TL:DR: I thought this would be a ♥♥♥♥♥ gimmick. I'm writing this through tears after 4 true endings, upset I won't get to play again for a few months. Because I rarely get time to sit down and devote all my time/focusto a game, and this deserves it. this might be one of my favorite games now. I'm more shocked than anyone.


I got this at launch, and it stayed downloaded for almost 8 years as a "get around to it" game. It will forever regret taking so long to get around to it. I played the first time, it was surprisingly fun. Oddly fantastic voice acting with an all star cast, good characters I found myself loving, fun if sometimes repetitive fighting, tons of side missions, great soundtrack! Sure, some flaws, I'd kill for sidemission markers for the photo challenges, but overall fun...

And then I saw the NG+ benefits. Changing the outfits, voices, character models, etc of the full cast. Unlocking more with each ending. Suddenly I could be an alternate form of my little sis, with shizune's animations, pop's voice, etc. I could make the full cast my little sis if I wanted to. And there were plenty of things definitely made for a NG+ run, with all my gear still having PLENTY of room to level. ok. One more go.

Ok, even more fun, especially since my gear's getting OP and I know my way around well. How the hell am I actually crying over RIN. That only took like 6 hours, maybe I should up the difficulty? Fine, one more go.

Fine, one more go. hey look I've got max level gear now, and I found that shop that sells a ton of special character-specific alternate outfits, time to level those. Apparently the DLC can cause a few bugs but I did like Käti. lets try that.

HOW. WHAT!? How do you come back swinging out of the blue a decade from original launch with THAT canon ending? Why am I crying? I'm hooked! I only get a few weeks a year that I can truly give a game like this the time that it deserves, and HOLY HELL does it deserve it. It shouldn't, it's got plenty of flaws, at higher difficulties you can get stunlocked by large enough groups, but the charm just pulls through for me. mileage may vary, but for me this is definitely a recommend.