Persona Q is some sort of weird crossover fan-fiction with the gameplay of Etrian Odyssey. I understand it is an extremely niche product and probably not a good starting point for the series.

Cici's used to be pretty good. It wasn't the most amazing food in the world, but it didn't pretend to be. It was cheap and they kept that shit cranking out so it was warm and fresh. But the last time I went to one they had changed their garlic bread (by far the best thing they ever had) and it just wasn't the same.

I like Pizza Hut's pan pizza in the abstract, but I'm sure that a better restaurant could provide a better version of the same thing.

And I hope that the increased sales of P5 plus the complaints causes Atlus to rethink this approach in the next installment. I don't think they're doing themselves any favors here.

I assure you, you are 100% correct. I read a fascinating article on Eurogamer in 2015 about a fan translation of Final Fantasy VII that goes over this very subject:

I have noticed that it's an often unflattering depiction of Japan. Corrupt government rapists, corrupt teacher rapists, openly unprofessional and student-hating teachers, disgraced quacks running illegal clinics…it's kind of bracing.

I don't know how he develops later—I didn't even realize until this review that he was more than a D-list incidental character—but at least in the early game I just wanted to give him a hug.

Glad I'm not the only one a little underwhelmed by the writing. Or, I should say, the translation. It clearly prizes literal translation over just about anything else, making the barest effort to make the English dialogue sound sort-of normal. I've tried to view it as a cultural experience, like the game is trying to…

I found that breezy experience by playing through with my boyfriend, who had already gotten to the final boss.

Either your creed is the revealed truth of reality or it isn't. If it's up to interpretation, it's not truth.

It is true that Mormonism and Scientology have done OK for themselves in spite of their terrible founders…

The gospels aren't even consistent with one another, which should be enough to set off bullshit alarms.

It just seems odd that nothing was preserved except the stuff claiming he did miracles. For a figure who was controversial enough to get executed, it's weird that there's nothing that contradicts the Christian accounts. It's not like they ever managed to convert everyone in the region.

Tolkien seemed to agree.

To be fair, there are no non-Biblical sources describing Jesus, so there's no expert on the man who wouldn't be a conspiracy theorist in another field.

There is a lot more evidence for Julius Caesar than Jesus. Jesus doesn't seem to exist outside the Bible itself.

Ah. I'd say you can still see some of his influence shining through.

Didn't he also direct the first Babe movie? Which has a much darker opening than many of us likely remember, I might add.

"We're tired of this weirdo, obscure shit you nerds keep nominating. We're all going to select the nominees, and it's going to be nice and fucking normal."

I hope never, too. But I bring up Gore Verbinski for a reason: A Cure for Wellness is probably the most similar film I've seen recently that compares with Crimson Peak (i.e. big-budget genre films that would, in the past, have been B-horror pictures from the likes of Hammer). And I liked it more than Crimson Peak. But…