Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind PS5 Review

 

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind is a Side-Scrolling Beat-em-ups game was released in 2024 for PS5, PS4, XSX/S, XBONE, Switch, and PC. It was developed by Digital Eclipse and published by Atari.

Before I begin reviewing this game, I want to take back to the good old 90s days where I first discovered the TV series that was first aired on TV channels such as Fox Kids, so I've just found Mighty Morphin Power Rangers on my CRT TV screen.

It's an American live-action superhero TV series, which is based on the Japanese media franchise titled Super Sentai, was debuted on 1993.

It adapts characters and footage from Super Sentai for western audiences, while also incorporating its own stories and characters.

To be honest, I don't particularly watched the whole season of the series as much, but I did managed to watch few of the episode when I'm at my cousin's house sometime, so what made the show quite special?

It's just a bunch of colourful rangers start kicking ass, has gigantic-mecha robot welding the sword, has really cool transformation sequence, and of course the rockin theme tune is catchy as f**k is what made the TV show quite popular among with the young audience especially with my childhood classmates from my junior school had talked many good things about the TV show.      

The whole franchise has been commercially successful and it quickly established into popular culture expanding many TV series, theatrical films, comic books, novels, line of action figures and other toys, and of course the video games.

I did heard most of the Power Rangers video games are not been great besides the 16-bit line-up of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers games for SNES and Genesis/MD did it decently, where as the rest of the titles for later-gen systems is doing quite bad which the Power Rangers series wasn't very known for the quality licensed video games libraries, until it finally gets it right with the recent title released in 2024 such as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind is the kind of game that I actually wanted to play.

It's a Side-Scrolling beat-em-ups game which plays really similar to the early-90s arcade games that we all know back then in the style of gameplay, visuals, and sounds that brings the nostalgia throwback of early-90's arcade classics.

Could it be a one of the Power Rangers better game for big time or is it a game that we should never touch it again? 

So without go further do, let's start the review.

Presentation

The game set in 2023 A.D at the Robo-Rita's Palace, as it start outs with the Robotic version of Rita Repulsa from the future who travels back in time to 1993 to join forces with her past self as they attempt to change history using their ability to rewind, rewrite, and remix the past in order to prevent Power Rangers from ever forming.

This led the group of Rangers on their mission is to stop this combined force of Ritas and their future armies from altering the history. 

The story in the game is just like in the TV series where you're just the bunch of Power Rangers going on their action to defeat their arch-nemesis and her minions to save the planet once and for all...yeah you get the idea guys because this is what really adds the main charm of the series that was very known for, so no pun intended.

Going back to this, having a story that involved time-shifting system catastrophic that causing a destruction that alts the time history of 1993 seems to be quite an interesting plot for the Power Rangers game like this, so I'm sure you guys will agree my point.

I also liked the cutscene sequences in each stages whether is on during the in-game action or whether if its at the beginning or ending of the stage, so I really liked having these dialogue box between the heroes and villains before and after the fights just adds-up the detail of the game's plot which is completely fine for the arcade game does really need a short and good simple story to appreciate.

I say those kick-ass groups of  Power Rangers are sure f***ing awesome in the game, so you have Red Ranger, Blue Ranger, Pink Ranger, Yellow Ranger, and of course Black Ranger.

Don't forget the best part when they made the transformation of 5 zords into megazord, a gigantic mecha-robot who weld with large powerful sword which is strong and moderately fast, and also most common formation that Rangers use when fighting supersized monsters.

The series also has the memorable villain such as Rita Repulsa who dressed in dark sorceress outfit and has a long-staff with large round-shaped on top are sure cheesy especially on TV series which I really liked her screeching voice are quite terrifying, but I think the Robo-Rita are quite much terrifying with the sliver-robotic face which I had to agree that this could be a better version of Rita in the game.

The game's presentation is fantastic is because I loved the animated sequence of the game's opening intro just feels like a throwback to live-action TV series with the original theme song that made the TV series quite recognisable at the start.        

I also liked the in-game's pixel-art style that are quite close to early-90s arcade classics with 2D sprites and backgrounds layouts are just looked amazing in the game.

Each of the stages has different layouts of settings such as you have old-rusty canyon, downtown rooftop, mining operation area, industrial waste area, abandoned factory elevator, highway road, carnival and rides, creepy cemetery, downtown street and sub-station, sport field and park site, and of course space station which I considered these locations are seems to be the best fit for the retro-style beat-em-up game.

Overall, it has good story cutscenes, memorable cast of characters, and pixel-art design.

Gameplay

You will have an option to play on single-player solo or local co-op up to 4 or 6 depending on which system you're playing on, and of course the 6-players online co-op.

You get to select any of 5 or 6 playable Power Rangers in which one of the playable character will be unlocked for 6-players mode after beating the game.

You'll be playing on the side-scrolling perspective, as your main goal is to beat the stage by defeating the bosses in order to get to the last stage to face Robo-Rita.         

Press the d-pad buttons or push the left stick controls to move the character and also you can double tap forward to run.

Press the square button to use melee attack, while mashing the same button to continuously attack on enemies in which these enemies can take light damage from your hit, but the square button are also used for breaking objects.

You can perform various of moves such as the dash attack which you had to double tap the d-pad or left stick forward then press the square button, and you can also do rising attack by holding the d-pad or left stick up then press the square button used for launching enemies at mid-air which mostly works better for air-combo system.

You can evade the enemies attack or stage projectiles by pressing the circle button to dodge which prevents you taking damage from them.

Press the cross button is to jump and double tap the same button is to double jump which is used for platforming, but you can also perform jump attack by pressing the cross button then the square button in mid-air which works mostly for air or ground enemies, and you can do a smash attacks by double tap the cross button to double jump then the square button in mid-air works effectively to knockdown enemies on the ground.

Attacking the enemies will fill-up your special meter bar meaning you can perform a special attack by pressing the triangle button which deals a massive damage hit on enemies.        

You can learn these basic tutorial by going to the combat training if you wish to learn the moves before you're fully preparing to start the campaign.          

So far, the controls is quite an straight-forward to play with the 4-button controls, so all you had to do is to attack, jump, dodge, run, and of course use special seems to be easier to learn.

I find the controls quite responsive which I had no issue with the hit detection just perfectly plays it well, and I wanted to praise the simplistic use of combos which is important for the arcade beat-em-ups because it's all to do with the combo scoring system where you had to perform a multiple of juggling, landing, and bouncing at the enemies will result a numerous of combo hits up to more than 75 hits, so the more you make combos the high you will gain the score which is the reason why I love playing the arcade beat-em-ups games with the combo scoring system.

I also liked the list of 3 challenge tasks where you had to complete all 3 tasks in each stages such as gain S ranking, beat the stage in less than 4 or 5 mins, and of course find all secret items hidden somewhere in the areas which really adds-up the replayability.

As I'm pleased with the controls, combos, and tasks in the game, I got to say this game has the insane amount of stage segments that blew-me away because it's not just the traditional beat-em-up stages that are incredibly good, but you will have other style of arcade gameplay from rail-shooter to mecha-boxing to combat racing action in which I always thought the game is supposed to be a beat-em-ups action but throwing a different arcade genre for some stage seems to be really an awesome thing about the game.

I just loved the rail-shooter style of roller-coaster segment where you had to point with the crosshair and shootdown these enemy's balloon and incoming bomb, and I really liked the cabal shooter style of dino-zords part where you take control of zords and shootdown these enemy's bases, and you had the vehicular combat racing style of highway drive sequence where you ride on the motorcycle and shoot down the enemy's vehicles, and of course the best part in the is the punch-out style of megazord battle where you had to fight the gigantic monster in first-person perspective.

This really adds-up the overall fun factor of the game that I'm incredibly pleased to see game like this is doing something different that other beat-em-ups games are sticking to the one genre except this is more than just a beat-em-up game filled with other style of gameplay is something that I approved this game.

