Short version: Fun! But does not feel like a souls-like or like controlling a robot. Also janky issues about how much mass she feels to have.

Play wise. This feels like Monster Hunter. My character does not (usually) get interrupted by enemy attacks, but it depends on the weapon.

Graphics. Still look luscious even on a steam deck at minimum settings. In fact they look a bit too luscious, several times branches and stuff got in the way of the camera, distracting.

Animation. the good: it feels clunky. *Perfect* feeling for clockwork. The bad: a lot is arcade-like does not feel human, does not feel robot.

If you love robots: This robot is essentially a human with fancy descriptors, that occasionally remembers being a robot, equipping her is not like fine tuning a machine.

Long version:

I'm not a "pro gamer", never used a controller since the Super Nintendo.
I now own a steam deck, i usually play with keyboard and mouse.
Sneer all you want.
I'm not changing controller config until i know what effect it has in/outside combat.
But i do keep trying to "okay"/"cancel" enemies instead of attacking them, because i am not used to attacking with shoulder buttons.

Tutorial level is very good and very well designed, but the popups are a serious issue, they tell you what is obvious, not what is not.
I was shown i had an inventory but was not told how to bring it up.
I was not told different weapons may or may not have different combos.

If you like robots: outside of combat or with certain weapons feels *too* human and weightless.

It also feels like a magical girl with "hammerspace".
Most of the stuff that comes out of her would have no space to be inside of her.
She has a movement with each equipment swap which implies she pops the stuff out... but out of nowhere.
She has the habit of doing lots of preparation do deliver a blow and then waste that preparation to put everything back in.

I started with the first option, the bodyguard, so she is going around lugging an "hammer" of music sheets for an automatic piano, but made of metal:

• Light: telescopic arm and then swing the mass of the metal sheets and your arms at the enemies in a very wide arc and lounge.
• Heavy: same as above but extends arm first and starts winding up a flywheel with sparks and all (for... reason? Does she need oil?) and then she engages the gears (now THAT would have caused sparks, but nothing happens) and slams the hammer. Enemies get flung around. Satisfyingly clunky.
• Special: parry, she picks the 3 music sheets and opens them, Whipple Shield style.

The graphics convey that perfectly. The movements look and feel good.

But: There is no readying for the action that i want to do, you just push a button watch the robot prepare, attack, and finally, most annoyingly, un-prepare.
A lot of work wasted.
It ends up looking like one of those wushu movie duels, unsheathe sword, attack re-sheathe sword.
The combat does not feel like i am stacking programs, i push, i watch and wait, i push again. The program is stacking in my head, not in the robot that i am commanding.
When she stops attacking and starts moving around and interacting with people she becomes super-light, that's very jarring.
It's like she suddenly gains mass only when attacking, and different weapons give her different mass.
Light weapons have enemies stop her, massive weapons go through loads of enemies and are quite hard to stop the preparation of.
The character is shown constantly running (dashing just makes you run faster), stops immediately, can turn without skidding.
But those weapons are part of her body mass, that feels weird.
But then you run into perfectly fine and sturdy boxes or benches and destroy them with a light touch.
Does my character have or not have mass?! Those do not look like rotten crates and benches kept together by sawdust.
You never lose grip because (example:) you have not yet bought the correct shoes for the environment you are traversing or (different example:) because you packed too much mass in your robot. You just run turn and stop on a dime.
The equipment itself references emotions, not your robot's capabilities. Which is jarring.
They used mocap so she moves like a human, not like a robot. Just look at that wiggling spine.
The discus was also available due to being pre-bought, its animations feel completely human, not how a robot would use it.
The monsters come at you with a given speed only if they spot you and you can pretty much time when they will reach you and plan your attacks accordingly.
But, just like you, enemies have a very long range it's hard to tell when you are being attacked from behind which is the whole point of playing in 3rd person.

Do the animation convey what she does? Yes. It is the un-preparation after each attack that feels out of place, it is how they mesh with each other that does not work with me.

So while each animation looks good and perfect, the character gains and loses mass at the touch of a button.

