery of the war that weakened the republic some years ago is as poignant as why the Jedi Council feels so standoffish about me and my quest. Everything builds up to a revolutionary series of narrative twists that begs a second play-through of the game _just to see the other side_. What Bioware Corp and LucasArts created with **Knights of the Old Republic** is the best story that any Star Wars media have ever had outside (some) of the movies and TV Series, with a strong cast of characters, fun mini games, decent exploration and average – but serviceable – battles. It is a believable time capsule of what scale used to be without sacrificing a pristine narrative. For that, it is very much worth it, even in 2026. ## 9/10

There are many strengths in favor of **The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales** , with its gorgeous art-style and a creative, surprisingly engaging battle system. But as the game progresses, the most enjoyable and expressive interactions aren't always enough to improve a dull story, questionable exploration and bad dialogue that gets in the way of a good game. The world of Philabieldia sure is colorful, but it is packed with monsters of the "beast tribes". Fortunately, the Kingdom of Huther and its castle are protected by Princess Heuria's magic. Soon enough, this protection and the princess are in peril, and Elliot needs go to through time to save her and the realm. I've always been a sucker for time travel stories, as I find them to be an easy tool to actually do some decent worldbuilding. Connecting the same place across time is a great way to actually show, and not tell. In these **Millennium Tales** , though, the characters are very prone to telling: stilted dialogues happen far too often, while being expository and bland, with core concepts of the game being delivered in a mediocre fashion that obfuscates an otherwise simple but beaten story. Everyone repeat themselves for every plot point, and the companions are always blabbering even on the "reticent" configuration. Too many cutscenes are reserved for characters talking about things that are about to happen, and it is a problem in the first act of the game that drags a bit too much until it finally opens. As each era presents its set of characters, the boring dialogue starts to get a bit better, but the main scenario never really escapes the dullness of it all. Fortunately, the side quests are colorful enough and elevate the world they're in, and, in all fairness, the very end of the main story was well earned. Writing about the world and exploration is kinda bittersweet for me. Although the four eras are somewhat different in ambiance and music, the world itself definitely isn't. The environments, while fun and packed with a good variety of monsters, are not enough to be done four or more times. This is sad, because the little trials, dungeons and caverns scattered around the world were always fun, even if short. I'd rather have longer dungeons than repeat them with minor differences in different eras. **The Adventures of Elliot** cleverly uses a wide array of weapons and equipment, and lots of puzzles and sections were solvable in different ways depending on what was equipped. The weapons can be customized with "Magicite". And while getting new magicite was a pain, because it is on a "gacha" (that uses non purchasable in game currencies), the system still works, because it empowered me to create unique play styles for my weapons. I really liked toying with the Magicites, as they can add elements, projectiles or change the way each weapon work altogether. 0:00 /0:06 1× The puzzles and dungeons could be completed in different ways because equipment and magicite can sometimes change the way Elliot move or interact with the world. Equipping the fireball magicite can sometimes make a room full of bombs easier to interact, or having the floating cape as an accessory can come in clutch when trying to avoid a whole enemy group. The bosses were really a highlight, with most of the dungeons in the game having a big and bombastic fight in the end. Another highlight of the gameplay is with Fae, a "second" character that can be controlled to do a series of different spells, like mimicking the player movement, warping to another place etc. She's controlled with the right thumbstick, and correctly using Fae's power can sometimes make the battle system extraordinary, mostly because of the cloning and movement options it opens to the player. 0:00 /0:06 1× So while I adored playing most of the dungeons, doing them more than once wasn't that nice. Four times was a disaster. And it was the case for most of the game. Time travel should be a good excuse to reuse some of the maps with contrasting twists in others, but it is not the case here. Most of the world is reused for the biggest part of the game, and unfortunately, the exploration didn't work for me. Undoubtedly there were very high highs on the visual and sound department. Every dungeon has a nice and unique song to it, and while the soundtrack can feel a bit over the top sometimes, it often works in unexpected ways, with catchy sections and a big variety of instruments and compositions between menu screens and gameplay. Clearly music was something important in this game, and one of the best side quests highlight just that. 0:00 /0:12 1× The portraits are pristine even if the characters are all too samey. Also, they could think about 4 different eras but couldn't really add non-white characters, which makes the world feel smaller and less interesting. Everything is dubbed, so the otherwise dull dialogue is at least tolerable. The cutscene direction is great, with interesting shots and perspectives that enhance the HD-2D aspect of the world, so it is a gorgeous experience throughout. A big highlight were the seamless transitions between most of the houses and the world, as with the big city and the open areas. **The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales** is a flawed good game, easy to play and recommend to people that are hungry for some top-down action adventuring. It is also a game that focused a lot of my time in a so-so, generic story with unremarkable characters. I liked playing it, but it is undeniably too safe and, sometimes, too repetitive. ## 7/10

