I started with 0 so maybe I was spoiled in that regard but this game was just “Ok” compared to that in my opinion. The story was well executed here but they didn’t let dramatic moments and death scenes linger long enough and show their effect on kiryu until the very end. I feel like more time should’ve been given to show him trying to cope because he literally lost the most important people in his life during the end half of this game. Another thing that feels jank and rough around the edges was the combat. The new feature where bosses can recover in combat doesn’t seem balanced at all and I had a strange issue where enemies I would attack from behind would rotate around mid combo and start blocking in the middle of it and the closest thing the player can do in that regard is countering in brawler style. My last gameplay complaint is that fighting any sort of armed enemy is or enemies in groups is abysmal because no matter how much I equipped dragon shirt and upgraded my defenses any small poke from a knife turns kiryus knees into jelly. Honestly the plot was really solid and well executed aside from the very telegraphed predictable death scenes. When I saw the grenade laying next to shimano I just sighed because I knew what was going to happen. Or when characters magically teleport in front of bullets after the triggers are pulled. I still think the story’s themes of found family are very beautiful and the final shot of Haruka and Uncle Kaz walking off put a tear in my eye. Solid game but it could’ve easily been so much better