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
Once again, I’m late to the party—a damn good party at that. Doki Doki Literature Club has been setting the world ablaze for almost half a year, but only now have I come to understand why. The game is mind-blowing, and one of the truest testaments I’ve ever seen as to why games are so far beyond all other storytelling mediums. Before I get into why that is, however, I must give an obligatory SPOILER WARNING. Though admittedly, I don’t believe I’m spoiling this game in the traditional sense—by divulging plot details and narrative twists—I do think knowing as little about this game as possible before going in will result in the best possible experience you can afford yourself. From what the internet tells me, the game’s length is about 5 hours. It’s also free on Steam, so absolutely play through it if for some reason you’re even later to the party than I am. 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
It’s time to bid farewell to all the wonderful 3rd-years, as they get to indulge in the sweet memories they had made and remind themselves that despite not going out with a bang, they still managed to pull off something truly unforgettable. Not a true to form clip-show, but an episode to reminisce all the great moments the Kitauji band has shared whilst celebrating the end for their seniors. Between partying and hazy-flashback-montages, there’s not too much to this episode besides taking it all in and accepting that Asuka must move on. Continue reading
Oof, what an adorable robot. Like, before I delve into the story and themes and what not, I need to point out just how genuinely loveable this character is. Yumemi, the robot feature in all of the game’s promotional material and the only character model in the entire visual novel, is an amazing blend objective thinking, raw servant-kindness, and child-like innocence. Her astuteness and endearing productiveness know absolutely no bounds, and her rich dialogue/performance make her a character that I legitimately want to have a conversation with. She’s programmed to do her job as a gracious host of the planetarium, always admirably committed to her guests through the rain, shine, or apocalypse. Continue reading
So I wrote a review for The Vita Lounge that I hadn’t even noticed posted almost a week ago. Whoops. Anyway, I did not favor the game at all, and I feel like I gave good reason as to why (despite being at odds with critical consensus). I’d love to get more feedback (and possibly more positive criticism in the comments if you have any) on the review. It seems at least a few people are just looking at my score and shrugging off my opinion because of it. This is why I don’t like review scores, because it portrays a much more objective illusion for reviews, which are inherently subjective. There are aspects which you can be completely objective in game reviews of course, such as judging the game’s mechanical performance (which I do touch upon in my review). For the most part however, my judgement is based off my own expectations of what I consider to be a “good game”. And to be frank, those expectations are not very high, in my opinion. But I digress.
If you’ve been following me on Twitter you may have seen that I’ve been recently appointed as a Staff Member for The Vita Lounge, a fan website for everything PlayStation Vita. I’ve been a gamer for almost as long as I can remember and a proud PS Vita owner for a few years now. Writing for a gaming site has been a dream of mine for quite a while now, and so it came as a great honor when I received this editorial position. This is my first review for the site, and I just wanted to share it as many of my friends as possible. If you’re reading this (and not for some ulterior motive or just plain out of spite), or if you’ve read any of my other work here on There Goes My Kokoro, you are my friend…whether you like it or not :3
P.S. – I’ll try not to shill my posts from other sites here too often. That’s what Twitter’s for.
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