Decent indie title that has weirdly got so much unnecessary hate on this site. It’s kinda short and it’s lacking some more complex bosses but i personally don’t mind if games like this are short as long as the content is well constructed and for the most part it is.
I think the opening area is the game at its best tbh, very similar to fire link shrine in DS1 not just in its aesthetics but also in its function. The way every dungeon is immediately accessible no matter its difficulty is something i dig. I started with one of the harder ones and it was really challenging for where i was at progression wise so i came back to the hub area and explored different pathways and then later in the game i returned to that dungeon and absolutely walked through it like it was nothing which was pretty satisfying. That being said the level design in the separate dungeon areas isn’t so satisfying, a lot of them are very linear and i think some areas in the game are pretty poorly paced and go on for too long which is pretty damning considering this game is considered to be quite short. Nevertheless the art direction is pretty cool and the combat can be cool most of the time. Bosses can be enjoyable but they are nowhere near the complexity of anything in the souls games and most of them are pretty easy.
As long as you are able to accept that the game is mechanically really quite unoriginal, i think it was a decent time.

The strengths of this game have been talked to death about so i wanted to be a bit more critical.
Its a terrific experience for sure but after letting it sit with me for a while and after afew replays, some cracks in the experience begin to appear, i think my main issue with the game is the power scaling issues that can become very apparent in the late game and the late game in general. Late game areas are nowhere near as enjoyable and as deep as early game ones, like low-key i kinda think the game peaks at its middle section when you get to leyndell. I think bloodborne and sekiro were more enjoyable for me, the core gameplay is stronger in both of those games and i dont think the general story writing is as interesting as its previously been in this series, the world is super intriguing but i dont think it is as believable or as immersive as say, Yharnam or Lordran.

Finished replaying this for the first time in years and despite it being fairly aged, i ended up appreciating and enjoying it way more than i did the first time i played through it.
There’s just something so impressive about being able to completely build a new universe from the ground up to me, especially one that is this detailed and well thought out. Best way i can describe this games general feel is how It feels to watch “new hope.” nowadays. There’s just such a fantastic feeling of iconography and nostalgia. The simple, colourful character designs and costumes of ur crew are kind of genius.
The actual gameplay isn’t particularly complex or engaging but i do feel as if the game makes up for it with a very gripping feeling of immersion. The mako is annoying and the gunplay will feel especially clunky unless you are playing on the remastered version (which i did.) The dialogue wheel was revolutionary at the time, and nowadays no RPG really has attempted to match the system.
The main draws for this series in general are the universe/world building and the character writing/dialogue and something i wasn’t expecting is how well the writing in this game holds up today, it’s actually full of good humour, especially if you go renegade. But i was more surprised at how relevant many of the political discussions within the game really were. The universe is ridiculously entertaining but importantly as well it is tangible.
Fantastic Game 8/10

I just did not have fun with this at all. I played for about 3 hours, and all the nitpicks just kept adding up. This game just feels like a dollar store version of Dishonored. Just gonna list all the nitpicks that led to me dropping it:

- The writing tries way too hard to be funny, and it just isn't.
- The level design is extremely uninspired, and reusing maps over and over again got old extremely fast
- Stealth just does not feel viable, there are so many cameras and turrets all over the place. It's just better to go guns blazing. I suck at stealth games, and Dishonored was so much fun for me. Stealth could go insanely wrong or totally right and feel rewarding either way. This game actively discourages stealth.
- To encourage stealth, guns can jam. For the reasons listed before, this is just an annoyance rather than smart game design.
- The tutorials are extremely unintuitive and don't make it easy to learn the game. Pop ups are annoying.
- The story has intrigue, but most of it is presented through in game letters and emails. I don't like stopping and reading, but it's worse in a shooter.
- FPS drops so much mid combat
- The AI is garbage. The enemies are designed poorly and they are just spammed at you instead.

I wish I was more interested in this game. I just can't help but make comparisons to Arkane Lyon's better works. The game has an interesting premise but just fails to execute.