Well what is there to say. A game that's very subtle in what it's trying to say. A lot is left up to interpretation. You might leave with more questions than answers.

The fabric simulation I've ever seen. Indikas head piece flows so realistically.
Her idle animation is also brimming with character but stays grounded enough to be believable. Slightly hunched over and biting her nails after fidgeting. It's absolutely great.

I do think the pacing is a bit off at times and I couldn't tell if the audio was supposed to sound blown out for certain sections or not. But it's very cool game definitely worth a second playthrough

I thought I wanted an old school, text based, paper mapping, dungeon exploring adventure.

Boy was I wrong.

30 minutes in I knew it wasn't for me. Love the aesthetic though. 4 stars just for that. I'd love to see a more fleshed out version in a sequel. But at the same time the minimalism is part of its charm isn't it?

I really like the concept of this game. The execution on console however leaves much to be desired. navigating dungeons is a bit unintuitive and its just clear this was made with PC in mind first. That said, the ideas are implemented solidly to really enjoy yourself. and if you're a masochist this is a game where you can really indulge because its STRESSFUL AF. The compete opposite of...lets say, a cozy game. I don't know why I like it so much. I honestly just like the marriage of Psychosis, exploration and turn based combat. I wish there was more customization but at the same time its not that kind of game

Well what can I say? Theres so much to love about Crow Country. It's art style, it's satisfying shooting mechanics, it's quirky and interesting story, it's atmosphere. It's all done so well and it's a brisk 5 hour game. I think I spent maybe 4 hours in it exploring plus I'm slow, but it's really just a love letter to the genre but also adds to it in some subtle ways.

This is a survival horror game that just feels good to play. I loved my time with it. Anyone who grew up on classic survival horror must play this ASAP

And so, once I got a suit I really liked and understood the combat. I was loving my experience. In that time I had many thoughts here are some I was able to recall after my time with SB.

A thought provoking story with poor execution wasn't going to stop me from enjoying a game with a femme fatale that was both enjoyable and eye candy.
I'm a simple man, or maybe a man of really specific tastes. I love chasing loot but the loot I love the most are always cosmetic. I feel the outfits In this game are butt ass ugly, there's probably like 4-5 good suits out of 30+ but that's okay because the carrot at the end of the stick was finding out what outfit I would get next.

Combat in a nutshell is really satisfying, think of an a souls game but with an arcade flavor. If a would game is all wieght, heft and grounded animations then Stellar Blade is light, fast and stylish. I had fun with it. I can tell you that I've never stuck with a souls game longer than I have with SB and that's likely due to the very specific tastes I mentioned earlier.

Now let's talk about the Nier: Automata comparisons. Having not played Nier automata since it was released, I might be missing some similarities but that being said this game really wears it's inspiration on its sleeve. Particularly the setting, the themes and music. It's not shy about being so close to what inspired it. I wouldn't say it's an alternative to nier because the play really different but nevertheless it's SB biggest influence.

Here are some small nitpicks that hurt the overall experience.

-English voice acting is stale and lifeless
-Eve has some animations that are clearly not mo capped. They are most obvious when they use slow down effect during QTEs or cutscenes.
-Fast travel is a little convoluted and could be stream lined.
- the later boss fights can feel exhausting

Having played it's predecessor before the sequel I could not help feeling like there were opportunities missed in this entry just like in the first. It feels very different from the original. But they share a lot of the same design philosophies. Where the game really shines over the original it's the graphical fidelity and overall world as well as some QoL improvements. The camp mechanic really lends itself to the cross country adventure. It's a real shame that they removed the layered armor system from before as there was depth stripped from the original.