Multi-Platform Game Review: Persona 5 Tactica

 Persona is a long running video game series that develops a lot of twists and turns throughout.  Yours truly, admittedly, had not played a Persona game until Persona 5 Tactica came out.  To say the least, I probably should have started with something else.  I did play this game on Easy Mode because I never played a Persona game before so here's what I thought of the game and why I wouldn't recommend playing this as your first Persona game.

Positives:

1. Battle system- Yes there are positives to this game.  The Battle system is one of them.  I like the layout of the battlefield, I like how the battle system works with finding the attack you want to do or not do.  I like how the game lays it all out for you.  In all, the battle system is done well.

2. Fusing- I like the fusing of Personas into a different one or into a cool weapon.  I thought that was a really neat thing to do throughout the game once you got to that point.

3. Story in the second half- It was honestly really good the second half of the main storyline.  I appreciated how it picked up and got better overall over time.  Something just stuck and it worked in that second half..

Negatives:

1. Story in the first half- Yeah.. that's why I said the second half.  The first half of the story was incredibly boring to me and I found myself skipping through most of the first half of it due to it just not really sticking to me.  I was not in the least bit interested in it. 

2. The Velvet Room- Yes I know this plays a role in other games, but this one just.. fell flat.  There wasn't anything cool to do here besides the fusing. I didn't feel a major thing to it other than doing the fusing of weapons or personas.

3. Sidequests- Thankfully they are sidequests because they were seriously not needed and I barely acknowledged them throughout the game.  It felt like they weren't even propped up to being anything so not sure why they were in the game.

4. The Cafe talks- All the talks in the cafe were something I fast forwarded or skipped because they were not really conducive to me or really productive when the characters talked.  It just felt like chatter you hear everywhere else that doesn't mean much.

Rating:

I wouldn't recommend it to be a first Persona for others to play. I did it and it just fell flat to me overall.  I would give P5 Tactica a 6/10.

Switch Game Review: Super Mario Wonder

 Super Mario Wonder was a game that came out in October of 2023 amidst one of the biggest years of gaming in recent modern history. Coming upon the heels of announcements for Super Mario RPG, The Thousand Year Door, Princess Peach Showtime, and a new Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon remake as well as the popularity of the Super Mario Bros movie, it's easy to see how this game could be overshadowed with everything going on for the plumber with a red shirt and hat and overalls. However, this game snagged the Best Family Game award at the 2023 Game Awards and 4 awards so far in 2024. This game is also wildly popular, selling 12 million copies by the start of 2024.  I got to play this game, and here's my thoughts below!

Positives:

1. Fast paced- I love the fast paced environment of this game.  It's a quick game overall (took me about 9 hours to beat the game) but 100 percenting this game is not gonna make you spend forever on it.  It's a fast paced game, and that's a plus for the Mario franchise.

2. Every type of gamer friendly- First time player? It's a good starter. Haven't played a Mario game in years? A great selection to get back into it. Wanna speedrun? A great speedrun game. Wanna just game for a weekend and get it over with? Perfect game for you. Want to challenge yourself? It's got that too! Mario Wonder has abilities to tailor to every type of gamer out there. 

3. Graphics/Soundtrack- Both are fantastic by Nintendo.  This would likely to have been expected, but it is never a bad thing when the graphics and soundtrack are on point and really, really good.

4. Variable levels- The levels go so many places and it is so cool to see. I love the direction they go with it and overall the levels from water to underground to sand to beach to anything it is absolutely phenomenal overall. I applaud those efforts of Nintendo overall to this.

5. Optional Levels- Note, you can do the bare minimum of levels and be fine.  However a lot of the optional levels are there and they are fun.  I love this part of Nintendo to make the optional/bonus levels as much fun but some challenging as much as possible. 

Negative:

1. End Level- Not to spoil anything but it just felt like for them rating it 5 stars felt not.. challenging at all. I feel like they just said that to say it because it is the final level of the game.  I never really felt the end level to be that challenging. Though it was fun, feels like something was amiss.

Rating:

My overall rating for Mario Wonder is a 9 out of 10.  It's a very solid, great Mario game that deserves the praise it has been given.  It's a great game for all types of gamers, a great family game and a game that you can finish in a weekend's time easily.  It's also going to be a rather affordable game in years time so you will be able to get it for a decently affordable price soon.  So definitely put this game on your bucket list.