*Some Spoilers*
I've finally finished it and in all my years of playing games, I don't think I have ever seen a one dragged out so much - it was an absolute chore to get to the end and most of the story in the final third was completely pointless, borderline painful and beyond ridiculous. I have never seen such utter pathetic writing in my life and I have to question what substances were being smoked by developers when they came up with this. The premise is actually interesting - a simple revenge plot where you get to experience both sides. It should have been thought-provoking, emotional and a test of morals but in the end I just ended up hating every single character and the way the game tries to guilt you into killing a dog but doesn't give a shit about the other 150 people you've killed is just stupid.
The visuals and overall production quality is extraordinary at times but the pacing and story is a convoluted mess and there is no character development. They all feel wasted and it's hard to remember each ones names. Some die and your character doesn't even seem to acknowledge or care. The overall pacing is horrendous with mostly long drawn-out looting sections and then the occasional combat scene. You then gather resources only to have to do it again. There is very few environmental puzzles or variety unlike the first and with the game being as linear and longer, it really gets predictable and tiresome. The second half of the game is plagued with QTE events and just bigger combat scenes. 15 hours of this game was not even required.
There's mistakes, plot holes, ludicrous writing and parts of the game that go off in the most nonsensical of directions. The game was also trying to be persistently horrific with lots of shock value but the emotional side they also tried to include just fell flat because it was buried in all the horror and hypocrisy. By the end, I was so exhausted with the whole experience and so were the characters as they'd killed hundreds of times and been beaten shitless just as many. I was almost expecting another 10 hours to be added on at one point and never thought it would end. This game began as one of the best games of the generation and fell apart like I have never seen a game before. There are a few very key reviews that have gone up which aren't fraudulent like the embargoed pre-release media ones - this includes Angry Joes and I highly suggest watching them whether you want the game or not.