left feeling very lukewarm about this. a really great premise that you can tell pulls off exactly what it wants almost flawlessly but gets bogged down by insufferable anime tropes and relies just a little too heavily on its use of unconventional storytelling to be unique to the point that in the end it just feels like a gimmick. maybe im just a hardass but mmmmmmsomething just felt missing for me. i have a lot of thoughts about this game. if i dont shut my mouth now i never will, but at the end i was just kind of sat there thinking "that was so fucking generic what the hell" and the post-credits only reinforced that feeling for me. maybe something is wrong with me. guys.

given that i personally find the general scope of analog horror as a whole to be incredibly corny and more often than not uninteresting, i definitely did not enjoy this as much as the average person, but i can say for sure that its a must-play for anyone who IS into that sort of stuff. super fun, entirely unique, and does literally everything it tries to, and while its far from being ''my thing'' i think it entirely lives up to all the hype and id say comes pretty close to being a perfect game. its hard to actually say anything else about inscryption since it is so unique. i feel its kind of just one of those games you have to play to get, by that what i mean is, just play it. 95% and upwards chance youll enjoy it.

despite my lowish rating i actually really liked this, its just that despite being so brilliant and bizzare and unique, it suffers from the absolute worst fucking gameplay loop of all time, pure grind; this is 30 hours of pure grinding. linda absolutely isnt for everyone, its a non-linear jrpg with a complete mess of a plot that you really have to take as slow as possible to fully enjoy, but those are also the exact same reasons it works. the kind of game you hate with a visceral passion while youre experiencing it but look back on fondly i feel. glad its making its resurgence this year.

i sincerely apologise to everyone over the years who has recommended this to me based on my personal writing preferences but i just could not get into this no matter how much i tried. (side note as of 6th of march 2024 because i think its important; my issues with deus ex are entirely personal, i KNOW for a fact its an incredible game and can tell as such from all of the attempts ive made to get into it, but i realised my main issue is just that i am cognitively impaired in a way that does not allow me to experience it properly. annoying, but, of course theres not much i can do about it, even with the plethora of accessibility options available lmao. its just that my issues are so specific it would require entirely taking out the immersive sim and stealth aspect that makes deus ex what it is. which of course wouldnt be fun, either, and would completely dumb the game down to a super linear hand-holdy experience like any other action-stealth game, i ALSO want to make it clear that deus ex is undeniably a very accessible game, im not trying to bash it for lacking in accessibility whatsoever,
i just have actual fucking brain damage on top of autism and very simply cannot process information and audio especially in the way i need to to be able to progress. this little rant is a lot lengthier than i wanted it to be. sorry. i love you btw. and if anyone has any recommendations as to an easier way to get a meaningful experience out of deus ex without entirely cheesing my way through it, using cheats or whatever, i would much appreciate any advice. since most video games are very, well, video-gamey experiences, its very rare that i struggle with stealth games like this, and id at least LIKE to believe im not any less skilled than the average player, but the mix of instructions being given in real time, mixed with the dark environment and HEAVY focus on being as much of an immersive sim as possible, i just end up getting overwhelmed with everything going on and completely shutting down since i can only put my focus into so many things at one time. sorry if this all just sounds like the rambling of some guy whos sore because he couldnt get past a specific level in a video game and decided to use any possible excuse to try and prove it wasnt his fault, im always worried thats how i come off or even is what im actually doing when i mention my cognitive disabilities in regards to gaming, but this is a game ive been trying to get into for over a decade so i know that cant be the case. it just makes me sad seeing all the praise it gets and knowing id absolutely love it but just am unable to experience it without putting myself under an amount of pressure in the moment that honestly is entirely not worth it just to feel like im a "real gamer" per se, or having to have someone guide me through it. ive tried every difficulty, easy isnt any more manageable for me than realistic or hard, so knowing its not just a skill issue i can maybe fix over time just kind of. feels like shit. rant over, once again, sorry for rambling, i just feel very strongly about this, i know its stupid to get so worked up over a videogame. tldr; undeniably incredible from all i can tell, the problem is me.)