Having played this game, we can confirmed that 1) USERS meta-critics score 2)hatreds towards this game, both are unjustified and baseless for those that did not play. Its ok to hate the developers , but we know that its because of that, they are biased towards the gameplay itself. Just by watching the gameplay, do no justice to the game itself VS playing it yourself, find out why in this no spoiler small reviews;

Story:
Having 20hrs in this game, we can also confirmed that the controversy of "black samurai impact the inaccurate Japan history" is 100% argument invalid. Reason for placing a black samurai as Main Character, this allow a good flow and interesting story set up where there is alot of backstory as to why he is in Japan. Imagine putting a usual popular samurai , and end up everyone already predicted what will happened to him, what he did , there is no much interesting story to write about. There will be no interesting link to Naoe who is native Japanese. Yes, in the mid story hours, there is a part where you confirmed will be WOW when the 2 characters meet and their interesting link to each other. There is totally no "black" racist story element in this game. It will also be explain why he is in Japan and the people around how they react.
Story is full of twist and turns where there are parts where u do not expect this to happen. There is also alot of emotional roller coaster ride that dig deep into the background of all characters including NPC.

Graphics:
The facial animations in cut scenes is very well done where u can see all the emotional details of facial muscle twitching.
Japan scenery is also top notch where each trees leaves moving, wind hitting the bamboo, grass , lighting etc all is very alive.

Combat and stealth:
They say that you can just blast thru the enemies by button smashing everything. 100000% wrong. The enemies in this game is by far the best modern AC game that have good AI in combat and path-finding (for stealth). Enemy will deflect u, will suddenly open a unblockable attack, will dodge roll away AND will call in all their allies and u will see 10 enemies surround u. So going loud and bang is sometimes not the most optimal way.
Stealth is super well done. Very good layout of all the infrastructure for u to stealth your way. U will encounter all different layout in each fortress. For expert difficulty, enemies will look up constantly on roof no matter the height of it. Even if u climb around it, they go near the roof to try to find the line of sight of u, if u are spotted, be prepared to be attack by all range weapon. Luckily u can now go prone (laying on your belly) on top of roof, yes crouch down is also not safe.

Gear and skill progression:
No more tons of gear where all is redundant. Each Epic and above gear u find is essential in different play-style. No more sets gear which makes each gear pieces u find is immediately useful in its perks. No more heavy complex skill tree. Every notch of skill u invest in, u can see the impact during gameplay, its no more surface level passive.

Open world exploration and quest:
Having 20 hrs in, the world is so alive and full of liveliness where there are thing to see which makes u stop by to see what is that while questing. No more massive icons all around. Places of interest are mark as question mark till u reach near the area by foot where it will be reveal, yes no more eagle summon, no more synchronization on "tower" to reveal everything (it will be question mark on the place of interest). Quest marker is now place in such that it circled a large area which encourage to go out and explore to find the target by using the clues. There is also times where quest totally have no marker which makes u needed to go to quest board to find clues. This is by far the least hand-holding AC modern game. Rather than the usual list of quest menu from top to bottom, the quest board is very interesting where investigating the clues given (also what the NPC said) is important.

Having played this game, we can confirmed that 1) USERS meta-critics score 2)hatreds towards this game, both are unjustified and baseless for those that did not play. Its ok to hate the developers , but we know that its because of that, they are biased towards the gameplay itself. Just by watching the gameplay, do no justice to the game itself VS playing it yourself, find out why in this no spoiler small reviews; Story: Having 20hrs in this game, we can also confirmed that the controversy of "black samurai impact the inaccurate Japan history" is 100% argument invalid. Reason for placing a black samurai as Main Character, this allow a good flow and interesting story set up where there is alot of backstory as to why he is in Japan. Imagine putting a usual popular samurai , and end up everyone already predicted what will happened to him, what he did , there is no much interesting story to write about. There will be no interesting link to Naoe who is native Japanese. Yes, in the mid story hours, there is a part where you confirmed will be WOW when the 2 characters meet and their interesting link to each other. There is totally no "black" racist story element in this game. It will also be explain why he is in Japan and the people around how they react. Story is full of twist and turns where there are parts where u do not expect this to happen. There is also alot of emotional roller coaster ride that dig deep into the background of all characters including NPC. Graphics: The facial animations in cut scenes is very well done where u can see all the emotional details of facial muscle twitching. Japan scenery is also top notch where each trees leaves moving, wind hitting the bamboo, grass , lighting etc all is very alive. Combat and stealth: They say that you can just blast thru the enemies by button smashing everything. 100000% wrong. The enemies in this game is by far the best modern AC game that have good AI in combat and path-finding (for stealth). Enemy will deflect u, will suddenly open a unblockable attack, will dodge roll away AND will call in all their allies and u will see 10 enemies surround u. So going loud and bang is sometimes not the most optimal way. Stealth is super well done. Very good layout of all the infrastructure for u to stealth your way. U will encounter all different layout in each fortress. For expert difficulty, enemies will look up constantly on roof no matter the height of it. Even if u climb around it, they go near the roof to try to find the line of sight of u, if u are spotted, be prepared to be attack by all range weapon. Luckily u can now go prone (laying on your belly) on top of roof, yes crouch down is also not safe. Gear and skill progression: No more tons of gear where all is redundant. Each Epic and above gear u find is essential in different play-style. No more sets gear which makes each gear pieces u find is immediately useful in its perks. No more heavy complex skill tree. Every notch of skill u invest in, u can see the impact during gameplay, its no more surface level passive. Open world exploration and quest: Having 20 hrs in, the world is so alive and full of liveliness where there are thing to see which makes u stop by to see what is that while questing. No more massive icons all around. Places of interest are mark as question mark till u reach near the area by foot where it will be reveal, yes no more eagle summon, no more synchronization on "tower" to reveal everything (it will be question mark on the place of interest). Quest marker is now place in such that it circled a large area which encourage to go out and explore to find the target by using the clues. There is also times where quest totally have no marker which makes u needed to go to quest board to find clues. This is by far the least hand-holding AC modern game. Rather than the usual list of quest menu from top to bottom, the quest board is very interesting where investigating the clues given (also what the NPC said) is important.