The movement mechanics are the best thing about this game. It honestly might be the only part that’s genuinely well designed. The levels barely feel play tested, the collectathon progression is too strict, the art is inconsistent, the writing is A Hat in Time put through Google Translate three different times, and the checkpoint mechanic is really clever but undercut by a one-hit system which doesn’t compliment the level design at all. I don’t know how to describe any of this game except that it feels like a licensed game made by an indie team. I wish there was a version of this game with actual polish.

Can a game hit the uncanny valley?

No, seriously, I feel like this game isn't "real." The graphics are pretty and engaging yet it never moves past "Twitter proof of concept that gets 90k likes" for me in any way that really feels like it has its own identity. This game in general lacks an identity. It feels like a hodgepodge of eight different cyberpunk games/shows including Katana Zero, Cyberpunk 2077, and Blade Runner in a way that makes me feel like this game isn't ever really being genuine? The story feels formless and any interesting identity it has is dropped quickly, the cyberpunk stuff isn't unique at all and there's not really any designs I can think of being memorable aside from the robot stripper of all things, the gameplay is a mush of games like Katana Zero and Dust: An Elysian Tail without literally anything to make itself distinct, and not helping at all is how strange the English dub sounds. It's a dub that borders good and the actors are trying but nothing really comes across well. The direction of the game also feels really strange an amateur, it's like a web video series like RWBY but boosted with really pretty graphics.

Is it a good game? Is it a bad game? I have no idea. I have no idea what to possibly think of this game. It's too generic to have its own identity yet not generic enough to pass off as disposable. There's a lot of talent in this game but there isn't any ambition in the game to truly be unique and embrace an identity that isn't what every other cyberpunk story is doing. If the studio decides to make another game, I hope they really have an idea they stick to that's their own rather than trend-chasing.

tl;dr The game has soul but the soul is a patchwork of other properties that decays the further into the game you play.

There's also a Vergil-like and I swear his sudden appearance is the funniest thing in the game.

The nicest thing I can say about this game is that it's very singular. The graphics and music congeal together to make a really unique tone and surreal atmosphere, Juste feels really fun to play, and the magic system is neat.

Everything else is awful to baffling. To start, the level design feels like a kid with Mario Maker was asked to build the castle and do whatever he wants. There's nothing punishing per se (aside from damage numbers feeling wildly inconsistent in terms of difficulty curve) but there is a looooot of square rooms full of the same enemy over and over, rooms that are platforms scattered haphazardly, and the rare puzzle being a painfully simple box puzzle or a King's Quest-esque obtuse riddle to solve progression. Not helping whatsoever is the Two Castle gimmick where the layout of the castle is matched by a "new and unique" castle. In practice, this should be a way different castle than the one I recognize that feels distinct in its own right. In actuality, it mirrors the first castle so I cannot distinguish between the two castles whatsoever aside from minor background changes. Both castles are equally nonsensical in layout and lack cohesion between areas. In a better Castlevania, I could at least see how areas connect like a main hall connecting to a dance hall or chapel with the underground being filled with caverns and aqueducts. In Harmony of Dissonance, the Mario Maker comparison comes up again because it feels like somebody made levels with completely random themes without a single care of how anything is supposed to connect with anything else. I suppose it fits the name but it makes exploration near incomprehensible which adds onto another problem: Progression in this game is terrible.

