Mixed feelings. 

I went into it blind, I didnt spoil me anything or read anything about it on purpose, so I had no idea it used the same calendar format of scheduled activities that Persona has, I absolutely hate that. It annoyed me a lot in Persona 5 and it annoys me a lot in Metaphor. 

That said, I like the story quite a lot, the art style is cool, even tho the graphics dont look high quality, and I particularly like the characters - other than the MC who is just a bland blank slate. The gameplay is fun I guess. 

Pretty much my exact sentiment. You'll probably get burned out like most of us did but if you intend on beating it, use you're time to level with side stuff and use the pray booth on the ship. Leveling up associates is important for passives, especially Briggeta for one passive she'll give that'll help you have the best gear but honestly, don't skip days on the easiest things, I did quite a lot and found my self in hell on the last section so bad I had to put the difficulty all the way down and still just one boss toom two hours. Also, there is a ticket you can get in a shop near the Honey Bee in that'll allow for your knight or healer to have an extra go, really useful. 

Had a full weekend session while unwell, 12+ hours days from friday right up til yesterday, made good progress on FF16 and gained all stars on every level in Army of Ruin. 7/10

The game copies Vampire survivors very closely but does not nearly reach the heights of it but it's one of the better ones in what has become one of my favourite genres. It's a fun, solid anf strong 7/10. I was surprised how fun it actually is, I'd probably rate this higher if it was my first bullet heaven game it does many things really well including having an insanely diverse and varied weapon and power ups list but this is a double edged sword as it makes RNG a bit of a pain in the ass but all in all it keeps things fresh and it was harder to beat than VS even though VS was longer. It falls in a few places, generic visuals, I'm not a fan of the star system, the price of perma upgrades is too steep causing a grind mid game, because of RNG it would be better to lower the price of favourites weapons and power ups or just add more gold organically without having to do specialised runs and a few other minor gripes, it lacks a bit of soul but makes up for it in pure fun. The platinum looks grindy as hell but doable with most of the work already done.

This year is off to a great start, I should be able to beat 2024 by two or three hundred hours even though, I'll have less free time. Fingers crossed anyway cause one could fall into a gaming rut or have poor luck choosing games.

Changing my Robo Cop scor from a 6 to a 7. In hindsight the technical issues are minor and the game is fun and designed well enough anf it rises above it's budget pretty highly to be classified as a good game. Also, the tone and humorous bits along with the degree of choice in quest lines bumps it up, it is a damn strong 7 anf a game I want to play again in the future. 

Path of Exile 2 Early Access
Persona 3 Reload

I beat the early access of PoE2. It is an extremely fun and addictive game. Some things were naturally unbalanced in the early access, but I fought through it fine with a bit of help from my friend. The gameplay loop is extremely fun with loot feeling impactful when you get a big upgrade. The endgame is a bit too punishing though, but it rewards people who put the hours in. However I consider it beaten and shelved because they have yet to release my preferred weapon and class. The story is also only half finished. I look forward to the full release.

I also beat Persona 3 Reload, my first JRPG of the year. It is a bit of a different Persona from Persona 5, since it is much older. The story doesn't seem to exist at first, but then it shoots off like a rocket. Many scenes were deeply impactful, and I am glad I never really got spoiled. Now I have post game depression because I know it will be a long time before a game affects me like this one. When I first came to this site as a lurker 15+ years ago, I saw many avatars for this game, those avatars have disappeared but I now understand the love one might feel for this game. You spend so much time with your social links, probably far more than creating Personas and fighting shadows. Tartarus is kind of meh being a continuous dungeon and each dungeon isn't too interesting due to the limits of technology at the time of creation. But the Remaster at least makes things nice looking and your relationships with for example highly graphical Yukari feels a bit more impactful I imagine than the pixelated PS2 version. The music is great, still the best in the business, but Persona 5 still takes the crown for me. I played the game on Hard Mode, which other than the first dungeon was actually quite easy. I regret not starting on Merciless, also they should let you change to Merciless. I am excited to eventually play Persona 4 Golden, but that will have to wait until I get the Atlus itch again.