I really like the character creation, combat and the general loop of go to a place > get a random quest that takes you to another place > get a new random quest. However, I am getting worn out by how difficult it is to tell where you're supposed to be going and it's hard to get info from people because everyone is rude to me?

Also, this has made it clear to me what major improvements they made with Morrowind, so I am thinking I can now go into that game with an appreciation for the cool stuff it added without having as much baggage about it being way more obtuse than Oblivion. Playing Daggerfall, I found myself thinking "Man, I wish this world was a bit visually weirder and I was able to get more info about the world from the NPCs. Wait, what if you could click on a word to learn more about it?!"

This is one of the best games I have ever played. I like this so much more than Nier or Automata, not that they're particularly comparable.

The combat is exactly what I want in an action game: simple, precise, and centered around you needing good situational awareness.

The story is... A lot. I don't think it's for everyone and the sexual themes aren't particularly well handled, but it really goes for it, and the story is very well told. Also, the cinematography in the cutscenes is phenomenal.

I'm very sad that this game was released exclusively for PS3 after the PS4 had already been released, so it never had a chance to find an audience. Thanks Square.

Edit:
I revisited SOPFFO recently and I'm changing my review from 2 stars to 4.5 stars. I think ultimately my main frustration with SOPFFO at launch was that I had played NEO TWEWY shortly before and I think both games skip over important character moments that I really wanted to see, which soured me on the good character moments that do land in SOPFFO. I still don't like the controls as much as Nioh 2, but I had forgotten just how fun a lot of the abilities are.

I do still think some of the classes/abilities are real stinkers and the mechanics of how the narrative is conveyed could be much better (like having a hub area instead of talking to people in menus?), but the game has some pretty neat ideas and I always want to join in whenever I see memes about Jack or Chaos, so obviously the game did land for me.

Original:
The combat is really bad. I was hoping this would be a new Nioh game with a different coat of paint, but that's not the case. I have a very long list of specific changes that make the game worse to play, but I don't want to write it all out here. Using the FFV job system is an interesting idea, but this game has awful execution of it.

The story is poorly written. I don't mean the edgy dialogue, I mean that the plot is very poorly explained, even though it's not at all complex. Also, we barely get any characterization of the friends on the road trip, when I feel like that should have been the main focus?

The first two missions are amazingly design for a handheld shooter. The combat system is designed around the controls of the PSP to make a fluid, fast-paced cover shooter where you are constantly changing your weapons and vantage point to flank enemies with yourself. The boss battles are straightforward and do an excellent job of showing off the strengths of the combat system and how you should think about encounters. The game basically uses Z-targeting from Metroid Prime, which means you don't have to manually aim, but still feel in control and can run and dodge easily while firing.

And then the third mission introduces the sniper rifle, which you have to manually aim. Using PSP controls. And they expect you to quick scope flying insects which are outside of your FOV. It's miserable to control because obviously this is a huge weakness of the PSP's controls.

In addition, this is an RPG where the only option to grind/practice is to replay story missions that you have already completed. No side quests of any kind as far as I could tell.

This game is made by a lot of Square's heavy hitters and it starts out so strong, so I was extremely disappointed when it then quickly becomes just... very bad.

1) I genuinely like the gameplay. It feels like a handheld version of Dragonball XenoVerse and the clothing destruction is actually a cool idea for showing the health of enemies, especially when you're fighting large groups.
2) Representation of women in video games (especially action games) is so fucked, that this game ends up being less sexist/misogynist than a lot of other games. All of the characters are women that all have agency and the story is about their interpersonal interactions, both sexually and platonically. At least some of the characters are explicitly lesbians. I'm not saying this is the pinnacle of female character writing, it's more a condemnation of the medium that this game makes me a lot less grossed out by it's treatment of women than a lot of the games I have played in the past few years.