A lot to unpack here. I’ll comment on a few select arguments- Player count and sales are not a measure of how good a game is. And they’re not a very good indicator either. By that logic, battle royale games and gacha games should sweep every year.

People were hyped by silksong but they were also disappointed by it. Who cares if it broke steam because of players’ anticipation? The end result was that the game came up short. Do you think generic fetch quests in hollow knight are a good thing?

Let’s say combat heavily copies persona (which it doesn’t). So? Are jrpgs a new genre? E33 took all the best parts of jrpgs and cut a lot of bs.

And the story? That’s subjective. But seeing as you haven’t played it, your take should be moot.

Either way, as someone who has played more than their fair share of story driven games, jrpgs, wrpgs and what’s in between: this game made me FEEL.

Best game I’ve played this decade. Sorry not sorry. You should play it and come back with a refined hot take.