2003, the last year of the Neo Geo. Quite a sad day that must've been for SNK fans worldwide. I wouldn't know since I was born in 2006. Still, in that year two fighters released on this dying hardware, that being The King of Fighters '03, and Samurai Shodown V.

This is actually the first Neo Geo based SamSho game released after nearly a decade from Amakusa's Revenge, and in that time the series had some changes to the formula by taking on a more 3D look, thanks to the poorly sold Neo Geo 64 cabinets. There were also some Neo Geo Pocket games, an RPG, and I think a visual novel somewhere too if I am not mistaken. I may look into those games too later down the line.

That out of the way, after 7 years since the fourth game, how does the fabled fifth turn out? I say pretty damn well.

Unlike Amakusa's Revenge, SamSho V doesn't try to wright any wrongs of a previous entry, and instead opts to do its own thing. It foregoes the bust and slash system of characters, makes heavy slashes be tied to two button presses much like how SamSho I and II did, added a dodge mechanic, and has a way more expanded roster.

While it is imperfect--I am not the hugest fan of the dodge mechanic and kinda feel like the controls of SamSho III and IV were more sound--SamSho V does deliver on the gameplay front pretty well that I can say the choices here were pretty good.

And the sprite work, hoo boy do they look good. While all the returning cast have sprites ripped from SamSho III and SamSho IV (If they ain't broke, y'know?), the sprites of the new characters are some genuinely quality stuff. Yoshitora looks fierce as evil, Mina is incredibly controlled yet beautiful, I love how Rera's hair and shirt flow with the wind, and OH MY GOD does Kusaregedo look positively nasty. They really wanted to make this game be as quality as it can be.

And, the difficulty isn't a total cake walk like Amakusa's Revenge was! Its still not hard, but its not easy as well. Its a good balance between accessibility, and formidable that makes it so it can be a good starting point for newcomers of the series, but one that can still keep them on their toes. Heck, the bosses are especially tricky, with Sankuro being a four for one package, and Yumeji having that Mortal Kombat Shang Tsung character copying ability to make their attacks quite tricky.

Gaoh, the final boss though, is the exception. I don't know he wasn't that hard, even if he hits hard and has that super where he gets into some armor that makes him hit like a train. A little bit of a letdown, but hey I thought the fight was kinda fun.

My problems with this game, though, comes from the music, and the lack of any concrete story. The music took a bit of a dive in quality I say, with no real memorable tracks on display, which is weird for SNK standards. Even older SamSho games had some real meaty tunes here and there, but here it feels quite washed out.

And the story...well its actually pretty interesting. The main baddie of Gaoh is a political rebel during a warring period of Japan, but is rebellious for what he believes to be the greater good. He isn't totally evil, but he is still an antagonist, and so must be taken down for the betterment of Japan. And each character has their own story beats, and why they want to fight, and all that cool jazz...if you play the Japanese version that is. Yeah for some reason Western ports of SamSho V never had translations, and instead just skipped any and all cutscenes other than the intro, and the credits. Apparently the Xbox release for SamSho V rectified that, but its so weird that this happened. And, on top of that, for the NeoGeo Collection I am playing on, the western version of the game is also just not translated, even though the Xbox version, again, was. Its genuinely so confusing, and kinda soured my tastes.

That said, SamSho V is a great fighting game, and one that reinvigorates my excitement for this legacy franchise even more. Now, I am quite curious what its updates of Special and Perfect have to offer in comparison...

Simple gameplay and structure but something about making miis of your favorite characters and such, or like OCs, or practically anything proves this game's endless replayability.

In my journey to find the original trainer of a Deino that was mysteriously in my PC box, I too went on a journey in search of something. I searched for truth. Every turn, I asked many questions. Why was Cheren such a nerd, why was Bianca's stoutland so damn strong, why can't N just find a job and stop being a dirty rich boy? All that lead me to not only dismantling Team Plasma, but also discovering that I have became Reshiram's champion.

I became the the black knight of the truth!

