This review contains spoilers
I'm really torn on this game. On one hand, the story is incredible if a bit sparse up until the end of the game. The emotional resolution of the ending makes you feel for James, and will leave people divided as to whether or not he deserves to move on or "in water" himself. I personally think he deserved to move on, even though what he did was heinous. We'd like to sit behind the screen and judge, but most of us have never had to spend years taking care of a terminally ill loved one. The symbolism was also excellent, if a bit overt. Pyramid head really do be clapping them cheeks.
On the other, the game is profoundly boring. The entire thing is wandering around, jiggling locks and solving pretty easy puzzles, some of which make you feel pretty clever for solving (why the hell were there light bulbs in a can?). I'd normally be quick to forgive this and throw a five star rating at the game for its profound and emotional story, but I just can't. If this were a case of like 30% of the game being actual gameplay and the rest being story, I'd overlook it. However, about 95% of this game is the gameplay, and it is extremely tedious. There's next to no challenge, the town itself is just boring and depressing, there's a ton of backtracking, and I felt so burnt out by how dull this entire game was that it actually undercut the emotional moments in the story itself because I was still coming down from the frustrated boredom of having walked around the same five thousand rooms looking for one key to unlock a door to get another key, jiggling every locked door in the building, ad infinitum. There were some moments that made me visibly say "oh that's disgusting," but those were few and far between. The only praise I can give this game's gameplay aspect is the fact that it's a quintessential example of the excellence that is ps2 level design. That pseudo-metroidvania style of level design you find in games like old school Resident Evil, Devil May Cry 1 and 3, Ninja Gaiden Black, etc.
Overall, this game is excellent as a story. However, I would be remiss to give it five stars, because at the end of the day, this is a video game. Video games are an interactive medium, and you still have to play them. There is no sweeping the boring chore that is the gameplay under the rug when it makes up the vast majority of your time spent playing this.
On the other, the game is profoundly boring. The entire thing is wandering around, jiggling locks and solving pretty easy puzzles, some of which make you feel pretty clever for solving (why the hell were there light bulbs in a can?). I'd normally be quick to forgive this and throw a five star rating at the game for its profound and emotional story, but I just can't. If this were a case of like 30% of the game being actual gameplay and the rest being story, I'd overlook it. However, about 95% of this game is the gameplay, and it is extremely tedious. There's next to no challenge, the town itself is just boring and depressing, there's a ton of backtracking, and I felt so burnt out by how dull this entire game was that it actually undercut the emotional moments in the story itself because I was still coming down from the frustrated boredom of having walked around the same five thousand rooms looking for one key to unlock a door to get another key, jiggling every locked door in the building, ad infinitum. There were some moments that made me visibly say "oh that's disgusting," but those were few and far between. The only praise I can give this game's gameplay aspect is the fact that it's a quintessential example of the excellence that is ps2 level design. That pseudo-metroidvania style of level design you find in games like old school Resident Evil, Devil May Cry 1 and 3, Ninja Gaiden Black, etc.
Overall, this game is excellent as a story. However, I would be remiss to give it five stars, because at the end of the day, this is a video game. Video games are an interactive medium, and you still have to play them. There is no sweeping the boring chore that is the gameplay under the rug when it makes up the vast majority of your time spent playing this.