If that's not enough, then I got to say the boss battles in each stage are amazing which packs with numerous of epic bosses that you must encounter and face them such as Goldar, Chunky Chicken teaming up with Turkey Jerk, Eye Guy, Bones, Madame Woe, Crabby Cabbie, and of course Robo Rita is something that you will likely to appreciate this kind of game which gives you a full-on arcade experience. 

The local multiplayer in this game is pretty good on co-op campaign in which you and your friends can able to enjoy for 6-players mode...well for XSX/S, XBONE, Switch, and PC version only I'm afraid because the PS5 and PS4 can only support up to 4-players which is kinda shame for Playstation players, but please don't despair yourselves just enjoy the local multiplayer as it is.

To keep you in mind for XSX/S, XBONE, Switch, and PC owners that the 6-players local-co-op can be unlocked by beating the whole game which unlocks one playable character such as Green Ranger is the only way of playing the 6-player local-co-op, but without it then you'll be stucked to 5-players as an default if the Green Ranger has not been unlocked. 

I believe the game does have online co-op option which you can able to play this mode up to 6 separate consoles or PCs to connect for 6-players online co-op multiplayer as peer to peer connection, since the game initially supported 3 players on 2 separate systems for 6-players online co-op at launch, so thankfully after the game's update you can able to play online co-op individually without requiring 2 systems which makes it easier to access online team play with full 6-players.

The game does have really cool features such as the speedrun mode which can be unlocked by beating the game, so in this mode your goal is to complete each stages as quickly as possible to beat the timer as the in-game timer is unaffected by time-pausing mechanics making it a more challenging experience.

The game does include 3 mini-games from the Juice Bar room where you had to find a specific part items which is found by completing various levels and objectives, so that once 3 of the arcade cabinets are fully repaired then it became fully playable offering 3 really cool mini-games to play with such as Drive Bomber which plays just like the style of Midway's Spy Hunter, Nanopilot which is a top-down shooter similar to Bandai Namco's Bosconian, and of course Karate Chopshop which is the mini-game where you have to smash things by using the power meter, so these are pretty cool mini-games that helps you keep busy playing for short hours.

After beating the game once, it unlocks the cheat menu which you can modify the game with really awesome stuffs that suits your gameplay style such as one-hit enemies, one-hit Rangers, moon gravity, equal Rangers, go-go party, no time disruptors, tougher enemies, infinite lives, and of course maximum enemies which really adds-up the game's replay value.

 

Overall, it has straight-forward controls, great combo system, fun for single-solo and local-coop action, and epic stage segments and boss battles.

Graphics

The visuals is very good for the arcade beat-em-ups game with the early 90's pixel art-style just adds-up the game's appeal to those who grew up playing the classic nostalgia of old-school beat-em-ups games.

The stage environments are colourful and detailed in many areas, the texture surfaces and background layouts are sure bold and being well structured, the use of special effects are filled with flashy lighting, gloomy shadows, and the amount of explosions are quite destructible on the objects and environmental areas in many stages, and then of course the 2D sprite animation on characters and enemies are decently sharp just to keep the stages well intact that are close to the arcade game of early 90's that we all know and love back then.

Outside of the 2D beat-em-ups environments, there are some of the impressive part of the game that make use of graphical techniques that was used in mid-80's and early-90s games, so you have a 3D scaling effects that are very similar to the super-scaler arcade games like SEGA's Super Hang-On and Taito's Night Striker which creates the illusion of pseudo-3D environments with objects appearing to move closer or further away in real-time play.

It looked really significant on some stages like dino-zord shootout, roller-coaster ride, and motorbike driving action which is looked amazing with the use of 2D sprites, 3D environmental stages, and graphical rotation techniques that feels like a good old-school era of early-90s arcade games.    

The game plays it very smooth and had no signs of frame-drops for most of PCs and console platforms which seems to be very good news that you won't able to notice any of screen tearing and lags whatsoever.

Overall, it has colourful stage environments, cool and flashy special effects, sharp 2D sprite animation, and of course the impressive 3D scaling effects.

Music and Sounds

The original soundtrack is amazingly sounds great especially with the actual theme tune from the original TV series titled as "Go Go Power Rangers!" being included in the game is what makes the opening credits of Power Rangers became recognisable for its cool heavy metal music that are catchy and badass.

The rest of the in-game stage had a great style of 16-bit music between the likes of Capcom's Mega Man X and Konami's TMNT games being thrown in are kinda gives a nostalgia throwback to the early-90s games which was best known for it's energetic music that fits the action of beat-em-ups game.

It was composed by Sean Bialo did a incredible job for the game's original score that are sounds very similar to the style of Tee Lopes's video games soundtrack.              

The sound effects are very good for its wacky environmental sounds, hit collision, explosion sounds, and background noises has sort of the arcade-sounds aesthetics that matches the game's sound design, and I believe the voice samples for characters just took from the original TV series that was known for its goofy-lines that made Power Rangers sounds cool and likable. 

Overall, it has amazing energetic soundtrack, arcade-style sound effects, and of course the goofy voice sample took from TV series.

Special Features

I did mentioned the game has one unlockable playable character such as Green Ranger which also unlocks 6-players local co-op mode after beating the game, as well as the speedrun mode and 3 mini-games are included in the game, and of course it does have a list of cheat modes which I already mentioned before.

The deluxe edition boxset packs with really nice goodies inside such as the poster, steelbook case, 6 collectable cards, and of course lenticular postcard which is looking fantastic as the collector's box. 

Overall, an amazing content and fantastic collector's box. 

Advantages

Pixel-art presentation

Great gameplay system

Fun solo and local co-op action

Epic stage segments and boss battles

Impressive visuals and amazing sounds

Has tons of replay values including unlockable content 

Disadvantages

PS5 and PS4's local co-op players limited to 4 instead of 6.

Final Verdict

Presentation 8/10 - good story cutscenes, memorable cast of characters, and pixel-art design.

Gameplay 8/10 - straight-forward controls, great combo system, fun for single-solo and local-co-op action, and epic stage segments and boss battles.

Graphics 8.5 - colourful stage environments, cool and flashy special effects, sharp 2D sprite animation, and of course the impressive 3D scaling effects.

Music and Sounds 8.5/10 - amazing energetic soundtrack, arcade-style sound effects, and of course the goofy voice sample took from TV series.

Special Features 8/10 - unlockable playable character, mini-games, and game modes to play, has list of cheat menus, and of course the nice collector's boxset. 

Overall 8/10 - Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind is a remarkable arcade beat-em-ups throwback that we are been waiting 3 decades for the M.M.P.R as a media franchise to finally have this licensed video game title that are incredibly fun, energetic, exciting, and entertaining to play it deserves.

The style of pixel-art, having a great gameplay system, it had fun solo and local co-op action filled with epic stage segments and boss battles, and of course having a unlockable content and completing the challenge tasks add-ups the game's replay values is the reason why the game is so good that delivers the full arcade experience.  

To be fair, I think XSX/S, XBONE, Switch, and PC gets the points for having 6-player local co-op as opposed to PS5 and PS4 supports up to 4-player locally which I would have rate the game for 8.5 at best, but as for the PS5 and PS4 version it's still plays great which I've managed to enjoy the game no matter what system you're playing on is because it's about the joy of arcade-style beat-em-ups action that you're likely to appreciate how good the recent Power Rangers game had turned out to be a success.

For the PS5 and Switch physical release, the standard edition cost around between £20 to £25 where as the deluxe edition are between £40 to £50 seems to be a right amount of price on both physical editions.

The digital release for PS Store, Xbox Store, Nintendo eShop, and Steam retails for £30 seems to be a bit tad too high, so it would have been better off for £15 digitally.

Is it definitely an recommendation for a beat-em-ups fanatic? yes absolutely correct because having a 6-players co-op team with your friends or anyone is the best way to experience a full arcade-action is something that you're likely to enjoy this game without any regrets whatsoever.