For a time, I never quite knew why I thought of Pokémon Sun and Moon as my favorite video games of all time. I knew they were in my heart, but I never quite knew the why to that. But after playing Pokémon Moon, which technically is my 3rd run through on Alola, I now know why I love these games with my heart. It’s the community feeling it has. Everyone and everything in Alola feels so rich with culture and personality that it all ends up being incredibly hopeful to me. The sense of camaraderie between me, my Pokémon, and the trainers and people I talked to along the way is something I cannot describe with words, because it’s just that special…I love Alola. I love it so much.

Around 6 or so years ago, I went to a independent video game store in Cheyenne, Wyoming. There were a lot of new and retro games on the shelves, namely for consoles like the Gamecube or Playstation 2. But, in a section for newer games that released on the Playstation 4, there was one that immediately grabbed my attention. Persona 5. I decided that was the game I was gonna get, and so me and my dad came back home I immediately went to the Playstation 4 we had in the basement, booted it up.

I was just getting out of middle school at the time too, and was gonna enter high school after summer, so having a game about high schoolers fighting against a corrupt society with powers was super cool and fun for my youthful brain. After playing it, I became rather obsessed with the Persona series for a time. I do admit I spoiled myself with a lot of spoilers in regards to Persona 3 and Persona 4, but I don't think I mind too much considering I was doing it in my own volition. And besides there would be other things in the games that I could find out about that can wow me just as much.

But I never played any other games other than Persona 5, and after a while, my Persona hyperfixation waned out and I moved on. Like the changing of the seasons, Persona just became a passing memory. I remembered it, but I then I just stopped wondering it.

But then the Christmas of 2025 came around. Apparently, my dad bought me a Switch game, but forgot it at Walmart and so he lost it. That game, ended up being Persona 3 Reload.

The idea of playing another Persona game...well I cannot say I never had the feelings for such an idea before this moment. But I never really thought about it beyond a single "that'd be neat".

But, I didn't want my dad's gift be in vein. So, using a eShop giftcard I had gotten for Christmas, precisely on the 1st of January of 2026, I bought Persona 3 Reload just so I can make things right.

Now, after nearly half a year since then, I finally managed to beat up after pulling a bit of an all-nighter. And, I am gonna be honest, this might be one of my favorite games of all time now.

The characters, the story, the gameplay loop, all the little side quests, the art....I don't know to put it into words, but everything about this game feels so fulfilling. Mostly everything really does work in the game's favor to the point where I'd have to scrap the bottom of the barrel just to try to make complaints. And, quite frankly, I rather not, even if nothing can be perfect.

Oh, but you know what I will say though. The social links in this game are something special. They range from comedic to really sad, but having these side stories in a game just made the world feel so much more alive. And they all end happily in some shape or form, even if their basis might not be. In fact, every character in the game has their own side story type deal going on, from both allies, to villains, to just the people around the city. They all get some character development, and their developments make me so happy to experience them.

Except for President Tanaka, but he's already perfect the way he is. I love that greedy smug asshat.

But, if there is one character that I managed to really grow attached to in both writing and character wise, it would be...Nozomi. How he managed to go from a sniveling chubby loser who tries to coax you into joining a cult, and then to a sober, self-realized individual who now knows that he should become a better person and pursue his own dreams without the weight of his dead brother pulling him down was really inspiring.

Ok but for real though, its not actually Nozomi. I was just kidding (even though I really do love his social link). Nah, its Aigis. I love Aigis so god damn much. Her story about how she starts off as a mere weapon to defeat the shadows within Tarturus, but slowly becomes more and more human through the connections she forms with the player and members of SEES is extremely inspiring. She became a person. And god damn it nothing more spells it out then in her social link. Her trying understand life and her emotions by trying to help out people and asking questions just works so well. And damn, I can't deny, when she said that she had feelings for the player character, I genuinely choked up. She really did become no different from everyone else around her, even when she is made from nuts and bolts.

I can go so much further on Aigis. Like, I genuinely could make an essay on why she's such a great character, or an essay why she is a great (non-stated) representation of autism, but this review would get far too long as is. Point is, I love that robot with my heart.

Persona 3 Reload is just a masterpiece of beauty in every which way. It is a game that deserves its praise, and more. I think, even if it took me months to finally beat, I feel like my time wasn't wasted. Its just that powerful, despite its length.

