5 Christmas Wishlist of 2022

 

Ahhh, what a festive winter night this is...it's almost close to holiday season called Christmas, a special traditional day where everyone in the families and friends get together and celebrating during the night related to holiday season. 

Stuff like snowing down from above the sky, building up snowman, watching flying reindeers pulling Santa's sleigh, decorating stuff like Christmas trees with tinsels and baubles, people singing Christmas songs, watching Christmas films, eating roast dinner like chickens and potatoes set on dining tables and of course everyone's favourite Father Christmas giving out gifts to everyone is what Christmas is all about.

In 7 years past since I've covered all my previous Wishlist that I might considering to get it on the day of Christmas holiday, I decided to make another Wishlist this year because it's nearly Christmas season and I need it to write down my list of most wanted Christmas gifts that I'd like to add it to my gaming collection this winter.     

So without go further do, here is my 5 Christmas Wishlist of 2022.

1 - Die Hard Arcade (Saturn)

 

First of all, I f***ing love Die Hard because it's one of the all-time greatest action-films of the 80s. 

The first film stars Bruce Willis takes the role of police detective named John McClane went on mission to save all hostages and take down the terrorist group led by Hans Gruber in Nakatomi Plaza. 

The film became instant success at release and also popular cultural icon which led the creation of the film franchise has spawned with numerous of film sequels, comics, cameo appearances, and of course video games.

SEGA AM1 had created their very first 3D beat-em-up to acquire the license based on Die Hard franchise in cooperation with Fox Interactive.

It was titled as Die Hard Arcade (A.K.A Dynamite Deka in Japan) was released in 1996 for Arcade system ST-V and was later released for Saturn in 1997, as well as being re-released at Japan-only for PS2 in 2006 as part of SEGA Ages line. 

  

I remember back then at the time when I had SEGA Saturn as a child, I've seen one of my brother's friends came to our house with a copy of Die Hard Arcade for us to try out and see how the game really plays out and oh boy is it so damn good to play it on Saturn.

I was really impressed seeing a 3D beat-em-ups plays it really well on the Saturn with 2-player co-op and has over-the-top action packed going on which is why I find the game quite fun to play making it very last Saturn game I ever played before my brother just got rid of my Saturn with the N64 console (not until I finally got Saturn back in my early age of 20s). 

In around year 2000s when I first had SEGA Dreamcast at the time, my brother had bought the copy of Dynamite Cop (A.K.A Dynamite Deka 2 in Japan), a follow-up title to 1996's predecessor. It's one of the game being released on Model 2 Arcade in 1998, and later on Dreamcast in 1999 without licensing Die Hard franchise, so I've managed to enjoy the game just as much as the 1996's predecessor was on Saturn. 

As I've start collecting retro gaming stuff as today, I was thinking to get a copy of Die Hard Arcade on Saturn to re-visit my childhood again to see if the game really holds up well as today standards, so the price of the game are stupendously expensive just like most Saturn games library are likely to high up prices due to rarity of the game which cost around between £80 to £150 over making it difficult for Saturn owners to pick up and play, unless the only way to pick up and play the game is to buy the cheap Japanese copy titled Dynamite Deka which cost about £50 and over, so thankfully I had Action Replay Plus software to bypass the Japanese Saturn games on my UK Saturn console which is likely that I will perhaps someday to have this added on my Saturn library.

YIPPIE KI-YAY MOTHER F***ER!!!  

2 - Time Crisis 2 and 3 + G-Con 2 (PS2)

Well Well, are you feeling surprised to see a PS2 games been added on my wishlist? dun dun dun you should be because it's been 22 years since the PS2 console was released in year 2000, so after I got really pissed at SONY's decision for not including a full disk-based PS2 backwards compatibility for PS4 and PS5 console which is why I got a PS2 console last month is the only way of playing a PS2 games.    

I know it's sounds kinda odd to own the console that is 22 years old which is not a bad thing because we all know PS2 is heavily regarded as one of the greatest gaming consoles of all-time and also ranked as a top 1 best-selling console of all-time with over 155 million units sold worldwide.

The system was widely known for its own killer game library including God of War, Ratchet and Clank, Jak and Dexter, Sly Cooper, Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening, Final Fantasy X, Metal Gear Soild 3: Snake Eater, and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City that made PS2 quite famous back then. 

It also has ability to play DVD films and PS1 games as backwards compatibility are also a system's main selling key-point which is why a lot of consumers went crazy to buy the system because of these features included on PS2 hardware which I now understand why the console went so popular back in 2000s.

So going back to this topic, after owning the PS2 console last month I am interested in getting the copy of Time Crisis 2 and 3 as well as the G-Con 2 which is the light gun controller for PS2 that requires to use it for light gun gameplay brings closer to arcade counterpart except the foot pedal that are used for cover system are present on arcade system, but not the home console instead you will have the button on the G-Con 2 used as the cover system which I don't really mind using it because that's Namco to you guys anyway. 

Time Crisis is a light gun shooter series created by Namco (now merged as Bandai Namco Entertainment) was very known for its action packed stages and of course the cover system which allows the player to take cover to evade enemy's projectiles adds the innovation to its genres.

I really enjoyed playing Time Crisis games like the first, second and third mostly for the arcade cabinets because I like shooting down the bad guys and hiding behind the objects at the same time brings the game's fun factor makes it very addicting to play especially with 2-player co-op on both 2 and 3. 

I also enjoyed playing Time Crisis: Razing Storm compilation for PS3 which includes both Razing Storm and Time Crisis 4, so I've used PS Move controller which works really well for light-gun shooters.

So I was hoping to considered getting the Time Crisis games and G-Con 2 for PS2 which is going to be one hell lot of fun to play.

3 - Guitar Hero 1 and 2 + Guitar Controller (PS2)  

 

Guitar Hero is a video game music-rhythm franchise had started back in mid-2000s originally created by RedOctane that produced specialized video game controllers and seeking to bring in a Konami's Guitar Freaks-like game, a music-rhythm series that are highly popular in Japan at the time, into western markets. 

It has been generally acclaimed reception and becoming financially success has sold more than 25 million units worldwide, earning US-$2 billion at retail, 60 million downloadable tracks have been purchased across the series as of 2010, and becoming Activision's 3rd largest game franchise in 2009. 

The success of the franchise had spawned numerous of titles for various of gaming platforms, and made a significant cultural impact has helped the entertainment industries such as incorporated into music educational programs, and made several appearances in popular culture such as in TV Shows, Sports, and Films. 

I had wireless guitar controller and the copy of 3 Guitar Hero games such as GHIII: Legends of Rock, GH: World Tour, and of course GH: Metallica for Nintendo Wii, so why would I wanted to get another GH games and guitar controller for PS2? maybe because there are two GH games that I've missed out despite the first title being only on PS2 platform, while the second title are also on X360 making it the 7th gen's first game in the series, but not being on the platforms like Wii and PS3 which at the time these system wasn't been released till 2006-07 which they ended up with GHIII: Legends of Rock instead.

