one of the best games ever made is in here somewhere, but as it stands, it's just... good. REALLY good, even, but with a project as wildly ambitious as this, it's only natural that it would get in its own way by trying to do too much. it's a free-roam open-world experience in which you're at liberty to explore at more or less your own pace and approach difficult scenarios as you see fit, BUT ALSO it's a restrictive cinematic experience that you can't influence at all, largely comprised of cutscenes in which stilted side characters exposition at you about overwrought plot bullshit that happened off-screen while you sit there wondering how long before you'll get to pick up your controller again.

for a game about the importance of people connecting and forming bonds with one another in the face of existential loneliness, it's a shame that its best moments are when the characters you're supposed to feel connected to finally shut the fuck up and let you out into the world to freely roam, alone.