this could only have ever been done in the game format, and it's amazing. i don't think i've ever felt as emotional over how game controls work. there are also a lot of beautiful locations, i did find the overall puzzles fun, and some of the little "quests" you can do like covering a white rabbit in soot so it can join in playing with black rabbits are not necessary or even marked anyhow, but that is what makes them memorable. short and sweet kind of game that i think is a must play for anyone who likes experiments with the genre and gameplay/story intersections

it does have a lot of annoying gameplay elements, but i loved it so much honestly... the story isn't particularly inventive for the genre, but i just liked all the characters, seb, joseph, juli, ruvik and laura are all very memorable. i like how grimy and gross a lot of the areas felt, some of the monster designs are also very unsettling. i loved the shade in juli's dlc LMAO she was serving! there's plenty of weapon variety and things you can do, and some of the action setpieces were wild, like going out to get joseph's glasses next to the fucking monstrous cerberus thing or your bus getting chased across town by something lovecraft was getting off to probably. and then there are more haunting sequences, like the sunflower field or the mysteriously extending hospital hallways... idk i liked a lot about it despite its shortcomings and difficulty/save scarcity-related frustrations. i miss you TEW </3 i wish TEW3 could be made </3

the survival horror elements were improved in this one, particularly scavenging for resources and such. generally, ik there were a lot of justified complaints about TEW1 and i think this is a much more fun game to play. they addressed the issues people had with the first game, but i fear it may have been a little too late :( i wish we got TEW3... i love this series so much...

story-wise, the dialogue writing is a bit goofy at times, but i did like the overall theme of overcoming trauma, both for seb and juli. it was good to see them like this after everything in TEW1. but it a pity joseph is not in this game :( i miss him... and i will likely never get any closure on him... sob

honestly i didn't find the og novel memorable or interesting, but the game expands on it significantly. their personal hells are given more detail now that you can explore them, you get to know more about them as people, and some things do deviate from the novel but i vastly prefer the game version anyway. some of the puzzles are a pixel hunt or just classic moon logic, and the final level is also a bit confusing as the devs clearly did not intend to make it possible for everyone to survive, but overall it's full of atmosphere and interesting writing

somewhat overhyped. most classes are getting streamlined and simplified, and i kind of get it because they want the game to be accessible, but it is making classes less distinguishable beyond aesthetics. i do like the core design of dungeons and trials and raids, some of them are really fantastic, i feel like i will use every possible free login weekend just to play orbonne sometimes LMAO. but with each update, the entry barrier becomes more and more insurmountable as people now have 6 full games worth of material to play through, and with next expansion... i wonder what their plans are since i don't think they will do the destiny approach of just getting rid of ARR or something, but i feel like something has to be done.

quest design, well it's a mmo so a lot of stuff is just boring and tedious. however, my main beef is with writing. the game is quite widely praised for its good writing, and it does have plenty of interesting ideas and characters, but i just cannot handle the misogyny and the racism anymore. the writing pertaining to ascians and garleans in particular is so tone deaf at times, and the way the fandom gobbles it right up is... no other game fandom made me feel as othered, and i played plenty of games that have far less diverse fanbases. idk man. my hot take is that i did not like shadowbringers much, and endwalker was even worse. i wish stormblood focused either solely on doma or solely on ala mhigo instead of hastily trying to wrap up both points... i think heavensward was as good as it got, and even that had its middling points, particularly around ysayle. idk. mess. oh god just remembered everything that happens to yotsuyu in post-4.0 patches i hope i die

anyway it's still a very good game with loads of content and dedicated support, and it is square enix's biggest cash cow for a reason. it is very fun to play with friends, and it does have a lot to offer. but i got extremely sick of it and its fandom at this point and i just wish i could go a day without seeing it at all god bless

i feel like the plot of it gets increasingly jumbled towards the end, but this suuuuuuuuch a good game. the gameplay is very fun, each new location and character has SO much personality, the designs are amazing - i love beauty's ridiculous hair!, the plot is great, and it has a dog AND a cat!!! what more could you ask!!!

also "what is it about pain? does it make you feel ALIVE?" is one of the hardest videogame lines ever. i am so glad this game might get a second chance at success because it deserves it so fucking much

does anyone else think that shi long lang and edgeworth explored each others' bodies

also this game has kay and shih-na <3 <3 <3 which is an auto-W

the final case does drag on a lot. it is purposefully so in-universe but man . we should be able to beat politicians with stones