A once-in-a-generation game.

Transcends its influences to truly ingrain itself into you long after completion.

Mechanics, gameplay, music, and characterisation all work in harmony with each other to create a haunting experience.

Masterful. My only regret is that I put off playing it for so long.

A masterpiece.

Stephen Merchent and J.K Simmons are rare examples of Hollywood casting being appropriate for games. They both kill it here.

One of the few games that I urge non-gamers to play.

Very bland when compared to the insanity that was XCom 2: War of The Chosen.

Could've done with a bit more style - voice acting, music, menus, etc. - as the underlying systems are not bad. There's nothing that gets the blood pumping like this:

https://youtu.be/YTkkysQPGhM

Will probably give this another shot when it's fully patched and DLCs are cheap.

An entertaining curio. Interesting to see a US-style Gears of War clone done by the Yakuza Devs, i.e. a very Japanese studio. The character interactions and story beats are the best part.

I packed this in during a particularly frustrating boss fight complete with infinitely respawning enemies, wonky hitboxes, and a 'use this item' gimmick.

Worth getting for the £2 (or something equally absurd) or so it goes for these days.

Absolutely incredible for the time. You can see the game engine buckling under the strain of the sheer amount of systems present.

The concept and ambition are both fantastic, and the translators really did a bang-on job. Sadly, the game itself is too fiddly and strict to be truly enjoyable; the time limit, combined with the controls, puts undue strain on the player. Even if you play with a guide you will struggle, and it's easy to save yourself into a corner.

I'll give this another shot if someone makes a patch to 'pause' the timer as, other than this design choice, I really liked what I saw.