Something crazy about Muramasa is that it actually solves literally all the questions it poses in one particular scene, but then never touches on this again, pretending like they're still unsolved issues.
I don't wanna lay my cards bare in a backloggd review of all things, since I plan on making a large youtube video about this, but I wonder how many people caught on to that. And even more importantly, I wonder how many people continued to understand what this means about the game, and what Muramasa is actually about.

I have the theory that Chachamaru is by far the most popular heroine (especially in JP) because the readers subconsciously understand that she's the only life-affirming character in the whole game. You would think it's weird to like this borderline side-character the most, who barely has a route herself, but it makes complete sense when you consider her thematic relevance. Though I HIGHLY doubt anyone actually understands why she's the best one beyond subconsciously. Regardless, she's best girl, because she's the most human of them.

My cynical prediction is that none of these npcs have any actual weight to them.

The point is to make the world feel super big and crowded and ambitious, but with no actual impact on the player and the world at large, they will feel isolated and borderline pointless

Something like Demon Souls was so immersive because the NPCs had insane ramifications on the entire world in that game.

Help one NPC, and suddenly half of all useful vendors will be murdered and none of their items are accessible anymore.

Help another one, and you unlock some of the best items in the game.

I will cynically predict Trails has none of that and lets every background NPC live out their lives in isolation

Even Terranigma on the SNES managed to let a lot of NPCs/side-quests have huge influence on the world at large...

I've always felt that these open-world sandbox games that get praised endlessly nowadays were borderline nihilistic. If you can do anything, then nothing matters and nothing actually stands out. Nothing has weight and the game doesn't have anything to say.
The idea that more options within the framework of a game mean that it's "better" at depicting freedom is so silly and childish to me, since it will always be constructed within the limited frameworks of video games anyway. It's a childish understanding of what expression is.
For example, the recently released Baldurs Gate 3 bored me out of my mind, since you could literally do anything you wanted, and nothing actually matters. Which is supposed to represent its message about freedom or something?

And yet, all games that say "you can do anything you want" are ultimately self-contradictory. As video games are confined by their hardware etc., so are humans confined within the metaphysics of reality. They can only make their choices within the frameworks of reality.

Therefore, games should just try to present a creative framework to challenge the player with, and it's alright if that's heavily minimalized or constricted. After all, a game should do what's best to tell its message, instead of doing everything, and therefore, doing nothing.

Kratos has to escape his torment by entering a dungeon, getting a super strong weapon, and killing a god. Except that he gets betrayed. Who could have seen that coming.

Now, did I just describe God of War 1 or God of War 2?

Yeah, this series is beyond stale even with the second entry. I really wanted to get into the series, but I guess I'll stop here.
Nobody should ever play this game. Start and drop the series at GoW 1.

The final area in this game is called "Dreg Heap," a literal pile of shit. In it, you can find Patches, enemies clobbed next to each other without regard to satisfying level- or enemy-design, nonsensical shortcuts, and the Dark Souls version of Godzilla.

There has never been a less subtle ending. And yet, people still slobber up the souls series like the creator hasn't told them to fuck off back in 2016 already. Actually braindead.

This game feels like Miyazaki's suicide note. Like he's saying, "I give up on humanity, I abandon all my individuality. I will become just another normie AAA developer, because I don't have the strength to continue pursuing the new and interesting. I could never be as strong as someone like Hideaki Anno."

Ok

Elden Ring, is the nice boy in class, he has all the good grades, he's not particularly ugly, he's cultivated, he'll likely gonna get into a good university once he's gonna graduate, he seems to have no flaws, except one, he's painfully boring in its flawlessness

Demon's Souls on the other hand, he's the bad boy , he's dark, sinister, a bit cringe , he has black hair, he makes barely passable poetry , he smokes marijuana and is involved with several case of high school crime, he always brings a guitar and listen to 21 pilot on his airpods, not the kinda guy you should get interrested in, he looks silly , he looks like a fucking looser, he thinks he's goat, but he's not goat, he's just a piece of shit edgy kids and oh my god I hate this guy, but one day you go to a party

Who did you end up in bed with ? That's right , not fucking ER, he's too good for this, It's DeS, you woke up next morning, and he fucked you and you look past the bed border and your mom is lying on the floor , fucked like she never has been before. Then he wokes up with pancackes, kiss you goodbye and leaves you with a teen pregnancy he's never gonna act upon. But the memory of such an experience will last with you for the rest of your goddamn life

What prevents this game from being a masterpiece is the mechanical design of the characters. Only three of them have any worth (Shun, Futo, and the protagonist), while the rest have nothing interesting going on.
But as others have pointed out, the visuals and sound are pretty insane, so meh.

The second half of the game is its main appeal: The gameplay takes a MASSIVE step upwards; every level is unique and fun in its own way. Particularly the koi fish and avalanche levels stand out.

I recommend playing on hard mode while trying to avoid as many enemies as possible. Makes the encounters a lot more fun.