Yeah I can for sure agree that, for all its strengths, the series doesn’t excel at combat. And for the first half of SHf I really didn’t mind the combat, it served its purpose. I just feel the constant forced encounter gauntlets towards the end got old very fast.

Even on a 3rd playthrough it still baffles me how they went with 3 combat gauntlets back to back as their finale choice (The final boss fights slap though).

I really wish they didn’t abandon puzzles / exploration so much for the third act.

It really goes to show that having a diverse set of companions (as in each on was from one of the core groups in the story) doesn’t immediately make them interesting. Also, what was with the lack of conversations at the Lighthouse?? No getting to know them through chats or dialogue at all?? Baffling

And then poor Dragon Age. Barely dragging itself over the finish line with some of the worst companion quests I’ve seen in an RPG. With VERY few exceptions (Neve was great, I liked the conversations with Solas), the companions were dire. Good voice performances couldn’t save those quests.

Metaphor was a fantastic game with really engaging party members that were a joy to hang out with, building upon the Persona-style team building activities but with a fantasy setting that really let them flex their political ideologies.