Just so nobody can say I never gave this game a chance;
40 hours played, all endings seen, even read through plot synopsis' online to ensure I understood everything correctly, which I had.
I have quite literally studied this sad excuse for a game.

From beginning to end, this game is mediocre and lackluster.

The writing is nonsensical and outright contradictory at numerous points.
Characters are unlikeable and forced.
Plot is ultimately meaningless and all twists are either childishly predictable or exhaustingly fabricated.
Environments are bland and unremarkable. The only remotely interesting areas being the Circus and the late-game towers.
Combat is floaty, and painfully easy with non-committal attacks and readily spammable dodge. Which could be interesting if even the most basic enemies weren't still fairly tanky even later in the game.

I've said it once before in another version of this review, but my stance still holds true;
I have seen high-schoolers write more compelling and interesting narratives with more nuanced and likeable characters.

Right from the beginning, the game removes all stakes by investing the player in what might otherwise be a tense and grandiose moment with the main characters preparing for a heroic sacrifice; Only for moments later to completely negate any tension or sense of risk by having the main characters literally and canonically 'respawn' back at base and just be like, 'Oh boy, mission complete eh?'
So as a player I immediately have no reason to believe any of these characters should have any remote fear of death since it is canonically meaningless.
Even with the game poorly attempting to go with the whole "but you lose that little bit of yourself each time you die" if the characters don't upload the last 30 minutes of their life before they die. Ultimately, what they lose in inconsequential and meaningless. None of the characters in this game grow or develop in any significant or meaningful regard that would really utilize that 'losing part of yourself' motif as a result of death.
Not to mention the whole 9S 'twist'.
"But 9S finding out that his life is a lie and nothing is real is such a mind-blowing bomb-shell!"
Except it's not, and it's not. Not only was this twist telegraphed from the first moments of the game, It's also ultimately meaningless in the grand scheme of the story because as the story later explains, everything was designed to just self-destruct anyway, for no real reason. So 9S finding out this information changes nothing. Not to mention, what was supposed to be a closely guarded secret was just freely handed out to 9S by Commander as soon as he got even the slightest whiff, signed, sealed, and dated. Which almost 100% invalidates the entire 2B is 2E revelation since the whole point of that was to stop 9S from finding out what he finds out no matter what. But then Commander just ignores that entirely just and gives him the info without any resistance.
More on the 2E 'twist'. Aside from it being completely invalidated already, it's another meaningless plot-point that changes nothing and has no genuine impact.
"Oh but think about all the times 2B had to kill 9S! How sad!" Except again, death is canonically meaningless, her killing him meant nothing in the end because Commander just bypassed all that anyway, and since all that murder-death happened off-screen, I have no reason to believe 2B is even remorseful or effected, or that it even happened.
The only remotely interesting plot element in this game is the whole Project Gestalt idea. But even that is just a lore-doc you find in the world somewhere, or you might be given it by an NPC, I can't remember. And from what I can tell it's kind of a very important story detail that's treated in such a lackadaisical fashion.
At the end of it all, everyone dies and none of it mattered and the game makes sure you know that.
Such an ill-crafted, poorly designed, and badly thought-out experience from beginning to end.
Why anybody thinks this game rates on any scale of quality is beyond me.
Literally the only redeeming quality, and to this day I genuinely believe the only thing people actually like about this game, is 2B's fine booty. If I had to say one nice thing about this game, it's that the modelers did an excellent job with 2B's thicc ass, but quite literally not one thing else.

Just so nobody can say I never gave this game a chance; 40 hours played, all endings seen, even read through plot synopsis' online to ensure I understood everything correctly, which I had. I have quite literally [i]studied[/i] this sad excuse for a game. From beginning to end, this game is mediocre and lackluster. The writing is nonsensical and outright contradictory at numerous points. Characters are unlikeable and forced. Plot is ultimately meaningless and all twists are either childishly predictable or exhaustingly fabricated. Environments are bland and unremarkable. The only remotely interesting areas being the Circus and the late-game towers. Combat is floaty, and painfully easy with non-committal attacks and readily spammable dodge. Which could be interesting if even the most basic enemies weren't still fairly tanky even later in the game. I've said it once before in another version of this review, but my stance still holds true; I have seen high-schoolers write more compelling and interesting narratives with more nuanced and likeable characters. Right from the beginning, the game removes all stakes by investing the player in what might otherwise be a tense and grandiose moment with the main characters preparing for a heroic sacrifice; Only for moments later to completely negate any tension or sense of risk by having the main characters literally and canonically 'respawn' back at base and just be like, 'Oh boy, mission complete eh?' So as a player I immediately have no reason to believe any of these characters should have any remote fear of death since it is canonically meaningless. Even with the game poorly attempting to go with the whole "but you lose that little bit of yourself each time you die" if the characters don't upload the last 30 minutes of their life before they die. Ultimately, what they lose in inconsequential and meaningless. None of the characters in this game grow or develop in any significant or meaningful regard that would really utilize that 'losing part of yourself' motif as a result of death. Not to mention the whole 9S 'twist'. "But 9S finding out that his life is a lie and nothing is real is such a mind-blowing bomb-shell!" Except it's not, and it's not. Not only was this twist telegraphed from the first moments of the game, It's also ultimately meaningless in the grand scheme of the story because as the story later explains, everything was designed to just self-destruct anyway, for no real reason. So 9S finding out this information changes nothing. Not to mention, what was supposed to be a closely guarded secret was just freely handed out to 9S by Commander as soon as he got even the slightest whiff, signed, sealed, and dated. Which almost 100% invalidates the entire 2B is 2E revelation since the whole point of that was to stop 9S from finding out what he finds out no matter what. But then Commander just ignores that entirely just and gives him the info without any resistance. More on the 2E 'twist'. Aside from it being completely invalidated already, it's another meaningless plot-point that changes nothing and has no genuine impact. "Oh but think about all the times 2B had to kill 9S! How sad!" Except again, death is canonically meaningless, her killing him meant nothing in the end because Commander just bypassed all that anyway, and since all that murder-death happened off-screen, I have no reason to believe 2B is even remorseful or effected, or that it even happened. The only remotely interesting plot element in this game is the whole Project Gestalt idea. But even that is just a lore-doc you find in the world somewhere, or you might be given it by an NPC, I can't remember. And from what I can tell it's kind of a very important story detail that's treated in such a lackadaisical fashion. At the end of it all, everyone dies and none of it mattered and the game makes sure you know that. Such an ill-crafted, poorly designed, and badly thought-out experience from beginning to end. Why anybody thinks this game rates on any scale of quality is beyond me. Literally the only redeeming quality, and to this day I genuinely believe the only thing people actually like about this game, is 2B's fine booty. If I had to say one nice thing about this game, it's that the modelers did an excellent job with 2B's thicc ass, but quite literally not one thing else.