Got the true ending and beat the fool trial as well. Pretty much done everything and currently sitting at 98% completion. I have some random boss left and the journal to fill out.
Anyway, here are my thoughts on the game.
Pros:
- Gorgeous aesthetic! Seriously, this is one of the most beautiful games I've played.
- Immersive world and atmosphere (which is result of everything coming together really well)
- Great tight combat and platforming
- Well designed and fair bosses
- Amazing enemy variety
Cons:
- Poor storytelling. The lore and the world around is interesting, but I don't like the way the story is told, i.e., needing to piece together from boss fights, items, etc.
- Tedious game mechanics. No save anywhere feature, having to backtrack after every death, not being able to change charms (loadouts) anywhere, not having map charm as default passive, far away fast travel points, etc. I feel the game's strength is the exploration of beautiful areas, and adding these tedious elements only discourages exploration.
- Poor Pacing. It took me about 6 hours to get the first two abilities, which is when the game really opens up. Devs need to ensure the game is designed such that a few important abilities are obtained as soon as possible, and that the time it takes for that is the same for every player.
- Minor complaint, but the controls for charged attacks could be better. Perhaps something like hold L2 to charge and then tap the attack/dash/etc button to use respective charged attacks. I mention because it becomes tricky to hold the face attack button, while also trying to jump multiple times via another face button with the same thumb.
Overall though, I loved it despite those complaints. The good stuff is just too good and I can overlook the cons. Looking forward to the content updates now. Be interesting to see what these devs do next as well.
Edit: Got 100%. And yeah, I take my time with games haha!