Ah 2014, the year where I became a horror fanatic at an age a bit too young to be into the genre. I was obsessed with three things at this time, Slender Man, Five Nights At Freddy's, and of course, the darling little bad creepypasta, Sonic.EXE. Yes it was a good year to be autistic and an impressionable child on the internet. But it's been 12 years since everything came and went, and somehow the little bloody eyed hedgehog that couldn't managed to become the little bloody eyed hedgehog that could.

So then, for some reason, perhaps nostalgic kick, I decided to give my hand to NOT the game that made Mr. EXE known till' this day (considering I played it like two years ago and I don't care to review it), and instead direct my attention to the quote unquote "sequel" known as Sally.EXE.

Apparently this was based on a creepypasta, that was ripped off on another creepypasta, meant to be the official sequel to Sonic.EXE. That is actually fairly well known, the original Sally.EXE creepypasta was based on a Youtube Poop simply titled 'Sonic', where Sonic dies a lot of weird and gruesome deaths.

But I am most curious on is...why Sally? Actually I might have an answer to my own question. The early 2010s Sonic fandom was pretty notorious for how much the community finds the girl characters hot, and even still now. But in 2014, hoo boy, it was basically a gang war whether or not you were Team Amy, or Team Sally. There was a big surge of nostalgia for the Saturday morning Sonic cartoon from the 90s, and so the Sonic community up and down had eyes on this damn squirrel. Thank god I was too young to know what DeviantArt is, or know what shipping was. Because everyone wanted this squirrel badly, and went to actual wars with people who had the gal to like Amy more, or ship Amy with Sonic instead.

Nowadays, the Sonic community now has the hots for Vanilla the Rabbit, which...I understand why she fine as fuuuuuuuck.

But, the obsession with Sally is a good explanation on why she's here and not someone like Blaze or Rouge.

Alright, enough of the knitty gritty here, is Sally.EXE good?...No.

This is pretty nothing. Its surprisingly more nothing than the original Sonic.EXE, and thats saying a lot considering that one's gameplay is just moving right until a spooky thing happens. But Sally.EXE is essentially just...nothing. The first level with Amy you just enter the ring and get to the goals in the special zone to end the stage. The second level with Cream you walk right until you hit a speedboost till' she collides into spikes. And lastly, the final level with Sally, you just stand still waiting for the walls to quickly close in on you.

This is a very nothing game.

But, if I have to give it some credit, I like the presentation and sound design more here than the original Sonic.EXE. I mean, its still not scary, which is a given considering you cannot really make anything Sonic related scary, but I will say it does feel unique. The very nice spritework, the weird sounds, that strangely iconic sound effect with the Sega logo being pitched down, and that well made art of Sally at the end with her eyes being stitched up does get me some appreciation.

I will even give more credit to the end art because that is far more effective than the infamous "I Am God" screen from the original Sonic.EXE, considering it just pops out of nowhere with this weird moaning sound effect. Its not scary, but man did it leave an impression on me as a kid when I say a let's play of this game back when this was considered a peak in creepypasta gaming.

So yeah, not scary, and not good, but damnit does it have some charm.

And, I wanna give some more praise considering it inadvertently led to a bunch of content creators gaining some amounts of stardom. LuigiKid, The Game Salmon, ToadBup. All really cool content creators that made their mark because of this, and plenty of other games that fall within the .EXE category. So, hey, good job Sally.EXE.

I think the lesson to take from this game is that even if a game isn't good, the best thing to take from it is that it exists. Bad games should exist too, because they may lead to greener pastures down the line. And, y'know what, maybe Sally.EXE isn't a total waste of time.

How...How in God's green earth did SNK do it? I am so shocked honestly that they managed to make something THIS good in the mid 90s.

Like, oh my god, Samurai Shodown III is not just a better game than Samurai Shodown II...it is genuinely one of the best fighters I have ever played. Hell, maybe even one of the best games I have ever played!

This game breathed new life to the Samurai Shodown formula in so many new ways, and honestly speaking, these new changes are absolutely for the better. The more focus on slashes, the utilization of spot dodges, the more fast and yet still precise gameplay loop. This not only has it all, but how it all comes together to create a magnetic loop of fighting just makes me want to play through this game's arcade mode again and again.

