This game is not perfect, but it scratches an itch I didn't know I had when I first played it in 2021. Replaying in 2023, has been a very enjoyable experience and I am confident if it gets a sequel, I will be replaying it a third time. Incredibly satisfying combat and a pretty good story to boot.
Pros:
- The hack and slash combat is fantastic and very fluid if you get the hang of combos, which alternate between attacks with the protagonists' weapons (sword for Yuito, throwing knives for Kasane) and telekinetically throwing objects strewn about the levels. The animations for these attacks and finishers are incredibly satisfying, with proper weight and “build up” (that tension you feel when a special move is winding up, common to action anime).
- The SAS system (borrowing psionic powers from companions) is very engaging and allows you to approach battles in several ways. Too much happening at once? Move at superspeed with SAS Hypervelocity. Enemy covered in oil? Set them alight with SAS Pyrokinesis? Is there a distant armored enemy obscured by smoke? See through the noise with SAS Clairvoyance, break their shell with SAS Duplication, and move into the kill range with SAS Teleportation.
- The story is high stakes and pretty interesting, with more than a few emotional moments (much more than I was initially expecting. An interesting bit about the story is that it is "split" between the male protagonist (Yuito) and the female protagonist (Kasane), with their storylines running together at the beginning and then diverging. While Yuito's campaign raises questions about the world and its narrative, Kasane’s campaign answers them (a bit of an oversimplification). Yet both stand on their own.
- The “bond episodes” (hanging with/learning more about your companions) add a lot of depth to the characters and make you care about them. Completing them not only provides insight into their personalities, backstories, and development, but also unlocks new abilities with their SAS connections. These characters all have their own “cliches” but provide a unique spin on them such that they never feel uninspired.
- The "brainpunk" aesthetics are VERY cool and make you feel like a badass (exemplified by mechanics such as “brain field” and “brain drive”). As an example of one of these aesthetics, SAS connections are literal connections maintained by neon wires plugged into the characters’ backs, and operating them means accepting the pain they bring when they piece the skin to interface directly with the brain. Additionally, the enemy artstyle is disconcerting and truly alien; they stutter around and writhe in inhuman manners.
- The add-on DLCs (I bought the Season Pass so I'm talking about them cumulatively) add a lot of different weapons, plug-ins (which enable buffs and different mechanics for your characters), mechanics, and bond episodes which greatly spice up the endgame (aka: going for 100% completion). It is fairly cheap (I think around $20) and I believe it's worth the money.
Cons:
- This isn’t technically a con, but I will say that this is NOT an RPG, it's a hack-and-slash.. You can choose weapons for your character and their companions, but it's only one type per character (sword, knives, hammer, torch, etc.) and for most of the base game weapons, the only difference between them all is their appearance and how much damage they do. Many of the DLC weapons have additionally effects that allow for limited build-crafting, though “build-crafting” isn’t really something you do in this game.
- While I enjoyed the story, there are a few parts that are very convoluted and you would probably need to think about them for a while to make sense of them. Plot twists are abundant and while this provides intrigue, it can also make the narrative feel unfocused or hurried. Additionally the story is meant to be played with Yuito first and Kasane second, as Kasane's story spoils Yuito's, which is somewhat awkward and can be frustrating if Kasane’s campaign interests you more at first.
- The side quest system is absolute garbage, being very one-note and finicky (“kill ____ enemy with ____ attack”), and in my opinion are only worth doing if you want cool weapons or 100% completion (and you only need to complete 30 to get all achievements). Instead of completing them throughout the course of the game like how I assume I was supposed to, I just grinded them for a few hours after completing both campaigns.
- Without getting into spoiler territory, some of the bond episodes ignore a glaring issue raised in the main story (they are designed to be played alongside the main story), and as such, the events of those bond episodes come off as downright bizarre. I have a feeling the teams writing the main narrative and the bond episodes were two separate groups that merged their work at the end, only to figure out they could not coexist in their original forms, leading to stop-gap rewrites.
- Yuito is the classic anime protagonist, and while he has some great moments and unexpected depth, he is very "normal but also exceptional" and can be a little dense. He’s not all bad, but there are times that will have you questioning what’s going on in that head of his. Objectively, Kasane is much more interesting, but somehow can be even more confusing than Yuito in her actions at times.
- The game has both Japanese and English voices; I have only played with English voices and so I can say that it certainly has those "weird dub" deliveries at times. In general, the English dub is good though.