Both the first and second game on PS2 does shares with recognisable licensed soundtracks that made the franchise so popular back in mid-2000s, so stuff from GH1 such as Motorhead - Ace of Spades, Pantera - Cowboys from Hell, Black Sabbath - Iron Man, and Megadeth - Symphony of Destruction, where as GH2 has Avenged Sevenfold - Beast and the Harlot, Nirvana - Heart-Shaped Box, Rage Against the Machine - Killing in the Name, Lamb of God - Laid to Rest, and Alice in Chains - Them Bones.

This is the reason why I wanted to add this to my wishlist, so that I can able to start rock and roll with more songs to play on PS2.

The price of the each GH games are actually dirt cheap around between £2.50 and £5, where as the guitar controllers for PS2 should cost about between £30 and over depending on the second-hand product are good enough to purchase from online.

4 - Toy Story (Genesis/MD)

     

      

 

TO INFINITY AND BEYOND!!!!

Yes everyone, it all started back in mid-90s when Disney PIXAR had bought their very first 3D computer-animated film ever released at worldwide, so that is Toy Story.

The animated film is all about taking place in a world where toys come to life when humans are not present, so the story focuses on a old-fashioned cowboy doll named Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks) who is once Andy's long-time favourite toy until he develops his jealousy when Andy then receives a modern space cadet action-figure named Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Tim Allen) happens to be a new favourite toy causing the relationship between two didn't go along very well.

It received universally acclaimed reception and became a 2nd high-grossing film at the release, as the film was credited for its technical innovation of 3D animation, as well as screenplay, musical score, and voice performance. It was considered as by many to be one of the greatest animated films ever made receiving numerous of academy award.

The success of Toy Story had involved into a multimedia franchise with film sequels, toy merchandises, animated series, theme park attractions, and of course video games.

As I loved the film as a child back in mid-1990s, I first remembered when I saw the game that was on the 16-bit machines such as SEGA Genesis/MD and SNES at the Blockbuster rental store. My brother just rented the SNES copy of the game which got me excited to play a title that was based on the animated film that I much loved as a kid.

It's basically a side-scrolling platformer where you take control of Woody through several of 18 stages that encompass the entire plot of the film. 

The game itself is considered to be quite difficult to play for younger target audience due to uneven difficulty may going to frustrate them depending on which levels are designed to be challenging, but although it plays really well for its simple controls, pre-rendered visuals, and soundtrack are the positive parts of the game. 

I also played the Genesis/MD version which I was at my cousin's house who had their 16-bit console and has rented the copy which I considered the Genesis/MD version to be smoother compared with SNES due to better screen resolution, responsive hit collisions, and has one exclusive 3D stage that aren't present on SNES counterpart which is why I much preferred the SEGA's 16-bit version over the SNES port.

In nowadays, I'm interested in getting a Genesis/MD copy of Toy Story which cost about £7 for loose cartridge, while the fully complete boxset cost £10 or more which is not that expensive to choose which ever you preferred to pick between the cart only or full boxed game found it easier to purchase and add it to your collection.  

5 - Illusion of Time (SNES)

  

The SNES was being very known at the time in the 90's when sharing with numerous of excellent RPGs titles that really made the Nintendo's 16-bit system quite recognisable.

Stuff like Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Romancing Saga, Breath of Fire, Lufia 2, Tactics Ogre, Fire Emblem, Front Mission, Super Mario RPG: Legend of Seven Stars, and of course The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

There are two RPGs games that I considered those as criminally underappreciated that didn't get the attention what it deserve, so stuff like Quintet's forgotten classics such as Soul Blazer and Terranigma which I previously enjoyed these full Action-RPG experience for its unique story presentation, great combat and puzzle gameplay, the exploration throughout the worlds, has rich quality soundtrack, and epic boss battles is what made me put a smile on my face for joy proving the SNES has the best library of the RPGs.

There's one of the game that I totally forgot about it which also created by a same team behind the two classics that I've mentioned above, so that is Illusion of Time (A.K.A Illusion of Gaia in US release) which is an Action-RPG that plays similar to two other Quintet's games, so I was hoping for this game plays just as good as other two that I've played quite long ago in regards of combat, exploration, and designs had to be staying on top.  

The game itself are likely to get bit pricey up to £25 or more depending on whether if its loosed cart or complete boxed, so to be fully honest I rather pick something that are easy to purchase as an cheaper alternatives, but be careful for those English speakers who owns the PAL console needed to pay much close attention to the copy because there are a German-language copy are also on online store, so be sure you picked the right version of the game before making an purchase online. 

Honourable Mention: 

Crash Bandicoot 4: It's about time (PS4)

Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut (PS4)

Sonic Frontier (PS4)

3D Dot Game Heroes (PS3)

Mario Kart 64 (N64)

Conker's Bad Fur Day (N64)

Radiant Silvergun (Saturn)

Outrun 2006: Coast 2 Coast (PS2)     

                                         

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This is Zeeshan Mirza's Blog and I'll see you next time, happy blogging and have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all.      

Outlast 2 PS4 (Digital) Review

 

Outlast 2 is a Survival Horror game for PS4, XBONE, and PC was first released in 2017, and was later ported to Switch in 2018, which was both developed and published by Red Barrels, and it is a sequel to 2013's first game titled as Outlast.

It's been 7 years since I've reviewed the original game which was considered as one the scariest video game that shook the f**k out of players thanks to frightening jumpscares, horrifying chase sequences, and disturbing horror elements that made the first game quite popular among with horror fans and gamers experienced the nightmare. 

After the game's success, Red Barrel had decided to make an sequel titled as Outlast 2 to deliver another terrifying adventure once again with entirely new story and characters while retaining the same gameplay design as the first ones, so does that mean it's anything better than the original? well absolutely not, but it's still plays good entirely which is why I'm here to review this game to explore what are pros and cons about the sequel and how this compared with the first original in terms of horror design and atmospheres, as well as the story presentation.

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

Presentation

The game set in Arizona desert, as it follows the Journalists named Blake and Lynn Langermann, who are both husband and wife, went on investigation mission to explore the murder of a pregnant woman only known as Jane Doe. 

As they get separated in a helicopter crash, Blake has to find his wife who are missing while traveling through a village inhabited by a deranged sect that believes the end of days are upon them. 

Now first of all, I thought the story should be sounds simple as you are just the journalist doing a job of uncovering the horrific scenes of dead pregnant woman that most likely linked to the satanic cults mass murder took place in a swarmy-looking village, but when the crash has started to land left you unconscious for awhile till you're finally awaken and start searching for missing wife which is likely being kidnapped, as well as uncovering the murder scene at near town which was inhabited by those satanic cult groups led by preacher Sullivan Knoth and the Heretics.

