Persona Q2 New Cinema Labyrinth: Heading into this year, this was the only 3DS game that I was looking forward to (and probably the last 3DS game I’ll ever buy). I played a lot of Persona Q and enjoyed the gameplay, especially the map-making. Considering the series is Etrian Odyssey with a Persona theme, I probably should look into Etrian Odyssey at some point down the line.
The biggest problem I had with Persona Q was that some of the characters were changed to have one-note personalities. When I started the game, I hoped that they would not dumb-down some of the Persona 5 cast and therefore lose its charm quick. Thankfully, that was not the case. All of the charm and wit from Persona 5 shines through in Q2 with the P5 cast and the dialogue options. Without spoiling too much, you pull off a heist at the end of the first labyrinth and it’s just as awesome as Persona 5. Just like every Persona game, the music is very catchy and memorable.
If you are familiar with classic Final Fantasy battle systems, then you will feel at home with Persona Q2’s system. You have 5 party members split into two rows, with the front row dealing more damage and can attack the enemy’s back row, while the back row takes less damage but can’t physically attack the back row. If you land a critical hit or attack with the enemy’s weakness, the next turn you get to attack with more power or use a spell without using SP. At first, the game felt hard because every party member starts with not a lot of SP.
I am really invested into this game at the moment, so I will try to at least get through most of the game, even though I don’t play my 3DS that much anymore. Now, I am very interested in how the P5 cast interacts with the P3 and P4 cast and hopefully they are not one-note characters (like Akihiko being a protein addict, or Chie likes steak and meat).
Devil May Cry 4 -Special Edition: The second half of the game felt quick but underwhelming. Once you start playing as Dante, you just play Nero’s missions but backwards. Going through the same locations and easily destroying the previous bosses didn’t do enough to make it not feel repetitive to play. Sure, playing as Dante felt much improved from DMC 3 and every weapon and gun felt useful in battle, but I felt bored while fighting since all of the enemies are easier to take down at this point of the game. I just wish that they would at least let us play through new areas to make it feel different.
The Savior in Mission 18 was annoying to fight since I had a hard time figuring out how to take out some of the blue orbs on his legs and back (didn’t notice the cannons on some of the floating islands). The second phase was more difficult, so I just winged it and use a lot of items to heal up. I knew that Mission 19 was infamous with its board game gimmick, but I had no problem since I didn’t have a lot of bad luck with my dice rolls. Now, Mission 20 can go to hell. It took me one hour to beat Sanctus Diabollica, since all of the items I used in my first try disappeared when I restarted the mission. That meant that I had to beat the boss without any healing, which was impossible for me.
Overall, I enjoyed the first half of the game and some of Dante’s missions (despite feeling repetitive), but got frustrated at the last few missions. The ending felt a little abrupt, with Nero saving Kyrie, defeats the False Savior, while Dante GTFOs once the job was done. What I played through is considered the base game, which is why I can understand why Devil May Cry 4 was considered a mediocre game. Now they added two new campaigns for the Special Edition of the game where you can play Lady/Trish or Vergil. I gave the Lady/Trish campaign a try and while there are some new cutscenes at the beginning, the missions are the same as the base game. Gameplay-wise, Lady’s attacks felt slow and heavy which doesn’t fit my playstyle for action games.
At this point, I’m burnt out playing Devil May Cry, but I’m definitely glad that I decided to playthrough this series this past month or so. Speaking of Devil May Cry, now I really want Dante to be in Smash (fingers crossed!).
J Chang Gaming 