Initial impression. Holy fuck this game looks good. It's cinematic in all senses of the word. I'm playing this on Vik's PS5 and I have to say, I love this controller plus the ray tracing looks. I've only played for a single session and I think I'm like 19% complete, which is great because that means it's a short game. And it's not like I've got this console ad infinitum so I can move on to something else soon too.

To explain the beauty of this game let me tell you something that happened. Right after Uriko's final words, which is a fucking amazing tale on its own, you're left with an utterly breathtaking view. So i stood there for a while, just looking out, taking in the journey that I've been through. The tales I've lived throughout the land before me. Then a flute song started playing in the background, so I took out my flute to play on top of it. A few seconds after the flute, as I stared at the horizon, I heard a rustling sound of leaves. I looked behind and there were a bunch of pink-colored petals swirling coming towards Jin. They wrapped around him circling as if they were hugging him. Then as soon as it started the embrace stopped and the leaves vanished. This was the first and last time I saw this. It was beautiful.

The game is amazing. It took me until around the mid-section of Act II for me to invest myself in the story. Till then I was just a third party. I was looking at a story. This isn't to say that it was bad, I just wasn't invested. I was here for the gameplay more than the story. Then all of the pieces that build up bit by bit came together and a lot of chemistry started happening right at the end of Act II. This is when I became invested. I started loving the story by this point. So much so that the final sequence made me shed a tear. That's how emotionally empowering it was.

I still can't believe I finished Iki even before I finished the main story haha. I mean I knew it would be long, hence why I tried to level up as much as possible before I gave my hand at it. I was strong but I didn't expect it to keep me stuck there until I beat the eagle queen. Ngl, I'm not complaining. It was immersive and to hell with coming back. I stayed there for a few whole days. Even after I beat her and I could just come back anytime I stayed for like two days to do stuff around the island and liberate it as much as possible.

See this is what I love about the game. The combat perfectly synergises with the tales. The tales don't get in the way of it and the combat is always satisfying. I'm someone who doesn't like stories too much in games, I want to experience it but I want to play it more. This is why the 15-minute-long cutscenes of death stranding felt so out of place. Let me do shit, don't keep me holed up here watching shit happen. That's what I'm here for now. Having the characters talk while travelling on horseback not only made it not boring but also made it immersive. Of course, we're gonna go to the destination on horseback, it's not like you can teleport there. And what else are you gonna talk about on the way?

The ending is one of those credits where you just stare at it. You just keep looking.

All in all, this is definitely on the same level as Dead Cells and San Andreas. A timeless classic.