I love the Remedyverse, and generally their style and vibes. But this game feels like a miss in the same way Quantum Break did, lots of pomp and circumstance, but ultimately much ado about nothing. It feels like a short film made to market a sequel, but has neither the gameplay nor story to back it up, and as such way overstays its welcome.
Gameplay has always been Remedy's weak suit, and unfortunately this game is overwhelmingly majority gameplay. Has the same problem as new God of War in that it wants to be a cinematic experience, but undercuts itself CONSTANTLY with "drops" and a myriad of gameplay contrivances that clash with the aesthetic terribly, and never feel like they matter aside from making numbers go up. I have no idea why they wanted to shove live service aspects into one of their games, but the fact that they tried to make a live service spinoff after the fact tells me somebody high up really wanted it for some asinine reason.
Narratively, it was a massive letdown. The story is a freakishly simplistic railroad with (many times much more interesting) side stories stapled to it. Going in I thought I was in heaven, a Remedy take on the SCP foundation?! But unfortunately the premise is at its peak as soon as you walk in, and it never really feels like it lives up to its own potential.
[spoiler] You end the game with about as much knowledge as you have 15 minutes in, and overall essentially nothing happens. [/spoiler] The game is shockingly sauceless for a Remedy title, and I genuinely feel like my time was wasted having played this over just watching a catchup video (I have never felt that about any media I've finished, ever, in my life).
And no, DLC they made after the fact doesn't excuse or make up for it, glorified ads for their next title and the sequel does not an epilogue make. As with the main game they're still primarily gameplay experiences, and that remains Remedy's weakest pillar.
