this is a solid twin-stick shooter with a unique cover/height mechanic. it has stats, but is not an rpg. it has loot, but is not an arpg/loot-based game. it has dialogue options, but it's not a narrative-driven game. it doesn't really excel at much outside of how beautifully rendered the world is.

what's there is fine. the upgrade/special move unlocks are paced terribly. the movement speed is a little slow, given all the backtracking you end up doing, even with its train station fast travel. the writing ranges from god awful to mediocre.

i don't regret this purchase, but i look at how packed september is with games that i know i'll be getting with 100% certainty, and i start to think maybe i need to be a bit more selective with my money.

some spoilers below, which im not tagging because i don't care about them and neither should you, but if having the game spoiled will turn you away from playing it, then i have done you a favor, and you're very welcome.

here's the positive stuff: willem dafoe does a pretty good job here, and the other actors are overall decent. their talents are utterly wasted here, and there are many line reads that land awkwardly, but overall it's fine. that's the absolute best thing i have to say about this mess.

playing this game is a slog. there are a lot of frustrating moments where you know what you need to do, you've uncovered the information, but it turns out you needed to click on an item three more times for your character to piece it together properly (literally), and then go use the info elsewhere.

i could forgive some of that frustration if the story was interesting, but aside from going "ah, that's fucked up" when you figure out the main twist, the rest of it falls flat, and it only goes downhill afterwards. and no, i wouldn't call it ambitious. it's cliche-ridden, masturbatory, and derivative.

none of it is given any sense of metaphorical gravity, and the story told is pretty heinous, not because the unnecessary trauma porn simply exists, but because the trauma porn serves no purpose that justifies its presence, nor is the quality of writing enough to redeem the experience in general.

drugging your pregnant sister/wife repeatedly is a critical path requirement. watching her get killed while you hide in a closet is a critical path requirement. torturing a man is a critical path requirement. gruesomely murdering your pregnant sister/wife with a kitchen knife is optional, but available if you feel like doing that for no reason (and you might be likely to try it if you don't yield to a walkthrough and go into "use everything on everything else" mode).

all of this could be used effectively by a more skilled writer. i'm not the kind of person to say story beats are inherently off-limits in art. but if you're gonna come packing, you better be able to justify going there. this clearly isn't a shock value trolling game, they're trying to make film major/psych minor bullshit, but you don't get a pass just because you threw a Kubrick reference on the carpet. you know why we still watch Kubrick films even knowing he was a huge piece of shit? because they're good movies. you gotta earn it. oh, the fucking paintings change over time? ooooh, does that get used anywhere? no? fuck off.

the gameplay and design are bad, the story and writing are bad, this is just a failure on all fronts.

i bought it on steam, but i know its also on gamepass, if you have that. that said, i'd skip this mess entirely, even if you can play it for free. if you want compelling and profound art from a small team in which you know a man is coming to kill you, go play adios instead. if you want a time loop game where the time loop is a worthwhile mechanic, go play outer wilds or majora's mask instead. all three of those games are masterpieces, especially compared to this garbage.

with the recent surge in popularity, i thought i'd actually write something instead of just having the star rating.

this is, by far, the best mmo I've ever played. people love the story, but i have skipped almost every cutscene and still feel this way, so if you're worried about that being a big barrier for you, don't be, you can still have fun.

the fashion is the endgame, the community is incredible, it runs great and looks great compared to other mmos, especially of its generation, and the combat/jobs are fantastic. every job has unique mechanics, despite there being so many to choose from, and you can level every job to the cap on just one character - no need for alts, and you can knock off a couple bucks from your subscription if you commit to having just one character (per world, i think, which is a no-brainer).

is now a good time to jump in? absolutely, even with the server issues they've had from the giant sudden increase in players. it may seem complicated at first, and there are definitely some things to learn, but power through the tooltip fatigue and get your HUD looking how you want, and you're golden. there are tons of beginner guides out there and anyone in-game will be happy to help you out if you ask nicely.

i like to take breaks from the msq to help sprouts with movement speed buffs, giving rides, and being available for questions. it's a great place to exist in, and we all want to share that with you. i hope you give it a try!

what a generous demo, and they keep adding to it and updating it! i'm here for the music first, the visuals second, and the attitude third. fortunately, the gameplay is both fun and accessible. i've played through songs with lots of safeguards, and songs with no assistance, and the game doesn't really lose the fun when it loses the challenge (for me). there's some demo-style jank, but it promises a really cool final product based on what's here.

i backed this on kickstarter, i'm in the discord server, and i'm really excited to play the full game when it's out. this review is for a free demo, why not give it a shot?

(edit: i'm replaying it now, and i'm having the time of my life. this review will be completely redone when i've finished it)

i've picked this up and put this down so many times, and it's certainly the best one since Symphonia, but there's just something about it that isn't working for me, and i can't find words for it. i guess it feels tedious in a way that symphonia never did for me, even though i'd be willing to bet that symphonia is much more tedious in hindsight. i've never properly understood the newer battle mechanics, like your energy diamonds and all that stuff, it all seems a little obtuse for the sake of it. same with the crafting.

i know i just said all that, but i don't dislike it, i just feel like i'm bumping up against roadblocks that are all my fault. it's sort of a dated type of game i guess, i'm really curious what Arise will be like exactly.

i'm gearing up to revisit this on PC after almost finishing it on PS4. the DLC tease inspired me to grab it another time on sale, and enough time has passed that rediscovering everything will feel fresh to me.

this game is a masterpiece, through and through, and it's a one-of-a-kind experience that no other game even comes close to. you almost can't describe it to people, because anything they imagine will make sense based on what you tell them, but it won't convey what the game actually is, and what makes it so special. i can't wait to dive back in, and i hope the DLC release gets a bunch more people on board.