Performance woes aside, it’s a pretty great game. It feels like a direct rebuke of the sentiment that the original didn’t turn out how they’d wanted it to. This game literally is them saying “we made the right game before, the masses just weren’t ready for it”. But in a post Elden Ring and/or BOTW/TOTK world, I believe these types of emergent, player driven adventures are much more sought after.
Having said all that, the narrative is all over the place. At times its backseat structure feels like par for the course with the more player experience focused structure. Then all of a sudden a ghost tells you you’re about to go to the end of the game. The true ending feels complete enough, and had some satisfying surprises in store, but it just kind of ends just as it feels like it’s actually getting started properly.