And the graphics, OH MY LORD THE GRAPHICS. Every sprite has been polished to perfection, with some characters like Kyoshiro and Amakusa getting completely new sprites that oozes with charm. Plus the more dark shadows casted on the sprites and artwork make this game feel so much more brutal, yet still feel like SamSho in the best possible ways.

And oh my god the stages are beautiful. So atmospheric and dreary but yet with hints of beauty and life. They just amaze me.

And the music too...they fixed my complaint from past games and crafted a soundtrack that just feels so right! The classical Japanese music is still prevalent, as well as the ambient scores, but they fit more right in here with the game's more dreary tone. Plus this game also has a fair share of rocking tunes as well, creating this mix of eastern majesty with the chaos of more modern scoring.

Why is this game so looked down upon??? This game rules! Samurai Shodown III absolutely rules!

Didn't know that UM and base 2002 were like different games. Whoopsie been logging the wrong one. Well, whatever, either way this is now one of my favorite games ever. I cannot get enough of it. I am still trying to beat the super hard arcade mode, but this game honestly is so good that even when I lose I still love it to death. The sprites, the animations, the stages, THE MUSIC! Oooooh the music! The music really sells this one. Probably one of the best video game OSTs out there if I am being real. This one is a must have for sure.

With the defeat of Team Rainbow Rocket, I finally got back Ronnie the Blacephalon’s DVD collection of Good Luck Charlie, and now he can do viewing nights with Zygarde, Poipole, and Necrozma

Base Samurai Shodown V was one of the last games for the Neo Geo, and I think in regards to that console it came down swinging. Perhaps not the best SamSho game on the block, but certainly one that is of a great quality. Apparently, though, it had some balancing issues, so SNK saught fit to give the Neo Geo one last hurrah with a "special" edition of Samurai Shodown V.

So, how special is Samurai Shodown V Special? Well uh...I mean I like it. But at the same time it feels kinda underbaked, and overbaked at the same time.

For one, this game certainly is more balanced comparatively, at least from what I have played. Some new moves across the board for all characters have been added, these being the overkill and suicide moves. Overkill moves come from Amakusa's Revenge, and are like a Mortal Kombat fatality, where if you opponent is low enough, and you do a rage burst, you can perform an overkill by doing a quarter circle back motion and hitting both C and D twice. This is a flashy finisher that can end a match in your favor. Meanwhile the suicide move, if you do right, left, and start, your character will kill themselves for the next round to start, and when it starts they'll have a full rage meter so you can do a special right from the get go.

I quite like these new additions, they certainly freshen up the gameplay. But at the same time though, this brings up one of the problems I have with this game, and that is its extremely bloody. Obviously SamSho never had shied away from violence, as you can cut people in half as far back in the first game, but its never been as prominent as it is here.

Honestly I think it might be too much blood. Yeah sure overkill moves are cool and all, but again, they feel more like Mortal Kombat moves than Samurai Shodown moves. I know slaying your foes is the name of the game here, but blood rains? Exploding people? Performing Aztec rituals to send your opponent to literal heaven? This feels a bit too edgy for my already edgy samurai franchise.

And the cuts to this game are just really bizarre. Some of the music got cut, some of the stages too, and even some characters got replaced. I am no Sankuro fan, but I did kinda like Yumeji, so having them be replaced by the previous Samurai Shodown bosses feels really weird. I love Amakusa, and I like Zankuro, but at the same time they don't have to be here honestly.

But I really, and I mean REALLY don't like the cut they did to the story. The western release of the original Samurai Shodown V didn't have any cutscenes or story moments either, but that could be found in the Japanese release, so it did exist. But Samurai Shodown V Special? Japan and the west never got any kind of story for the game's arcade mode. And look, I know people do not play fighting games for the plot, that is fine. But at the same time, this is meant to be an updated version to the base game, and yet it doesn't include a story, or at least an original one?

Yes, I know, SamSho V Special is a 'dream match' game, and those don't really have any stories to begin with, but they at least have some more context at the seams. In fact this doesn't need to be a dream match, even if you include all the bosses.

Why is this game both so underhanded, yet feel like its trying to do too much?