Story wise, the whole presentation you got in the trailer is skipped in the game itself, we start with the queen tasking her to save her, not how she was gifted to the queen and what is their relationship or how the kind went mad. You are just told those things happened, go figure it out.
She is presented as an unknown thing and therefore everything about her is jarring when you start playing.
Initial character motivations are barebone, but to a point where having less would have been actually better.

On the character aesthetics: You can change the aesthetics of your robot, but:
For some reasons the body and the head are handled in a different way, so you can end up with an effect which is ... cringe at best due to face and body color clashing.
There are several different interesting options for the body (some have a full wooden look, or fully metallic) that are not available for the head.
Vice versa there is no way to give your robot an head that does not feel like "a human being, but mechanical".
For the head you have about 4 "racial tropes" with their skin tones and a harder or a slimmer face.
The base clothing are white and very masculine for the era, a white frilly thing, but you can put on a more feminine black dress. Fittingly the initial masculine clothing makes you more agile, women's clothing make you more armored. It's in your inventory, which, as i mentioned, you are not told how to reach.
I guess the idea is that she is more feminine or more masculine based on face and dress style, but she always moves in a very feminine way (and *not* like a robot).
As i said face and body can have clashing tones which can look really problematic in some case, what surprised me is that darker face tones wear no makeup and the face is very close to real skin tones, this feels out of place.
The European and Oriental face uses white varnish with black/red/gold decors (which is as inhuman as it gets and therefore my go-to choice) i'd have used a similarly inhuman "lacquered wood" or "polished onyx" looks for the other two face options and also still used bright paint that would stand out on eyeshade and lips like it happens with the white varnish faces. Instead they look just plain.
If this is a problem with low graphics setting or a glitch that did not load the textures, i do not know. Could be, game has been out only for 24 hours.
Other things that are not an option:
• "the face has the same skin tone options as the body, including chrome and gold", not an option.
• "the face is just a painted mask and does not move", not an option.
• "the face is a simple rounded surface without eyes nose mouth", not an option.
• "the face is a giant eye/camera", not an option.
• "the face is a glass dome with tourbillon behind"...
...forget about it, your robot "has to look human", even though it can only open the mouth and blink.
I'm not exactly buying a game about playing a robot because i wanted to play a human.

Also: no "no hair" option.

Still. I very much like it.

