Had some weird bug that screwed with memory on my PC at the start of the game and caused windows to throw a tantrum it started during a haiku mini game I think something with the UI caused it, which was unfortunate however, after a PC restart it resolved itself and hasn't occurred again I don't think its a major issue.

The story so far is very enjoyable and the quests are very entertaining. The characters are quite like-able overall. The game however, definitely shines in terms of the game play itself it's extremely fluid and fun it reminds me of the combat of the classic assassins creed games with the parry attack chain with the excellent execution animations its satisfying as hell and the stealth is the same. However, the combat has been greatly refined over the classics with things like stances for particular types of enemies and different moves etc. It's truly great.

Another thing I like are the duels in certain missions, intense one versus one's against boss enemies that put your skill somewhat to the test these are tense and very fun definitely a highlight of the game so far.

Graphically, it's alright there are some things that look amazing in the game and some environments and then other things look well behind its time. Sony I think did a disservice releasing this four years late on PC graphically. The character models and lip syncing are specifically poor I have seen games 10+ years old with better. But then fields and certain environments look stunning its hit and miss. Combat animations and execution animations are epic and top tier.. and yet there's no dismemberment it's things like that which take away graphically and could make the game even better.

In terms of optimization aside from that issue I had at the beginning the game appears to be very well optimized as far as I can tell. However, my system is an outlier I have a 4090 and 7950x I get solid 150-180fps on 1440p on max settings. I can't see any mid to high end PC having any issue especially on a lower resolution like 1080p its definitely very well optimized aside from that bug I experienced.

There is one more bug I ran into with changing graphics settings each change would freeze the game for about 30 seconds which was very inconvenient. However, this occurred around the same time as the other bug so I think they may be one in the same.

As for PSN it's dumb they restrict purchase of it in all the countries you can't make a PSN, you can play the single player without a PSN account and I don't plan on making one either. If you want to play online you will need a PSN.. but that doesn't mean it should be restricted for those countries that can't make a PSN I'm sure many want to only play the single player and I don't see the issue with allowing them. Sony are letting the PC community down on that big time.

Definitely a game worth playing here and has to be recommended. Seven hours in and looking at the map I don't think I'm even remotely near finished. Definitely will get my euro to hour value of fun out of this one.

EDIT(After finishing the games story and most of the content):

I'll start with the positive/neutral and move to negative.

The main story overall is good. Some of the quests are very entertaining and a lot of the characters are likable and well executed. It isn't perfect and it's not something I would say is amazing there are many plot holes and convieniences that pull it back and in terms of Feudal Japan at war the whole honor morality stuff doesn't make sense or work it somewhat over stays its welcome for the sake of character tension over logic. But it can be overlooked, I won't spoil anything the story is just good its hit an miss in many points.

In terms of side quests this is where I have to say it is the most hit and miss in terms of quality. Some side quests are great ending in epic duels that are really fun and the plot is interesting and made sense. Others are boring run of the mill go hear kill mongol quests with plot convieniences.. cough.. e.g. Ishikawa story missions these are by far the worst and most boring and frustrating you'll understand after you have done five of them. Culminating in a scene where a person stands on a boat that is sailing away from shore.. sideways... historically these quests don't even make sense either. So yeah it's just fine in that regard.

The moment to moment combat is great fun. Its visceral, engaging and very fluid. It's not as complex as some people would say it's simply use the right stance for the right enemy and spam buttons while intermittently dodging or parrying. But by far it's the stand out point in the game and what will keep you engaged because everything else is either just good or mediocre like the story or bad. The stealth is also really good. The best way to describe the moment to moment game-play is like you are playing an early classic assassins creed like brotherhood for example that is set in feudal japan. I said to a friend while I was playing the game feels like the AC I wanted since AC III. Top tier in this aspect.

The fact that the DLC is also included in the game for the buy in price is also a positive.The DLC plot is mediocre but free addition is free.

