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Very much over-hyped. If you're looking for something on the VVitch's level or the Lighthouse, this isn't close. Im giving it three stars solely because it is a new idea, it's decently shot, and the acting is good, which aren't that common in modern horrors. The first 25/30 minutes of this are great. The way that our lead sees constant references to a traumatic childhood event etc. Is very unnerving and accurate from what I understand of such things. Then the actual story unveils and the primary issue is that the villains/antagonists/whatever aren't scary. We re then asked to empathise with the antagonists, but their behaviour is so inhuman and 'evil' that it's like being asked to empathise with a Deadite. The best example of this, is that when one is hanging upside down and bleeding out, it's laughing and still trying to attack one of the main characters. The ending is also obvious, as well as being super manipulative and not naturally constructed.

Played this game on PS4 (December 2020) for about three to four hours. I think there's a good game here, but trying to experience it is like having to watch a film through a glazed window. In the first hour the game bugged and trapped me in combat, even when I wasn't in combat, so I couldn't do anything. After an internet search and trying things myself for about half an hour, I managed to get by this issue. There were tonnes of other bugs, such as dead people suddenly reappearing, but none too gamebreaking apart from the first one and the following. At the second major location in the game, I had to leave. During the course of disguising myself, I got caught stealing and was subsequently killed by the guards. The game then forced me to play the next hour or so of story in the 'one touch away from death' mode, not allowing me to sleep or recover my health in any way, and maintaining a hideous red filter over everything I was trying to do. I think the subsequent section would've taken around an hour, but after about two having to retry fights with bandits because I'm not allowed to be hit once, I gave up. This game is an older game and it still doesn't work. Maybe I'm expecting too much from a game but this is just unplayable to me. I'm surprised that the game's reviews are as positive as they are. 2/5 solely for the effort the creators have clearly put into the game.

I was expecting some scary here. Seems like for horror games, 'jump scares' are what is considered scary. This game has been the most boring experience imaginable so far (about 2 1/2 in). Here's how the game goes: you enter a room, fully aware that you have to do something to escape that room. You look everywhere, searching for some kind of puzzle or logical thing you can do to escape the room. That is not what this game wants, it wants you to do something totally illogical and random, meaning that every time this scenario arises, you spend your time brainlessly walking around spamming buttons looking for items. I love a good puzzle or logic game like the Witness, but I haven't really found anything that constitutes a puzzle yet. It's just 'apply key item to intended area'. Some of the scary elements consist of an unknown ghost essentially trolling you, turning off lights and such. More annoying than scary. The controls (for ps4) are clunky and unintuitive, as is the general sense of 'where to go and what to do'. I will play this all the way through but it's in hope rather than expectation.

One star ratings are ridiculous for a game of this quality. The graphics are superb, the gameplay is improved and smoother than the original. The variety of gameplay is also excellent, ranging from standard stealth gameplay to straight third person action, to fist fights between important characters, to stealth boss battles, to fighting a new type of infected in a straight boss battle etc.etc. The visual environments are also absolutely superb, taking you across balance beams on skyscrapers, through jungle style terrain, and the more familar cities, then a sort of Floridian mansion style setting. I cannot see how anyone can really complain about these elements as given that they are such an important part of the gaming experience, a score below three stars is extremely difficult for me to understand. The tiniest and most vague spoilers may follow. While it's understandable that people are annoyed about the story, this is a story about hatred, grief, loss, and coming to terms with those emotions. The character motivations are almost perfectly expressed by excellent acting and a script that makes sense. Personally, this was the only logical follow on from the original that kept the post-apocalyptic nihilism of the first game. This is instantly joined my top ten list for narrative based, solo games. Presently it's 10/10 though it could drop to a 9 on reflection, but there is no way it can possibly go any lower than an 8 for me.

I'm giving it a five because, though I think I'd probably give it a 9/10 if that was possible. The game is almost perfect bar a few issues. The dialogue could be made to feel more natural in some spots and the pacing could be altered to make the game flow a little better. The narrative could also be a little more clear and less exposition laden. That's literally the entirety of my criticisms. The environments are gorgeous and diverse. The gameplay is interesting and the narrative is so strange and wonderful at times it's hard to guess how someone thought of it. For those who are like to know how difficult a game is, this is one of the easiest major titles I've ever played,which makes sense because it's meant to be relaxing.