izigame.me

Loved it for what it was. Went in blind with no expectations and was pleasantly surprised, especially as I read that this is the studio's first game.
Pros:
+ Large multilevel areas to explore
+ Exploration is encouraged and rewarded
+ Lots of collectables for the magpie gamers
+ Interesting/novel discovery-exploration modes
+ Moderately well-developed story and somewhat multifaceted characters
+ Lore-rich (more like lore-mid, comparatively speaking)
+ Customizable play style + pace
+ Interesting combat mechs/skill combo effects
+ Pretty graphics/design -
+ Combines lots of my fave games' best attributes
+ You can play the whole game with your base armor set and just keep upgrading it with better resources as you go- or switch to another set for different (not better/worse) perks

Cons:
- Honestly I just want more of this game. It was too short for me even though it's not an especially short game if you 100% it.
- There's definitely some jank but not game breaking jank (imo)
- Boss fights and farm-upgrade-grind get repetitive feeling (** not as tediously grindy as a lot of similar games though)
- Wish the lore and story were more important to the game play.
To expound upon this: I wish reading the lore, knowing more about the characters, and all the dialogue options mattered. I wish engaging with the story and NPCs could give you an edge in the game/affect the way things play out. As it is, there's a ton of dialogue and interactions that are very interesting but ultimately superfluous which reduces the incentive to engage with it instead of just smashing keys to skip interactions/scenes. But this is just not that kind of choice dependent RPG game - and that's okay.

-END OF RELEVANT CONTENT- reading further may be upsetting as I discuss my FEELINGS about themes/aspects of this games that are contentious in some realms. I also use language that could alienate some sensitive socio-cultural groups or confuse people with a myopic world view disorder. It is also just full-on word vomit that is borderline incoherent. Do not use up your mental energy trying to get through it.
You have been warned. I now divest myself of reactional liability.
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- (super personal gripe & possible spoiler-ish) - not a value judgement: I do not like romance in games generally unless it affects the actual game play/unlocks items/gear etc. - The affinity mechanic did not register with me at all, so I was gobsmacked to have my NPC coworkers confessing their undying love for me- seemingly out of nowhere - near the end of the game. Some of the dialogue was admittedly flirtatious but not overtly so. Maybe it's just the 'tism speaking, but without any of them outright stating that they had amorous intentions, I would never have guessed they were not all just being kind, considerate, and a bit overly chatty people.
There were times I began to wonder if the wording was "vibey" but I just did not see it coming and I got worried that my "decision" about returning someone's feelings would affect the game. I genuinely got mildly upset because I liked all the romance-able characters equally. Laen was probably most platonically attractive to me bc I related to them the most- but unfortunately she was the first character to profess their feelings and I got anxious about all the options and possible affects of my responses.... TO BE CLEAR: it does not affect the game, just gives you different dialogue options and you get a very tame suggestive cut scene with your selected lover. You may even have to choice to take no lover. A quick google will probably supply a complete breakdown of the romance causation-web, I just don't care enough to look. I'd have chosen them all if it were an option. I picked the guy Arekim(sp?)
I only chose him bc I was cursed to be born as a vanilla cishet femoid ... but he was far less interesting to me than the other two. All in all I just felt very meh about it all and could have done without it. Rant concluded.
After playing for a while I looked at some reviews and was more surprised than I probably should have been that this game got blasted for being "woke" and that it would "end up failing due to its obvious agenda pushing". The most lenient of these reviews called it "another 'girl with a sword' game"... so, you know, way different than the vast majority of "boy with a sword" games ?? which I guess is how I'll reductively describe most games I play now. I was gifted several minutes of intense eye-rolling calisthenics exercises and sad chuckle reps as I immersed myself in the rich, pungent world of "male gamer" subculture. It seems to be largely sustained by false-masculinity posturing, impotent rage-fueled bloviating, and RealDoll/ED Med sponsorships.
This game is good for what it is. it's nothing more or less than that, and it certainly isn't some weird trojan horse for THE GAYS and FEMALES to corrupt your poor mind with bizarre propaganda about.... idk buying a Subaru or adopting rescue cats? The very normal humanoid social interactions between romantic partners and friends within the game do not even come lose to resembling the Alphabet Mafia insanity that I see screamed about constantly...but never seem to encounter/experience in the real world. The boring consenting adults having mundane relational dynamics with fantasy seasoning, will not turn your pet frog gay. In fact, I would go so far as to say if the inconsequential dialogue options and female characters with agency do in fact make you question your sexuality or feel insecure in your masculinity, you likely had a "pre-existing condition". I played through the whole thing and am still, unfortunately, very straight and as averagely female as they come. So I must trudge on through this veil of tears, married to my cishet husband and engaging in monogamous heterosexual banality until we perish at the hands of an LGBehtehQwa Antifa insurgent who "weird science"s in to existence from this game file.
I can easily admit that plenty of media products have tried to hide bad writing/cheap and lazy designs/productions behind a forced facade of "diversity" and hollow completely disconnected "strong female"/exceptionialistic-feminism-cloaked PCs- this just isn't one of them. It's a fun, colorful, adventure with dynamic characters and was well worth the money I paid for it.
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In summation: It's a novel combo of lots of trending game elements and is worth playing if you've got the money to spare. Play it for yourself and make up your own mind about it.