GO GO POWER RANGERS!!! MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS!!!   

 

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Top 5 Underrated Horror Games

 

Horror in video games are the special kind of thing that spooked many gamers over the decades starting in the mid-80's to early-90s with the main pioneer titles like Sweet Home and Alone in the Dark was the fully experimented horror title that invented the genre for video games, then the later ones that became the mainstream success in mid-90s like Resident Evil and Silent Hill just took the full level of terror that made everyone scream out loud, and finally the modern era in 2010s are just as terrifying to play such as Outlast, SOMA, and Amnesia: The Dark Descent is what I've love about the horror games in general.

Horror is the bestest things in video games, so we had various of sub-genres to experience the level of terror such as slashers, zombies, ghosts, paranormal, psychological, survival, and list goes on.

As I previously enjoyed the popular titles back then, I wanted to discuss something different on my gaming blogpost is because there are some of the obscure horror games that are completely ignored by the public eye or maybe these games didn't get enough credit it deserved which leaves these games remained forgotten.

I decided to make my own list of 5 horror titles that you don't want to miss out and should had the reason to play, so these are the tales of the forgotten horror games that are incredibly good and should not be behind closed doors. 

So without go further do, here is my top 5 underrated horror games.

5 - Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare (PS1)

First of all, I remember playing the 1992's original game just once that was on MS-DOS, and my initial impression was kinda mixed due to game's age didn't hold up well as today, but back then it was quite impressive for the early-90s release which I had to praised it for its atmospheres and settings environments are sure creepy, but it was let down by the control schemes are not quite easy to get used too which is why I couldn't able to finish the game off.

To be fair, the 1992's original game is considered to be an important game that created the genre known as survival horror which was later influence the successful franchise such as Capcom's Resident Evil and Konami's Silent Hill are the series that I grew up playing.

There's one of the game that got my attention was Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare, a survival horror game was released in 2001 for PS1, PS2, Dreamcast, GBC, and PC, and it is a first reboot of the whole franchise which got me curious to try the game out and see if it's anything interesting to play, so the answer is yes it's really good horror game for change.

The first reboot sets in different timeline of 2000s as opposed to series original's main timeline of 1920s, as you take control of Edward Carnby or Aline Cedrac went on their mission in the mysterious island to search the three missing ancient tablets that had ability to unlock an incredible and dangerous power.

The game's presentation is quite different in terms of dark and gritty style approach as opposed to original series timeline's gothic and suspense feel, which I really liked the changes because it gives the game sort of eerie environment that are completely pitch black in some areas just adds-up the dark elements of the horror settings.

Having to play as two characters with separate story scenarios are also benefits the game's plot keeps the whole game quite interesting to play, and the whole single-player campaign are filled with great mix of survival and puzzles throughout the playthrough thanks to dark environmental areas, various of creatures encounters, and puzzle solving aspects which I appreciate their effort to deliver something that makes this game worth to pick-up and play. 

Despite the game's positive reception at release, the game doesn't get mentioned more often and it's nowhere near good as the other horror series like Capcom's Resident Evil and Konami's Silent Hill are actually doing better for its story presentation, gameplay design, and being able to stay on top with the level of terror that the Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare are kinda bit of a step back in comparison, but that doesn't mean the game itself are terribly bad is because it's still a decent horror experience that you don't wanna to miss out.  

 

 

4 - Cold Fear (PS2)

          

      

Yes another horror hidden gem by the same team bought you Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare...Yeah I know I had to include it on my top 5 list.

It's one of the horror game that I did really miss out back then where at the time in the mid-2000s when I never had the PS2 console yet but own the Gamecube instead and my bro used to have the Xbox original (was later completely thrown away in early-2010s), but sadly never actually heard or discovered the game at the local gaming shop nor the gaming magazines, until around later year of 2022 when I finally had the PS2 console so that I can begin collecting various of PS2 libraries including most common and some obscures stuffs added to my gaming collection.

I had finally discovered the horror game at online thanks to various of YouTube gaming channels made their own interesting video of gaming hidden gems that the gamers had missed out the good ones which is why it encourages me to collect some of the forgotten titles that I should check out, so this is where I found Cold Fear for the PS2.

It's a survival horror game set in a Bering Strait where you take control of U.S Coast Guard member went on investigating in Russian Whaling ship and finds a mysterious parasite has turned the crew into zombie-like creatures, as he sets out to ensure the parasites don't reach the land.

Even the story in the game are not the strongest part of the game, but what really matters the most that made the game quite interesting to play is the settings that took place in the ship seems to be a good concept idea for the horror game with stormy weather environments that made the whole ship wobbles everywhere and has the several of the rooms that are completely wrecked does seem to fit well to the game's presentation.   

Most of the creature enemies are similar to John Carpenter's The Thing in terms of design features are surely freighting-look such as you have bulky ones with heavy claws, crab-like monster, large-winged creature, two-legged tentacles, and ugly-bendy monster.

The whole single-player playthrough are filled with insane amount of segments such as the environmental hazards where the stormy-weather had caused the ship to wobble violently featuring crashing waves, moving containers, and swinging wires that can harm player to fall overboard is quite an terrifying moments, and I got to say that I do actually enjoyed the choice of weapon progression in the game with unlockable upgrade of more powerful weapons just adds-up a nice blend of tactical and horror-themed equipment.         

Unfortunately the game had suffered with poor commercial sales and had mixed reception at the release in 2005, as contrast to Capcom's Resident Evil 4 are critically acclaimed and commercial success which is why it left Cold Fear as being remained forgotten, so it's a quite such a shame for Darkworks Games because it's a decent game that the horror game fans could have given this title a chance what its deserves.  

3 - Remothered: Tormented Fathers (PS4)

  

I'm really into with one of the sub-genre of horror game where it heavily focused on hide and seek system mechanics starting from Clock Tower to Amnesia: The Dark Descent, then Outlast to SOMA that delivers the surprisingly amount of jumpscares, terrifying enemies aggressively chasing you around the rooms, and being able to find the hiding spot to save yourself is the kind of horror style that I've enjoyed it with so many intensive and distressing moment I've experienced.

One of the game that caught my attention was Remothered: Tormented Fathers for the PS4, an horror game was created by the Italian game director Chris Darril described it as an Clock Tower-styled modern horror game in terms of design and settings.

The game focuses on Rosemary Reed went on investigation at the Felton's family mansion to uncover the truth behind the disappearance of Dr. Felton adopted daughter's named Celeste had been missing for years, while she defending herself from the crazy sadist armed with deadly weapon came chasing around in rooms.

The story is quite mostly positive for its strong narrative and plot-wise that involves uncovering the mysteries of the missing person.

The presentation in this game is fantastic because it's the style of game kinda gives me a similar vibes of many horror films such as Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, and Johnathan Demme's The Silence of the Lambs because it's a mixture of slasher and psychological themes being fitted together which I've liked the idea of game's concept. 

The game's major design is all about completing the unsolved mysteries and the puzzle solving segments while avoid getting in contact from the stalkers went full on ape-shit and start chasing you around the rooms, as I like the way they designed the villains to be quite scary which delivers numerous of great kill-sequence animation, surprised you with the jumpscares, and of course the verbal insults just makes the game quite frightening to play.

As the 2018's horror title are being praised upon the release for its atmospheres, story, and gameplay which I'm completely agreed for it, which sadly it was completely being tarnished by the 2020's follow-up title such as Remothered: Broken Porcelain had gained a terrible reception upon the release leaving the series being dug into a grave which is a shame because the first original game is actually decent horror game and wished that the series could have been given a good chance if they didn't sabotage the 2020's sequel for first place.

