I was hesitant to play this at first, survival horror has never really been my thing, but I gave it a chance with some nudging from a friend, and hoooo boy am I glad I did.

This has easily leapt to the top of my favourite games list, tying with Outer Wilds as an experience that has crawled inside my thoughts and beaten me over the head until it's all I can think about.

This story is beautiful, it's haunting, it's human and oh so horrifying. It speaks to love like a victorian poet, reaches inside your ribs and wrenches your heart free.

I'm not going to go into details, aside from not wanting to spoil anything I couldn't do it justice anyway.

Just, play it. If you love games as art, if you love powerful, unique stories, please, please play it.

Okay, redoing my review since finishing this game since it was just a dumb jokey one before.

This game is fantastic, it's polished and responsive, the combat is exciting and tactile and the story is surprisingly good for a metroidvania.

Once you master the pacing and movement the last few bosses especially shine so brightly as some of the most fun I've ever had just from a sheer gameplay perspective. I lost track of how many times I died to the last boss learning all of their patterns and coming up with replies to them all, but at no point was it ever frustrating or felt cheap, it was a genuine joy to overcome that challenge.

If you like metroidvanias and aren't put off by parrying mechanics (though the parry windows in this are extremely forgiving, if it sways anyone), please give this game a go, it's very, very good. To the point I'd say the trailer doesn't really do it justice.

I love this game, genuinely. I 100%'d it on Gamepass then bought a copy on Steam to do it all over again.

That said, it irks me to no end that they attach achievements to the paid DLC, so if you want to perfect everything you'll need to fork out for all the extras, including ones for IP's I personally have zero interest in. (Plus not attaching achievements to the free DLC they've been putting out, which they could have done instead!)

I play this like once a year at least, I love it so much.

The vibe, the music, the atmosphere are all top notch, and I never fail to cry my eyes out multiple times over.

An absolute must play, if you're the type to be concerned by difficult platforming mechanics don't be, it's extremely forgiving, especially if you opt for the lower difficulties.

A solid 6/10 for me. It's an enjoyable experience which truly puts its stamp on some personal favourite tropes and I was genuinely hooked from start to finish. The vibe is immaculate and the music is lovely, but the entire time that I was playing I was wondering if it was going to manage to stick the landing and it unfortunately did not.

I'd have to write an essay to truly get my points across properly, but the short version is that the story is filled with so many plot holes and unresolved story threads my visual image for it is a colander, and the ability to affect the ending almost feels tacked on, with several of the choices not even having an effect on anything.

Still worth a play for sure, but pick it up on sale.

It'd be good if it were just the horns, unfortunately you're stuck with the hair.

Oh, and ♥♥♥♥ day 1 microtransactions, Capcom greedy as ever.