So that is sounds okay at the start till it gets weirdly confusing as you progress throughout the game, so you may get teleported into the random classroom segment during the hallucination where you'll be discovering the scenes of Blake's childhood past that seems to be out of place because it had nothing to do with the main plot of the game, so I wish they should stick to the main story that I've mentioned above to keep it simple, and you may also going to find the ending so unsatisfying as I can't really give you such spoilers till you reached at the end of the game to find out the outcome of the story.   

I find Blake Langermann as protagonist are kinda sounds annoying when he makes irritating dialogue like "Gotta find Lynn", "Nothing matters but Lynn", and "I must be close to Lynn" I mean Jesus man just f***ing get on with it and please will you stop making panicky one-liner while being chased after. 

Unlike Miles Upshur from the original game just sticks with the breathing sounds and heartbeat convey his fear is what makes the character quite simple, but not being overly aggravating as Blake does in Outlast 2.

I also wanted to point out several of the villains in the game such as Laird Byron kinda look like a small deformed man being attached with big-tall dude, Marta is a tall-dangerous bitch wielding with her large pickaxe will chop your dicks out in brutal way, and Father Loutermilch is a long-ass tongue licker are just as horrifying as the ones on the original game really adds up creepiness of the game's presentation, so that's the positive part of the game I should say.

Speaking of presentation, the overall settings of the game are stunningly well done for its dark atmospheres and scare factor design of the game are just as top-notch as the first game has to offer.

You had these locations like empty looking farms and houses around the village filled with many dead human bodies, bloods everywhere on the walls and floors, and some dead animals are satisfying gory indeed, and there are some places like a church, lakes, and mines are filled with many disturbing things around the levels like bunch of satanic rituals gathered everywhere and some torture-tool methods which I described these themes as pure medieval created by these sadistic cultist does many horrible stuff to innocent people that doesn't deserve a cruel punishment which is why it adds the game's main shock values to scare-off players.

Speaking of scaring off players, I also wanted to give the game credit for its graphical effects in several of kill scenes as well as player's deaths especially with Marta just chops off your balls with a large pickaxe is just pure gruesome, and the game does give a great use of jumpscares with unexpecting surprises may going to shit your pants is what made Outlast being really known for back then.

Overall, it has slight average story and annoying protagonist, but does have creepy villains, dark atmospheres, and scare factor design are the highlights part of the game.

Gameplay

You're playing as Blake Langermann went searching for his wife as well as gathering information to uncover the terrifying secrets in Arizona desert. 

So it plays in first-person perspective, as you'll be exploring around the villages to collect information and evidence such as document papers and recording footage, while finding its way to head at places where his wife was been held at.

Pushing the left and right thumbstick to move and look around, while pressing the cross button to jump through or climbing up the obstacles, and pushing the circle button to crouch while holding it to prone. You can peek through while standing behind the wall by holding the left or right triggers to lean left or right side of the wall, while you can peek through the door by holding the square button with slowly pushing the left stick forward, and you can also look behind by holding the left shoulder button.

Your main equipment is the camera which you'll be using it to record the footage as well as taking photos of evidence that are linked to cult's murder scenes, and you can also use these kinds of technologies may come in use for the game such as night vision that display the dark places, the mics that allows you to track and listen enemy's conversation, and has zoom-in features which allows you to see surroundings in long-distances. 

You may also needed to pick up batteries in-case your camera went off when low on battery power, but be really careful not to waste many batteries otherwise you'll be screwed if you're out of battery then it'd be tough luck for you to go past the dark areas, so use it when it's necessary.  

The game's main mechanics is relying on the stealth play where you'll need to get past through the level without getting caught by these monsters nearby, so the best way of avoiding these guys is to find the hiding spot such as lockers, barrels, pools, and bunch of grasses which reduces enemy's alert status.

If you get caught by these guys when they see you nearby they went chasing after you, so you had to run for your life till you find the hiding places that they can't easily find you.

If they managed to catch you while your health is on low then you'll be dead in action, so you may need to collect one of the items such as bandages to recover your health status by holding the triangle button. 

The controls plays absolutely fine as it is should be straightforward to play, so you can also re-configure the default controls through the option menu to suit your playstyle. 

The stealth gameplay are quite just as good as the first original where you can able to sneak past those monsters nearby such as finding way to escape without being caught in action and being able to hide somewhere they don't see you where you are, such as hiding behind the walls or inside the objects like barrels or locker while giving a quick peek through till you think its safe to go, so I think the way they design the game as a stealth horror are just worked pretty well throughout the game.   

The enemy A.Is is somewhat pretty responsive in the game where they are really good at spotting you sneaking around even with the mid-range distance, and they are also really good at dragging you from below when crawling through holes and hiding inside the barrel or locker proves that these creeps are sure smart headed depending how they react and sees you in this level making the chase sequences quite intensing to play. 

While the game has decent stealth gameplay and responsive enemy's A.Is during the chase sequences, I got to say that I'm grateful with the large open-space level where you can explore around the village is pretty new thing to the series, but sadly the main issue is that you may can get lost in the track quickly when you can't figure it out where you supposed to go making it quite frustrating for players to find the escape route which is not quite flexible as the original game has better overall design to keep the level much easier to navigate things.

So far, it's still plays good as long as the game shares with many great segments that does not slow down the pace of the game thanks to numerous of chase encounters and having to cover all the mysteries throughout the game is what keeps me playing the game.  

   

Overall, it has decent stealth gameplay and responsive enemy's A.Is. 

Graphics

The graphics are looking incredibly great especially on 8th-gen console which I am impressed with the environmental designs being bloody, but solid at the same time. The village has open-wide farm area, the church has medieval designs, the classroom are sure dark and empty, and the mines are quite looking deadly with rituals scattered around adding the game's creepiness.

The use of gorefest levels is quite mindf***ed seeing blood spattering around, several of sloppy organs spilled down, and getting their bone crunched up is just sickening, but terrific at same time watching people dies in pain.

The texture-mapping and background layouts is looking crispy and sharp, where as the use of smoothing effects including fog and mist particles adds the great balance of making the game's design look appealing. 

The character's animation is just as remarkable as what you saw from the first original, and I also liked the lighting settings for the night vision mode with green and black coloured screen adding the game's realism.

Overall, it has solid environmental designs, terrific gorefest levels, and remarkable character's animation.             

                               

    

Music and Sounds

The music and sounds are very well done because it delivers the use of frantic sounds design really matches the scare factor design that starts to kicks in hard such as jumpscares and chase sequences with dramatic soundtrack and terrifying noises that makes you jump off the seat big time. 

The sound effects are quite good with the surrounding noises such as pounding footsteps, creaking doors, falling objects, slamming stuff, and of course enemy's grunting voices adds the game's realism.