 

2 - Clock Tower 3 (PS2)

I really remember back in my old days of internet when the video game emulators, online forums, and YouTube became the thing in my mid-2000s and early-2010s, so right after I came back from my high school I've spent time downloading and playing the games on my old desktop computer, as I really loved discovering the ROMs files on emulation sites are packed with hacked translations and mods is where I've found the 1995's SNES's point-and-click horror title that I've never actually heard of it due to not being released worldwide which is why it made me interest to play it on my computer, so that is Clock Tower.

It's a 16-bit night-terror where you're completely surrounded by the scissor killer came chasing you around the hallway, stairs, and rooms with the deadly weapon that can cut you wide open, so that is pure scary as f**k for Nintendo's 16-bit console with so many encounters and scares is what makes the game quite terrifying back then.

After I had enjoyed the first game in the series, I was interested to play the second title that was released on PS1 but unfortunately I never got a chance to bought it is due to game's rarity makes it difficult to find the copy cheaper online, so instead I decided to get a copy of Clock Tower 3 for PS2.        

           

The third game takes place in London which follows 14-year old Alyssa Hamilton, who is part of the family lineage of female warriors who travel through time to defeat evil sprits, as she travels from her time in 2003 to the 1940s-60s in order to defeat these entities and bring peace to troubled souls.

Clock Tower 3 is one of the first game in the series taking into the new direction over the previous entries, so instead of the traditional slasher horror approach like from the first title, the third game is more of the fantasy-style horror for its settings which makes it quite different from the series previous titles.

I don't really mind the silly new idea of time-traveling presentation and some wacky storyplot does seems to add-up the part of the game's charm, while retaining the survival horror elements of the gameplay design with similar enemy encounters and chase sequences still going on, but instead of using the point-and-click controls like from the previous games it uses the 3rd-person fixed-camera perspective makes it the first game in the series to incorporate direct control over the protagonist seems to be a nice change for the 3rd title.

What made the Clock Tower 3 so decent to play is the amount of chase sequences in every areas that are quite frantic to play making most of the violent enemies quite frightening to encounter is what I love about playing the kinds of horror game that don't rely on focusing combat just makes the game scary to play.

I loved the gameplay mechanics for its panic meter system showcasing the protagonist's level of fear which causes her to stumble and become harder to keep up under stress really generates the scare factor entirely.   

I say this game is not nearly as good in comparison with the 1995's original game which I rather much preferred it better for its story presentation, darker tone visuals, and slasher-style atmosphere is what makes it's quite terrifying on SNES, but that didn't mean the Clock Tower 3 on PS2 are bit of let down because it's still an decent game in the way as long as the cinematic design, visual style, and storyline are being well-directed as well as the gameplay and atmospheres keeps it entertained.

Despite the game's mixed reception and poor sales figures at the release had left the franchise on hold, the game is however quite rare for collectors which cost about over £60, but it's not quite expensive as the 1996's sequel title for PS1, so luckily I've bought it for £50 from online store.    

I wish I would love to see Clock Tower series deserves the second chance only if the publishers like Sunsoft and Capcom are interested to bringing the franchise back in future perfect. 

1 - Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem (Gamecube)     

It's really interesting to see the company like Nintendo are very known with advertising their software for younger audience with the likes of Super Mario, Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong, Pokemon, and Kirby, where as the others are totally opposite with the titles like Killer Instinct, Goldeneye 007, Conker's Bad Fur Day, and Perfect Dark are more aimed for niche audience.

There's one of the M-rated title that was being released on family-friendly console like Gamecube which is no surprise that Nintendo had previously did published the M-rated N64 games for first place and why not do the same for Gamecube? so let me introduce you a Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem.

It's a psychological-horror adventure game was released in 2002 and was created by Silicon Knights, a game development team behind Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain and Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes.  The game set in year 2000 AD and the story centers on Alex Roivas went on investigating in home mansion after her grandfather's death and discovers the ancient book detailing the centuries-long battle against cosmic entities known as the ancients, a god-like cosmic beings who wish to enslave humanity. 

The game was being known for its dark-environmental storytelling which detailing the old-historical anthology where various of past heroes in each time-periods who each have their own stories related to the tome, as your main goal is to stop the ancient evil from summoning another ancients and plunging the world into darkness.

What I loved about this game is the style of psychological horror elements which heavily focuses on sanity effects, an unique gameplay elements where the game tricks the player through 4th-wall breaking hallucinations and altered game mechanics to affect the player directly, so it range from room's layout change to fake error messages just really adds up a severe level of scare factor that made the game quite disturbing to play.

As the sanity effects are becoming a major part of the game's design, I wanted to praise the whole single-player campaign for its combat system ranges from close-combat melee to ranged weapons, and it also has various of magic spells is used not only in combat, but also to solve many puzzles throughout the game.

The visuals and sounds are quite a top-notch for the Gamecube's standards which I adored the creepyness tone of game's presentation starting from ancient dark tomb to gritty medieval castle really fits the style of horror settings, and of course the unsettling noises coming from the sanity effects always kept your head stuck entirely that never goes away.

The game's reception are critically acclaimed at the release and won numerous awards, but sadly it's suffered a poor commercial sales which sold less than a half-million copies worldwide is the reason why the planned sequel are never got it made, and Silicon Knights went bankrupt and disbanded in 2013.

It's a huge shame that we never get to see the second installiment a light of day which leaves this game a behind closed doors, but an outstanding underrated horror title that could have given a second chance, so I was hoping this game should need a re-release for Switch 2 as part of Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack service in the future perfect, so that the game will likely get the attention it deserves are the only way to consider a future sequel.                

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This is Zeeshan Mirza's Blog and I'll see you next time, happy blogging and have a nice spooky Halloween everyone, MUHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

5 Reasons to own Sony Playstation 5

 

We are entering the new generation of gaming with the Sony Playstation 5...a 9th-gen video game system that showcasing the 4K gaming technologies including the SSD internal memory for faster loading times, ray-tracing graphics support for certain games, 60-120fps performance mode, VRR and ALLM support for lag-free performance, and 1440p to 2140p display resolution for 4KTVs which is pretty insane for the Sony's modern generation machine could able to pull off a graphical fidelity visuals and smooth gameplay performance is quite impressive for the technical standpoints.

At the time where the pandemics had occurred at the year of 2020, the 9th-gen era had a messy start after the PS5 along with the rivalry like Microsoft's XSX/S got released at launch in holiday 2020 is due to limited supplies of console units are ran short because of the slow manufacturing process making it difficult for consumers to get the new system, so thankfully it had been resolved in 2 years later by restocking more units as possible to make availability an easier for consumers in online retail store. 

At the start, I wasn't fully prepared for the new system yet is because I was worried that the launch base PS5 model wouldn't fit well onto my TV cabinet is due to size of the console is quite too big, so I decided to wait for longer till they made a slimmer version of the console which they had finally released in holiday 2023.

I am glad I've bought my PS5 slim model for sale deal in around Feb 2024, so I had a chance to experience the 4K gaming.            

My thought on PS5 console in 1 year later is quite positive, as I managed to enjoy the Sony's 9th-gen system with the various of the PS5 libraries to play, the dualsense controller, photorealistic visuals and performance, and additional features is the reason for me to bought this console which is why I am here to make my 5 reasons to own the system for myself with providing more details to deliver on this blogpost. 

So without go further do, here is my 5 reason to own Sony Playstation 5.

1 - Library of games

I know it may not be on the same level as the previous generation consoles when it comes with the games that may helped defining the system's libraries, the PS5 had shares a decent numbers of games to play. 

It's all about having the range of titles available for anyone who recently had the system can able to enjoy and experience stuff, so it had console's exclusivity like Horizon Forbidden Rest, Returnal, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, God of War: Ragnarok, Marvel's Spider-Man 2, Demon's Souls, Stellar Blade, and Astro Bot are the prime examples of reason to own the PS5 console, and same goes with the 3rd-party titles such as Resident Evil Village, Alan Wake 2, Tekken 8, Hogwarts Legacy, Elden Ring, Black Myth: Wukong, Doom: The Dark Ages, Yakuza Like a Dragon, Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2, Devil May Cry V: Special Edition, and even with the remakes such as Silent Hill 2, Resident Evil 4, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and Persona 3 Reload are also the best place to play it on the 9th-gen system. 

