This game had so much potential yet completely failed to deliver.
Visually, the game is stunning and has such a great artistic direction, one that feels like a painting at times. Great animations, everything just looks stunning
Of course, the music is also great and I cannot for the life of me describe how much I love "The Crossing" soundtrack.
There isn't much to say of this story on my part, as I didn't finish it, however, the tidbits of history we had are decent. As the player progresses, a mural starts appearing and mounts the story slowly and surely. But that's all there's to it. I wasn't invested enough to care much and just wanted to get through and the lack of voice-acting whenever the enemies said something wasn't helping
The gameplay is decent, with some lows and highs. Crafting is one such example, where while it's fun to figure out your next step and your best move and to do according to your progress and items is fun, - the inventory system isn't much intuitive. Focusing on the more positive side, the boat construction is really good, and sailing in the vast sea in search of another island as you avoid sharks, rocks, and reefs is fun. However, the decision to only have a single item per boat part is questionable. While it is frustrating to sail into the wind it isn't a big deal. It's great that they took advantage of this with each crossing and you sail WITH the wind, with enormous waves boosting your raft as the music just rampages is so great. I dare to say the best part of the game.
Combat is dogshit. There isn't any other way to say it. Clunky, messy, and stupid at times, I cannot comprehend what the fuck happened here. I don't mind the lock-in mechanic (and to be fair with these controls, it is needed)
The enemy AI is just downright dumb, while somehow being punishing. All you do in these cases are counter-attacks when you dodge their attack and ranged weapons are "good" at best. They work when they don't notice you, but when they do, and even if they are far away, a bit of a mess. The boss fights are fine, however, that big worm is just incredibly tedious to fight and a prime example of every issue I have. And not to let me start on the perma-death return to chapter 1 bullshit. No comment on that.
Getting an extra gadget and help with each crossing that rewards the player for exploring the map and obtaining shards is cool. I wanted to love this game but I cannot, will pick it up later to finish later for some other cool stuff I wanna play

Incredible mechanics. Decent difficulty despite some weird level design bs? Way too easy and doesn't build on its mechanics at all. You will use it for a chain of levels and it's forgotten later on. That said, the last level having a timer is dumb.
Great artistic direction and soundtrack too. Just a good game to look at (literally).
I'd write more about the issues on the narrative but I honestly couldn't care at all for the plot or the characters. I don't mind the """""""subtle""""""""" hints to storytelling but it isn't used properly here, especially when I can just ignore it. Also not a fan of it being a simulation, it could've been just a weird ass world and I'd love it for that