Despite the average plot wasn't the best part of the game, the voice performance are actually did a good job depending on which characters in the game are doing better in terms of acting, so I say they really nailed perfectly with the most of the casting villains are just as scary like the original game has to offer.     

Overall, it has frantic sound designs, dramatic soundtrack, and good voice performance.

Special Features

The game does comes with chapter select and some galleries stuff including documents and video recording which is fine, but unfortunately there are no extra DLCs for new story chapters at the moment, so unlike the first original has their own DLCs story chapter called Whistleblower which serves as a prequel to the original game, but going back to this I heard the reason why the DLCs on Outlast 2 didn't happen is due to developer teams are still working on the project titled as The Outlast Trials which acts as prequel for Outlast 2.

Overall, quite shameful for those who owns this game are looking forward with the new DLCs.

        

 

Advantages

Intense chase sequences 

Terrifying jumpscares

Decent stealth gameplay

Solid overall visuals

Terrific gorefest levels

Frantic sound designs

Dramatic soundtrack  

Disadvantages

Slight average story  

Annoying protagonist

Can get lost in track really easily  

Lack DLCs content 

Final Verdict

Presentation 7/10 - Slight average story and annoying protagonist, but does have creepy villains, dark atmospheres, and scare factor design.

Gameplay 7.5/10 - Decent stealth gameplay and responsive enemy's A.Is.

Graphics 9/10 - Solid environmental designs, terrific gorefest levels, and remarkable character's animation.

Music and Sounds 8/10 - Frantic sound designs and dramatic soundtrack.

Special Features 2/10 - Lacks DLCs content.  

Overall 7/10 - It is a good sequel, but it's nowhere near perfect as the first original game. Although the story and main protagonist aren't the best part of the game itself, you might want to give this game some credit for its great scares, discovering the horrific mysteries, and has insane amount of chases does add the game's charm.

I got to say the graphics and sounds are very well made filled with gruesome visuals and terrifying sounds are also positive indeed that are quite impressive for the 8th-gen console standards.

If the game should have got better story written and make protagonist less annoying, then I would have given it 8 instead, but I decided to give it 7 after beating it at the end.

So that being said, it's still an decent horror title that you might considering to give the game a try and see if you liked the sequel better or maybe stick it to the first original game instead.            

 

The game cost between £23.99 and £26.99 at PS Store, Xbox Store, eShop, and of course both PC platforms such as Steam and Epic Games, where as physical copy for both PS4 and XBONE under the video game compilation titled as Outlast Trinity (which includes First, Second, and Whistleblower) should cost between £25 to £30.

I say for those who planning to purchase from digital storefront then I say wait for sales to go down, or you may want to get all three games in one package physically might be an better purchase solution which is not bad for the £25.

Hopefully, I will look forward to see another upcoming installiment of the series titled as The Outlast Trials to see if it's done anything better or worse, so finger crossed. 

 

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Top 5 Terrifying Chases in Horror Games

 

Horror video games in general are quite gruesome, deadly, and of course horrifying to play when you're playing in the darkest room possible without having the lights turned on and receiving lot of horrific unexpecting surprises from the game may hunt you for rest of the day which is why it made the genre quite popular in the 90s, starting from terrifying-looking Scissorman from Clock Tower to tall-ass Nemesis from Resident Evil 3, and then decade later you have weird-looking pyramid head from Silent Hill 2 to freakish Necromorphs from Dead Space which is why it made those kinds of horror games quite recognisable for its scare factor design including people getting torned to death, the scenes that shit out your pants, has several of shock values, and some disturbing parts in the game that really gives everyone a huge mindf***ed moments.

In this new spooky blogpost, we are taking look at the 5 chase encounters in any of video games that I finding it quite intense to play because I've been playing several of horror games during the night where I get many of not just full of surprises, but I also get many of encounters from crazy-ass monsters that started to chase me around the room till I found the hiding spot that no one can able to find me.

So turn off your lights, sit, relax, and shhhhhh!!! because this is my top 5 terrifying chases in horror games.

5 - Resident Evil 7 - Jack Baker

What made Resident Evil so great is not only it became Capcom's most successful franchise, but also a influential horror game series that defines the video game genres thanks to horror presentation settings, delivers great storylines and has recognisable cast of characters, and of course puzzle and survival elements of gameplay with tons of discoveries and enemy encounters that changes the video game industries forever. 

I grew up playing stuff like the first RE, RE 2, RE:CV, and of course RE 4 which is why I loved the franchise so much back in my childhood days, where as stuff like RE 5 and Revelation are kinda okay but not as good compared with the previous entries, till I got really disappointed with the RE 6 which is the worst entry in the series that kills the franchise's legacy took away the horror elements from the earlier RE games. 

Thankfully it was saved by going back to the roots with the RE 7: Biohazard which was hailed as the franchise's return of the survival horror that everyone been wanting for the RE game.

In RE 7: Biohazard, you get to play as Ethan Winters went searching for his lost wife in the abandoned house of Baker's family.

What makes RE 7 so terrifying is the scene where Jack Baker went chasing after you around the rooms, starting from smashing the tables apart to bursting through the cracked walls is just insane to play, so you cannot kill him with every single bullet you took a shot at him, instead you had to find a way of hiding the places or escaping from the room and another to reduce the encounters alert from Jack Baker nearby which is why it made the chase sequences quite intense to play.

If you thought Mr X from RE 2 and Nemesis from RE 3 are just as strong and unstoppable to fight with, then this crazy old bastard like Jack Baker is just as tough as nails that you don't wanna to mess with which is why it makes him one of the best villain in the whole game.

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is an huge improvement over the previous entry makes the return to its roots that made the whole franchise successful, so it's definitely must play for the fans of the series, as well as horror genre fans in general, so it's available on PS4, PS5, XBONE, XSX/S and PC, as well as coming soon to Switch on this December.    

   

        

        

4 - Clock Tower: The First Fear - Scissor Man 

                           

There's one of the game that really surprises me the most especially being on 16-bit platform like SNES which is a Clock Tower: The First Fear, a point and click horror game which was only released at Japan for SNES in 1995, as well as later for PS1 and PC in 1997, and WonderSwan in 1999. 

The game takes place in Romsdalen, Norway which follows an orphan teen-girl Jennifer Simpson (which resemble Jennifer Connelly's character in the 80's film like Phenomena) are adopted by the Barrows family along with other orphaned girls arriving at the mansion known as Clock Tower. 

After arriving at the mansion, it went completely chaotic which leaves Jennifer went on investigating to search for missing friends while being encountered by an ugly little shit known as the Scissor Man went on murdering rampage welding a pair of huge-ass scissors goes after her, as she finds the way of escaping throughout the mansion. 

