This game is fun moment to moment and has a lot of character...but it is brutally, cruelly difficult, and the openness of the narrative has mostly translated into opacity in direction for me and wasted hours running around, getting slaughtered by megagod shambling normies in the tutorial area. The solid reviews for this imply that there is an audience for this type of game--but if you're not sure you're it, be warned.
Just finished this game and feel more affected by it than by a lot of recent titles I paid twice as much for. Occasional frustrations are overshadowed by a unique pacing of exploration, puzzles and battles, a combat system that gets especially satisfying in the back half of the game, an energizing soundtrack and emotionally convincing voice acting. Also, just beautiful graphics throughout. I regularly felt I was experiencing something very fresh.