But, I rather not end this on a down note, because I do enjoy this game, despite its shortcomings. So, I will say that despite the arcade mode's lack of depth, I think the idea of fighting each previous boss in a sort of boss rush at the end of the game, is really cool. Its like you are proving your might, and if you've played through every game before this like I have, than this feels almost nostalgic. You do have to do an overkill on each boss though, which can be tedious, but otherwise I say this is a really cool idea that I wish more fighting game implemented.

Overall, while Samurai Shodown V Special is good, I don't think I like it as much as the original. In fact I feel like it scrubs away what made the original so great in the first place. Perhaps the final update, Perfect, can tie up all the issues I have and give us a Samurai Shodown V that can stand toe to toe with the greats.

Samurai Shodown has quickly became one of my favorite SNK fighting game franchises to date, with Samurai Shodown III being--so far--the series peak for me. So, I was certainly raring and ready to go into another Shodown with Samurai Shodown IV: Amakusa's Revenge. But what I got kinda left me feeling a bit lukewarm than anything.

Samurai Shodown IV is a sort of "return to roots" kinda game that tries to make the gameplay loop of SamSho III a bit more streamlined by making that game's mechanics more synonymous with SamSho II's whole gameplay loop. I think that idea, on principal, is fine enough, and the execution is certainly good. But, I don't know, I feel like SamSho III did such a good job as is with how accessible its gameplay that I don't why SNK felt the need to change it. It honestly kinda removes the weight that III had.

Plus this game's identity is kinda just all over the place. The visuals are certainly more colorful, which I don't mind, but aside from that the whole game kind of just feels a bit 'been there done that'. Everything either feels like its trying to be too much like Samurai Shodown II in vibes, or trying to wright the quote unquote "wrongs" of SamSho III.

I mean, yeah its called 'Amakusa's Revenge' so having Amakusa as the last boss makes sense. And I am not gonna be the type of person who will ask the obvious on why Amakusa is also playable, as the one we play as is his good side, while the boss is his evil side. But even then, why is Amakusa not the real final boss, when its Zankuro. In context, it's because the evil side of Amakusa resurrected Zankuro as a minion, and use the two new main characters, Kazuki and Sogetsu's, younger sister as a pawn to keep Zankuro under control.

With context, everything does make a bit more sense, but even still I just wonder...why? Why do we gotta use two bosses from previous games, and base this game's identity on a much more fleshed out one, when we can have something that is far more original? It honestly kind of messes with me.

Surprisingly enough though, my biggest gripe with this game isn't any of the things I just listed. No, its the difficulty. You'd expect a 90s SNK fighter to be tough as nails, but no, Amakusa's Revenge is actually pretty easy. I only ever had trouble with the bosses, and even then they weren't that bad. I do enjoy having games like fighters be more accessible for the wider public, but man it doesn't need to be THIS easy. I swear, I got through most fights just fine, and only had to do like 3 continues for Amakusa and Zankuro. That feels like an embarrassingly bad amount of easiness, I am gonna be real.

I mean, the game is still fun. I don't hate it. It certainly beats the first Samurai Shodown by a large margin. But even then, I still feel a bit disappointed in this one I am gonna be honest. I don't know, maybe I am the weird one since this game is supposedly a big fan favorite amongst the SamSho fanbase.

Yeah this is gas.

Pokemon X and Y were the first ever Pokemon games I have ever played. That was 10+ years ago, when I was very little. I played through Pokemon Y a lot, noticeably really enjoying my starter Chesnaught. I don't own that cartridge now, unfortunately. I think I lost it in an old car my mom used to own. But...Kalos means something to me. Maybe not as much as Alola or Unova, but...Kalos was my first. Kalos will ALWAYS be my first. And so, being able to return to it, being able to experience it in a whole new light...it was all incredible. Sure, this game may not be perfect, but what game really is? Even I can admit some of my favorite games, those that I consider to be the cream of the crop, does have some issues, more blatantly than others. But I don't see negatives. I don't want to see negatives. Perhaps I can address them, but personally where is the fun in that? I am glad that I got this game, not for any holiday, not from any gift from any family member. I got it for myself, and, in a way, I think the game gave me something back. Perhaps, now, there is a Z etched in my heart.