In a sane -vania, you would use your tools to slowly gain access to more and more new areas and tools to explore even more areas. It's a system that allows for an intended progression system but leaves wiggle room for the player to do what they want as long as the game keeps the player knowledgeable about progression. In Harmony, progression is arbitrary. You mindlessly wander the same looking areas looking for any sign of forward momentum in not one but two different castles. The already large map from one castle is doubled into two which forces the player to comb through two different samey levels, however much area you can access can be way higher in one castle for some reason as well, and have really silly ways to move forward. One example is how you access the Crushing Stone. It's only available in one castle's Clock Tower and when you see it you have no way of getting to it. So you have to go to an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT AREA, fight that area's boss, move forward to get back to a HIDDEN AREA OF THE CLOCK TOWER, and activate the mechanism to go ALL THE WAY BACK to the Clock Tower to get your progression item. The most egregious example I think is one of the five Dracula items needed to get the true ending being HIDDEN BEHIND A WALL YOU CAN JUMP INTO FOR NO REASON. No other wall in the game acts like this. There is no indication this wall is anything special. There isn't even a hint as to how you get it. You just have to guess. This isn't even getting into the many, many, MANY locked doors in this game. The keys for these doors are all lategame locked behind random bosses so you spend the entire game running into locked doors with zero idea of where they go or what they do or what they're for. For me, it's a sign that the level designers weren't confident about making a cohesive map so they slapped locked doors everywhere rather than make a naturally flowing map. I'm thankful I played on Advance Collection since that gives indicators of what items are in what area which genuinely shaved hours off my total playtime because this game is so terrible about telling or even hinting at where things are.

Speaking of the bosses, they all are not good. Some aren't bad per se, but all of them are at least lackluster. They all have two to three different attacks they can use so they're immensely predictable, they all follow same philosophy of "I'll stay still for two seconds before I throw out another attack with little to no telegraph," and they all are freaking boring. Because the magic system is so strong and Juste has access to so much sub-weapon ammo and mana recovery items, there isn't a boss that should give you trouble unless you genuinely stop paying attention or the game decides to give Random Boss #17 100 damage per hit. Even if Juste is fun to control, what's the point if every boss and most enemies in the game are lame?

I did compliment the graphics and music, but OW this game can be really hard to look at and listen to. The bright colors and warping effects combined with the fact Juste constantly looks like he's in a different art style than anything around him was enough to give me headaches when I first played. The music doesn't help either with its very VERY high pitched sounds that left my ears ringing multiple times. I'd love to hear these compositions in a tonal range that doesn't make my ears bleed, but I wouldn't be surprised if Konami doesn't want to revisit this one unless they decide to make a Simon/Juste saga in the Castlevania animated series.

I did compliment how Juste controls and I think he's really fun, but the fact jumping kills all air momentum whatsoever dampens a lot of the fun I'd be having with this character unfortunately. Every time I jump after a dash it's like I FEEL the invisible hand dragging me back like this is Crash Bandicoot. I could understand this decision if there was tight platforming I need to be precise for, but the only platforming challenge in this game is the race where I'd WANT to keep my momentum in the air.

I can see the makings of a great game here with its weird atmosphere and tight controls, but this game drops the ball so hard it makes a crater. I can't even be passionate about this game in any way because it's such a genuinely exhausting experience. I might come back to finish the furniture because Interior Designer Juste is genuinely the most charming thing about this game. As is, I never want to play this game ever again.

What happened here?

There's a lot to love about this game: Awesome boss fights, improvements to the mechanics, and spectacle befitting the finale of a trilogy. However, this comes with a lot of problems I can only describe as baffling.

This game has no difficulty curve. Honestly it's more of a difficulty fork: Weirdly difficult at the start, freaking EASY for most of it aside from one or two really hard fights, and then the penultimate boss is the hardest thing in the series. I genuinely have no idea what to think of this game's difficulty other than it desperately needs a complete overhaul of what goes where in terms of difficulty. It really started getting to me by the end of the 3rd or 4th area that nothing was freaking happening in terms of gameplay that being shocked from my general feelings of "this is ok but too easy" by the difficulty spikes legitimately left me exhausted.
This goes hand in hand with the story being genuinely nothing. Leibniz's character arc is fantastic and I love that character, and it's nice that at least that part of the game was handled well. However, the plot around it is the most empty void of nothing possible. Oh no my father in law's hunting me down for the law and my wife's missing! But he's also helping me? And my wife wants to be missing?? But she's captured too??? I could genuinely summarize 80% of the game as "nothing is happening." Blaster Master Zero 1 also has this trait but it works there because of the initial low stakes of the plot followed by the gradual upward curve in tension. Blaster Master Zero 2 works because of the development of each of the stories of each pilot and co-pilot as you're working toward a better goal. 3's plot takes the worst parts of both plots to where I genuinely didn't care by the end even as there were big emotional climaxes.
The two in tandem make for a game that feels like trying to microwave a whole leftover steak: The experience isn't as fresh and no matter what I try to do the steak will not be the temperature I want all the way through.

