This game was surprisingly fun and whilst there was no voicelines or any obvious story, the game managed to tell a pretty compelling story merely through the items that you were unpacking. You got to see the life of the protagonist through the years, through the items that you were placing, from childhood, to being a student, having a boyfriend, then having a girlfriend, presumably getting married, and finally having a kid. Somehow the story was one of the most compelling parts of this game which I honestly didn't think would have a story at all, let alone a sapphic one. I'm honestly pleasantly surprised by this game. Very wholesome.

Remedy does it again. I loved this game. I've been wanting to play it for years, and I'm really glad I finally got round to it. The multimedia aspect of this game, whilst at first offputting, ended up being really cool and the live action episodes giving an insight into a side of the game that you otherwise wouldn't, as well as building a supporting cast that wasn't obviously visible in the main game was incredibly cool. The story was really interesting aswell. Time travel is always a risky topic to try to depict, and it is more often than not done poorly, but I would say this game did it really well. From the made up science to support it all, to the hidden connections that link everything together, the story was really well constructed and bolstered by the little hints and nods hidden throughout the collectibles that really helped to tie everything together. The combat was really satisfying aswell, maybe not as good as Control, but unique in its own ways. It felt pretty responsive and the gunplay felt quite smooth which not every game manages to capture. The abilities were all cool in their own right too, however I don't feel like they all flowed together quite as well as they could have, making some fights feel a bit messy gameplay wise but I don't think this overly brought down the entire experience. The first 4 acts were incredible in both story and gameplay, especially act 3/4 (I can't remember whoops) with the ship crashing into the bridge, that just felt really cinematic and amazing to play through. The ending felt less polished but still pretty cool. The fight with Serene ended up being a bit underwhelming but this always felt like more of a story game so I wasn't too bothered by that, what confused me was the very ending though, with Jack stuttering(?) a bit and looking like he was in pain. I assumed that would be expanded upon but then the credits rolled and the after credits scene with Hatch seemed to be setting up a sequel more than explaining what was going on there. Unfortunately I don't get the impression that we are getting a sequel anytime soon since it's been 8 years and there seem to be troubles with the ip ownership anyway. 100% was pretty straightforward, just had to replay the game on hard difficulty and pick the opposite choice at each junction. Hard mode wasnt much more difficult, everything just did more damage and you pretty much had to go for headshots. Overall, very good game.