Unfortunately this was a huge disappointment for me. Positive 1st though...
The soundtrack is amazing. The graphics go for a more simplistic pixel art style with no hard outlines and softer colors, and I think it looks unique and cozy. The world design is excellent. All the little details in each and every room feel meticulously thought out. The cast of characters are alright, but the protagonist specifically is adorable and endearing. Exploration is done pretty well, and there are a lot of great puzzles. The variety in tone is also huge plus.
That seems like a lot of positives so, what could possibly drag this game down?
The combat is AWFUL. There are so many bullshit systems at play that don't work well together at all. Nothing feels right. There's little impact from your attacks, but the moment your enemy attacks, you go literally flying and bouncing around the area like a fucking pinball. Why does my attack degrade over time? Why does it take up stamina? Why do I have to eat in real time when there's no real time to eat?? The bosses are genuinely the worst I have ever fought in a video game. Katash specifically is the definition of a shitshow. The story and its pacing are easily what pisses me off the most. It's objectively unfinished, has terrible setup, and has zero payoff. It makes YiiK and Metroid Other M look like works of Shakespeare, and it's something you can't just fix in an update.

This game really has the highest and lowest points in the series. On one hand the pacing is wildly inconsistent, the constant reuse of areas and enemies is boring, the sky and traversing through it gives me no emotion whatsoever, and the Imprisoned might be the worst thing ever created in the history of ever. It's just that bad.
But overall, I still think this is a good game. The sword controls really clicked with me personally, even switching between motion and buttons. The dungeons range from good to pure brilliance, the presentation is really nice, and all the characters are great. I mean, c'mon. How can you say a game with Groose in it is bad? Yeah that's right. You can't.

I originally heard about it because of the supposed forgotten history of its creator, Takanari Ishiyama, who kept command based adventures alive in Japan on early mobile phones of all things. I hope this sparks interest in localizing the recent rereleases of all those games because if this is anything to go by, that stuff must be great. Because this game's awesome.

To get my complaints out of the way, while the game plays out in a linear way just with multiple intertwining characters, I feel like it tries to present itself to encourage nonlinearity, or at least going about certain story beats via your own method. And while that's interesting, and allows you to take things at your own pace, I feel like it creates a few problems.
A lot of the puzzles are actually based around triggering different events in one character's story to affect something in another. And while it works for some, like getting a hold of someone so they don't mess things up somewhere else, it kinda falls flat in other places, like when the storyteller abruptly stops you during Harue's storyline to ask quiz you on something you're unlikely to know by then. Not going into spoilers, the thing he quizzes you on is extremely lightly hinted at only once in a previous chapter. But the quiz takes place during a chapter that is available at the same time as another that'll give plenty more hints toward the answer. What I really don't understand about this is... why am I forced to get a correct answer here no matter what? If I'm playing this chapter before the other one, I just have to wildly guess whichever one is correct. It feels like the game is trying to force the idea in my head. An idea that would either A) be really rewarding to find out on my own, or B) be something I'm clueless about just to be shocked when it's fully revealed. The way it is now didn't feel satisfying to me. If anything, it kinda made me feel like I was playing the game wrong somehow.

Anyway didn't I say this game is awesome? Oh yeah it is! The
360 degree camera system is such a cool concept the game rolls with. And yet the filtered backgrounds still mesh well with the character portraits. The way the art invokes things like brush strokes really sells the painted look of everything, which seems to tie in very well with all the Japanese history stuff.
The way all the presentation meshes together is great. Especially when it comes to the story and its themes. The horror elements felt really refreshing to me. While there are a few jump scares, the game plays up tension and suspense a lot more. This game is really creepy when it wants to be. But it's not just scares all the time. There's plenty of comedic moments, and even some genuinely emotional scenes. The music plays a big role in all those things.
But by far my favorite thing about this game is the characters. Most of them are amazing. And the ones who aren't are still fun to see. If I had to pick a favorite. Even though most of the playable cast work well with each other, I'd go with Yakko because she had the best arc, and a great relationship with Mio.

I am so happy that a bigger publisher can get behind such a small niche game like this. And I'm even happier to know a full english release was always planned. And while the game isn't perfect, it shows a lot of heart and ambition. And I still loved so much about it. And I can't wait to see what Ishiyama has in store for the future.

Y'know, the way everyone talks about this game online made me believe I'd despise this game for being some unplayable nightmare of a game. But idk I enjoyed it for what it was.
Don't get me wrong, quite a bit of this game still isn't good. All the squishing hazards suck, labyrinth zone sucks, the caterpillar enemies suck, the spikes suck, the bosses are boring, scrap brain zone mostly sucks.... Ok yeah Sonic 1 makes a lot of dumb mistakes. But it can still be an enjoyable time zooming through levels, using skill to find secrets and hidden paths, and trying to keep your rings together. I can't with a straight face say I really like this game, but I'd be lying if I said I hated it. How about this: I understand Sonic 1.

For some reason, the universe is being really nice to Mysterious Murasame Castle fans of all people. Between the NSO release, and someone uploading the movie online, it's kind of insane how good things are looking for us.
So of course in celebration, I went back to play MMC again, and... well, it's clear this was made with NES/Famicom controllers in mind, and not fucking Switch D-pads. I'm not sponsored by them or anything, but if you don't have an NES Classic, and are sensible enough to not buy the $60 NES controllers, you should play this with an 8bitdo SN30 Pro if you're playing an emulated version.
...uhhh, and if you want my actual thoughts on the game, you can watch this haha :) https://youtu.be/KGeUj_fIO5o

I'm really surprised that I actually liked this game. I've heard so much about cinematic Sony shooter fatigue in recent years, yet I think The Last of Us strikes a great balance between action and cinematics. In fact, this is a remarkably well balanced game in almost every aspect. Good amounts of stealth, shooting, resource management, and exploration, and it properly challenges you on your skills at just the right times. The story is alright of course, and I definitely got invested in the relationship of Ellie and Joel, but I gotta say, the ending is stupid. Oh well, I'm sure that just means it opens the door for a more interesting sequel, right? ...Right??