On the whole, it's still Blaster Master Zero and these games are solid. Art's still beautiful, music still bops, game's still fun. Overall I enjoyed myself for a lot of the game. However, I couldn't shake the feeling that this game is completely directionless and loses some of the magic from the previous games without having anything unique to call its own. This game takes one step forward and two steps back.

I really hope this isn't the last note the series goes out on. This series deserves something better to close out on, and from the almost comically heavy-handed hints of doing something more in the future I certainly hope so.

(If I could rate this a 6.5 I would)

I'll say bluntly that this will not be an unbiased review. If this were unbiased, I'd be rating this game more around a 7 or so, but screw it.

I've read every single Sonic comic book. I've consumed most Sonic medias. I can say without a doubt this game is some of the strongest Sonic's ever been written with. From the amazing character interactions, the really cool world building, and cranking the shonen inspirations Sonic's always had into full force had me the most joyous I've been at the series in so long. There is no bad line, no bad scene, nothing at all where I am dissatisfied with the story besides clamoring for more. This is also raw, unfiltered fanservice to continuity buffs like me. Referencing Shadow the Hedgehog and Riders casually, directly addressing the issues with Tails' characterization since Unleashed, and directly canonizing characters like Tangle and Sticks who are outside continuity characters made me lose my MIND.

Helps the game's really fun too. Combat's about as ideal as I'd like a Sonic game to be: High speed, but not too complex. There's obviously broken moves like the Sonic Boom and its upgrade but these moves are fun precisely because it isn't balanced. You're Sonic the Hedgehog, the only thing stopping you are the Titans. The Titan fights are so amazing I can't even begin to start gushing about them. This is what I've been clamoring for with Sonic boss fights for ages because even the best ones in the series are just fine. These though? Awesome.
Movement is really weird to get used to at first but the ability to freely customize your controls and how they handle does a lot (except the unfortunate systems cursed to have the game crash when attempting to use the options menu). There are some weird quirks though like homing attack being only able to be on visible things which makes trying to hit some stuff awkward, Boost around Lv. 20 Speed flinging you into the air if you so much as brush against a rock which makes Cylooping a walking only ordeal, Boost no longer being invincible which makes my muscle memory scream, and most bizarrely the sheer lack of air control outside of the air boost which gets not very precise at higher levels.

The problems in this game are all really weird little quirks. The previously mentioned control quirks, the fact the game slowly becomes more 2D dominant the more you go in with the game trapping you in fixed 2D camera angle spaces if you so much as land on the wrong place, the pinball minigame being too long and feeling too heavy, the level design in Cyberspace sometimes being at odds with the control scheme, the entire 4th island basically being false advertising, and more minor inconveniences that either had me tilting my head or chuckling at how they decided that was a good idea to keep in the game. Depending on the person, they're either negligible or can really pile up so your mileage may vary. My annoyances were mostly paved with being a ginormous fan of the writing and presentation, but I am only one guy.

I'm really eager to see if they decide to keep perfecting this formula and I eagerly hope they make a Frontiers 2 to iron out all the kinks found in this game. More specifically, I am so excited to see Ian Flynn take the reigns for story and see what he does with this series in the games themselves. You could make the perfect Sonic game if you improve on the formulas lain out here with level design catered for the controls and cutting all the weird stuff out of the game. If they don't learn from this game at all, I'm going to drown everyone who worked on this game in my tears.