Critics: "This game is a masterpiece. A master class in non-linear storytelling. A deep, moving, intelligent exploration of memory and identity. One of the best examples in the medium's history of game-as-art and game-as-literature."

[boots up game]

Floating Skull With Thick New York Accent: "What's crackin', chief? You dead or sumthin'? Let's skedattle outta here before those mummies get a whiff of us, or our ass is grass if ya know whadd I mean!"

Ungainly and heavy-handed in both its emotional appeals and its narrative construction. Basically impossible to assess or summarise in its soaring highs and disastrous lows. I will say that it's never, ever as good or elegant as Shadowbringers, but then I have to concede that in its floundering it still makes Shadowbringers easier to love in retrospect. But hey, I like a hubristic big swing.

The thing the game is now remains something I like a whole lot less than the thing the game used to be, and I don't think I'll ever completely be able to let go of the sorrow I feel about that having been devoured by the caprices of live-service game development. But at least as a work of game design this is significantly more confidently-expressed and refined than their first stab at simplifying the systems in the last expansion.

Fuck every single thing to do with Zenos though.

The acceptable shape of "hard games" has grown small. They have lock on, they have generous I-frames in the form of a big dodge roll, they have little 6 pixel platforms surrounded by spikes, they have big flashing symbols telling me the dangerous attack is about to hit, they have little 30 second checkpoint loops so that I don't have to waste my time replaying a section i beat, they present all information with absolute clarity, they make sure I have enough resources so that I don't need to think about it. These things are not bad but they are so common it becomes limiting. If a game breaks the formula, it's fake difficulty, fake difficulty is when the game is difficult in ways I don't like, making it fake.
Ninja Gaiden has enemies who will grab you for blocking too much, the grab has almost no tell, you simply need to be aware it's a risk. Ninja Gaiden has enemies who will pelt you with exploding knives for daring to be in the same room as them, that's not their only attack it's just a thing they'll do. Ninja Gaiden gives you a dozen attacks that'll insta kill just about any goon in the game if you know where to apply them. Ninja Gaiden does not have a lock on, it would simply cause problems. Ninja Gaiden remains thrilling even as your expertise grows because it demands you remain mindful of enemies that you understand perfectly. I forgot to make a punchline for this one.