Objective rating: 4 stars
Subjective rating: 4.5 stars
Pros:
- The hack and slash combat is fantastic and very fluid if you get the hang of combos, which alternate between attacks with the protagonists' weapons (sword for Yuito, throwing knives for Kasane) and telekinetically throwing objects strewn about the levels. The animations for these attacks and finishers are incredibly satisfying, with proper weight and “build up” (that tension you feel when a special move is winding up, common to action anime).
- The SAS system (borrowing psionic powers from companions) is very engaging and allows you to approach battles in several ways. Too much happening at once? Move at superspeed with SAS Hypervelocity. Enemy covered in oil? Set them alight with SAS Pyrokinesis? Is there a distant armored enemy obscured by smoke? See through the noise with SAS Clairvoyance, break their shell with SAS Duplication, and move into the kill range with SAS Teleportation.
- The story is high stakes and pretty interesting, with more than a few emotional moments (much more than I was initially expecting. An interesting bit about the story is that it is "split" between the male protagonist (Yuito) and the female protagonist (Kasane), with their storylines running together at the beginning and then diverging. While Yuito's campaign raises questions about the world and its narrative, Kasane’s campaign answers them (a bit of an oversimplification). Yet both stand on their own.
- The “bond episodes” (hanging with/learning more about your companions) add a lot of depth to the characters and make you care about them. Completing them not only provides insight into their personalities, backstories, and development, but also unlocks new abilities with their SAS connections. These characters all have their own “cliches” but provide a unique spin on them such that they never feel uninspired.
- The "brainpunk" aesthetics are VERY cool and make you feel like a badass (exemplified by mechanics such as “brain field” and “brain drive”). As an example of one of these aesthetics, SAS connections are literal connections maintained by neon wires plugged into the characters’ backs, and operating them means accepting the pain they bring when they piece the skin to interface directly with the brain. Additionally, the enemy artstyle is disconcerting and truly alien; they stutter around and writhe in inhuman manners.
- The add-on DLCs (I bought the Season Pass so I'm talking about them cumulatively) add a lot of different weapons, plug-ins (which enable buffs and different mechanics for your characters), mechanics, and bond episodes which greatly spice up the endgame (aka: going for 100% completion). It is fairly cheap (I think around $20) and I believe it's worth the money.
Cons:
- This isn’t technically a con, but I will say that this is NOT an RPG, it's a hack-and-slash.. You can choose weapons for your character and their companions, but it's only one type per character (sword, knives, hammer, torch, etc.) and for most of the base game weapons, the only difference between them all is their appearance and how much damage they do. Many of the DLC weapons have additionally effects that allow for limited build-crafting, though “build-crafting” isn’t really something you do in this game.
- While I enjoyed the story, there are a few parts that are very convoluted and you would probably need to think about them for a while to make sense of them. Plot twists are abundant and while this provides intrigue, it can also make the narrative feel unfocused or hurried. Additionally the story is meant to be played with Yuito first and Kasane second, as Kasane's story spoils Yuito's, which is somewhat awkward and can be frustrating if Kasane’s campaign interests you more at first.
- The side quest system is absolute garbage, being very one-note and finicky (“kill ____ enemy with ____ attack”), and in my opinion are only worth doing if you want cool weapons or 100% completion (and you only need to complete 30 to get all achievements). Instead of completing them throughout the course of the game like how I assume I was supposed to, I just grinded them for a few hours after completing both campaigns.
- Without getting into spoiler territory, some of the bond episodes ignore a glaring issue raised in the main story (they are designed to be played alongside the main story), and as such, the events of those bond episodes come off as downright bizarre. I have a feeling the teams writing the main narrative and the bond episodes were two separate groups that merged their work at the end, only to figure out they could not coexist in their original forms, leading to stop-gap rewrites.
- Yuito is the classic anime protagonist, and while he has some great moments and unexpected depth, he is very "normal but also exceptional" and can be a little dense. He’s not all bad, but there are times that will have you questioning what’s going on in that head of his. Objectively, Kasane is much more interesting, but somehow can be even more confusing than Yuito in her actions at times.
- The game has both Japanese and English voices; I have only played with English voices and so I can say that it certainly has those "weird dub" deliveries at times. In general, the English dub is good though.
Objective rating: 4 stars
Subjective rating: 4.5 stars