A very uneven game trying to be too many things, but occasionally succeeding at some of those to create a mostly enjoyable experience.
The story is absolutely nothing. The most predictable story you can imagine where you will know how it all ends within the first hour. Characters are as wooden as can be. There's nothing of value here.
As far as filler open worlds designed to inflate play time goes this is certainly one of them. Uninspired, bland quest design. Collecting new outfits for Eve and the party is the only enjoyable aspect, but that's integrated into the linear sections too.
On the positive side are combat, music, and art direction. For a studios first major AAA offering the smoothness of the combat system impresses. It's responsive and impactful in all the ways you can ask for. Some issues with enemy design not scaling with the sheer amount of abilities you get leads to a lot of normal encounters feel meaningless and promotes ability spam.
The last 1/3rd of this game completely saves the experience. All those issues pile up until this point and then the game takes a turn. Boss design dramatically improves both mechanically and visually. Challenge is increased substantially. Environment design is striking. Cinematic direction is immaculate. It adds up to one of the more enjoyable finale experiences I've had.
The story is absolutely nothing. The most predictable story you can imagine where you will know how it all ends within the first hour. Characters are as wooden as can be. There's nothing of value here.
As far as filler open worlds designed to inflate play time goes this is certainly one of them. Uninspired, bland quest design. Collecting new outfits for Eve and the party is the only enjoyable aspect, but that's integrated into the linear sections too.
On the positive side are combat, music, and art direction. For a studios first major AAA offering the smoothness of the combat system impresses. It's responsive and impactful in all the ways you can ask for. Some issues with enemy design not scaling with the sheer amount of abilities you get leads to a lot of normal encounters feel meaningless and promotes ability spam.
The last 1/3rd of this game completely saves the experience. All those issues pile up until this point and then the game takes a turn. Boss design dramatically improves both mechanically and visually. Challenge is increased substantially. Environment design is striking. Cinematic direction is immaculate. It adds up to one of the more enjoyable finale experiences I've had.