Bonhomie

I really wanted to like this game. I played through the first one twice, and Forbidden West isn’t that different. The game just felt overeburdened with its scope. I DNF’d it after about 25 hours because I was bored. My main issue is how big it is. It feels like it’s huge for no reason other than being huge. I think I would have liked it more if it had a lot less content. I also just did not like Aloy or her sidekicks. Aloy was boring and one-dimensional, and no matter what any one said about anything, she sounded so annoyed and exasperated with everyone and everything. Most of the voice acting is very wooden as well. It feels like the voice acting for a AA studio.

This game is fun with friends and has a lot going for it. The building is interesting and detailed, and the story is engaging for a long while. However, the building could use some work. There are things that were changed from the first game that made building worse. The ending was also a real letdown. It was really interesting and then just ended. It felt like the developers had a much different plan but couldn't get it all into the game, so they just jumped past it. I was pretty disappointed.

It's between an 8 and a 9. I really enjoyed this game. It's easily the best souls-like I've ever played (not counting FromSoft's games). My only two major complaints would be the need to travel back to the Hotel so often, and the lack of exploration. I get that it's a linear game, but it is extremely linear. There is almost no need to ever go any direction than the obvious and clear path, and the rewards for exploring when you actually get a chance to, aren't very worth it. This is a small complaint, though. The guard/parry system is amazing, and the ability to generate a pulse cell after using all of them is SO helpful.