Short version: Fun! But does not feel like a souls-like or like controlling a robot. Also janky issues about how much mass she feels to have. Play wise. This feels like Monster Hunter. My character does not (usually) get interrupted by enemy attacks, but it depends on the weapon. Graphics. Still look luscious even on a steam deck at minimum settings. In fact they look a bit too luscious, several times branches and stuff got in the way of the camera, distracting. Animation. the good: it feels clunky. *Perfect* feeling for clockwork. The bad: a lot is arcade-like does not feel human, does not feel robot. If you love robots: This robot is essentially a human with fancy descriptors, that occasionally remembers being a robot, equipping her is not like fine tuning a machine. Long version: I'm not a "pro gamer", never used a controller since the Super Nintendo. I now own a steam deck, i usually play with keyboard and mouse. Sneer all you want. I'm not changing controller config until i know what effect it has in/outside combat. But i do keep trying to "okay"/"cancel" enemies instead of attacking them, because i am not used to attacking with shoulder buttons. Tutorial level is very good and very well designed, but the popups are a serious issue, they tell you what is obvious, not what is not. I was shown i had an inventory but was not told how to bring it up. I was not told different weapons may or may not have different combos. If you like robots: outside of combat or with certain weapons feels *too* human and weightless. It also feels like a magical girl with "hammerspace". Most of the stuff that comes out of her would have no space to be inside of her. She has a movement with each equipment swap which implies she pops the stuff out... but out of nowhere. She has the habit of doing lots of preparation do deliver a blow and then waste that preparation to put everything back in. I started with the first option, the bodyguard, so she is going around lugging an "hammer" of music sheets for an automatic piano, but made of metal: • Light: telescopic arm and then swing the mass of the metal sheets and your arms at the enemies in a very wide arc and lounge. • Heavy: same as above but extends arm first and starts winding up a flywheel with sparks and all (for... reason? Does she need oil?) and then she engages the gears (now THAT would have caused sparks, but nothing happens) and slams the hammer. Enemies get flung around. Satisfyingly clunky. • Special: parry, she picks the 3 music sheets and opens them, Whipple Shield style. The graphics convey that perfectly. The movements look and feel good. But: There is no readying for the action that i want to do, you just push a button watch the robot prepare, attack, and finally, most annoyingly, un-prepare. A lot of work wasted. It ends up looking like one of those wushu movie duels, unsheathe sword, attack re-sheathe sword. The combat does not feel like i am stacking programs, i push, i watch and wait, i push again. The program is stacking in my head, not in the robot that i am commanding. When she stops attacking and starts moving around and interacting with people she becomes super-light, that's very jarring. It's like she suddenly gains mass only when attacking, and different weapons give her different mass. Light weapons have enemies stop her, massive weapons go through loads of enemies and are quite hard to stop the preparation of. The character is shown constantly running (dashing just makes you run faster), stops immediately, can turn without skidding. But those weapons are part of her body mass, that feels weird. But then you run into perfectly fine and sturdy boxes or benches and destroy them with a light touch. Does my character have or not have mass?! Those do not look like rotten crates and benches kept together by sawdust. You never lose grip because (example:) you have not yet bought the correct shoes for the environment you are traversing or (different example:) because you packed too much mass in your robot. You just run turn and stop on a dime. The equipment itself references emotions, not your robot's capabilities. Which is jarring. They used mocap so she moves like a human, not like a robot. Just look at that wiggling spine. The discus was also available due to being pre-bought, its animations feel completely human, not how a robot would use it. The monsters come at you with a given speed only if they spot you and you can pretty much time when they will reach you and plan your attacks accordingly. But, just like you, enemies have a very long range it's hard to tell when you are being attacked from behind which is the whole point of playing in 3rd person. Do the animation convey what she does? Yes. It is the un-preparation after each attack that feels out of place, it is how they mesh with each other that does not work with me. So while each animation looks good and perfect, the character gains and loses mass at the touch of a button. Story wise, the whole presentation you got in the trailer is skipped in the game itself, we start with the queen tasking her to save her, not how she was gifted to the queen and what is their relationship or how the kind went mad. You are just told those things happened, go figure it out. She is presented as an unknown thing and therefore everything about her is jarring when you start playing. Initial character motivations are barebone, but to a point where having less would have been actually better. On the character aesthetics: You can change the aesthetics of your robot, but: For some reasons the body and the head are handled in a different way, so you can end up with an effect which is ... cringe at best due to face and body color clashing. There are several different interesting options for the body (some have a full wooden look, or fully metallic) that are not available for the head. Vice versa there is no way to give your robot an head that does not feel like "a human being, but mechanical". For the head you have about 4 "racial tropes" with their skin tones and a harder or a slimmer face. The base clothing are white and very masculine for the era, a white frilly thing, but you can put on a more feminine black dress. Fittingly the initial masculine clothing makes you more agile, women's clothing make you more armored. It's in your inventory, which, as i mentioned, you are not told how to reach. I guess the idea is that she is more feminine or more masculine based on face and dress style, but she always moves in a very feminine way (and *not* like a robot). As i said face and body can have clashing tones which can look really problematic in some case, what surprised me is that darker face tones wear no makeup and the face is very close to real skin tones, this feels out of place. The European and Oriental face uses white varnish with black/red/gold decors (which is as inhuman as it gets and therefore my go-to choice) i'd have used a similarly inhuman "lacquered wood" or "polished onyx" looks for the other two face options and also still used bright paint that would stand out on eyeshade and lips like it happens with the white varnish faces. Instead they look just plain. If this is a problem with low graphics setting or a glitch that did not load the textures, i do not know. Could be, game has been out only for 24 hours. Other things that are not an option: • "the face has the same skin tone options as the body, including chrome and gold", not an option. • "the face is just a painted mask and does not move", not an option. • "the face is a simple rounded surface without eyes nose mouth", not an option. • "the face is a giant eye/camera", not an option. • "the face is a glass dome with tourbillon behind"... ...forget about it, your robot "has to look human", even though it can only open the mouth and blink. I'm not exactly buying a game about playing a robot because i wanted to play a human. Also: no "no hair" option. Still. I very much like it.