Contains probably the most believable being found in the medium so far, and I think that's worth a lot. The game is built around you understanding it and it understanding you, and it achieves this with an elegant mix of writing and game design. The story is intelligently presented; it's beautiful and moving---perhaps moreso than Ueda's other games.

And while it gets scale and detail right, with a vertigo-inducing world of towers and dilapidated ruins, it can feel like a series of puzzle rooms at times. A less contrived or even slower sense of progression would have been more welcome in my view, as its instances of stillness and idle behaviour were among my favourite moments.

Common complaints about this game seem to align with a common idea of what a good game is (smooth, responsive, agreeable), but the ways in which this game underperforms, or performs in an unconventional way, all strike me as either artistic choices or technical bargains that preserve or enhance what the game is doing that is exceptional. It's imperfect to be sure, but it achieves something no other game has and still feels ahead of its time.