2 - PS5 console ability to play PS4 games 

 

The best things about the video game consoles is the ability to play previous generation games, so just like the good old PS2 console can run most of the PS1 software titles, the PS5 console can support a majority of PS4 games for both physical and digital format.

It is good to have a system like this that allows me to play most of my PS4 games that I own physically on my collection in my gaming room, as well as all my digital game library that I've previously purchased from the PS Store are still available to download and play on my PS5 system, so that is awesome because it makes easier for console owners to have a one system that plays both the PS4 and PS5 games without needing to buy a PS4 console for just to play PS4 games.

The cool thing about having a PS4 games is that when playing on the PS5 console, you have an option to download a free PS5 upgrade for some games with 60fps support and 4K display seems to sounds like a great edition for those who previously owned the original PS4 copy has the access to free PS5 upgrade version for better performance and image quality.

3 - DualSense Controller 

 

Sony was widely known for creating the very best video game controller starting from PS1's to PS2's Dualshock controller, then PS3's Sixaxis Controller to PS4's Dualshock controller.

These controller was praised for its innovation and design including PS1's 2-analog sticks and rumble support, PS2's context sensitive buttons, PS3's gyro-motion controls, and PS4's touchpad button, and it is also being praised for its button layouts and hand-grip design are considered as comfy and easier to hold.

So what's all good about the PS5's DualSense controller? it's all about creating the best overall design that makes an easier for the players to hold the controller. The grips and shapes feels more ergonomic, bigger, rounder, and heftier than the previous generation controller which I really loved the curved look of the PS5's DualSense controller.

I also liked the color of the white controller with the black on bottom, and had a nice shiny looking monochrome on both d-pad and 4-buttons as opposed to previous generation controller's colored buttons just made a nice changes, and I got to love the LEDs lightbar on the side of the touchpad buttons just looks way more cooler than the PS4's controller.

The biggest landmark for this controller is the use of adaptive triggers with force feedback mechanism which enables games to do something quite creative such as pulling triggers when firing weapons in FPS games and using it as foot pedal to accelerating speed for racing games which adds up the game's realism and immersion is the reason why this controller is so incredibly good for PS5 games. 

4 - Hardware and Features

       

The hardware specs of standard and slim PS5 uses the 8-core AMD Zen 2 CPU up to 3.5 GHz variable frequency, custom AMD Radeon RDNA 2-based graphics engine with 10.3 TFLOPS and ray-tracing acceleration, 16GB GDDR6 RAM with 448GB/s bandwidth, 825GB (standard model) or 1TB (slim model) custom ultra-high-speed SSD storage with 5.5GB/s raw read bandwidth, and detachable Ultra HD Blu-Ray disc drive, where as the pro model offers a powerful 16.7 TFLOPs of RDNA 3 GPU, 16GB GDDR6 RAM of faster 18Gbps speed with 576GB/s bandwidth, 2TB internal SSD, and of course the additional upscaling PSSR and enhanced ray tracing.

The key features includes ray-tracing support provides realistic lighting and shadows, high frame rates supports up to 120fps on 120Hz displays, 4K enables high-resolution gaming, HDR delivers vibrant and lifelike colours, VRR and ALLM support that help smoothes the game performance and prevents the frame lags and stutters, and of course tempest 3D audiotech uses the immersive 3D audio experience. 

This is what I liked about having a video game system that delivers a innovative graphical features with smooth performance and quality visuals that looked amazing on the 4KTVs, immersive 3D sounds for some games with better overall sound design really adds-up the game's atmospheres, and of course having the faster loading times takes a 3 seconds to load up game are quite responsive and convenient for 9th-gen system thanks to power of the SSDs.

Going back to the beginning of the year 2024, so right after the reveal of PS5 slim model and right before the reveal of PS5 Pro model, I was originally thinking about getting the unannounced PS5 Pro model for full-on gaming experience but my major issue is that getting the unannounced PS5 Pro model might be cost double the price of the PS5's original and slim model which is why I quickly decided to change my mind with the PS5 slim model instead for my budget reason, so no matter what any type of system model you choose is depending on your preferred gaming preferences...I say that I am happy with my choice of choosing the PS5 slim model.   

5 - PS5 console ability to play 4K UHD Blu-Ray Disc

  

    

Just like how Microsoft have added the support of 4K UHD Blu-Ray disc format to their system like Xbox One (X and S model) and Xbox Series X/S (X model), Sony had finally adding the 4K UHD Blu-Ray disc format to their 9th-gen machine like PS5 allowing the users to access the various of the films and TV series that supports 4K UHD display format for 4KTVs with better overall screen ratio aspects and it also improves upon with the audio format with better surround sound system adds up a overall realism of cinematic sound design.

I am happy to say that I can able to enjoy the films that I wanted to watch it on my 4KTV with pure-clean picture quality that made it look more new and crisp.

Not only it improves upon the image quality, but most of the 4K UHD Blu-Rays has additional features like behind the scenes, gallerys, commentary, outtakes, deleted scenes, trailers, and many more exclusive features like the anniversary collector's edition comes with posters, promo cards, key chains, and etc. that were completely missed out on DVDs and standard Blu-Rays which is why it's worth for collecting various of the 4K UHD Blu-Ray films and TV series.

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Persona 3 Reload PS5 Review

 

Persona 3 Reload is a turn-based JRPG game was released in 2024 for PS5, PS4, XSX/S, XBONE, and PC, and was later confirmed for release in October 2025 for Switch 2. 

It was developed by P-Studio and published by Atlus, and it is a full remake of 2006's original game for PS2 titled as Persona 3, as well as PSP release in 2009 and was later re-released for PS4, XSX/S, XBONE, Switch and PC titled as Persona 3 Portable. 

Three years ago, I've already covered my review of Persona 5 for PS4 which I described it as masterpiece in all thanks to story presentation, likable cast of characters, stylish visuals, catchy music, fantastic turn-based system, and overall fun factor is what I've loved about Atlus's unique JRPGs really puts a smile to my face, and it was hailed by numerous of video game critics and JRPG fans with universally acclaimed reception and had won awards for best art direction, score/music, and RPG in 2017, and it sold over 10.45 million worldwide.    

After the success of Persona 5, the staff of P-Studio had begun working on a next project in which they have confirmed the remake of the 2006's original game with the reveal trailer titled as Persona 3 Reload on Xbox Games Showcase event 2023.   

Even through I never played the original Persona 3... yeah yeah I know it's sounds quite a huge shame of me when I didn't had a PS2 console in my early-2000s which is why I've missed out the 2006's original game (not until I finally got a PS2 console in 2022 which took me a 22 f***ing years to get one, but I never had a chance to get a PS2 copy of the original game is due to rarity of game's price nowadays, arrggghhh!!!). 

So going back to this review, after I've watched the reveal trailer I'm actually interested to get the 2024's full remake is because I wanted to get into with Atlus's JRPG games which is why I've bought the copy for my PS5 to see if this game are actually just as fun as what I've previously played with Persona 5 in terms of turn-based system, game's design elements, social link simulation, and story presentation.

I am thou, thou art I...

I hast established to review

Persona 3 Reload for the PS5...

So without go further do, 

let's start the review.         

Presentation

The game takes place in 2009 and is set in the Japanese city of Tatsumi Port Island. Its starts out with slient protagonist named Makoto Yuki, a teenager who was orphaned as a child following his parents death, arrives to the city he grew up as he transfers to Gekkoukan High School and moves into a dorm in the city. 

On his 3rd day, the whole city went mysteriously dark at the midnight time became known as the dark hour causing the appearance of monstrous creature called the shadows to attack Makoto and awakens to his persona allowing him to summon the magic abilities.

