I don't hate this game it is a nonsensical contrivance stretched out through its story to tell such a self-indulgent message that was as flat as a plank. The performance is rather well, but not that effective to where I felt a shard of emotions in the final stretch of the game. At best this game made me giggle from its silliness, at worst it's bored me to death. Dw I'm not like Mauler where I nitpick a story to death for 15hrs and pretend I'm not boring cinema sins of gaming. I just didn't feel the overall execution of this game was earned. The brutality of this game is effective though, I felt it. It's disturbing how well it is in its gameplay and narrative for that I say was the most profound element of this game. However, I had fun going on a murdering spree, which never did I feel I should contemplate my actions. Ellie's quest for revenge was justified, never did she take a moment to contemplate her action throughout the game, she had conviction and clarity. That is where the narrative failed for me. The shift was too late, too sudden. It was the game signaling right in your face and it was an insult. I appreciate this game for being what it wants to be, an artistic storytelling piece, even if it doesn't embrace the nuance of video game's potential in storytelling, it's still nice to appreciate what it was trying to do.

This game is fundamentally rudimentary in its gameplay and mission design. This as a result of its long story (overly drawn out) makes this game tedious. It got old after the 20-hour mark of doing the same thing over and over again but only enduring it because the writing kept me invested. This is no masterpiece of a game by any means for the sum of the whole experience. However, I love this The Witcher world, and this game was well put together (not the main story, it had some plot contrivance and overall, a boring quest to find a mcguffin). The side quests were all great, the characters were so well-written, and the world-building was exquisite. The world is beautiful with a memorable and sensational score. If one can look past the surface and level gameplay then one can appreciate this game. Took me a while to find that appreciation but I did, and I was taken by this game.