I have a huge, huge admiration for Mason Lindroth and his art. His surrealistic style through various mediums continues to inspire me as an artist to experiment and get weird, something Hylics 2 understands perfectly. After a year-long gap between sessions, I ultimately moved on to other things at the time, however, yesterday something drove me back into this world. It was late, I was tired, burnt out and needed something to haze up my mind. This is where I landed. For me, this game exudes vibes, unlike any other game I've played. Whether it be the unique and mind-bending visual style mixing gorgeous claymation with 3d animated worlds, or the music(fucking amazing OST btw), occupying the same hazy and warm sentiments. The dialogue with each NPC is intertwined perfectly throughout their unique design, making the "story" make sense in the most nonsensical ways. Not to mention the bosses are some of the coolest designed enemies I've ever faced, I couldn't take the smile off my face for each one. All of these aspects come together to form a game that acts as a weird safe space for me, a world where I can wander and absorb all the uniqueness to be found. I'm really grateful for that.

However, I don't know if I'd call it perfect. Aside from the amazing boss/enemy designs, I think the combat is a bit too weighty. Towards the final third, I was outright avoiding it due to the intensity and difficulty of each encounter, it's a bit much tbh. It's also relatively easy to get lost and stumped on what to do next, leading to a good amount of backtracking. The movement is also a bit janky and tested my patience at times, especially with some of the precise jumps. Either way, this game is exactly my shit. From the moment I saw it on Steam I knew it would reflect my love for games as a mode for creativity, and of course, it succeeded.