Super Mario RPG (Review)

Developer: ArtePiazza
Publisher: Nintendo
Reviewed on Nintendo Switch

Despite growing up on Nintendo and consuming every JRPG I could get my hands on, I’ve somehow never played Super Mario RPG until now, thanks to the recently released remake on Nintendo Switch. After spending nearly my entire gaming career hearing how fun, imaginative, and silly this game is, I had high hopes for this legendary role-playing adventure and couldn’t wait to put in the cartridge and be transported on a magical journey. After finishing it in just a few short days (it’s roughly 12-15 hours long), I have a lot of respect for what this game is trying to accomplish, but I also think it’s for a very specific audience that I’m no longer a part of.

Is Xbox Set for a Killer 2024?

I know, I know… I said I wasn’t going to cover these types of shows this year. However, I wanted to take a few minutes to talk about today’s Xbox Developer Direct, which I thought had an incredibly solid lineup of games. Similar to last year’s show, everything shown during today’s Direct is expected to launch this year, and it got me thinking… is Xbox set for a killer 2024? Sure, last year was supposed to be a huge year for the platform what with Starfield finally releasing, but since it ended up being so divisive (I personally loved it and you can find my review here) it seemed like most people wrote off 2023 as a swing and a miss for Microsoft. Well, it looks like this is going to be the year that Xbox finally gets its big games that everyone’s been dying for, and assuming they end up meeting expectations, it looks like 2024 has the chance to be a redemptive year.

Persona 3 Portable (Review)

Developer: Atlus
Publisher: Sega
Available On: PC, PSP, PS4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S
Reviewed on Xbox Series S

While the original version of Persona 3 was released on the PlayStation 2 in 2007, Persona 3 Portable is a stripped-down version that was designed for the PlayStation Portable in 2010. Removing key features like animated cutscenes and the ability to walk around the environments was seen as a massive downgrade by fans of the original release, but since this is the first time Persona 3 has been made available in over a decade, I’ll take whichever version I can get. That being said, while it’s exciting to see a game that’s been stranded on older hardware finally get a modern release, it’s impossible to not feel its age creeping in. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a very enjoyable game, but if you’re coming into it after only playing the more recent Persona 5/Royal, or preparing to experience this type of game for the first time, then there are a few things you should be aware of.