Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Atlus

I've always been in love with the Shin Megami Tensei games ever since I first played Persona 2: Eternal Punishment on the original Playstation. Honestly, if you said I could only play one franchise for the rest of my life, these games very well could be the ones I choose. Etrian Odyssey is also a game series I enjoy, though I haven't put nearly as much time into those games as I have into the SMT games. Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth is essentially the characters, personality, and demon summoning/fusing of Persona 3 and Persona 4, mixed with the gameplay and map-creating of the Etrian Odyssey series. The end result doesn't seem to be for everyone, but I absolutely love it. I think if you're a fan of both series, you'll probably like it as well. Unfortunately, this game can be rather difficult at times, and it lacks much of the social aspects that make the more modern Persona games so popular, so I think fans of the Persona series that have never played an Etrian Odyssey game may walk away from this game confused and disappointed. For me, Persona Q is a solid RPG with some enjoyable dungeon crawling, and the opportunity to join a bunch of characters that I enjoy from previous Persona games in another adventure together. If you can get past this game not being what you may expect, and a difficulty higher than you may be used to from Personas 3 through 5, then I think you may really enjoy Persona Q. But, if you want more of the same from your Persona games, you may not be thrilled with what you get here.

Review added: 08/16/2023

Pokemon X

Also known as: Pocket Monsters X (Japan)

Developer: Game Freak

Pokemon X and Y were the first times that a handheld game in the franchise was in full 3D….and despite some other additions/improvements to the gameplay, these games largely remained unchanged from earlier games in the series. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing depends on who you ask. I really enjoyed my time playing through these games, personally, but I also felt like I had played them before already. While that's not always a bad thing, it's hard for me to justify giving these games a higher score without Game Freak changing things up much from previous games in the series. X and Y are definitely not bad games at all, but if you've been "poke'ed" out by the previous games in the franchise, there is absolutely nothing in these games that would make you want to resume hurling balls at wild animals to catch them in an effort to participate in the world's most PG cockfighting tournament ever known to mankind. Actually, with how I just described the franchise, I kinda want to play another game in the series now. It makes me feel like one of those rebellious types. Anyway, if you can't get enough Pokemon, nothing I say would or could prevent you from enjoying this game. If you'd grown tired of the Pokemon franchise and are hoping for something new in X and Y, you'll probably find yourself disappointed.

Review added: 08/16/2023

Pokemon Y

Also known as: Pocket Monsters Y (Japan)

Developer: Game Freak

Pokemon X and Y were the first times that a handheld game in the franchise was in full 3D….and despite some other additions/improvements to the gameplay, these games largely remained unchanged from earlier games in the series. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing depends on who you ask. I really enjoyed my time playing through these games, personally, but I also felt like I had played them before already. While that's not always a bad thing, it's hard for me to justify giving these games a higher score without Game Freak changing things up much from previous games in the series. X and Y are definitely not bad games at all, but if you've been "poke'ed" out by the previous games in the franchise, there is absolutely nothing in these games that would make you want to resume hurling balls at wild animals to catch them in an effort to participate in the world's most PG cockfighting tournament ever known to mankind. Actually, with how I just described the franchise, I kinda want to play another game in the series now. It makes me feel like one of those rebellious types. Anyway, if you can't get enough Pokemon, nothing I say would or could prevent you from enjoying this game. If you'd grown tired of the Pokemon franchise and are hoping for something new in X and Y, you'll probably find yourself disappointed.

Review added: 08/16/2023

Puppies 3D

Also known as: Kawaii Koinu 3D (Japan), Puppies World 3D (Europe, Australia)

Developer: Game Freak

Puppies 3D is a shining example of how you can have two very similar titles, but the way the games are developed can prove to be the difference from a game being good or bad. From what I've seen and played, anything Puppies 3D does, Nintendogs does it much, much better...From gameplay, to the graphics, to the game soundtrack, to even the animations of the dogs...Nintendogs is SO much better than this game. For example, the dogs in Nintendogs are loaded with personality. When I watch the dogs in that game, I can’t help but smile as memories of the pets from my past flood into my mind...The dogs in Puppies 3D are more like robots, lacking much personality, and is the equivalent of reminding me about the time I peed my pants in grade school…Err, if I had peed my pants in grade school….Which I didn’t…..Don’t judge me. In Nintendogs, it’s possible to suspend your disbelief and get caught up into thinking that you are really talking care of a pet, which makes some of the chores and such feel worthwhile. In Puppies 3D, these bland dogs are unable to give you any reason to get lost in this game, so just about everything here feels like a chore. Anyway, I've played worse simulations before, but that still doesn't make this game worth anybody's time. If you have access to Nintendogs, get that instead. It has more content and the digital furballs found inside are much more likely to remind you of their real-life counterparts than the bland, robotic pups found here.

Review added: 06/18/2020