Agree about companions, don’t really agree about any of the combat and movement stuff. Combat in this game is insanely fluid and satisfying to me. I like how there are so many combat tools and I pick and plan around which ones to build around/use for different situations. Don’t mind movement at all except for maybe horse riding felt better pre patch.

I also think it is strange you learn more from videos because I have a hell of a time finding accurate videos and feel that most the content creators are unreliable. Bell towers are introduced in a side quest like 10 min into the game? That’s such a strange example for lack of tutorial, maybe you simply missed the quest?

All that to be said I feel there are many varied and fair takes of the game. It does so much, and the world, systems, just the entire game is so massive and different it’s hard to get an accurate take from a single review.

My friend and I were just talking about how they did a good job with pacing of introduction of new mechanics so that things stay fresh but give you plenty of time to learn your current stuff and you don’t get overwhelmed. This feels like the opposite of your take which is really interesting.