first-person platforming will always be controversial - but this is such a gratifying exploration of the concept. the movement feels exciting, rapid, and dangerous, especially as the game progresses into wider and taller spaces. by the end, there's all these tools and tricks at your disposal that make you feel like a badass, zipping back and forth through the sky. it's not easy, and the puzzles could be a little more attuned to the strengths of the movement. for me, that didn't diminish the massive adrenaline rush from its peak moments.

Beautiful-looking movement that somehow felt obtuse for how simple its mechanics are.

Points of interest are pretty far apart, so you're expected to glide along the landscape picking up speed boosts. There's no challenge to it, yet it's easy to hit a dead zone and find yourself waiting a few seconds until you can hit the next boost. In that little pocket of time, you feel like a dipshit walking on the side of the road because your car ran out of gas. It sounds like a nitpick, but this is the majority of the gameplay.

It's otherwise a pretty simple Journey-like exploration experience that doesn't ask too much of you, but I didn't find the story or aesthetics compelling.

Incredible storytelling and characterization, gorgeous environments, but...

The gameplay is lifeless. The movement and combat feels both too simple and underbaked. The sound design is rough, with lots of dialogue overlapping or cutting early. The cues often aren't lined up and the music often felt inappropriate to the moment. Everywhere I went, I was stubbing my toe on tiny pieces of jank.

If you just want the story and characters, that's here and the gameplay won't stop you from enjoying that. But personally, I need the gameplay to connect with the world.

The whole experience is a warm hug. It's perfect.

I ignored it for a while because it looked, frankly, a little boring (albeit charming), but it's actually great fun. There's just enough to learn about it that your brain is engaged and curious, and the movement feels excellent. There's some issues with the camera but I've come to recognize that I'm okay suffering the occasional quirk if it means I don't have to deal with camera management. Plus, that extra simplicity makes it easy to recommend to anyone, even folks with limited experience in 3D games.

i'm out of bullets so i can't silence the camera quickly enough before it alerts security. the doors lock me in with a Screw, who i'm trying to kite around the room as a turret spits rockets at me. i'm nearly out of oxygen so i open up the map in between dodging rockets to find a clean route to the atmo room. i bumble into more turrets and use my last 2 zapper shots to disable them, but now the Secbot has caught up with me so i have to keep sprinting as i refill my air.

when this game gets going, there's so many panicked improvisations and fast decisions to be made. it's run-n-gun while lost in a maze. it pushes you hard enough that you aren't always sure you can pull it off, but somehow you make it through with a sliver of health and a few seconds to spare, and it feels fucking incredible.

the comic book art direction is brilliant and permeates the whole game; this is what borderlands wishes it could be. the megacorp satire shtick is perhaps overdone, but it's still done well and i chuckled at the enemy voice responses from time to time. the visual design is clear and well-organized, which is crucial for a game that wants to push you. there's many strategies to take and styles of play, but it's not some deus ex choose-your-hallway bullshit.