After defeating the shadows, he is recruited by the squad team known as SEES, a group of Gekkoukan students dedicated to battling the shadows and exploring the tall giant tower of Tartarus during the Dark Hour.

Their prime goal is to infiltrate the tartarus and defeat all powerful shadows to prevent the dark hour from destroying the world. 

The story in this game is actually great because it involves the corruption of the dark hour event where the entire people are transmogrified into coffins and there are bunch of shadows roaming around the area inside the tartarus and prey on the minds of those still conscious.   

The group of students had agreed to go on their mission is to not only just to destroy all the shadows but it's all about getting rid of the things that harms the humanity. 

They also began to investigate and learn about the truth of dark hour, shadows, and tartarus that was created 10 years back prior to the game's events.

Aside with their mission, they are capable of summoning beings called personas which gives them ability to use various of magic powers to combat against shadows, so they usually summon their personas by firing a gun-like object called an evoker at their head...yeah that's kinda extreme way to summon things.

Anyway I believe many had said that the story dialogue on the remake did improve upon the original to make the cutscenes much easier to follow which makes sense because having to re-written the lines is the best way to tweak the story dialogue quite a bit to impress the newcomer who wanted to enjoy the story conversation between the characters and the whole synopsis part in the game during the story and in-game cutscenes. 

It had cast of characters which had Makoto Yuki who is a quiet teenage student despite being a silent protagonist which is appropriate for JRPG standard, but he has few of the voice lines during the combat battle.

He's the type of character had an interesting day to day schedule such as attending at school, takes part in extracurricular activities, and spends time with classmates and other characters that made him quite likable throughout the social sim event.

He's also quite a motivated leadership encouraging his friends to keep going forward and working as a team together to fight off against the shadows in the tartarus without giving up is what I liked about him as being incredibly badass.

He has several of friends who are members of the SEES such as Yukari Takeba who is a popular girl at school are sure has a stylish look and being a skilled archer, but she also shares her personality issues due to her sarcastic mood when dealing with situations she finds objectionable and struggles with her loneliness due to her troubled past which I got to say she's not quite a cheerful person to start with, but she slowly improve herself throughout the journey involves learning to open up, trust others, and confront her past traumas.  

Then you had Junpei Lori who is a comical and silly dude, which I find him really entertaining with his immature jokes and goofy characteristics just adds up a humour. 

He also quite a reckless fighter but also reliable with his teammate, which is why he's one of my favourite character in the game.

Then you had Mitsuru Kirjo who is the oldest of all SEES members, described as well matured and calm intelligent woman are very good with her college-level studies at high school, takes charge, make decision, and ensures the team's academic success.

She has a strong sense of responsibility and dedication to her role within SEES, and gradually cares about her friends is what I consider her as being a likable mother-figure character.

Then you had Akihiko Sanada who is another oldest of all SEES members, are also matured and confident person does a hard-working training practices for his boxing making him a strongest fighter of SEES.

He's also determined dedicated for his goals and being loyal to his friends by supporting them is what I considered him a well respected guy.

There are some of the more primary characters being introduced for later chapters like Fuuka Yamagishi, Aigis, Shinjiro Aragaki, Ken Amada, and of course Koromaru the Dog are also has the interesting backstory and personality.

The game does shares with cast of villains in the game such as the group of strega who use the dark hour for their own personal benefits such as committing assassinations and other illegal activities.

The group members such as Takaya Sakaki who kinda look like one of those stereotypical cult leader acting himself as a messiah trying to prevent SEES members from destroying the taruarus.

He is quite delusional and nihilistic person wanted to cause trouble and trying to manipulate those who are vulnerable with their lives, so that guy is sure f***ing creepy.   

Then you have Jin Shirato who is Takaya's right-hand man and skilled computer hacker has the strong belief in Takaya's goals are just as insane as his own group leader.

Lastly you have Chidori Yoshino is kinda something else so unlike Takaya and Jin, she initially depicted as a quiet and somewhat melancholic individual who dislikes others and is prone to self-harm habits and avoids eye-contacting people which is kinda disturbing...enough said.      

While the main story and cast of characters are very good, the game also has a side story which is called social link, a social simulation event is where you meet up with NPCs friends to build up relationship, so I will explain about the social link system for later on this review because right now I'm focusing on various of NPCs characters that shares with interesting side story to discover such as class student Kenji Tomochika, knee-problem sport athlete student Kazushi Miyamoto, student club artist Keisuke Hiraga, vice president of student council Hidetoshi Odagiri, student sports manager Yuko Nishiwaki, shy student council treasurer Chihiro Fushimi, French exchange student Andre "Bebe" Laurent Jean Geraux, big fat gourment king Nozomi Suemitsu, old couple Mitsuko and Bunkichi, MMORPG online player Maya, sweet little girl Maiko Oohashi, crooked businessman Tanaka, and many others. 

I also wanted to praise the overall design of personas such as Orpheus, Loki, Satanael, Jack Frost, Jack-o-Lantern, Zorro, Unicorn, Milady, Oni, Thor, Lamia, Valkyrie, Pale Rider, Alice, Succubus, Asura, and many more really awesome user form featured in the game is what makes the series really known for its unique concept of personas.

The presentation in this game is fantastic because I really loved the art-direction of the whole game displaying the stylish anime design throughout the title screen, story cutscenes, dialogue screen of each characters, and environmental settings are just spectacular, and oh don't forget I also loved the opening scenes of the game is wickedly awesome to watch. 

As I loved the art-work design in the game, I also wanted to praise the settings of the locations throughout the campaign such as Iwatodai Dorm are basically student accommodation house filled with places such as reception room, kitchen, bedrooms, gardening rooftop, CCTV security room, and of course 5 floors.

Gekkoukan High School is where student spends most of the time studying in classrooms and libaries, activity clubs filled with hobbying such as arts, fashions, gym, and others.

Port Island Station is the outside of the train station has cinema to watch films and flowers and seeds shop to buy.

Paulownia Mall are filled with restaurants, stores, and fun hang-out spots such as karaoke, gaming arcade, and night club dance.

Naganaki Shrine is a spiritual prayer area hosting various of shrines to appease the supernatural and it has a playground nearby with swings, seesaw, and jungle climb.

Iwatodai Station Strip Mall is more of tourist spot filled with local food shops and bookstore.

These of the places has sort of day and night cycle with different opening times on restaurants, shops, cinema, and other places, where as the outside of areas looked incredibly nice with bright sunlight on daytime and the street lamps that lights up during the evening time. 

When the clock hits the midnight time it suddenly changes to dark hour event where the whole city and streets are completely went dark and gloomy everywhere filled with spooky looking green settings, piled up coffins, bunch of shadows creatures shows up on streets, and of course the tall giant tower of taruarus has a really weird vibes of floors adds up the level of creepyness.

Overall, it has great story, very good cast of characters, and fantastic presentation settings.

Gameplay

In single-player campaign, you take control of Makoto Yuki in 3rd-person perspective as the game combines elements of traditional role-playing and social simulation games which I will discuss each of these gameplay design while also discussing the controls scheme as well.

Push the left stick control is to move player around, while holding the right trigger button is to make player run while moving.

Push the right stick control is to rotate the camera around, where as pushing the right thumbstick or circle button just re-centred the camera position.

Pressing the d-pad up button is to zoom-in camera on player, where as the d-pad down button just zooms back to default distance.    

Pressing the cross button acts as an confirm selection, where as the circle button uses as cancel selection, so these are the action buttons are used for interacting stuff such as pick-up or open-up objects, as well as talking to people such as your teammates or NPCs. 

You can open-up your full map view with the left shoulder button to display and access fast travel points. 

You can open your pause menu by pressing the triangle button which you will navigate any of options to select such as skills, personas, equip, items, and stats.

You can able to save your progress by pressing the option button which has all of these standard saves and 1 of them is for network saves which is a cross-save feature that lets you easily create back-up game data that only be accessed through online functionally.

