29th Jan - These knighthood missions to gain basic traversal mechanics are a chore. Everything in this game is so slow and the hostage bomb type crime sucks. The stealth doesn't work and isn't implemented in gameplay (you cannot stealth the bigger foes). It's so spongy with combat. The knighthood system disincentivizes to play as anything but the character I main. The open world stuff is so bad that for crime types I do not like, I simply disengage with them and ignore them completely. The fact that I am a superhero matters not since I could not be subjected to more spongy slow combat after spongy slow traversal. If the whole game was on a 2x speed timer, I wouldn't complain.

30th Jan - That Harley battle with the Basher and the other big dude while also stopping 3 bombs from detonating every 10 seconds while solo along with elements of the Freeze fight (the random Lazer patterns) truly make this game horrendous for single player.

31st Jan - I do think it bears mentioning but civilians are just everywhere in this game. Even in the middle of the open world crimes and they are just chilling on a park bench and droning on random pedestrian dialogue while a hulking figure is getting molly whopped.
5th February - Finally got really annoyed at the game and after the first battle it Man-bat which the game asks you to do 3 more times in the open world, I said screw it and set the game on the easiest difficulty just to get rid of this thing. The battles were becoming so spongy on Medium difficulty that it was not even difficult but frustrating due to how slow and stiff the whole game is. Decent story though all things considered. Talia's betrayal is too sudden and the court of owls well and truly do not have anything left to give plot wise after killing Jacob Kane. Finished all case files (main story and side quests).

Completed the main story, bounties and all side quests.

Great story, music and combat. I think from a story perspective, the writing borrows a lot from game of thrones, the Eikons being analogs for dragons, the blight and aetherflood being akin to the white walkers, the map looks right out of the opening theme of said show and the general medieval fantasy setting as well as the stuff between Barnabas and his mom, as well as things like this being a book in universe by Joshua named after the game akin to the GoT finale and many other big and small similarities. But as the SkillUp review mentions, a lot of what makes final fantasy itself, is forgone in a push to make the game more appealing to a mainstream audience like turn based combat, a party system etc. The game does retain themes of the nature of our very being, our purpose, environmentalism etc. but also has blood and curse words but thankfully, it is implemented with a deft touch. The "open zone" world is a bit of a calamity in both traversal and function. It also bears mention that the game is an absolute stone cold stunner in terms of graphical fidelity and makes you actually feel like it is a gaming experience on a new console, one that only this new device is capable of performing.