I hate to give this one a mixed review because I love the setting and many aspects of it are truly impressive. However, the open world design ultimately overshadows its positive features.

Despite attempts to mask its core Ubisoft open-world formula, with the environment guiding you to points of interest, it quickly devolves into the usual routine of repetitive tasks. It becomes monotonous very fast, and exploring the same Inari shrine ten times within a few hours just isn't enjoyable. It also features the typical "liberate this camp" activity, which I find tiresome. There are no surprises, and everything feels predictable after about five hours.The random encounter rate is too high, with only about three variations. Sometimes, these encounters are so close together that I rarely enjoyed exploring. Despite the beautifully to look at open world, you're constantly interrupted by tedious events every five minutes or so, leaving no room for relaxation or immersion.

The art design, however, is stunning. The vibrant color palette combined with a romanticized depiction of Japanese nature is pure eye candy. It's mesmerizing to watch the wind sweep through fields of flowers or see sunlight and moonlight filter through dense forests or when wisps of mists hoover over wide grass fields. There is also a lot of variety, from golden woods and open fields to quaint fishing villages.

The combat is the ultimate samurai power fantasy. There's a cool feature where enemies drop their weapons and flee when you execute certain mythic moves or land perfect parries. The chiburi blood shake after a victorious battle, with three different animations, looks incredibly badass and satisfying. While the overall flow and responsiveness don't quite reach the heights of Sekiro, it does come close in some aspects.

The story and some of its characters are another major letdown. They lack depth and constantly dump lore on you, with a predictable plot leading to formulaic missions. Having watched "Shogun" just days before, the difference in writing quality is especially noticeable. It does have one or two standout character moments, such as the quest chain involving Jin's family housemaid, or when jin abandons his code of honour for the first time. Ultimately though it never goes beyond the themes introduced in the first two hours.

This is a game made for speedrunners, and I mean that negatively. If you're someone who has the time and energy to perfect the movement and learn every little trick there is, I'm sure it's a blast. I'll probably love seeing speedruns of it at GDQ. If, however, you're a more casual player, you're probably going to find it okay at best, and a nightmare at worst.

The controls are far from intuitive. They lack responsiveness. They're slippery when you don't want them to be, stiff when they shouldn't be, and obtuse in a way that keeps the game from ever really being fun. And when you finish a level and see a score pathetically trying to fill up a bar, the game might as well laugh at you for moving so badly according to its arbitrary whims.

Hopefully they patch it up, too, because it's a bugged out mess, and not in a silly or avoidable way. It would eat my inputs, or completely refuse to acknowledge me trying to activate an ability. I fell through the same solid floor twice. In the middle of a platform. Why is there a hole there. When I'm barely enjoying your game as is, these things only exacerbate the problem.

There is something here that could have been really good. The art style is charming and vibrant. The soundtrack is way better than it has any right to be (seriously, go listen to it). When the movement is actually flowing and behaving as it seems it should, it's quite enjoyable. But it isn't enough to salvage the rest.

I was really excited for a new, stylish 3D platformer that wasn't just another Mario entry. Guess I'll have to keep waiting.