A good game with some fun new gameplay mechanics being introduced into the souls-like genre and a more straightforward story than FromSoftware's souls games aided by the Pinocchio theming.

However, that being said I couldn't shake just how much this felt like Bloodborne-lite and probably would prefer playing a Bloodborne 2 instead. Not to mention I felt like I had to rely on over buffing my Vitality especially late game because if you fail that parry you are going to really feel it. While I finally felt like I understood how to parry well in a game and when you manage to get into a groove it becomes really fun, the constant parrying really gets exhausting and can even get angering if you slip up just a little.

Being very new into the Remedy universe with only having played Control, I was hesitant about whether or not I should play at least Alan Wake 1 before this one. Decided to watch Sam Lake recap everything leading up to this game and I think that was good enough for me to jump in.

This was a very fun experience - creepy and spooky vibes, the jump scares, the dual story lines, the truth vs fiction, the meta-ness, the reveals. I loved the connections to Control and the FBC; I feel like Remedy is building a fascinating yet eerie universe that I want to know more about. The story does start eating itself a little bit get confusing as to what is going on (which I understand is part of the point), but it does make the reveal not hit as hard because I'm juggling understanding what is going on first to then understand the reveal, rather than all the pieces just falling into place.

I know it's my fault for wanting to do everything and get the platinum, but missable trophies w/out a chapter select really suck. They have me reading guides to know what to keep an eye out for but unfortunately run into issues slightly spoiling some moments for myself. Also, not being able to fast travel sucks when all I want to do is find the collectables. Literally added hours doing nothing but slowly running through the world.

Was luckily able to pick this back up via PS Plus Extra just to get the platinum, thought only the GOTY edition was available which unfortunately does not sync trophies.

Gameplay is fun, albeit the controls are a bit wonky. Nemesis system is a unique and cool idea that added to the story & world-building.

From what I can recall, I think I enjoyed the story.