I understand this might be an unpopular opinion, but I wasn't particularly impressed with this game. Some fans love to complain about newer games in the series while praising the older games like they're the second coming of Christ or something. So when I finally played this game I was honestly pretty disappointed.

Genealogy of the Holy War presents itself as a political drama, but I found its characters to be rather flat. While some initially intrigued me, that interest quickly waned, especially after a significant plot twist. Most characters failed to leave a lasting impression on me and I struggle to recall many of them as they simply weren't memorable.

I can appreciate the game's attempt to explore dark themes like the child hunts, but I felt the execution fell short, often resorting to shock value without deeper exploration or nuance. The presence of cartoonishly evil characters also didn't help in making these themes feel more impactful.

I wasn't fond of the numerous bad tropes used in this game, but it's an old school jrpg so it's whatever. However, even if the narrative and themes didn't resonate with me, I could forgive that if the gameplay was at least enjoyable. God, the maps were atrocious. I know they're like that for the purpose of its story and objectives but they're NOT fun.