I played the demo, and some of the Eikon Challenge stuff.
I'm... mixed. Enjoyed it, but still mixed
The combat itself was fun and high energy, and I'm absolutely here for the particle FX and stylish animations- really pretty and appealing. I was also blown away by the sheer spectacle of the full titan battle. The music also had some standout pieces.
....But honestly, I felt the beginning of this game drags, gameplay wise.
I know it's just the intro of the game, but even considering that aspect... The entire opening battle where you hold triangle for two minutes? The following war battle scene where you... run forward, and occasionally to the left and right? ....why were those the very first gameplay impressions? (I can forgive the former for wanting spectacle quota at least)
The segue into having a flashback training session didn't make much sense to me, but then was questionably followed up by... way more cutscenes?
Kwha?
Not to mention the number of "Hold X to open door/knock down gate" prompts... if there were this many in the *intro*, how many are going to be in the full game...? Those weren't fun in FFVII Remake, and they still ain't fun here.
And I say all this as someone who enjoys Yakuza and Judgment (haven't gotten into Lost Judgment yet though). Again, I think the combat and presentation is great (especially with what was unlocked for the Eikon Challenge) but I hope the rest of the game surrounding that is heightened to that level in the full game.
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Now, this is more subjective/personal thoughts here, but... I'm just not really a fan of the M-rated, more "realistic" approach (which I guess means more blood/gore, and people now drop F-bombs).
This, combined with the honestly drab castle setting and bland opening areas just made it feel like any other game, and it personally isn't appealing to me yet (**apart** from the aforementioned wild spectacle).
That said, I do think they hit the ending note pretty strong.
I feel like it was definitely been inspired by a particularly iconic anime scene, hah