Strongly considering abandoning this just for how unbelievably difficult I'm finding it. This game feels like having a second job. The checkpoints are complete garbage and the vehicles are like they're made of paper, you slightly brush against one thing and suddenly you're smoking and on fire. I do want to see this through to the end but I gotta find motivation to even do that. If I can praise at least one thing I like the character animations and voice acting. I'd probably enjoy this more just watching the cutscenes on youtube.

Beautiful story, fascinating characters, fantastic soundtrack & atmosphere, this game is almost a masterpiece but like most people say, combat is not great and in my opinion, gameplay in general is a little stale that makes it hard to replay. Hot take though, I don't think combat is as awful as most people say, but I do think there's somewhat of a learning curve which is still annoying. Otherwise the way this game displays both the horror of cruelty and the freedom of forgiveness is something that's stuck with me for years. I could write a whole essay on that and the many faces of love that's shown in this game. Owning a physical copy of this is one of my biggest flexes, and eventually I'd like to get "Everlasting true love, I am yours" as a tattoo. Cannot recommend enough, truly my favorite video game of ALL time.