slickdizzy

The songs are great and the core gameplay is solid, but overall P3D and P5D are bare-bones releases in a way that P4D was not. Perhaps because of the backlash from P4D being canon Atlus has given up on trying to incorporate a meaningful solo mode in the Persona rhythm games. There is a lot of irony in the fact that P4D is bundled as an "extra" with P3D & P5D yet is actually the most substantial game of the lot. These are still worth playing for a chance to revisit your favorite characters but I am disappointed overall. Hopefully a Persona 3 remake is released with these assets.

The songs are great and the core gameplay is solid, but overall P3D and P5D are bare-bones releases in a way that P4D was not. Perhaps because of the backlash from P4D being canon Atlus has given up on trying to incorporate a meaningful solo mode in the Persona rhythm games. There is a lot of irony in the fact that P4D is bundled as an "extra" with P3D & P5D yet is actually the most substantial game of the lot. These are still worth playing for a chance to revisit your favorite characters but I am disappointed overall. Hopefully a Persona 3 remake is released with these assets.

There's some fun to be had here if you're the type who enjoys B-movies or Japanese eccentricities, but make no mistake: this is not Dark Souls 3. I was somewhat familiar with this series from hearing about it online, so when I saw that it was localized and released in the U.S, I was bewildered. Somehow, the "Banana Split edition" was in stock locally, so I decided to roll the dice without reading a single review and pick it up. I like weird Japanese games, it seemed ridiculous enough to be entertaining, and the "special edition" - which included an art book and soundtrack - was technically a budget title at $50. And oh boy, does it scream budget title! The game is basically a Devil May Cry knockoff with straightforward controls, a terrible camera, and a totally unnecessary English dub. The menus are barebones with questionable font choices, inane music blares in the background at all times, the static "tutorials" are nearly incomprehensible, the environments are generic and the enemies are ****'s IN YOUR FACE with its low budget. On the bright side, the game always runs at 60fps, a surprisingly deep (relatively speaking) skill and weapon system keeps things interesting, and it's pretty fun to play once you get the hang of a few of the combat tricks. And then, of course, you have the over-the-top T&A aggressively flaunted wherever possible, which is really the only thing (graphics aside) that separates this title from a typical PS2 action/adventure game. Really, this would be great to play with a few friends, drinking beers and passing the controller around, joking about how silly Japanese games are (or maybe how far game design has come in the past decade). Somehow, Onechanbara ZII Chaos manages to be charming in its mediocrity, which is a rare thing these days. It commits to its stupid premise with gusto, and emerges as a reasonably enjoyable title. Obviously, it's not for everybody, but if you're the type of person who enjoyed Lollipop Chainsaw, or just have a thing for bizarre Japanese exports, you could spend your money in worse places. And if there are people out there who really get off to this, god help us all.