The graphics. This is hit and miss as I described above my thoughts on this aspect haven't changed at all.

Now for the negatives. Firstly the subjective negative, this is very much in the vein of a far cry game even going far as to have lighthouses to climb and light, you liberate bases and towns from Mongols etc and that's the whole thing aside from the story and the duels. It's boring and uninspired and we have seen it a million times before.. The saving grace for this was the amazing moment to moment game-play if it wasn't for that.. you would not want to take part in the non story parts and I was even reaching the end of my will to continue by the end.. there is just enough without being too much before it get's stale.. but a second play through of the game would be mind numbing this for sure makes it a one off game.

Enemy diversity is seriously lacking it's serviceable but definitely not enough unique enemies. It's just a few varying mongols with different weapons, Ronin, dogs. That is basically it. The boss duels are the worst part of this, where you get hyped up by a mission or somebody talking about a named mongol general or you clear a camp to fight a named mongol general and for the 20th time its just another mongol boss with shield its very lazy and doesn't help with the far cry open world game-play in terms of keeping you engaged.

There is some weird jank in the game too. Like certain rises in terrain where an enemy stands etc making it physically impossible to hit them while they can hit you etc.. even though you are practically level. Some archers can fire their bows to the side yet somehow the arrow comes directly to you. Things like that nothing game breaking just janky and odd.

Finally. The frame stutter and windows killing bug I got was not a memory leak after all. Apparently malwarebytes (MWB) has some weird issue with the game causing stutters. I believe it has something to do with the games save system and autosaves. The save menu would not work at all during it and it would stutter hard. The game runs great if you just turn off MWB so if you use MWB just do that and you'll be fine I can't attribute the fault on MWB itself or the games programming so I won't make a judgement.

So all in all. The game is good I certainly feel like I got my monies worth even though I actually in the end didn't get the euro to hour value. The game is definitely worth playing, although I would wait for a discount I think 30-40 euro would be the sweet spot price for this one.

