Persona is one of my favorite game franchises to ever exist, and the reason for that isn’t as simple as one might assume. Sure, having brilliant characters to fall in love with and an immaculately stylish soundtrack help the game win regard, but what really puts the series far above average for me is its ingenious gameplay mechanics and the profound philosophical implications that stem from them. But before we delve into that, I need to first explain what is Persona. Continue reading
There are two basic halves of gameplay in Persona 5. Palace exploring and turned-based fighting are the first half, something I touched upon a couple days ago. The other half is visual novel; the act of reading along and making dialogue choices that’ll affect you positively or negatively in regards to your growing strength needed to progress though the main plotline. Of course, there are minigames and the like sprinkled throughout the game, but for the most part when you’re not stealing hearts in the metaverse, you’re conversing with your friends. Continue reading
When it comes to video games, I must admit that I care more for games with a focus on storytelling and aesthetics far more than ones that exist to be an entertaining challenge. Back in my youth I used to talk to my friends about the latest, greatest video games I’ve been playing. I would go on and on about how thrilling a campaign was or how immersive a world felt, and for the most part my friends would at the very least feign intrigue. That is of course, until I answered what would always be their very first question: Does it have multiplayer? Continue reading
The Persona series has always been rich in symbolism, showing off its vast, almost encyclopedic knowledge of random culture and mythology by infusing them into most every aspect of the game. From the designs and names of each individual persona to the less subtle random school trivia questions thrown your way, interesting facts and references can be found everywhere. The most meaningful places where you can find these allusions however, would have to be in the costume and persona designs of The Phantom Thieves. Continue reading
Unless you’re a person utterly disinterested in the video game industry and go to great lengths to be unaware of anything that happens in it, you’ve heard of the hip new game that everyone’s meme-ing about. You know, the one with a group of rebellious teens and their talking cat, they call themselves the “Phantom Thieves” and all that jazz. Anyway, I’ve played 27 hours of it so far, and if I wasn’t the semi-responsible adult that I am, I would never stop. Sadly, I have anime to watch, blog posts to write, and that whole college thing going on, so I’m currently forced to do what the game’s loading icon tells me to (“Take your time”). That all being said, I thought I’d take the time and write about the game that’s been on my mind every waking moment since its release. Continue reading
Animation talk, music and analysis: Understanding The Spectales of 'Extraordinary' | Presented by a nerd in-training
Visual Novels and Games
There Goes My Kokoro 