I said I'd not get in on it cause there's been a mad warning but I'm NOT with either side of this argument. I simply find Atsu would benifet from looking more attractive to evoke a sense of coolness for the revenge plot. 

I think the Grummz and crew are hypocritical arseholes but I also think the people calling gooner and what not are imbecile also. Both sides annoy the ever living shit out of me and both sides have become what they hate the most, Grummz and the anti woke brigade have become cancel culturists and the woke crew and that nebulous side have become no different than puritanical small minded people with no diversity of thought and certainly not progressive. 

I was unsure about three things early on in this game, things that worried me. The loose narrative, the gameplay which looked like TW3 and very basic and Atsu's appearance which I thought would be a sign similar to DA Veilgaurd and some shite modern politics would find it's way into the writing. 

All three fears have been alievated and this game has a 10 written all over it, perhaps not a masterpiece as the English Dub amongst a few minor gripes I have yet to see if they permeate the entirety of the game. 

The loose structure actually works, not once have I felt like I was following the main path and doing side quests along the way but a feeling as just exploring I have been doing the main quest, it's my story. No following map markers just incredible that they got this to work and in some ways better than RDR2 which had paving issues because it tried to do this while also hanging onto GTA3 mission design. As for the narrative it has revealed itself to be a case where I now care for Atsu and I'm routing along her revenge, it's not fantastic but it feels the same as the open world, fluid but also tight at the same time. Vast but not overwhelming. It has moment like the Low Roar songs in Death Stranding 1 and the riding bits in RDR2 that hit hard, not quite at the level of those games but more like Death Stranding 2. 

Atsu is not the best looking charscter but she has won me over, She reminds me of Geralt. That said her VA is nagging as an adult but repulsive as a child. Japanese subtitles would alleviate this but I don't want to be taking my eyes off the screen in such a gorgeous game. 

As for the combat, it is basic but it feels so good and it really depends on the difficulty. Lethal difficulty forces you to engage and stay focused, it makes you do the stealth and the narrative also doesn't make you feel bad for stealthy styles of play and also the stealth has been improved dramatically. Swapping weapons is just basically a stance change but you aren't forced into swapping, they just work better for certain situations. My only complaint is the Disarm mechanic, it's such an annoying counter that I just dodge it and if you fail, you're dead instantly. 

I feel bad for the people boycotting this game. There is no signs (At least 14 hours in) that modern politics was inserted nor is the writing terrible. If this does happen, I now know I won't care cause the game has already cemented it's philosophy. It would have to be a ridiculous turn of events like Atsu saying she's non binary out of nowhere.

I will also add that the spyglass and having the ubisoft towers with you when you travel is such an ingenious mechanic, you pick a spot somewhere high yourself and scan dynamically and while heading for the spot you may vome across a seemingly random encounter that leads to a quest that maybe gives you enough information about the main quest that what you were doing flows into the next task like nothing I've ever played before, Breath of the Wild looks like a linear game compared to this and speaking of linear it implements open world design with linear sections sections, climbing or parlour so masterfully.

Also, me seeing this game as exceeding a 9 is elevated by that fact that I have not been able to enjoy a game since Death Stranding 2 cause of my mental health and circumstance. Only Elden Ring was good enough to pierce through depression and anxiety and the loss of attention from them and get it's hooks deep into me, this game piercing through those (even though it's for very different reasons and design philosophy) and giving me the feeling that I want to play and I see it as a 9 or 10 currently says I am probably underestimating it, it may be masterpiece level.

I'm unsure about this style of open world, it still has a checklist technically but now it's just an actual list in the map but the feeling of coming across random stuff now leaves me with fomo, like I'm missing stuff as I explore. Not sure how I feel about it. It's cool for a while anyway. Let's see how it checks out in time. Perfect game for my scattered brain though, couldn't think of a game better cause it's designed so you just wander and shit happens.

