genuinely one of the best souls-likes, even when compared to From's catalogue. Lies of P's core gameplay and themes are a razor-sharp refinement of everything that's come before, while also maintaining so much of its own identity that it truly stands on its own.

Only two things stand out as negatives to me. the exploration could leave some feeling unsatisfied, but the combat was so engrossing that I honestly prefer the game's sharp focus on it. secondly, one specific fight stands out as a weak point. if you've played the game, I'm referring to a certain rematch - a fight that suffers from the issues typical of these bosses. Neither of these issues were enough to hurt my enjoyment of the game, though; and even pinnacles of the genre suffer from worse problems.

the weapons, the areas, the enemies, and the bosses are all linked through the intricate gameplay systems - all of which build to create a combat system more interactive and more engaging than any souls-like I can think of, with the possible exception of Sekiro. I loved this game so much, and I really really can't wait to play more.

I will update probably once I get all the endings, but AC6 manages to be a fun mech game for about 20 hours with enough good characters to help carry some of the more lackluster missions. However, I still feel as if this game never reaches its full potential - and I don't see that changing even after I get another ending or two. I'd like to spend some more time with the game before I really pass any valid judgement, but these are my thoughts after about 30 hours.

The story is actually really well done for a mech game - voice acting is great, plot is interesting, and the decisions are good enough. My gripes come mostly from gameplay. I don't feel there's enough variety. Yes, there are many weapons and parts you can use to customize your AC, but none of them can really change your play style.

The overwhelming amount of items in the AC build screen fools you into thinking there are more than three parameters that you can truly tweak - how quickly you move, how quickly you shoot, and what weapon type you use? All the balance of generator, thrusters, computer, weight, et cetera all fall to the side because they're really just slight stat buffs. I won't say that build variety is terrible, there are some decent options you can explore with core expansions and melee combat - but this isn't a game where you find your own play style.

Unfortunately, this lack of variety is felt on the enemy and mission side as well. Common grunts are hardly any sort of threat from the very beginning of the game. The game will occasionally introduce one tankier enemy at a time, or a few guys simultaneously with health bars that can tank more than two hits; but the game never really tests you outside of AC fights and bosses. One exception I can think of are the rolling enemies near the end of the game - those guys are interesting because they require more than just shooting.

I think enemies would have greatly benefitted from breakable parts or type immunities. Perhaps some enemies are completely immune to kinetic damage, and they have to be hit a certain way or in a certain place to expose them. Maybe damaging certain parts of a mech can help disable those parts - giving the game opportunities to flesh out the barebones stealth mechanics. The game already has enemies with shields, but they're so easy to flank regardless of your build that they, as long as most other enemies, were absolutely no threat. Some more visual variety would help things to stand out as well. As it stands, the game apparently has type weaknesses, but I never even noticed - no matter what weapon type I was using it all felt about the same. Also, since the game really wants you to use weapon types to your advantage - why is there no bestiary?

Mission variety and structure is also somewhat lacking. About 2/3rds of the missions are some variety of go to the place and shoot some random guys - or go to the place and scan the thing. A lot of them, even halfway through the game, can be completed within five minutes. There are larger set piece levels, as well as longer, more structured missions; and every time I would get to one of these, I would question why the rest of the game wasn't like this. Obviously, variety is key - and I don't mind some shorter, more combat heavy sections - but as it stands the game's pacing feels disjointed as I get yoinked out of missions before I even really got my foot in the door.

More of these longer, larger missions would benefit the game in a few ways. For one, with better enemy variety, some better horizontal AC customization, and improved stealth mechanics - you would have much more freedom and diversity in how you approach the game. I'm not advocating for a sandbox game, rather I'd prefer they flesh out the mechanics they already partially introduce. Secondly, the game already has the option to change your build when you die - which is a welcome addition when you're up against a boss that is borderline incompatible with your strategy for the rest of the level. I wish that this wasn't a mechanic you had to die to use; instead, have it implemented in places throughout the level in the same way resupplies are. This would allow you to use one AC for clearing different parts of the level, without feeling punished once you get to the boss fight.

Idk, these are just my loose thoughts so far. I really enjoyed most of my time with this game, and I obviously can't remove myself from the context of From's other games entirely. However, I still can't shake the feeling that this is a blueprint for a much better, much tighter game in the future. I look forward to playing that game.