Had some weird bug that screwed with memory on my PC at the start of the game and caused windows to throw a tantrum it started during a haiku mini game I think something with the UI caused it, which was unfortunate however, after a PC restart it resolved itself and hasn't occurred again I don't think its a major issue. The story so far is very enjoyable and the quests are very entertaining. The characters are quite like-able overall. The game however, definitely shines in terms of the game play itself it's extremely fluid and fun it reminds me of the combat of the classic assassins creed games with the parry attack chain with the excellent execution animations its satisfying as hell and the stealth is the same. However, the combat has been greatly refined over the classics with things like stances for particular types of enemies and different moves etc. It's truly great. Another thing I like are the duels in certain missions, intense one versus one's against boss enemies that put your skill somewhat to the test these are tense and very fun definitely a highlight of the game so far. Graphically, it's alright there are some things that look amazing in the game and some environments and then other things look well behind its time. Sony I think did a disservice releasing this four years late on PC graphically. The character models and lip syncing are specifically poor I have seen games 10+ years old with better. But then fields and certain environments look stunning its hit and miss. Combat animations and execution animations are epic and top tier.. and yet there's no dismemberment it's things like that which take away graphically and could make the game even better. In terms of optimization aside from that issue I had at the beginning the game appears to be very well optimized as far as I can tell. However, my system is an outlier I have a 4090 and 7950x I get solid 150-180fps on 1440p on max settings. I can't see any mid to high end PC having any issue especially on a lower resolution like 1080p its definitely very well optimized aside from that bug I experienced. There is one more bug I ran into with changing graphics settings each change would freeze the game for about 30 seconds which was very inconvenient. However, this occurred around the same time as the other bug so I think they may be one in the same. As for PSN it's dumb they restrict purchase of it in all the countries you can't make a PSN, you can play the single player without a PSN account and I don't plan on making one either. If you want to play online you will need a PSN.. but that doesn't mean it should be restricted for those countries that can't make a PSN I'm sure many want to only play the single player and I don't see the issue with allowing them. Sony are letting the PC community down on that big time. Definitely a game worth playing here and has to be recommended. Seven hours in and looking at the map I don't think I'm even remotely near finished. Definitely will get my euro to hour value of fun out of this one. EDIT(After finishing the games story and most of the content): I'll start with the positive/neutral and move to negative. The main story overall is good. Some of the quests are very entertaining and a lot of the characters are likable and well executed. It isn't perfect and it's not something I would say is amazing there are many plot holes and convieniences that pull it back and in terms of Feudal Japan at war the whole honor morality stuff doesn't make sense or work it somewhat over stays its welcome for the sake of character tension over logic. But it can be overlooked, I won't spoil anything the story is just good its hit an miss in many points. In terms of side quests this is where I have to say it is the most hit and miss in terms of quality. Some side quests are great ending in epic duels that are really fun and the plot is interesting and made sense. Others are boring run of the mill go hear kill mongol quests with plot convieniences.. cough.. e.g. Ishikawa story missions these are by far the worst and most boring and frustrating you'll understand after you have done five of them. Culminating in a scene where a person stands on a boat that is sailing away from shore.. sideways... historically these quests don't even make sense either. So yeah it's just fine in that regard. The moment to moment combat is great fun. Its visceral, engaging and very fluid. It's not as complex as some people would say it's simply use the right stance for the right enemy and spam buttons while intermittently dodging or parrying. But by far it's the stand out point in the game and what will keep you engaged because everything else is either just good or mediocre like the story or bad. The stealth is also really good. The best way to describe the moment to moment game-play is like you are playing an early classic assassins creed like brotherhood for example that is set in feudal japan. I said to a friend while I was playing the game feels like the AC I wanted since AC III. Top tier in this aspect. The fact that the DLC is also included in the game for the buy in price is also a positive.The DLC plot is mediocre but free addition is free. The graphics. This is hit and miss as I described above my thoughts on this aspect haven't changed at all. Now for the negatives. Firstly the subjective negative, this is very much in the vein of a far cry game even going far as to have lighthouses to climb and light, you liberate bases and towns from Mongols etc and that's the whole thing aside from the story and the duels. It's boring and uninspired and we have seen it a million times before.. The saving grace for this was the amazing moment to moment game-play if it wasn't for that.. you would not want to take part in the non story parts and I was even reaching the end of my will to continue by the end.. there is just enough without being too much before it get's stale.. but a second play through of the game would be mind numbing this for sure makes it a one off game. Enemy diversity is seriously lacking it's serviceable but definitely not enough unique enemies. It's just a few varying mongols with different weapons, Ronin, dogs. That is basically it. The boss duels are the worst part of this, where you get hyped up by a mission or somebody talking about a named mongol general or you clear a camp to fight a named mongol general and for the 20th time its just another mongol boss with shield its very lazy and doesn't help with the far cry open world game-play in terms of keeping you engaged. There is some weird jank in the game too. Like certain rises in terrain where an enemy stands etc making it physically impossible to hit them while they can hit you etc.. even though you are practically level. Some archers can fire their bows to the side yet somehow the arrow comes directly to you. Things like that nothing game breaking just janky and odd. Finally. The frame stutter and windows killing bug I got was not a memory leak after all. Apparently malwarebytes (MWB) has some weird issue with the game causing stutters. I believe it has something to do with the games save system and autosaves. The save menu would not work at all during it and it would stutter hard. The game runs great if you just turn off MWB so if you use MWB just do that and you'll be fine I can't attribute the fault on MWB itself or the games programming so I won't make a judgement. So all in all. The game is good I certainly feel like I got my monies worth even though I actually in the end didn't get the euro to hour value. The game is definitely worth playing, although I would wait for a discount I think 30-40 euro would be the sweet spot price for this one.