My thoughts on this game are a bit of a mess after playing it on and off since I got my PS5 in June, so I'll just list things off as they come to me.
1. Holy shit this game is pretty. I don't know if it's the best-looking game I've ever played or not, but it looks fantastic.
2. The combat isn't super deep, but it's fun. Stance switching and the Ghost tools add just enough to keep it interesting.
3. The story was pretty good, even if it dragged in a few places. Yeah the whole honor vs necessity thing isn't new by any means, but I feel like Sucker Punch did a good job with it.
4. I liked the side quests a lot, especially the mythic tales.
5. The open world felt a little too same-y. Yeah fighting Mongols is fun but I lost interest in the fox shrines after about 20 of them, and that isn't even half of how many there are. Most open world games have this kind of issue, but it felt more pronounced here because of how good the other stuff was.
6. This game's brand of Uncharted climbing and marking climbable points was surprisingly engaging. Most rocks are marked by weathering and erosion instead of something like bright yellow paint, so it never felt too out of place, and since long climbs were mostly limited to the optional shrine ascents, they never overstayed their welcome.
7. The grappling hook is great. More games need grappling hooks.
8. Iki Island is a really good expansion. It keeps the core of the game while changing a lot of the side activities up (archery challenges, animal sanctuaries with a playable flute, puzzle shrines that reward you with armor dyes based off of other Sony properties, etc.) which adds just enough variety to make exploring the island fun.
9. Legends Mode is pretty cool from what I've played. None of my friends seem particularly interested in it and I don't want to play with random people so I probably won't play more of it, though.
10. The lip syncing for the Japanese dub always felt a little off. Apparently there isn't even lip syncing for it in the original release because cutscenes were pre-rendered or something, but even here it's off in a lot of places. Not enough to be a major complaint, but definitely enough to notice.
1. Holy shit this game is pretty. I don't know if it's the best-looking game I've ever played or not, but it looks fantastic.
2. The combat isn't super deep, but it's fun. Stance switching and the Ghost tools add just enough to keep it interesting.
3. The story was pretty good, even if it dragged in a few places. Yeah the whole honor vs necessity thing isn't new by any means, but I feel like Sucker Punch did a good job with it.
4. I liked the side quests a lot, especially the mythic tales.
5. The open world felt a little too same-y. Yeah fighting Mongols is fun but I lost interest in the fox shrines after about 20 of them, and that isn't even half of how many there are. Most open world games have this kind of issue, but it felt more pronounced here because of how good the other stuff was.
6. This game's brand of Uncharted climbing and marking climbable points was surprisingly engaging. Most rocks are marked by weathering and erosion instead of something like bright yellow paint, so it never felt too out of place, and since long climbs were mostly limited to the optional shrine ascents, they never overstayed their welcome.
7. The grappling hook is great. More games need grappling hooks.
8. Iki Island is a really good expansion. It keeps the core of the game while changing a lot of the side activities up (archery challenges, animal sanctuaries with a playable flute, puzzle shrines that reward you with armor dyes based off of other Sony properties, etc.) which adds just enough variety to make exploring the island fun.
9. Legends Mode is pretty cool from what I've played. None of my friends seem particularly interested in it and I don't want to play with random people so I probably won't play more of it, though.
10. The lip syncing for the Japanese dub always felt a little off. Apparently there isn't even lip syncing for it in the original release because cutscenes were pre-rendered or something, but even here it's off in a lot of places. Not enough to be a major complaint, but definitely enough to notice.