Space Tail: Definitive Edition

I LOVE Laika and her story, what she symbolizes. and I'm thinking about getting my first tattoo ever of her, so I REALLY wish I could love this game. The concepts are sound the puzzles are good (for the most part). It's just... not for me? I really like the "communication" mechanic, where you use a set of dog emotes to sway aliens to help you in various ways, but that basically stops being a part of the game after the first 2 hours. The same thing goes for the sight, smell, and hearing... you can basically play without it after the first hour. The mechanics are just boring after about 3 hours, and I looked online only to find out I'm only halfway there. There are weird glitches, some sequence breaks when loading saves where you have an objective completed but have to redo the puzzle you just did. also things like prop flying with one of the powers, i think its a bug but i also cant even really tell if its intentional or not. The story is EVERYWHERE and a little hard to follow. The gameplay cuts abruptly in and out of in-game cutscenes and still art with voiceovers, and MOST of the loading screens feel entirely unnecessary for what seems to be a pretty un intensive game, and the music also cuts in and out during loading, VERY jarring. All of this takes me out of the game way more than I realized it would in the big 2026. The little companions come in and out of the story at random. Along with their abilities, Which you have one second and the next you don't. Things like a double jump are there just long enough for you to get used to them, then they're gone for just long enough for you to get used to not having them, Then they are back. The FEEL of this game reminds me of the Bolt game from 2008. Great for the first 1 1/2 - 2 hours, but boring after the 4th, 5th, 6th. I'm 3.2 hours in now, and it feels like a chore to finish this game. :( I'm still going to come back and finish it, though. I really do want to like this game, so hopefully the second half can change my mind on some of this. I'll leave a proper review once I've seen it through.