So what makes the Clock Tower a different style of horror is that not only the plot and artistic style are influenced by Dario Argento's 80's Italian-horror film most notably Phenomena, but it's one of the game's design heavily focused on hide and seek elements where you cannot use weapons against enemy, so instead you must find the hiding spots throughout the mansion, or use traps placed in the environment which is quite common for later horror game as you know today such as Outlast and Amnesia as an great example of how the modern horror game took the similar elements from the classic horror game like this which involves chase sequences and use of stealth, so the Clock Tower is way it's head at the time that invented the stealth horror style for gaming. 

So going back to this, the main highlight of the game is where the Scissor Man made the scariest encounters in the whole game such as breaking through the glass-chandelier or rooftops from the above, surprises you from the bathtub or behind the curtains, jumping out the underwater pool or wooden-crates, and breaking through the locked door or bookshelf which is why I consider the game as quite terrifying experience for SNES, an Nintendo's 16-bit machine that aimed for younger audience are no longer being a family-friendly home system.

Clock Tower is an example of being a great horror title for SNES libraries that I highly recommend you to go check it out. Due to being only released in Japan, there's are an alternative option to play the game is that you can also able to get it from ROMs site where you can download the games and play it on SNES emulator software or even with SNES reproduction copies from some online stores with fully English translated with it makes the text dialogue and navigating stuff a lot easier for western gamers to enjoy a 16-bit point and click horror-adventure.     

           

                         

3 - Amnesia: The Dark Descent - Grunt

Speaking of terrifying encounters, one of the game that caught many of horror fans attention which is Amnesia: The Dark Descent, a 2010's survival horror game created by Frictional Games behind their horror titles such as Penumbra and SOMA. 

Back in the beginning of year 2010, I wasn't been aware of any of indie horror games being released on PC's platform like Value's Steam because I don't do any of PC gaming as much I payed more attention to the console gaming platform like Playstation, Xbox, and Nintendo which is why I didn't discover this till I've watched one of the scariest video compilation on YouTube where you see most of people playing the game are start panicking and shrieking at the same time which got me curious to try out the game to see if anything scary about the game that involves a big-tall brutes with spliced mouth chasing you around the areas for survival, so in around between the year of 2016-19 after the game has finally released on the console platforms such as PS4, XBONE, and Switch, I've managed to get the game on my PS4 under the video game compilation titled as The Amnesia Collection which contains three titles such as The Dark Descent, Justine, and A Machine for Pigs, so for the purpose of this top 5 I am discussing mostly on The Dark Descent which is why I ranked it as number 3 on the list.

The game set on year 1839, you are Daniel awakens in the dark and empty halls of the Brennenburg Castle with no memory about himself or his past due to amnesia, so you'll be exploring in a dark and foreboding castle while trying to maintain his sanity by avoiding monsters and unsettling events.

While the game focuses on finding clues and solving puzzles, it also involves stealth elements where you need to avoid being caught by the monsters nearby, so you will need someplace to hide while not to get closer to them, if so then they can chase you really fast making the player harder to evade the enemy encounter attack. Having the lamp touch on and making running noises can also attract the monsters too in which you will need to be very careful while attempting to escape.

What makes the game even more creepier is that if you ran out the lamp oils for lantern or tinderbox items for candles which makes the whole rooms becoming pitch black effecting your sanity level leading into the fear that makes your character lose confidence, the more monsters takes their full advantages of you feel becoming vulnerable in the game. 

While I considered the follow-up title like A Machine for Pigs as the weakest entry of the series, Amnesia: The Dark Descent is one of the better game that are much worth to play as today, as I am hoping to look forward soon with the sequel called Amnesia: Rebirth just to see if anything plays just good as the original game has to offer. 

   

    

2 - SOMA - Terry Akers Proxy

Like I've mentioned Amnesia: The Dark Descent before, Frictional Games has bought the another horror title into the next level which is SOMA, a 2015's survival horror game was originally released for PS4 and PC, and was also released later for XBONE in 2017.

Before this game takes place in an underwater research facility known as PATHOS-II, it's starts off in year 2015 with the person named Simon Jarrett who was suffered with his severe brain injury due to car accident, as he agrees to take brain scan appointment to experimenting his brain until the scan went horribly wrong which causing Simon to black out and regains consciousness in Site Upsilon of PATHOS-II. After Simon learns that he has awoken in the year 2104, his goal is to escape from the underwater facility which is full of mysterious creatures known as WAU. 

So very similar to the Frictional Games's previous titles, you will encounter a numerous of creatures in the researching facility, as your aim is to survive and escape by solving problems with several clues around the rooms, as well as evading WAU's nearby without getting caught in action.

What made the game quite horrific is not only WAUs creatures are look terrifying, but it definitely has the scariest encounters such as one of them teleports randomly towards player which increases the chance of jumpscares, and the other one starts chases the player around the room, as it makes the screen static starts scattering and fuzzing, as well as screeching sound effects during the chase sequence makes you feel distressing and frightened to play the game which is why I liked about the game for its scare factor design. 

I considered SOMA as one of the Frictional Games better horror title that you definitely should play it on PCs and Consoles platform to satisfy your horror experience. 

   

1 - Outlast - Chris Walker

Ladies and Gentlemen, you're about to see one of the most terrifying chases in horror games that you'll ever see.

Something that you never seen anything but frightening stuff going on in this game where it was well known for its unexpecting jumpscares that really shits your pants out of nowhere and bunch of mentally sick-freaks start chasing you around in the psychiatric hospital may haunt you for rest of the day, so that is Outlast, an 2013's survival horror game created by Red Barrels was released for PC in 2013, and was later released for PS4 and XBONE in 2014 as well as Switch in 2018.

The game set in Mount Massive Asylum, as you are Miles Upshur went on investigation to uncover the deadliest discoveries including deadly patient, religious occult rituals, and dead corpses which spreads everywhere in any room, as your main goal is to investigate the evidence and survive throughout the private psychiatric hospital.

What makes the game even scarier is not just only jumpscares and bunch of guys chasing you around through the corridor, but I got to mention the best part of the game is no other than Chris Walker himself, a big beefy dude is an example of being not just the most terrifying villains that makes the players shit themselves, but an example of giving you an instant ass-kicking by him. 

He can make every crazy moves by grabbing, dragging, and slamming you on the ground like a pig makes the chase sequences very intensing which is why I will never forget the part that haunts me to its day. 

Outlast is quite terrifying to play, but also being one of the best indie horror title that you should definitely go play it, and I'm hoping to look forward soon with the sequel called Outlast 2 for another terrifying campaign.    

 

    

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Persona 5 PS4 Review

 

Persona 5 is a Turn-Based JRPGs game originally released for PS3 and PS4 at Japan in 2016, and at worldwide in 2017. It did received an enhancement version in 2019-20 for PS4, as well as with the PS5, XSX/S, XBONE, Switch, and PC are also confirmed in this October 2022 release titled as Persona 5 Royal.

