"Maybe I'll hit your weak point, for MASSIVE DAMAGE!"

Immediate start. Ninja Theory knows what the fuck they're doing when it comes to cinematically presenting video games.

Nariko legitimately looking straight into the camera and asking the player why they sent her here, saying that they turned her into a killer, and telling them she's not ready to die yet. And shouting "Do not abandon me! Not now I need you the most!" as I'm getting ready to turn the game off for the day.

Masterpiece?

Controls feel a little scuffed and a bit slow and unresponsive. But I'm so used to the DMC/Bayonetta super-quick style of hack-n-slash, and less of the rhythm-style of gameplay.

But I love how the gameplay never lets you settle down and go "this is what the game is." It's constantly switching things up, and breaking up the hack-n-slash with different gameplay sequences.

The aftertouch is one of most batshit things to watch. You literally make cannon balls go in upwards arcs.

The voice-acting is pretty fantastic, and Andy Serkis is a hoot (he was also one of the writers and directors). And the lip-syncing is surprisingly advanced.

And Kai is the best character ever created. And her voice-acting is beyond this world.

The script is legitimately funny. And legitimately dramatic. And legitimately tense. And seriously sad and frightening sometimes.

And one specific sequence, coupled with Kai's voice-actress, is seriously bone-chilling.

The gameplay can feel aged and unpolished, and you have to replay entire sections if you die, but the story, and structure, and pure execution of this game, more than makes up for it.

I found myself wishing it never ended.