[Reposting and updating my review from another site for the archives. Originally posted in December 13, 2020]
This went above my high expectations. It started pretty slow, but as the world opens up more, and I begin to grasp the game's mechanics, at some point it just clicked. It's interesting enough that I felt compelled to get the platinum trophy, which is something that I rarely do these days, and I definitely loved it more because of all the side content that I did.
Let's start with the game's most unique element, the movement system. You basically need to shoot orbs that are scattered all over the map in order to boost yourself forward, and you have to keep shooting them in order to maintain the speed. If you shoot these orbs at the perfect time, you'll get a bigger boost. It's a delightful system that is a bit challenging to master, but it's worth it, as the sense of speed and style that the game exudes is a most satisfying reward.
The game's open world is filled with fun puzzles and interesting lore, mostly placed in well-designed points of interest. The puzzles are mainly based on figuring out where to shoot your bow at, and thinking about the arrow's trajectory, which is a three dimensional task that I had a lot of fun with. While you can make an educated guess of the main story if you just focus on the main content, piecing together the truth from all the lore texts is quite satisfying, and I like that many of them are not directly tied to the most important events, but rather divulge history that makes you care more about the game's world. There's a hint of fascination towards mysticism, spirituality and mythological beings, which reminds me of games like Fumito Ueda's trilogy.
Having a detective vision-esque ability in place of a traditional map for navigation is a cool idea, and it's well executed here, since exploring felt more natural and in-the-moment because of it. It's most useful only at certain times, like when you reach a high enough vantage point, and this is more than enough to discourage mindless usage of this ability.
Other than the exploration, the game's other main segments are the boss fights, which starts pretty decent with the first boss, but the later ones gets not only more epic in presentation (the soundtrack especially pops off), but also more engaging gameplay-wise. It's not the most complex boss fights, think of them as interconnected rhythm puzzle mini-games, but they're more than engaging enough. Not to mention, each boss fight ends in a touching manner, as you disarm the corruption that overwhelms these beasts, and be able to communicate with their true, best selves.
Overall, this was quite a surprise. I think the game could benefit from more types of puzzles and objectives, and I feel that more of the optional lore could be told in more ways than just text, but as it stands, it's still an incredible game. This is already one of my favorite open world games ever.
This went above my high expectations. It started pretty slow, but as the world opens up more, and I begin to grasp the game's mechanics, at some point it just clicked. It's interesting enough that I felt compelled to get the platinum trophy, which is something that I rarely do these days, and I definitely loved it more because of all the side content that I did.
Let's start with the game's most unique element, the movement system. You basically need to shoot orbs that are scattered all over the map in order to boost yourself forward, and you have to keep shooting them in order to maintain the speed. If you shoot these orbs at the perfect time, you'll get a bigger boost. It's a delightful system that is a bit challenging to master, but it's worth it, as the sense of speed and style that the game exudes is a most satisfying reward.
The game's open world is filled with fun puzzles and interesting lore, mostly placed in well-designed points of interest. The puzzles are mainly based on figuring out where to shoot your bow at, and thinking about the arrow's trajectory, which is a three dimensional task that I had a lot of fun with. While you can make an educated guess of the main story if you just focus on the main content, piecing together the truth from all the lore texts is quite satisfying, and I like that many of them are not directly tied to the most important events, but rather divulge history that makes you care more about the game's world. There's a hint of fascination towards mysticism, spirituality and mythological beings, which reminds me of games like Fumito Ueda's trilogy.
Having a detective vision-esque ability in place of a traditional map for navigation is a cool idea, and it's well executed here, since exploring felt more natural and in-the-moment because of it. It's most useful only at certain times, like when you reach a high enough vantage point, and this is more than enough to discourage mindless usage of this ability.
Other than the exploration, the game's other main segments are the boss fights, which starts pretty decent with the first boss, but the later ones gets not only more epic in presentation (the soundtrack especially pops off), but also more engaging gameplay-wise. It's not the most complex boss fights, think of them as interconnected rhythm puzzle mini-games, but they're more than engaging enough. Not to mention, each boss fight ends in a touching manner, as you disarm the corruption that overwhelms these beasts, and be able to communicate with their true, best selves.
Overall, this was quite a surprise. I think the game could benefit from more types of puzzles and objectives, and I feel that more of the optional lore could be told in more ways than just text, but as it stands, it's still an incredible game. This is already one of my favorite open world games ever.