It was developed by P-Studio (under Atlus Co.Ltd) and published by Atlus and Deep Silver for original release, where as the Royal are also published by SEGA.

Before I start reviewing this game, I want to give a small history behind the Atlus's own successful franchise titled as Shin Megami Tensei which was originated in mid-80s starting off with Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei for NES, MSX, X1, and FM-7. The title of the game was cooperated with the traditional RPGs genres mixed with Turn-Based battles and 3D dungeon exploration, while it has shares of dark-occult presentation and sci-fi elements.

Despite the franchise weren't introduced to the western territory (until Persona series in mid-90s), the game was commercially successful in Japan was praised for its dark atmosphere and mechanics as both impressive given the limited hardware and innovative among role-playing games of the time.

The following success of the game has spawned with numerous of sequels as well as spin-offs series such as Megami Tensei Gaiden, Majin Tensei, Devil Summoner, Digital Devil Saga, Devil Children, Devil Survivor, and of course Persona which is why they listed Shin Megami Tensei as Atlus's largest role-playing franchises.

First of all, I haven't played nor heard any of Shin Megami Tensei games until when I found out and discovered the spin-off series like Persona where I overheard many of people on the internet been mostly talked about which is why I began to start interested in the series, but unfortunately when it's comes with RPGs are widely known for its long-lengthy campaign which I never had a chance to pick up and play due to being busy studying at my college and university at the time in my early-20s, so I had to start with simple game like Persona 4 Arena which is a 2012's 2D fighting game spin-off title, based on the original 2008's turn-based title Persona 4, that I already covered my review back in 2013 which I labelled the game as the remarkable and most intense fighting game for PS3 and X360 libraries are definitely must buy game for all the fans of the fighting games genres and Persona series.

In around mid-2010s the time where I had the 8th gen console like the PS4, there's one of the game that catches my attention which is Persona 5, a game that I've seen from the trailer back then which I was impressed with the visual art-style, introducing cast of characters, and eye-catching presentation is the main reason why I'm considering want to dig in with the game, so I finally had a chance to play Persona 5 on my PS4, FOR REAL!!!? yes definitely for real. 

I've been playing for whole 5 weeks to finish the whole lengthy campaign making it as one of the longest RPGs title that I've ever played which is why I spend playing over 9 hours a day to get the game finished ASAP before I can able to review the game for my next blogpost which is why I here now. 

So going back to this review, I'm definitely to talk about Persona 5 which is a game that I wanted to look forward reviewing stuff because I consider this title as yet masterpiece in my opinion, so this game delivers many best, but also has unexpecting moments that I ever experienced.

It's one of the game that I found to be such incredible achievements that I've been spent playing the game over and over nearly 9 hours a day of playthrough that makes up to total of 100 hours campaign filled with many fantastic things that made Persona 5 quite special, so I'm going to discuss the details on my review including the story, characters, visuals, sounds, and gameplay to prove that it's one of the best RPGs title to play on both the PS3 and PS4 library.

I am thou, thou art I...

I hast established to review

Persona 5 for the PS4...

So without go further do, 

let's start the review.

Presentation

The game takes place in modern-day Tokyo with navigable real-world locations within the city, including Akihabara, Shinjuku, and Shibuya.

It follows the main protagonist named Joker, which I believe his real name is Ren Amamiya as the name used in the anime TV series based on the title of the same name, so you will have an option to enter your own name at the beginning of the game.

He's one of the character you're playing as who transfers to a new school after being falsely accused of assault and put on one-year probation. 

Following his transfer to a new school, he then meet up with the group of other students who also discovered the supernatural mobile app that leads them into the Metaverse, a dark realm place consisting of the physical manifestation of humanity's subconscious desires.

Soon after they awaken the supernatural power known as Persona, they now form a vigilante group known as the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, as their mission is to explore throughout the Metaverse and expose the dirty secrets of corrupt-minded people by removing malevolent intent from them and cause a change of heart within them.

I find the whole story in the game has an interesting concept that involves the group of heroes went undercover to discover a shocking secrets of those tyranted criminals are responsible with their crimes they committed such as the dark topic like physical abuse, drug trafficking, fraudulent, political corruption, and other illegal acts. 

It is so different from any of RPGs games are normally about the heroes went on their quest to defeat the evil and save the world, but when it comes with the games like Persona 5 it's totally something else which I kinda liked the idea of having a game went on a different approach where it relies on you and your group of your friends went on quest to prevent those evil criminals from continuing the habits of crimes that harming the humanity. 

The character Ren Amamiya is somewhat typical silent protagonist that doesn't use any lines in the game, but only small parts. He's one of the character which has different kinds of portrayal as the player get to choose with the dialogue option, such as he can be smart or dumb, snarky or funny, depending on how you play, where as many believed that the Ren's portrayal in Anime TV series is somewhat quiet and socially awkward because of his criminal record stigma that he is framed for assaulting the random man and put on probation which resulting in expulsion from his school.         

He then later becoming the leader of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts which he named his codename as Joker (Yeah, not to be very confused with the DC villain named Joker from Batman franchise).

He has friends to join with him such as with school delinquent Ryuji Sakamoto, fashion model Ann Takamaki, and Morgana the mysterious cat-like creature. There are more people join the group throughout the game including art prodigy Yusuke Kitagawa, student council president Makoto Niijima, hikikomori computer hacker Futaba Sakura, and cultured corporate heiress Haru Okumura.

There are some supportive characters interacting with main protagonist such as high school detective Goro Akechi, and the public prosecutor and also Makoto's older sister Sae Niijima went on undercover to search and find the vigilante group's identities.      

Then you will have an mysterious man name Igor and his two twins assistants Caroline and Justine at the velvet room where they teaches you the rehabilitation in order to become a better person in society, but they may not give you what the final answer is until you progress through the game.

Finally it has shares of villains such as creepy-perverted school teacher, thieving old-senile artist, big-fat drug dealing yakuza, and bold-headed corrupted politician.

The game offers the best looking presentation thanks to visual art-style, especially with the opening credits has a cool manga-style sequence with red and black filters around it is just looking very stylish to watch and I also liked several of anime cutscenes is looking everything fluid which is why the game did get the TV anime adaption in year after the game was originally released back in 2017. 

I want to give the game credit for its story dialogue option which allowing the player to pick any of 2 or 3 dialogues may result with the different outcomes of the story such as making wise decision making, wiling to accept the offer, and other things.

I also liked the dialogue conversation between the interaction of the characters to get to know each other such as in socially stuff like how the friends in school being introduced themselves, they liked to be invited into hangouts, and loves to talk about stuff like activities and hobbies they interested in, where as in the mission objectives where they normally meet up to the hideouts to discuss what their strategies and goals are before they are fully prepared to visit the palaces or mementos to take down the most wanted criminal, so this is the game that teaches to build relationship with the friends to gain the trust and made promises to help the society from the terrible crime activity.

