With Evil Within, Tango Gameworks made a great jumpscare simulator. With Hi-Fi Rush, they made a rhythm game I could enjoy. With this, they made an Ubisoft open world, and I cheered. Shove all these landmarks, all these skill branches, all these side quests up my asshole, whose tightness applies to the world design. AA studios keep winning I swear, ok we'd be fine without the deluxe edition of cosmetics but they said "you shan't be starved of those and emotes" like they're announcing the return of a wrestler live and his name is Tupac-chan. Speaking of, honorifics aren't kept post-translation here unlike the Yakuza series. Figured you deserve to know.

You play as siscon icon Akito, who didn't know the parable of the hare and the tortoise, resulting in checks notes using his body as a vessel for one mf whose name is one letter short from changing the game's rating (bro name is KK huuuuh figure that one out). The story isn't strong or explored in any way, backseating the gameplay by molding new mechanics and situations at a moment's notice. It's coherent enough to not cause eyebrow raise emoji spam. The clap of my buttcheeks keep alerting the Japanese inquisition AMA.

I'll leave that side unexplored. I've explored my fair share already behind the scenes, you know it's the Unlock The Map With New TP Points mechanic shit. You're not Spider-Man, despite what the free update's moniker would have you believe, but aerial control is prevalent. Sometimes you have to climb apartment stairs for what seems like forever to indulge in the activity. First skill I took was aerial takedown in fact, not an ounce of regret it's dumb and fun. What I wish I would have gotten earlier is faster crouch speed. It's a thing that looks very handy at first glance and further glances prove that yup it's very handy.

This doesn't get stale and happens to have a few surprises in it. Now, the combat. I have a few qualms with it, but I didn't feel the critics about its linearity and repetitivity sticking to me when experiencing it. You have to be aware of your surroundings: enemies and unfortunate layout, lest you incur the wrath of a mob beating. I've struggled with sometimes taking hits I thought I was out of the range of, but the overall experience is really cool. If I charge shots, I save ammo and can land more damage if they all hit, but I'm vulnerable and it's possible to have that Duck Hunt ahh aim. When the enemy runs out of HP, I have to bait other enemy attacks and dodge before I can safely take care of its vulnerable state, or crouch where no ghosts can reach me with their big balls before making their ghost friend kiss the sun goodbye. One of my boldest ratings yet and I'm owning up to it.

PS: I have been informed a month after making this review.... of the sudden demise of one of the greatest AA studios I've seen. I hope the talent will be able to find their way to stable jobs where they can express their creativity once more. This shit fucking sucks I'm so tired boss

Reviewed on May 13, 2024


6 Comments


15 days ago

are you pro or anti KK Slider, tread carefully.....

15 days ago

I liked the game too, but 5 stars? Ehh, had a few too many flaws that you ironically touched on to warrant that.

15 days ago

@_YALP umm Skibidi bop mm dada your question explodes and disappears in a sea of flame

@RedBackLoggd believe me, I'm the first one surprised... nothing came to mind while playing that brought the experience down. Those flaws were moreso brought to light after the fact. I've often had completely different ratings with someone that said everything I was thinking about in their review, I'm not really surprised anymore. I also want to precise I've not bumped the rating up because of outside events (Tango's closure), if the question ever arose.

15 days ago

You're good, I'd never question your authenticity haha.

And yeah, there've been a ton of experiences like that where someone realizes the flaws after the fact, but b/c of the magic circle preservation, they don't consider it negative on the game tiself.

7 days ago

The Tupac-Chan line is unbelievably hard lol

Good stuff

7 days ago

@Vaudevillain Thanks! I dont know any other review mentioning Tupac, so mine wins by default clearly. I'll keep up that energy