Really conflicted. In spite of an amazing story and an amazing foundation, the gameplay is a letdown. While Innocence overloaded you with rat avoidance puzzles and forced you into weird combat situations with wonky combat in the endgame, this game overloads you with weird combat situations with wonky combat almost the entire time.

I appreciate what Asobo went for with reworking the combat, and I do believe that some of the encounters in this game are fantastic in a nearly Last of Us Part 2 kind of freedom. But using the sling and the elements in play just do not work in active combat, and the one item that feels great to use for this (the crossbow) has severely limited ammo.

And when so much of the game this time is more action-heavy than Innocence, it unfortunately sinks the game quite a bit.

That said, I still think this game is stronger than the first in terms of its side characters. The core relationship is stronger and better-written, with Amicia and Hugo's actors delivering the performance of a lifetime. The game also has such good writing to the point that I was an emotional mess during the near-credits. But it's all about that gameplay loop, and what I played was frustrating and disappointing at times.

A really really good game that somehow self-sabotages itself from being a masterpiece.

Reviewed on Dec 05, 2022


2 Comments


1 year ago

Just hit Chapter 13 but you're right, these kinds of games live and die by the loop and this one is really feeling like Innocence did in the monotony, which is a shame because I'm kinda into the narrative.

1 year ago

I couldn't find space to mention this in my own review either, and feel I came down a little more positive than you did, but I think we could safely argue that this game's STEALTH KILL ANIMATION is a contender for the worst of all time. Never have I ever died more from doing something I thought a previous game desperately needed, only to then see pretty much every enemy after that tutorial be invulnerable to said skill anyway.

The faith this game has in its combat from beginning to end is best described as BONKERS