The setting of the game has magnificent locations between the real world and metaverse, as the real world does have stuff like the small town such as Yongen-Jaya filled with Cafe shop, medical clinic, second-hand shop, batting center, bathhouse, and supermarket. Shibuya is a big city has train station, underground mall, and central street, where as others such as Shinjuku has movie theater, book store, and bar diner. Akihabara is a town filled with electronic stores that sells anime, manga, video games, electronics, etc.

The metaverse is where groups of team are able to gain access with the mobile app allowing them to visit at shadowy places such as palaces and mementos, so these are the locations that the creepy villains lives inside the cursed world giving their advantage to hide their secrets. Each of the palaces are filled with many weird and darker stuff like big castle filed with...uhhh creepy stuff, huge museum with many counterfeit portraits, floating bank ship with bunch of money placed in saferoom, enormous pyramid with Egyptian-themed structures around it, large spaceport with space centre, and chunk of casinos is basically just like you seen from Las Vegas. 

These are very well designed game that made Persona 5 look very unique and stylish which I considered it as work of masterclass that I am happy with the result had turned out so well with the game.

Overall, it has well-written story, amazing cast of characters, and outstanding visual art-style and settings.

Gameplay

The game is a mix of JRPGs and simulation game where you take control of Ren (A.K.A Joker) who lives out a single year while attending school in Tokyo, as it has three types of gameplay including social simulation, dungeon crawling, and turn-based battle while it cycles throughout the game with the day-night system depending on scripted and random events. 

In the real world, you'll be attending at the school in the morning first till it finishes at mid-afternoon, so after the school you can able to do whatever you want socially such as talking with NPCs, exploring around the cities and towns, participating part-time jobs, and of course the most important thing in the game is meeting up with friends where you can able to develop character relationships known as confidents, a social link system where you can converse with and improve your relationship with other characters you meets.

Improving confident ranks with party members unlocks various abilities for use in combat, where as with non-party confidents grant other bonuses.

In the metaverse, there are two different types of dungeon crawling gameplay such as story-specific dungeons called palaces and multi-layered mementos. The palaces which are used as story missions where your goal is to defeat and expose their wicked villain's heart, so in order to do that you need to find and steal their treasure, an item that gathered with emotional root of their behaviour and desires, from the palaces ruled by their shadow themselves, so be sure you get it on time before meeting the deadline.  

The mementos is basically just classified as the side-missions, so you will receive an request list from any of NPCs where you need to traverse through the floors till you reached at destination where you'll be fighting with the side-bosses. It may not be part of the story-based missions, but playing the request mission will reward you with money as well as gaining many experience points is quite beneficial for those who wanted to achieve their skills.

In dungeon crawling aspects, you and your party members will explore throughout the levels while it's relying on the stealthy-based mechanics where you need able to reach at the goal destination without being detected by enemies or security objects nearby such as camera or spotlight, so you will need to pay attention close at the security meter bar which indicates percentages of security level. If security reaches to 100% then the party is forced to leave the palace may result cycling to the next day, so try not to waste many days till it hits the deadline if you don't get the treasure in time otherwise it may result you with worst possible outcome. The best way to avoid being detected is hiding behind the walls or objects, and of course launching with surprise attacks on enemies from behind may lower the security level.    

In turn-based battle, you and your party members are greeted to fight against the enemies, so you will have the list of action commands which indicates stuff such as melee attack, use item, equip gun, personas, and defend. 

You will attack the enemy by selecting the melee attack in close range, where as ranged weapons are used for long-distance attack which deals light or mid-damage hits. 

The personas acts as the special magic abilities depending on what kind of personas you're using which you can able to equip them from the option menus. 

Each of the class personas will have different kinds of abilities such as physical, ice, fire, wind, shock, and etc. 

This will allow personas to perform various of attacks and magics such as reducing enemy's strengths, restoring player's health, using shield to prevent enemy's projectiles, putting them into sleep that misses out their turns, and other cool stuff like any of these abilities types that I've mentioned above are used for various reasons.

For example: one of persona has ice abilities are very effective against fire-type enemies, and others will have curable magics to reduce the confusion, fear, and rage of party members, so these are the examples that gives you an idea of finding the enemy's weakest points that made the battle so much easier.     

Once the enemy is been knocked down, a hold up sign is triggered which you get to pick any of three options such as all-out attack allowing all party members to unleash their devastating finishes on enemy resulting severe damage, or you can also spare them for mercy by demanding them for money or items, or make a negotiation with them to become a new persona which will add them to the personas list, so the more personas you have collected can be combined or fused or otherwise further manipulated within the velvet room which I will explain it for later on this review.

After defeating the enemies will reward you with money, items, and of course gaining experience points which maximises the player's and team members skill levels which mean that the more skill levels being increases by experience points the better your player and team members becoming stronger that makes different types of enemies and bosses feel vulnerable during the battle, and the personas are also gaining the experience points to increase their skill levels too which improves their attributes as well as unlocking a new learning abilities.

In the velvet room, you have given the choice of any of personas can be sacrificed in three method ways such as guillotine fusion which one of persona can be fused with the resultant persona inheriting skills and stats, the hanging grants a sacrificed persona's experience points to another chosen persona, and electric chair sacrifices one to create a high-end item.

The persona can also be sent into solitary confinement where they undergo training and gain additional skills quick than normal.

      

So far, the game plays absolutely perfect as it should because the way they designed the whole game combing with dungeon crawling and turn-based battle is just spectacular.

I really love the stealthy mechanics where you can also loop into another hiding objects is the quickest way to evade the enemy nearby before reaching to the safe spot, and the enemy A.I system are pretty smart with detecting the player's hideout is done perfectly right, so when they sees you from the mid-range distance they just went chasing after you quite faster.

Controlling the player is quite solid especially with holding the R2 trigger to sprint through the levels which you can also automatically jumping through the platforms without having to hit cross button to jump seems to be responsive, where as the L2 trigger uses the third-eye, the insight ability which allows the player to highlights the interactable objects and enemies near close are also quite useful for stealthy levels. 

I really liked the idea of dungeon crawling aspects where you fight with the shadowy creatures and running through the multiple of areas till you're reached at the final destination is where the treasure item been held, so this is where you can able to steal the bad guy's heart. 

The turn-based system works just great with easy to use navigation UI's where it indicates the buttons, rather than the long-traditional menu list like from old-school JRPGs, makes it quick and simple to use commands such as cross button to attack, circle button to defend, square button to use items, triangle button to use personas, d-pad left and right to change targets, and d-pad up to ready and aim with range weapon.

