Difficulty:

Hard

Time Spent:

100 or More Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Masterpiece"

So, this game has to be the most brilliant game Ive played in a long long while. That doesn't mean its the BEST game... but it certainly is the most immersive games Ive had the pleasure of playing since the first BioShock. The pleasure... and the PAIN of playing, I might add.

A substantial part of the games genius is the mystery. It challenges and stimulates the player on a much more creative level than most games. I found myself pillaging through a truly awe-inspiring ancient world, bringing down treacherous giant demons, (which are the best "monster" designs to date without a doubt) And I felt in the most exhilarating way, trapped. Given that the game gives you little to go on in terms of background and plot, I found myself, through the eyes of my character, feeling like a stranger in a strange land. Not knowing where I was going, or necessarily why I was going there, but always feeling an underlying need to get out of this place, from which I was forsaken to. The vagueness of story mixed the with depth and detail of this massive world gives the player permission to formulate some sort of backstory, which then begins to blur the lines between video game and player, and they begin to mesh as if becoming one. Its all very zen.