I refunded the game due to a few concerns that were unfortunately a deal breaker for me.
The World: 4/10
While the setting and map does look interesting, exploration as a whole feels unrewarding, hard to navigate, and empty. There are groups of enemies that are dotted around the map (not patrolling mind you, just plopped in), and some are guarding strongboxes or materials meant to upgrade your home's workbench to max out your gear. On paper it's a simplistic addition to pseudo open world games, but the with the lack of a mini-map, Koo will be constantly telling you "spotted an enemy", and the main character reaffirming this, but the issue at hand, is that if you aren't looking in the vicinity of where this said enemy is, you'll miss the timed enemy highlight function. More often then not, even if you start searching, most of the enemies blend into the background other than the animals. The story seems somewhat interesting, but with the jank camera and laughable animations in some cutscenes, it loses all immersion or interest for me.
Combat: 5/10
I think GameFreak has something special with their blend of Sekiro like parry, and turn based tactical commands with Koo. Unfortunately it all doesn't benefit from one another. The core combat loop is you smacking enemies until you can do certain combo chains that require "AP" that can only be recharged via smacking enemies and parrying. Same goes for Koo's abilities, which can ONLY be charged via successful parries. Speaking of parries, it feels inconsistent across the board. It is easy to find a flow state while fighting certain enemies, but parrying essentially goes out the window when more than 1 enemy is attacking you, not because of skill issue, but the camera. The camera is way to close and the angle itself makes you fight enemies and the camera all at the same time. Something that could easily remedy this issue, is a mini-map, or at least a danger indicator showing what direction an enemy is about to attack you from. Overall, while it is fun to relive the glorious parry god days of Sekiro, the novelty wears off quickly and you see how shallow the combat really is.
Exploration: 2/10
Stated above is the lack of a mini-map. If you're a completionist like me, then be prepared for how frustrating it'll be when you realize that you spend more time reading the damn map then exploring it. Also most icons on the map other than campfires, don't indicate that you've collected/looted from that spot so, if you don't immediately remember already completing that area, then you'll waste time backtracking to it.
Music: 9/10
I really love the music of this game, it has a Nier aesthetic to it, and I'm all for it. Games like these where you'll be listening to the same battle track, or free roam track really need to be good since you'll hear it over and over again, and I feel they did a good job with it.
I was really looking forward to this game, but with the jank camera, lack of mini-map, shallow exploration, and repetitive combat, I'm going to wait for a sale, and I'd recommend that you do the same if you were interested in it.
