This is a bit of a sour review, I don't think it's an unpopular opinion but the main appeal of this game for me was the story and message from this game, the drawn art style, voice acting, messages of this game and collectibles like the meditation trees tell a lovely story and touch on feelings that are hard to unpack and it does so well, with writers that clearly have gone through these reflections and feelings themselves and on that part Abubakar Salim succeeded in what he wanted this game to be.

But, very sadly, the rest of the game kinda falls short of making the experience enjoyable, the 3D models disconnect from the drawn artstyle, with the main character looking significantly different, the "real world" part of this game had a very exciting aesthetic but the main game is set in a jungle setting that comes across as mostly made from ugly default looking assets and the biggest shame for me personally, it feels like a very linear metroidvania game with very simple, repetitive combat that only gets worsened by introducing stuff like enemy shields that make it a longer slog to go through.

It's worth checking out, especially with it being on PS+ Extra's catalogue on launch, maybe your milleage will vary. Still, I am looking forward to seeing how the studio builds on this game, either through updates that make the controls feel snappier or combat balances, or maybe even an altogether new project that shows growth from this.