However, it's also not the kind of anime I'd exactly recommend for family viewing lmao

I'm really sorry, I'm not hating it, I'm just disappointed! I hoped for something better but the game itself isn't bad by any means, so please don't lose your excitement if this looks like a game for you!!

Honestly, I don't see much of a reason to pick this game up unless you just want to play any action game that's decent enough. Nier Automata feels like the better choice over this game for many people - at least in my opinion. Why go for "it's fine" if you can play better games?

The environments are really dull with very few exceptions, the story never caught me and the "normal" fights feel like filler - the same goes for most of the quests. Again, nothing bad per se but also nothing exciting for me either. It's a game I'll probably have forgotten about in a year or so.

True, I miss the Nintendo DS era of handheld games that could only work on their specific console (e.g. Hotel Dusk: Room 215). And while I love my SteamDeck, it's definitely too big to casually take it with me wherever I go...

I really loved the first season to the point where I went on to play Ruined King, a League of Legends spin-off game that I quite enjoyed. Still not interested in the main game however.

It just feels kind of bland, really. The characters are flat and the story is far from engaging. The combat is enjoyable but the environments (why make a desert the first big overworld level??) and enemy designs are pretty generic. The gameplay loop is also far more stretched out than I presumed

True, I find the concept of wishlist by itself quite helpful. Even in a good relationship, you may not always talk about potential gifts after all

True, my family unfortunately adopted that culture as well - sharing Amazon wishlists for Christmas for the past few years now. I always try to surprise them with something that I bought locally however.