Ultimately, the issue comes down to bugs. For the most part, the game looks fine and runs well, but when the bugs show up, they sting. Hard.
Frequently in combat, you will find debris acting as a ramp up to un-mantle-able surfaces which you'll likely be able to dodge/wiggle your way off of eventually, but not before the enemies do you serious harm
I encountered two game breaking-bugs, both of which occurred in Chapter 4:
I somehow ended up stood on a bed which I floated slightly to the side of while crouch walking in an uninterruptable animation. Lucky, it was fixed by a simple restart and the checkpointing is generous.
During Emily's campaign in chapter 4 when I had collected a key item, the objective tracker did not count it. Unfortunately, this one cannot be solved by a restart. There is no "chapter select" and there is only one save/autosave file. The game was unwinnable after playing for just over 6 hours.
I also had a bug where the first "phase" of a boss appeared to get dizzy when I strafed to close and simply dropped dead. I was live when it happened and it was baffling.
Other than the bugs, there are a couple more gripes:
For how good looking the game is, some things just look bizarrely janky. I.e. the blood spatter from enemies looks like an animated PNG.
The gunplay feels on-par for the genre and generation, but the melee combat is incredibly clunky and unsatisfying. It almost feels like an afterthought, which I can't imagine it was given the original game had it.
Some positive observations:
The story is very 1930's mystery noir and it's a fun vibe. It also will tickle the fancy of fans of the original game/H.P. Lovecraft.
As I said, for the most part, the game is quite good looking.
The survival-horror elements are intact, keeping you focused on ammo and health conservation during and between encounters
Ultimately, for a game which had such potential and actual A-List talent by way of cast, it is very disappointing have paid full price for a thrice delayed game and have the actual core gameplay fall flat on its face. I can't recommend a buy, not at full price.
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