I really like how the story unfolds as you progress through it, not only in the sense that you find out more about Yi, but rather you find out about the events that not even Yi knew of that are a direct causation of everything. I said in
>>133151 after fighting Lady Ethereal that it seemed like everyone was
in hibernation because of some sort of goal of immortality, I was half-right. In actuality the reason for the sloppiness and hastily deployment of the project was not because of poor government oversight, but instead
that there was a 'disease' wreaking havoc on the Solarian population and causing everyone infected to deteriorate and turn into a Tao flower that further spread the infection, and the eternal cauldron project that put everyone into hibernation was a way of allowing researches to try and develop a cure while the rest of the population slept in a dreamworld awaiting freedom from the infection.Little did they know that one of the attempts at fixing the infection was going to cause a mutation that turned them into mindless zombie-like creatures that eventually gained near-immortality thanks to their consumption of the roots of life that was shared with the collective. This infection being spread further by one of the main researchers that has taken it to be a sign of their next step in evolution. And then even more the researcher who's doing this was responsible for the disease in the first place since it was a product of her trying to make a name for herself by solving immortality and the experiment failed and produced the disease. There's quite a lot of layers that unfold one after the other I was able to figure out and guess the last two after thinking on the first a bit. But I have to appreciate the mystery-like nature of it all.
Aside from that main plotline, the rest of the interactions and story is about the remaining awake Solarians dealing with the situation at hand that has yet to be resolved after centuries, and each character is well fleshed out, including the Sol whose motivations and history are all revealed in segments after you take their seals. I was curious about the role of Shuanshuan at first, but quickly you realize that
he's filling in the role of Yi's late sister and the connection makes him unable to let go and also grow fond over him during the course of the game. The little interactions through talking and giving items really develops and molds his character from one of a protected doll to a symbol of humanity's capability later (assuming you give him all the items and such, not sure what happens if you just ignore him). The others in the Pavilion have a fair bit of development as well, but I'd say that's more spoilery and best experienced on your own, I will say I was quite fond of how they'd sometimes interact with each other in events as you progress their characters more making the Pavilion feel like more of a living establishment than just some neutral hub. Yi himself seems more coldhearted and set on revenge early on, but you can see the cracks in that mask as the story moves forwards.
In addition the gameplay is just amazing. I know I already said this, but after having unlocked each Jade, the ways that you can approach combat really open up to being quite varied despite the seemingly limited arsenal. Boss fights have only gotten more complex and spectacular, and the enemy variety makes it feel such that you're not just going through the same motions again and again. The puzzle variety and depth is pretty nice too, nothing SH3 hard level, but good little brain exercises. World exploration is pretty simple and straightforwards though, not too much backtracking or really deeply hidden secrets. But, it was enough that I wouldn't count it against the game as a flaw, just not its major focus. Hollow Knight still is miles above it on that front.
Overall a really excellent game with a gripping story. Would recommend to all of /qa/. I give it a 9/Silksong