Ends up in an uncomfortable middle ground between standard 3rd person action-adventure fare and FromSoft-style combat that isn't fully exploited until the last few hours. Suffers from pacing and structural issues--I thought I was in the smack middle of the game when it turns out I was on the edge of the final act. In that sense the game feels weirdly unfinished. The first wasteland is surprisingly large and open. Then the second open area is much smaller (but denser)... But there are only those two zones like that. Why do they exist? Why are there only two-three of those boring gun-only puzzle/platforming levels? Why does the game set up that you need 6 more macguffins, but you end up magically acquiring a bunch when they decide it's time to wrap?

I found Lily's default outfit disturbingly sexualized, given her childlike, aegyo-y depiction. Thankfully I happened to discover a very normal raincoat to put on her. Genuinely don't know if I would have continued without it.

They sexualize Eve in a manner that's less gross and more just off-putting. The writers go out of their way to make Eve as generic and doll-like as possible, which contrasts so starkly against her sculpted body that it becomes uncanny. Please give her an ounce of character, a drop of personality! Make her an airhead, a super-nerd, a bad bitch like Bayonetta--anything!

I like the combat. Struck an enjoyable balance between Sekiro's patient parries and DMC's speedy combos. As alluded to earlier, I wish the game forced you to engage with the combat more deeply. As is, I never felt pushed until the last 4-5 bosses--most of which were actually great, and a large part of why I'm positive on the game at all.

Reached 4 Flames ending.
-This is closer to Metriod (1986) than a Metroidvania.
-Design emphasizes playful discovery of items' hidden mechanics and how they interact. Reminded me of Starseed Pilgrim in that sense but more inviting.
-Loved the aesthetics, specifically I appreciated the GameBoy Color inspiration.
-Surprisingly scary! I often vocalized joy or shock while playing.

A brief aside: I want to look into how the endgame works. I get the sense it may suffer from the Fez effect--when a game's deepest puzzles are hidden under a layer of complexity intended for community solutioning. The knowledge and growing prominence of these escape rooms leads me to situations where I'm inclined to shrug at larger puzzles. I'm not going to extract and analyze waveform data to chase a hypothesis. I think these overarching escape room style puzzles are cool, but I do wish more were achievable within the game.