Matching a very specific game like Monster Hunter to a turn based RPG isn't really something that picked my interest in the past, even being a fan of the franchise. Still, the "Stories" sub-series kept going and now, on its third iteration, it finally made me curious enough to dive in. It was shocking to realize how similar **Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection** is in gameplay ideas when compared to the main game. The battle system is very much like playing Monster Hunter: analyzing enemies' patterns to predict their next action, so I can win a trade without suffering any damage. This prediction is possible in a turn based setting because the attacks follow a "jo-ken-po" structure, with three different colors, interchangeable for almost every move, while showing the enemy next target without disclosing its attack type. Speed wins against Power, while the latter wins against Technical. This system may seem random at first, but it actually isn't: understanding and knowing each monster paves the way to successful fights. The battle system is the best part of the game, and I wish I could directly control – or at least guide – the party members outside of my character and my main monster. But I get it, it is to feel like Monster Hunter, and I should trust my fellow partners in battle. Beyond controlling the main character, that can have up to three weapons equipped at the same time, It is possible to swap between main monsters even inside battles, without suffering from any penalties whatsoever, to take advantage of each exchange. Still, I hardly used more than three of them, that easily matched the challenges that the game threw at me. Changing weapons and monsters is required to do more damage to specific monster parts, that are weaker to different types of damage. _Just like Monster Hunter!_ 0:00 /0:29 1× The environments are somewhat small open sections with some vertical structures and terrain. I actually liked the third and fourth environments the best, but none of them are that big or fully fledged as I wanted them to be. Some monsters have special abilities to get to specific areas of each map, but honestly, this just forced me to have slots filled with monsters that I otherwise wouldn't use. From time to time, mostly in the main scenario, there will be dungeons to be explored, but none of them really were as interesting as the open sections of the game were for me, with dull corridors that lead to a series of boss fights in pretty arenas. There are some exceptions, but these are few and far between, and overall just serve to "raise the stakes" of the narrative, with a varying degree of success. One of the better activities for me were the Invasive Species encounters. These are battles that require some information gathering about the enemy and its weaknesses beforehand, and the fights themselves were always interesting, with surprising twists that required specific attacks, companions or timed skills. Although the main monster could be swapped during battle, I couldn't change my weapons (beyond the three previously equipped) or active party member, so while these Invasive Species encounters were fun, restarting the battle several times to be able to actually beat them wasn't. **Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection** also shares some of the more... Questionable standards of the main series, with bad and confusing menus that are packed with tabs, screens and sub-categories for simple things. This UI problem is specially problematic on the more "granular" systems, like the "monsters genes" that can be customized to inherit better skills or passives for the monsters. The system itself isn't difficult to understand, but the cumbersome steps and excessive screens aren't helping anyone. The cast of characters is surprisingly diverse and memorable, even if many of them are from the same region and have somewhat similar story conclusions. The best sidequests are the ones related to them, and some were better realized than others, with unexpected minigames here and there. Everything is dubbed, and the fights were almost always fun. Not all characters are treated equally, though, and some are sorely missing any questline whatsoever, like Rudy or Simon. Story-wise, **Twisted Reflection** definitely was grandiose in its setting, but couldn't really live up to its initial premise. The political angle of the narrative is not that flashed out, so half of the world is underdeveloped and much is left to the imagination. The characters are, again, likable and memorable, but there were some missed opportunities to make everyone as relevant as the main character. In the end, the whole thing is about an Elder Dragon that is messing up with the fauna and flora and it is up to me and my friends to save the region. It is the same overall shtick as every other Monster Hunter game I've ever played, and the good characters couldn't really save this beaten and samey narrative. Having the mechanics of the main game adapted to a turn-based RPG is enough, there's no need to also share the uninspired story as well. On a more interesting note, another big activity in the game is the Habitat Restoration mechanic. There are lots of little caves around the map with monster nests inside of them, where eggs can be gathered and then hatched to get new and better monsters to be added to the party – or reintroduce them to the environment. Returning monsters can create some elemental variations that change their colors and raise their statuses, so it is actually very important to have the monsters on S rank of their respective regions to unlock better conditions and scale correctly. This system is fun and wholesome, and it is rewarding to see the monsters I returned to the world and the new variations walking around the open sections of the game. It is plagued by confusing menus, though. Some of Twisted Reflection's systems aren't quite there. The battles are great, there are fun side games and memorable characters, but the open section is lacking and the dungeons aren't that good, with a story that couldn't really live up to its initial set up. Undeniably, though, it has heart and feels like Monster Hunter. ## 7/10

A year ago, I've decided to start a blog to share my opinions about the games I'm playing. I've always liked writing, but never really practiced it to the extent of what I've been doing in this website, and what caught me by surprise is how much _more_ I like writing now, after 365 days. I wasn't actually _counting the days_ from when I've started this blog, but after a year, I got a surprise invoice that my previous domain (versusthe . space) would be 40x more expensive this year. Oof. I've decided to update this blog to something more stable, then, with a .com ending. I also used this opportunity to better align the name with my other socials, so now this website is known (and hopefully _will stay known_) as ## VSTHESPACE.COM About three months ago, I've also made big visual changes to my blog, and added new subscription categories, new footer images, **and** videos to my posts. If only I had thought to change the address at that time, it would have been an event – but still! Thank you for reading my blog in fucking 2026 where all the internet is basically broken and destroyed by fancy autocompletes that erode the environment and are heavily marketed as intelligent. There's nothing more **awesome** for me than read something that I've written months ago and realize how much better I am now, and if I'd relied on LLMs I'd simply not be here, now. And for many more years to come! Alex

Some game reviews, recommendation lists, cool captures and whatever else videogame related. A website meant to be somewhat of a gaming diary. Welcome~!