Writing this fresh off of completing the game. This is the video game equivalent of an A24 movie. Now that it's over I can't say I understood all of it but I undeniably enjoyed it. There's a certain 'je ne sais quoi' that makes it rise above a lot of the frustrations I had with it. The ending I got had me catching some feelings, which says a lot.

If you've played Silent Hill games this will feel strangely familiar. This is for better or for worse because it's got similarly annoying combat with level design that reminds me of Silent Hill 3. I'm also reminded of the inventory system from Silent Hill 4; a divisive feature of that game taken to an extreme in this one. Really obnoxious only being able to hold 6 items at a time. I know what the purpose of mechanics like this are in a survival horror game but I rarely (if ever) feel like it enhances the horror experience at all.

There's a lot of reading to do and vocabulary to learn in this game, which you kinda have to buy into if you want to get invested. I tried my best to do so where I normally wouldn't and I got something out of it. The ending is apparently influenced by how you play the game, which I feel good about because I was pleased with my ending. However, I can imagine the worse endings being a lot less satisfying. The game pretends to end once which I almost fell for. Its kinda cool in how it ties to the story, but it feels stupid in the moment because I came close to closing the game and spoiling myself.

Very cool experience, we'll see how I feel about it as my thoughts settle. I hope the real future sees this many cute girl robots. Preferably without the dystopian military state.