This game starts slow but it picks up as you progress through the story. Yes there are not alot of populated areas in the wilderness but its the same way in the manga and the anime. The cities are hevily populates. The controls take some getting used to but once you have them you have them. The combat mechanics are simple at first, however progressing through the game and leveing up the skill tree will yied to a more complex fighting system. All in all the game is great. The negative things ive heared, which hasn't been much, stems from people not understanding how the game works, or not used to the controls. This game has checked a lot of boxes for fans of the series, and my biggest advice f you play it is to get deeper into the game before judging because it does start slow, but it picks up.