Based on the review cycle and general sentiment online at release I was expecting simply an okay action game, I was not expecting close to what I got, an action game that combines the genres best bits from the last three console generations into one game. 

There is one glaring flaw with the game, it's narrative polish and cohesion which as is feels lifeless and subpar because of flat VA, some archaic design choices such as locking the character in place during conversations and just a general vibe that doesn't translate to what they are going for here, a Neir Automata introspective, thought provoking story. It just doesn't hit it's beats. I have to imagine if you speak Korean this is a non issue as the game swept up 7 awards there recently at a big event. 

That aside, well past the mid point of the game and tidying things up, I've played enough to know this has risen in the ranks of the genre for me to near the top. The game is a combination of the best pieces of the action genre, taken to form something that feels masterclass in many areas but mostly in the incredible core combat and brilliant progression. The exploration isn't just fun, it's meaningfully rewarding and it's refreshing to see puzzles return to the genre aswell as well as mini games. The small stuff like picking up items is given love in what seems to be an Eastern phenomenon, they just know where and how to polish the small stuff much like Death Stranding is held up by this method, so is this game. Little breaks between exploration like QTE set piece events feel familar and are done and placed perfectly. It feels like playing through so many different games in the genre over the past 20 years with so many elements taken and refined. And I'll just add...

• Level design is excellent.
• The visuals are impressive.
• The combat is stellar 
• Progression is expansive and rewarding
• Unlocks are spread through the game evenly
• The old and new styles of combat blend perfectly
• Looting is immensely fun and rewarding
• Quest are many, a little repetitive but massively fun
• Loads of content for a game in this genre 
• The music is strangely fitting and out of place at the same time creating a unique vibe
• Animation work is brilliant
• The stylish cutscenes are better than a DMC game
• It feels and looks so fucking cool
• The world is well built out and interesting

All the while, the game is home to probably the most attractive female character in gaming and leans into that providing some pretty revealing clothing options, it's unashamedly coated in sex appeal for no other reason than it just can and in an age where characters have to be ugllified which is now happening to both sexes, it's great to see. Outfits are entirely cosmetic and entirely optional with many cool looking suits that aren't sexually revealing at all and given early for those who want to avoid this aspect. 

It is massively disappointing that they weren't able to stick the landing on the narrative, VA and general polish in that regard but what they have done is made an easy ten and one of the best experiences in genre. The developers Shift Up are doing a colab with Neir Automata in a few days and I would love to see them combine efforts to make a game in the future, thus game excels in all areas where Neir Automata falls short and fails in the areas Neir Automata does exceedingly well, they feel like the are two pieces of the same key and could easily create a best in genre game. 

Absolutely masterclass stuff, I am gobsmacked as I have went back to reviews and when games series of the past which suffer the same issues of cohesion in narrative presentation which were largely overlooked but still hold scores worthy of the core game and where the game excels over its flaws such as the Metal Gear Solid series (Metal gear solud 5 ffs, a 10 for me but it has almost ecactly the same issue) it's a shame to see this hover at an 8/10 and get such low scores from some outlets, many 6/10's. Here's hoping Shift Up learn for the next game or Sony give them help where they fail in the narrative department or Yoko Taro provides the help needed. Sekiro, A game which clearly inspired this games most core combat design suffers the same issue with an English dub and was so much better received. 

Let me know you own thoughts on this game, please. I feel like I'm going insane when I see scores so low. 

Edit:

Beaten it, I'll just paste what I said in the 2024 games thread. 

Absolutely Fantastic game, brings things back to a time when games were just games and has reminded me that I've become severely fatigued with the Sony, deep narrative route and I play games for the fun of it, not having the controller snatched out of my hand every few steps or ten hour long tutorials and hand holding like it's your first video game ever. 

This was insanely addictive, flawed ... maybe, but at the same time maybe not, it just is what it is and it's insanely fucking cool and an immensely fun game. Elden Ring was the last time I had this much uninterrupted fun and I'd say this surpassed it on that level if though for a shorter period of time and speaking of Fromsoft, this game became Sekiro near the end, perhaps because I refused to do a guide on some essential health upgrades or perhaps by design but the last three bosses on what I believe is the true ending where quite challenging. 

10/10. Phenomenal. Most purely fun game I've played in many years, maybe ever. 

Only played the demo, it was fun, but nowhere near the GOTY level of good some people are tossing around.
If the demo represents the full game I would give it a solid 8/10.

It does a lot of things right but things like no animation cancels, buffered parries, etc. make it fall short of character action excellence. Also, as you said, the narrative is a letdown.

Still, a solid 8/10 and it sold like a million, so plenty of people must have liked it too.

Edit - LMAO, two "solid 8/10" tropes back to back. I swear I didn't see the other post beforehand.

A glance at the demo tells me it is the first hour of the game which is indeed not reflective of the game whatsoever. The game starts getting good at about 5 hours in with the bosses only starting to become brilliant on the third boss. The game expands massively after you clear the first area and goes linear also at points bit then expands again. The first few hours are a very basic introduction with very basic enemies and simple short boss affairs. 

Perhaps I am just insane. 8/10 user reviews on Opencritic also... naaaah, it's everyone else that is wrong. Yoko Taro even said this game does some things better than Neir Automata. 

Sekiro suffers the same issues with the English dub yet gets 10's across the board and while I still rate Sekiro higher than this, it's confusing to see people not allow the game to be held up on what it excels at and instead on where it falters. 

Haven't played. I'll pick it up when it comes to PC...for the mods....

Isn’t the game one of the highest user rated games of the year? Last I saw it was like at a 9.2/10. It seems very rated.

I was focusing on the the critic review on opencrtiic but I never thought to check MC, I hate that website but yes indeed, perhaps I'm not insane at all now that there are near 6 thousand other people that see what I see. That's more where the critic reviews should be at in my opinion and I find it puzzling that they are not... Well, actually not so puzzling, sexy character means bad game to some critics. 

What could the mods do more so than the base game, make her fully naked? 

If we go by the premise of the OP, no this is not an "underrated" game in the least. It's got it's awards, it's scores and sold just right for the type of game it is.