The game’s narrative doesn’t support the 10 hours that it takes to complete.
What surprised me during my play-through wasn’t the stellar depth of the gameplay (which I was expecting), but rather the breadth of it.
Isn’t the biggest appeal of these games singing songs you know and love?
While everyone will appreciate Atlas taking the time to add the “choose a gender” feature to this portable iteration, some shortcuts were made to make a portable version of Persona 3 possible.
The game might be good for road trips, or for younger players with uncomplicated tastes, but it will leave more discriminating gamers disenchanted.
With the exception of those missions that specifically require you to scare and not harm, there’s no reason to frighten anyone.
From that simple control scheme, the designers generate one clever puzzle after another.
One of the game’s biggest draws is its replay value. Side quests abound, and the alchemy system, which allows you to combine items to create rarer, more potent ones, will keep you busy.
While this is still fundamentally the same game that TT Games has always made, this simple tweak adds an extra layer of shine to an already strong foundation.
Shooting has actually gotten worse, with an auto-aim preternaturally consistent about never, ever targeting the thing you’re looking at and no way to snap between targets.
Each objective in each galaxy is just long enough to keep things fresh without feeling monotonous.
Just three years ago at E3, all three platform holders (Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo) were content to reach two distinct audiences.
Surgery, the mainstay of the series, is again present as one of the six arms of play and is, for better or worse, intact almost exactly as before.
To some, the lead up to E3, the annual game expo and confernence, is just as big as the event itself.
The game is absolutely gorgeous from the various explosions that happen during a race to how motion blur occurs as your car hurdles through the race track in breakneck speeds.
It manages to reach a Zen-like balance between dumb video-game gimmick and evolutionary brilliance.
Depending on your environment, the type of creature you are hunting, and what your goals are for that particular quest, a solid pre-game strategy is essential for success.
In the entertainment medium, the word “classic” is often interchangeable with “timeless.”
Maps are confusing and over-embellished, making it hard to figure out where objectives are or when you’ve gotten turned around.
HD resolution makes it a lot more playable than the last couple of PS2 games, but the single-set world does the designers no favors in terms of providing any prospect of visual surprise.
Gamers looking for an engaging story or politically charged setting need to keep right on drivin’.