Redoing my review after completing the game, which will be twofold: some words on the game, and some words on the narrative / community.

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• In short: excellent atmosphere (both audio/music and visuals) coupled with a strong narrative.
  Gameplay wise, it's a mix of light exploration (in corridor-like areas), some puzzles and combat with some souls-like elements (counter, dodge).
  Puzzles and combat come with seperate difficulty sliders.
  
  
• Combat works on its own it's just that there are some sections with unavoidable ennemies. My biggest gripes are the camera -especially in corridors- that is too close and narrow and some questionnable attack patterns from our character (lack of reach, weird swings).
  
  
• Also the game's stucture doesn't give the player the better tools (that lightly alter combat approach) on the first playthrough, it is expected from the player to go through new games+ [emphasis on plural].
  This point could be treated as a negative since properly finishing the game can feel like a chore sometimes.
  
  Hopefully ng+ should be much shorter. And do notice that some things start to change on ng+, which brings us to the narrative.

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• This is where the game seems to be divisive, isn't it? I gave a quick glance at some forums / videos that tend to invoke some controversial subjects or rage-bait like titles surrounding the game.
  
  Thing is, and even if some lines in SHf could be puzzling considering our nowadays, people NEED to go through at least one of the new game+ paths before accusing the game of carrying any deliberate agenda.
  
  
• Because on every subsequent playthrough -provided a new ending path is chased each time- there are NEW documents and scenes (yes, scenes!) to find that give a different perspective to the story and characters.
  
  The 4th ending path (which is locked behind 2ng+) might just reframe important parts of the story and characters dynamics.
  SHf is (much) more nuanced than what was given on the first normal playthrough..
  
  
• ..and I liked it. There was a very specific emotional payoff that I will remember.
  And the japanese lore works really well. Also wanted to bring this attention to details that conveys meaning, like some altered puzzles on ng+.

Final words: Shichibi no Tasogare, The Sakura Cries.