I’m very conflicted on this game. I absolutely loved parts of it, and rolled my eyes at others. Alphen is a fantastic main character, except when he gets all gaga over Shionne. She’s been a pain in the ass all game and he’s just being a boy puppy. Rinwell is incredibly racist, except then, she’s not. And then she is. And then not. I get conflicted feelings, but yeeeeeesh. Kisara is disgustingly likable. I loved her, more Kisara.

The story was super engaging, and then it went on. And on. And on. You think it’s over and SURPRISE it’s got another 10 hours. I however did like the themes of it, even if it got a little flowery at the end. And the skits were a major downgrade. I didn’t mind the presentation, but the content was mostly “hey, remember that thing we just saw in a cutscene? Let’s recap it or talk about it a little more.” I like my skits funny and irreverent.

The gameplay was pretty fun. I actually didn’t find it too engaging until I switched to Shionne, but then had a blast. You do earn a lot of cool abilities, but you see everything the game has to offer after 15 hours. The last 10-20 hours are the same enemies just with green skin instead of brown skin or purple spikes instead of red spikes, using the same abilities you’ve been using for 10 hours.

One unequivocally positive aspect of the game are the visuals. My goodness, is this a beautiful game. Downright striking.

Overall, it’s a gorgeous game that overstays its welcome. If it had been 8 hours shorter I would’ve been a very happy camper.