I am so very conflicted about this game, maybe more than any other game I've ever played. I love the music, the dungeon gameplay, the combat, the art style, and the fusion system. I'm even a fan of the social link system in concept.
In practice I can barely stand playing this game because the writing is dull and that writing takes up most of the game. A game that's nearly 100 hours long! That's far too long for any game in my opinion, I start losing interest around 40-50 hours even in games I adore.
I don't even really hate the writing (usually). It's fun enough and tries its best to approach heavy topics. Characters develop over the course of their introductions, but unfortunately become effectively static afterwards. Even if I enjoyed welcoming a new character to the party and seeing their development leading there, it loses weight when they immediately morph into a caricature right after. The main character is treated as a key component of the story despite his silence and lack of personality or agency, which always came off as awkward to me. I was not engaged by the overall story and wasn't surprised by any of the twists. Overall it was fine when it wasn't being actively offensive, (which did happen a few times!) but was not nearly good enough to justify the game's length.
I wanted to love this game and in a way I really do! It ultimately feels like two games mashed together, one that I love and one that I tolerate. Together they're less than the sum of their parts. I got through the final buildup to the last dungeon, 90 hours into this monster of a game, and I stood at the entrance to the final area. I looked back on everything that had happened and felt nothing but indifference. I saved and closed the game and haven't returned to it since.
In practice I can barely stand playing this game because the writing is dull and that writing takes up most of the game. A game that's nearly 100 hours long! That's far too long for any game in my opinion, I start losing interest around 40-50 hours even in games I adore.
I don't even really hate the writing (usually). It's fun enough and tries its best to approach heavy topics. Characters develop over the course of their introductions, but unfortunately become effectively static afterwards. Even if I enjoyed welcoming a new character to the party and seeing their development leading there, it loses weight when they immediately morph into a caricature right after. The main character is treated as a key component of the story despite his silence and lack of personality or agency, which always came off as awkward to me. I was not engaged by the overall story and wasn't surprised by any of the twists. Overall it was fine when it wasn't being actively offensive, (which did happen a few times!) but was not nearly good enough to justify the game's length.
I wanted to love this game and in a way I really do! It ultimately feels like two games mashed together, one that I love and one that I tolerate. Together they're less than the sum of their parts. I got through the final buildup to the last dungeon, 90 hours into this monster of a game, and I stood at the entrance to the final area. I looked back on everything that had happened and felt nothing but indifference. I saved and closed the game and haven't returned to it since.