The hate is a little unfair. Some of the criticisms are downright wrong. It's more Souls than stylish action now, so the game is harder, but it's still a big game with a lot to find and do. It's actually more accurate to compare it to Nioh given the action is faster, you can switch weapon styles mid battle, and there are special moves. It does have some issues with the finicky camera and inconsistent damage, but it doesn't take long to adjust to these things especially if you're familiar with the Souls franchise. The game runs fine and I haven't encountered any kind of crash or glitch. It might seem linear but there are a lot of little pathways that lead to big locations and optional bosses. It's not the best ARPG in the world but it's a perfectly solid game that's satisfying and well worth one playthrough if you're into Souls-likes or faster paced ARPGs in general. Not GOAT tier, but well above filler tier.
Story is very twilight zone and is very cool in a mind-bending sort of way, so it's not your average horror story. The gameplay is more third person shooter with a "banishment" system where you use light to expose an enemy's weakness or remove curses from animated objects. It works well and is fun with only a few points in the game holding it back due to things like overly long levels that stretch encounters out a bit too thin or a lack of enemy variety. The biggest flaw in the game is the driving sections between levels. During these sections, don't get out to explore and just keep driving unless you're really intent on gathering collectibles. It's well worth finding all of the TVs though because the mini-Twilight Zone episodes they show are pretty cool. If you like Alan Wake, don't forget to play American Nightmare! It has the opposite problem of playing much better but has too few maps and meaningful encounters, but it's great if you just like Wake's gampelay and the story is still cool.
Big, explorable world. Tons of secrets and optional dungeons. Loads of loot to gather. Ability to mix and match various classes allowing for tons of customization. One of the very best character creators. The ability to share party members with other players and to hire theirs on in turn. Community challenges and special bosses. Unique combat mechanics that require a more thoughtful approach to battle than your average RPG (cutting off a hydra's head requires you to literally climb onto its neck and hack it's head off). And to top it all off, PC performance. It does take some time to wrap your head around how the pawn system works. Pawns, or the mercenaries you hire, can be unstoppable killers or useless due to their behaviour (the AI isn't universal; it can change from pawn to pawn), so it will take some experimentation to build a good party of pawns, but that's part of the fun. Sort of like managing a sports team: bring in new pawns when the old ones fail and keep changing things until you find pawns you like. And if you just can't stand the pawns...solo it with your avatar. Creating a build that can solo the game is also a fun challenge. The game has a few quirks but, in terms of raw value and gameplay, this is easily one of the very best RPGs around. It's almost criminal how rarely anyone mentions this game.
This game would be considered a classic during the SNES era. The story isn't incredibly deep but it's light fun and carries the overall tone of the game well, much like how Chrono Trigger did. The battle system and exploration also take many notes from Chrono Trigger, although combat is more unique. Battles can get pretty complicated because of the deceptively strategic nature of it-most abilities can only be used once unless they are recharged, enemies get stronger as the battle advances, and there are turns where your abilities do more damage than normal, so you have to plan for them-but it's quite different from the norm and you can still adjust character abilities in a myriad of ways. Gear grants new abilities, many of which don't unlock until your stats get higher which gives you plenty of incentive to mix and match gear across all the characters. The game even takes cues from Suikoden with all the secondary characters you can recruit and the base you build. Presentation wise, the game is top notch. Music is great. Graphics are a perfect match for the game's tone. My only gripes are with how buggy the game was at release, although it has been patched and continues to receive new patches, and the fact there doesn't seem to be a way to upgrade old armour. A lot of powerful abilities are locked within older pieces of gear, but their stats are so low it becomes a huge trade-off. Overall, though, this game is much better than the average retro RPG out there, and even some of the good ones.