The enemy and boss's A.I system during the battle are really good with the using the magics as well as sensing the player's weaknesses which gives them advantage to evade the player's projectiles, so this will give the players to use their strategies to know what the enemy and boss's weak point are? really adds up the overall challenge.

The boss battle is also pretty epic which doesn't feel disappoint at all which kept me playing it, so stuff like Kamoshida with ugly-ass tongue, floatly portait Madarame, big-bloaty bug Kaneshiro with gigantic piggy bank, a flying-horse Wakaba Isshiki, Okumura and his minions, and tough-raging Shido with golden lion is what I considered as the positive point of the whole game thanks to strategic battle-play that relying on the bosses patterns such as finding out what their weak-spot are and how to evade their severe projectiles is what makes the game so incredible to play.

From outside of the dungeon crawling and turn-based battles, I also enjoyed the simulation parts in the game like hanging out with friends to build-up relationship, do the part-time job at daily to earn wages, shop around the city to buy stuff like DVD and books, go out fishing about, do the workouts like Gym, get stuffed to eat from fast food and restaurant, sit and relax while watching in cinemas, busy reading with books or do homework study, and there's lots more to spend time which really benefits your social stats levels such as knowledge, kindness, guts, charm, and proficiency adds the game's realism.

I felt the whole purpose of the game is well executed that made Persona 5 so unique and different from any of JRPGs, even it's just about almost 100 hours of play-length which is why it's so damn long, but I actually managed to enjoy the game entirely with no issue whatsoever because it's part of the game's fun factor that keeps me playing all day and night. 

Overall, it has spectacular dungeon-crawling, incredible turn-based battle, and enjoyable simulation parts. 

Graphics

Persona 5 has the best looking visuals in any of JRPGs. I got to give the game credit for it's art-style direction which is why I loved the Anime/Manga in video games. 

The character's design is looking perfect with intact facial expressions and body language just feels really good to describe the character's emotions and reactions during the cutscenes as well as the conversation dialogue between two characters.

The environment design of city, town, streets, school, and etc. is not entirely enormous and not quite narrow, but it's just about the right size of the open-area to make the exploration feel concise and easier to navigate location which is why I liked the way the game presents to be simple and straightforward.

The texture wise is looking sharp on the surfaces, has detailed draw-distance, and the use of special effects are also quite solid, especially with the day-night cycle changes the game's weather system starting from drafty raindrops to heated sunlight is just feels natural throughout the game.

I also discovered the video comparison between the PS3 and PS4 when it comes with visual polishing and frame-rate which I'm quite impressed with the 7th generation system like PS3 handles the game pretty well for its technical aspects with teeny bit of minimum frame-drops and small minor screen tearing which you don't notice the much when playing it on the PS3 version should have no issue with the game whatsoever, where as the PS4 version is just full-on perfection. 

Overall, it has perfect character's design, damn impressive environments, and has solid day-night cycle system.

Music and Sounds

The original soundtrack is just sounds fantastic in my opinion. I really liked the catchy 70's-style jazzy music throughout the game is just feels too good to listen, as it was composed by Shoji Meguro who has previously worked on his score of previous installiment such as Persona 3 and 4, where stuff like "Wake up, Get up, Get Out There", "Life Will Change", "Last Surprise", "Beneath the Mask", and "The Whims of Fate" was sang by the vocalist Lyn Inaizumi. 

They did such an fabulous job on working their original score delivers the game's personality which is why I have the reason to like about the game.               

The sound design is pretty damn great, as I really liked the atmospheric sounds of the weather system, city backgrounds, whispering NPCs, and road traffics.

The voice acting in the game is sounds magnificent, especially with English casting voice did such an excellent job of capturing their role in the game to make the characters sounds more interesting and feels so recognisable throughout the sequences.

Overall, it has fantastic soundtrack, great sound design, and magnificent voice cast.

Special Features

The game does support DLCs which includes character's costumes, Japanese audio track, and new difficulty level challenge, where as the Royal DLC pack comes with new royale battle, new costume bundle, and 6 individual sets.

The good news is that it is confirmed that the Persona 5 Royal on PS5, XSX/S, XBONE, Switch, and PC will include all free 45 DLC packs at launch that have been released for the PS4 version, but the bad news is the PS4 owners sadly will not able to get free upgradeable PS5 version which is kinda bummer for those who own the PS4 copy of Persona 5 Royal were hoping to have their game upgraded on PS5 could have been sound like the great edition to its game.

Overall, still has an brilliant content.   

Advantages

Well-written story

Amazing cast of characters

Outstanding visual art-style and settings                              

                      

Spectacular dungeon-crawling

Incredible turn-based battle 

Enjoyable simulation parts             

 

Fantastic soundtrack

Disadvantages

PS4 version of Persona 5 Royal lacks free upgradable for PS5 (FOR REAL!!!? WTF!!!)

Final Verdict

Presentation 10/10 - well-written story, amazing cast of characters, and outstanding visual art-style and settings.

Gameplay 10/10 - spectacular dungeon-crawling, incredible turn-based battle, and enjoyable simulation parts.

Graphics 10/10 - perfect character's design, damn impressive environments, and has solid day-night cycle system.

Music and Sounds 10/10 - fantastic soundtrack, great sound design, and magnificent voice cast.

Special Features 9/10 - character's costumes, Japanese audio track, and new difficulty level challenge, where as the Royal DLC pack comes with new royale battle, new costume bundle, and 6 individual sets, where as Persona 5 Royal on PS5, XSX/S, XBONE, Switch, and PC will include all free 45 DLC packs at launch.

Overall 10/10 - This is not just being one of the best in the series so far, but it is also one of Atlus's JRPGs masterpiece that I highly recommended to play it.

The story, the characters, the battle system, the art direction, the sounds, and has tons of replay value is proving how much I love the hell out of this game really gains my overall satisfaction.

Persona 5 is one of the game that Atlus just did the series a wonderful justice which is perfect for both the newcomer and pro-RPGs players to experience an lengthy single-player adventure with over-the-top turn-based action, exciting dungeon crawling exploration, and epic boss battles to keep you well entertained with the game.      

The PS4 copy of the original title cost about between £10 to £15, where as the Royal edition are less than £20. The digital copy on both the original and Royal from PS Store cost £50 are quite expensive compared with the physical copy that I've mentioned above.

If any of you PS3 owners are planning to get a physical PS3 copy should cost around between £25 and over £30 which is slight bit pricy compared with the PS4 copy, so you may want to get it ASAP while it lasts because the price are likely to go up pretty soon. 

It is also coming soon to PS5, XSX/S, XBONE, Switch, and PC this October 2022, which many of you lucky Xbox subscribers are likely to get it free on Xbox Game Pass at launch, FOR REAL!!!? yes for real of course.

I am thou, thou art I...

I hast concluded my review of Persona 5

as one of the Atlus's JRPGs masterpiece...

Is definite must buy for those who loved RPGs.  

                               

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