Just tried the rematch with Takezo. Man, what a night and day difference in difficulty. Clearly meant to be the ultimate boss and I'll need to finish the rest of the game before trying again.

Maybe it's me but the game feels kinda boring now, Mainly just wandering around and doing random stuff for bo reason is where I'm at with the game abd that's still kinda fun, if I end up near story related stuff I'll do it but it's really rather bland. I changed the difficulty down to hard and I feel it improved the combat cause weapon switching is just a fairly poor stance switch, Nioh 2 style but in that game it can flow into combos, here it feels clunky. Loosing your current weapon might up there with the worst novel ideas I've seen in a game, it sounds new
and interesting but it's just annoying.

There is some kind of feeling of FOMO about exploring, you never quite know what you've done in an area and while this felt free early on it now feels uncertain. I'll keep playing and see but in trying for freedom they left me wanting to check an interactive online map.

Yes, I tried it immediatly too and it was too much, tried a bit later on too and it was definitely beatable, I died a lot but figured most of his moves, but then I choose to let it for the last moments of the game.

I beat the game and immediatly go beat him after that and I died once because he is just faster than anything else and I needed to get into his pace and I did beat him right after in the second attempt.

Game is more fun on hard across the board, it's a bit too easy but Lethal is a b8t too hard, God I hate difficulty options. The game being challenging feels so pointless and there is confusion as to whether it's you or the game. Nothing feels gained, nothing lost. Why can't devs implement a set difficulty based on what they feel the game should be and then if it's too hard allow players to grind in someway. Difficulty sliders are ass.

No. Difficulty sliders let you continue without getting frustrated. Not everyone is the same, some things are harder for some than others. Games only have a 20% completion rate as it is. Making people grind to get past obstacles only puts more people off. Difficulty needs to be fun, not a chore. 

It's rare when you have the exact same capabilities as the developers and the difficulty perfectly matches your abilities. It's even more rare when the game manages to keep difficulty fun through out. All too often it's either the bosses are too hard and the stuff in between too easy, sometimes it's the other way around. Very hard to get somewhere then laughable boss fight.

Difficulty sliders let you keep the fun throughout. Regular combat too easy, up the difficulty. Boss annoying, lower it temporarily. Fun boss too easy, reload and do it at a higher difficulty. 

In the end games are pointless, a way to waste time through distraction. There's nothing to gain except fun and relaxation. You can of course be a masochist and only allow yourself to have fun by 'beating' games / challenges, but you'll have a lot more fun if you don't take fun hostage behind meaningless challenges. 

Set your own challenges. If it's too easy add your own handicaps, create the most satisfying combo, the best flow. Don't let your fun be dictated by the game telling you you're doing a good job. No, grinding is not the answer to difficulty. It's what drives people away from games.



Maybe AI can organically adjust the difficulty to keep challenging you like a good dungeon master. Like Sophy AI in GT7 (well it's an attempt, better than the old procedural AI anyway. It's also not organic, difficulty sliders...) Actually in arcade racing you always had rubber banding to keep you on your toes. It kept the races fun and engaging instead of trailing behind or out front. Not sure why RPGs never managed something similar, keep it close by dynamically adjusting the enemies. Keep you on your toes instead of absentmindedly striking down random encounters then getting stuck on a boss. 

Hope fully AI can fix it. Some games though don't need high difficulty like Vampire Survivors, GoW, DMC, Uncharted etc which I've beaten on the highest difficulties and I know easy mode is still fun, medium is often the best. However with games that want you to show skill without the flashiness Sliders are nonsense. Ghost in no way needs a difficulty sliders the same way Elden Ring does not cause exploring is how you level up, the game would hit so much harder for many gamers if they went hard mode. Medium and easy in games like this don't feel good to play and some other examples are TW3 or Divinity OS, you can't play on easy in those games and get the same experience, in fact at lower difficulties TW3 is quite bad combat....wait I take back what I said about Divinity OS, that is good on easy too but I'm sure there are more examples.