In social simulation segments, you'll be heavily focus on the day and night system where you had a date, time, and moon phase displayed on the top-right screen meaning each day is divided into daytime and evening segments.

You'll be attending to school everyday in morning except Sundays, and then skips to afternoon events where you get to do whatever you want to pass the time such as meeting up your friends or completing activities like singing along in karaoke, eating in fast food, and doing past-time job.

In evening events, you have another events such as talking or helping with your friends in the dorm or you can still also completing same activities as you normally do in afternoon events, so once the evening event stuff is done, you'll be skipping to the next day morning and repeat the same thing as you normally do in the game.

In traditional role-playing game segments, during the evening time you get to have an option to choose to visit tartarus, a dungeon-crawling stage filled with over 200 floors where you and your team must face numerous of shadows in each floors while building up the party member's skill level and gain new items.

To keep you in the mind, some of the floors in tartarus will get blocked meaning that you won't able to go further because you really need to face against the main boss on the day of full moon phase first, then the blocked path will able to open after the day of full moon phase is done...so going back to the tartarus segment you'll be exploring around the area to navigate through while encountering with the enemies nearby, so you will enter the battle by hitting them behind with the square button. 

In battle controls, the UI displays on the screen which gives you an option to select any of these commands such as cross button is to attack or select an action, circle button is to guard or cancel an action, square button is to use items or view character stats, and triangle button is to access your persona skills uses various of skill attacks.   

You can select targets on enemies by pressing the d-pad left and right button might help you to choose which types of enemies you wanted to fight on.   

You can analyse enemy weaknesses and resistances by pressing the left shoulder button when the icon is highlighting with the light blue, so this will allow you to spot their weak or strong patterns on the enemies.

You can also shift between party members with the left trigger button when the red icon appears on the screen making it easier to choose any of party members to use.

Lastly you can activate the theurgy attacks with the right trigger button when the party member's theurgy bar are fully ready to go allowing them to unleash their powerful special attacks on enemies.

What I've liked about the turn-based system is that it's very straight-forward to play is because I find these UI system lot easier to navigate things such as on the persona skills menus had the list of skill attacks with different icons such as physical skills that use the slash, strike, and pierce affinities that some weak enemies, then you have magic skills such as fire, ice, electricity, wind, light, and dark affinities to deal additional elemental damage to foes.

This will explain me which ones of these physical or magic attacks that the types of enemy are being immune too, so I can able to pick one of these attack that highlights the weak icon that are weakens the enemy meaning that not only it deals with heavy damage but it also knocks down enemy as well in which you can able to knock them down in single chain row.

Once the whole enemy's party is all being knocked down, this activates all-out attack allowing you and your party members to perform all team attack dealing a severe damage to the all knocked-out enemies just works really well.       

Sometime you might want to be really careful when choosing to use any of physical or magic skill attacks because some of these skills that doesn't actually damage them such as the enemies has shields to prevent taking damage from your projectiles, some of your skill attack may increase enemy's health points, and what's even worse is that your projectiles can get backfired which damaging you and your party members health points, so it is best to keep an eye on the enemy's patterns to see which ones of your skill attack are effective against them.

There are some of the useful items that might come in handy such as consumables stuffs that helps you replenish your health and stamina points, curing your status effects such as poison, dizzy, fear, and others, revives fallen ally, increase party's attack for 3 turns, briefly raises entire party's defense, and nullify stat buffs for all foes, so you can get these from medical shop or obtaining these from tartarus.

You can also obtain valuables items from tartarus in which you can able to sell these at shop for higher price meaning you will have enough currencies to purchase stuffs such as weapons, armors, and footwear off from the police station.       

I also wanted to mention gemstones as well because after you have obtained them from monad door and passage in tartarus, you can able to trade it at antiques to get item or license cards, as well as used for fusion equipment on weapons and armors.  

The exploration in the tartarus just plays out really great because I just love the dungeon-crawling stages where you get to explore around the areas to obtain useful stuffs like valuables and other items, and I also loved battling against the high class level enemies in the monad door and passage will reward you with gemstones items became quite a handy for trading places like antiques that I've mentioned above before.    

Having to battle against the enemies really benefiting not just the party members, but also their personas because once you've levelled up the skills will reward you with better skill attacks for physical and magic delivering severe damage attack, fully restores the health points, curing the status effects, and all others useful persona skills is the reason why levelling up the experience level is the best way of improving your strengths and power making your high class enemies feel vulnerable against you and your party members in battle.     

After defeating your enemies with the final blow or the party ends a battle with an all-out attack, you get to have shuffle time gives you an access to additional rewards after battle which include major and minor arcana cards. 

The minor arcana cards such as cups that restores you or party members health points, wands grants bonus experience or stats, coins grants currencies, and of course swords grants you a bonus weapon attack.

The major arcana cards such as fool, magician, high priestess, empress, emperor, and etc. will give you an beneficial effect like earn more exp per battle, gain a rare item, all-out attacks deal more damage, increased social link bonus, increased HP and SP, being able to choose two shuffle cards instead of one, any activities that boost your social stats offer additional points, and many more to select any of these.

The most important part of the series is has to be a velvet room, a place hosted by a long-nosed old man named Igor and his assistant Elizabeth who provides assistance and guidance to the protagonist.

The velvet room is a location for fusing personas by combining two or more of them, so that you can create a new persona with different skills and attributes.

This will help you for later battle because you do really need a strong skilled personas in order to use any of physical and magic abilities works effectively on the high skilled enemies or bosses to fight against.

The simulation segments is also quite very good too is because not only it shares with great side story but also about making connections with your friends that you can trust and doing something fun with your lifestyle such as watch movies, read books, eat at fast food place, study with others before exam, and work at part-time job which really benefits your social level such as your courage, charm, and academics can be ranked up to 6 times meaning once you've reached the certain levels of your social stats will allow you to access certain social links system where you can able to meet up your friends on the event.

Being able to maintaining your relationship with them will increase your social links ranking meaning once its been all maxed out then it will unlock ability to fuse the ultimate persona associated with that arcana and it also grant experience bonus when fusing personas of the arcana, so this allows you to create personas at higher level skills.    

 

The whole gameplay plays amazing throughout the game because I love the combination of RPGs and simulation game just really fits the style of the series that was best known for its epic battle fight, exploring the discoveries, and social lifestyle is the kind of game that I've enjoyed the most.

I had a blast time of playing this game for 6 hours a day to spend time wander off in the city for activities, meeting up with friends, doing work jobs, watching films, and studying homework just makes the social simulation so great to play, and I also had a great time of doing a main story mission in tartarus browsing through the floors, fighting with enemies, levelling up the personas, discovering hidden secrets, and of course the boss battles in full moon phase is absolutely satisfying to play.

The turn-based battle system is incredibly well designed for its simple UIs layouts that are easier to navigate things and those physical and magic skill attack are quite effective for its chain attacks on weak enemies, and of course some finishing blow and all-out attack from party members deals a amazing amount of heavy damage hit just works really well for most part.

Having a revamped gameplay design does improve upon the battle system and enemy's A.I making it a suitable playstyle for newcomers are also a praised for the remake that deserves the game's enhancements to add-up the overall enjoyment of single-player experience.

I also wanted to praise the ideas of fusing the two personas into a powerful one are quite a useful tool for later battle which I really liked to create any of personas that are capable of defeating the skilled enemies or bosses.       

As I had praised the game for its social simulation, turn-based battle, and the creation of personas, I also did heard that the fans and critics had pointing out the criticism in this game is the lack of an option to play as female protagonist named Kotone Shiomi who previously featured in Persona 3 Portable is being absent in the 2024's remake due to time and budgetary reasons according to game's producer...yeah it's kinda quite bummer for those who previously played the PSP version of original game never had a chance to play as female protagonist in this remake which is why there are a fan community mod team had began creating a mod called the Femc Reloaded Project was finally published 17 days after the launch release of Persona 3 Reload.

