Persona 5

Persona 5 is unconscionably sublime. Every beat, every subtlety, every movement of the camera - it all translates into a kinetic masterpiece, strung together with the best visuals this side of Atlus. Persona 5 won't change your mind on JRPGs if you lack a taste for the genre, but if you're in any way a fan, well -Why the hell are you still reading this? Go forth and damn well purchase. [Essential]

So stylish...I am diggin' it. [Quick look]

For me, it has more soul, passion, humor, and panache packed into one percent of its 100-hour odyssey into thiefhood and triumph than any major release of the past year. Persona 4 brought my love of video games back from the dead. Persona 3 sustained it. And now, Persona 5 proves that it's a love still worth keeping, nearly a decade later.

This game will take many, many hours of your time. In exchange, you’ll get a terrific, pulpy story told with style to spare. Persona 5 took nearly 100 hours of my time, and I gave it gladly.

A featherweight should not be 100 hours. For all the game’s beauty and brilliance, it’s twice as long as it should be, a pompous sense of inflation that it can’t come close to fulfilling. I’d rather have bled out back in that interrogation room, a few dozen hours earlier.

For those who love the formula laid down by past games in the series, Persona 5 represents the franchise’s apex. And for newcomers, it’s a chance to enjoy one of gaming’s best treasures — with little of its baggage. It defiantly ignores the open-world trend and instead holds steadfast to the idea that a more guided, linear RPG can still work in 2017. As for me, well, the story is over. And yet, after 100 hours, I just wish I had more time.