I don't really blame them for missing out an option in the remake because of the time and budgetary reasons otherwise it takes too long to develop the whole project, so the two options way of playing the female protagonist is to get the copy of Persona 3 Portable for PSP and later platforms or try installing the Femc Reloaded Project mod onto the Persona 3 Reload for PC.  

So going back to this game, all I can say is the whole single-player adventure turns out fantastic because it's a 80 to 90 hours of playthrough seem to be a impressive amount of total time keeps you busy with the game.

Just loved the social sim-events, dungeon-crawling action, turn-based battle system, fusing two personas to create one, various of boss battles, and of course exploring and discovering things is what I loved about this game makes it fun to play.  

 

Overall, it has amazing turn-based battle system, very good social simulation events, and fun dungeon-crawling adventure and exploration.

Graphics

The graphics in this game is looking stunning for its anime art-style just really fits the game's overall presentation.

The open-area environments in the city is quite simple with small spaces, but I really liked the details of the restaurants, shopping mall, sitting areas, fountains, night clubs, shrines, playgrounds, and the stations just looked amazing. 

Same goes with the high schools filled with classrooms, hallways, and outdoors, as well as the dorm filled with reception room, bedrooms, and rooftops.

They are full of the layouts and objects in every locations that made the environmental places looked appealing to the eye.

They really did a good job of keeping the details of textures and surfaces look clean and bold in many places without any sign of roughness, so it will make the whole game looked professionally done.   

I also wanted to praise the use of shading effects in some areas like in the dorm where you can see the glass that are transparent in which you can able to see your friend sitting on the dining table, so same goes with the water fountains at the outside of the mall.

I also see the lighting effects on the signboards and lamps at the outside of the mall during the evening time, and same goes with the sunlight reflecting through the classroom windows in high school during afternoon time.

The character's animation are also pretty good which I like the way they designed the character with great facial features and body figure design which is fine for most primary characters and shadow enemies, but I do notice the weird thing on some NPCs the part where some of them are actually moving and some others don't, so like for example when I got in the night clubs I was expecting all NPCs to start boogie dance but no most of them are all frozed kinda look like they playing musical statues, where as the half of others are still dancing...yeah that's kinda weird...I wish they could have done better by adding enough animation on other half of NPCs that don't actually move.

I got to love the animated pause menu with the cool animation and background does seem to be quite look perfectly on my 4KTV screen...well hell yeah I'm might as well use the pause menu as the screensaver when every time I pause the game.

The game's performances for both PCs and consoles has the own advantages of graphical aspects depending on which platform you're playing on.

The PS5 and XSX/S (X model) version appears to run on full 4K resolution with ray-tracing support makes the whole game look clean and bold, as opposed to XSX/S (S model) and 8th-gen console such as PS4 and XBONE ran on 1080p which lacks some of the details on visuals and appears to make it look softer in comparison doesn't seem to be looking quite nice as the PS5 and XSX/S (X model).

Thankfully these 9th-gen platforms appears to run really well which they managed to run at full 60fps with no signs of frame dips seems to be a good news making it one of the smoothest game to play on these 9th-gen platforms, where as the 8th-gen platforms like PS4 and XBONE appears to run on locked 30fps with little amount of frame drops but it still playable which you might not gonna notice it as much during the gameplay.

The PC version has numerous of customisation config including graphics quality, rendering scale, shadow quality, frame-rate limit, reflections, resolution, screen mode, monitor, and VSync may improve upon the visuals and performance depending on how good your PC's hardware specs can able to run your game properly, so I say the PC version is the best experience option for gaming PC players can able to enjoy the single-player game without any issues. 

That being said, the game's visuals is still looking great especially both on PC and 9th-gen consoles are the best way of playing this game with smooth overall experience, and of course the remake did add up the visual overhaul to enhance the overall graphics to keep the game look fresh for the newer platform.

Overall, it has stunning art-style, amazing environmental design, and smooth performance.

Music and Sounds

The soundtrack in this game is excellent just like you're hear from the 2006's original version, but it's completely all arranged tracks for this game which are also sounds pretty good to listen. It also featured some of the new soundtrack been added to this 2023's remake which is a nice edition.

My favourite soundtrack is has to be some of these battle theme song such as "It's Going Down Now" and "Mass Destruction" because I really liked the style of jazzy rock and rap music combined together, where as others like "Master of Tartarus" has sort of 90s alt-rock instrumental feel to it just really fits the JRPG action.     

Aside with great battle theme music, there are some of amazing vocal songs to listen such as "Full Moon Full Life", "Paulowina Mall", "Color Your Night", and of course "Memories Of You" are also good to listen.

It was composed by Shoji Meguro and Atsushi Kitajoh for the original scores, where as the vocal music along with battle themes that I've mention above was sung by Azumi Takahashi and rapper Lotus Juice, did such a great job of creating music that made Persona 3 Reload a recognisable JRPGs title with very best soundtrack.  

The sound effects in the game is done spectacular for its environmental noise design and quality surrounding sounds just perfectly fits on many locations like city, mall, and even in tartarus, and then I also wanted to praise the new voice cast in the game did a terrific job for their character's role with better dialogue during the story and in-game cutscenes. 

   

Overall, it has excellent soundtrack, spectacular sound environments, and terrific voice performance.

Special Features

The game does have the expansion pass comes with additional sets for costume, personas, and background music which is cool, but it also has the epilogue chapter called Episode Aigis: The Answer was released 7 months after the game's release, so unfortunately the price on expansion pass is quite absurd are cost about £30 which is way too pricey to pay unless one of you are fully desperate to play Episode Aigis: The Answer so badly...man I wish Episode Aigis should have been on the physical base game like they did the last time with the Persona 3 FES on PS2 instead of being released on expansion pass's DLCs. 

Overall, an ridiculously pricy, but packed of nice content. 

Advantages

Great story and cast of characters.

Fantastic presentation settings.

Amazing turn-based battle system.

Fun dungeon-crawling adventure and exploration.  

Very good simulation events.

Stunning visuals and excellent music.

Disadvantages

Cost of expansion pass way to pricy.

 

Option to play as female protagonist are absent in remake. 

Half of NPCs animation don't actually move.

Final Verdict

Presentation 9/10 - great story, very good cast of characters, and fantastic presentation settings.

Gameplay 9/10 - amazing turn-based battle system, very good social simulation events, and fun dungeon-crawling adventure and exploration.

Graphics 8.5/10 - stunning art-style, amazing environmental design, and smooth performance.

Music and Sounds 9/10 - excellent soundtrack, spectacular sound environments, and terrific voice performance.

Special Features 7/10 - additional costume, personas, and background music, as well as episode Aigis.

Overall 9/10 - Persona 3 Reload is a marvellous 2024's remake title with additional improvements over the 2006's original thanks to visual overhaul, revamped turn-based combat, and all new arranged soundtrack, but what really matters the most is all about having a enjoyable turn-based battle and exploration, good social simulation events, and of course as long as it has well made story and likable characters is what makes Persona 3 Reload a must play for JRPGs fanatic because I had a fantastic time of playing this game on my PS5 with no regrets whatsoever.   

The physical copy for PS5, XSX/S, and XBONE are cost around between £25 to £30, where as the PS4 are slightly cost more with £35 and over, where as the digital release for PS Store, Xbox Store, and Steam are cost around £60.

Is it definite must play? the answer is yes if you're a big time fan of the Persona series or JRPGs genre as in general will likely give the game a worth of shot, and don't forget that the game will be coming soon to Switch 2 this October release because that will be a great time for Switch 2 owners will likely get a hands on with this remake on their portable system.

I am thou, thou art I...

I hast concluded my review of Persona 3 Reload

as one of the Atlus's JRPGs finest remake...

Is definite must buy indeed.

 

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