I bought this game a while ago and decided to give a try recently. So here's my review:

A somewhat good game with a decent story, so I'll still recommend Eastward.
Might want to consider giving this game a chance during a sale.
But make sure this game is for you first.

Music and the graphics/artstyle of the game are easily the strongest features of this game.
The setting and atmosphere of the game are another strong point. I think I liked every location with the exception of the location on Chapter 6.

Puzzles, which utilized both player-controlled characters were quite decent.

You will spend most of time watching cutscenes or talking to NPCs so be wary of that.

Combat is a little basic and quite easy - I didn't die a single time throughout the entire game.
Even the bosses were so easy that they felt like regular enemies.

You could technically tank all enemies since you have a lot of health and you get so much health from the food you make - you can even pause during combat to consume as much food as you want effectively turning you a god.

The minor exception is only the boss right before the final boss of the game - that was the only time I felt nice to not only tank. That specific boss was a lot more decently designed compared to other bosses on the basis that she wouldn't drop dead after 10 seconds. Introduced a cool parry mechanic as well which you would only see again at a portion of the final boss (which was a shame).

Exploring was unfortunately lacking a little as well, because your path was severely restricted, either by natural blocks (e.g. thorny bushes you need to burn later) or by NPCs (Sam: "we cannot go there, we need to go there first, John!").

The slow start on Chapter 1 and the entirety of Chapter 6 also severely kill the pace of the game, the tension really started building up after Chapters 4-5 but then you go on Chapter 6 to do boring minigames.

At least you can skip Chapter 6 after completing the game, since you are given the option to start at specific chapters

Some twists that take place on the final chapters don't make sense, for example how did Isabel know how to merge Charon and Alva, and why does Alva return as a ghost after merging with Charon? Why does Sam even come back to life after Charon is defeated?

The game won't give answers to some questions that are raised throughout the story, but this isn't always necessarily bad, for example with the case of Sam. However, there were cases were an answer to some questions was clearly needed to explain these twists - like the case of Isabel, Charon and Alva - otherwise these twists feel like they come out of nowhere. To think of a comparison, see how Leila suddenly flies back to the starship after being blown out to space during the Last Jedi.

It sucks because these could have easily been solved with a few additional cutscenes and/or changes to dialogue, for example Isabel learns about how to merge Alva and Charon from the Mother or from Solomon.

It really felt like there were twists simply for the sake of having twists.

And speaking of having things for the sake of having things, can I also mention that the game will also throw at you random out-of-place and borderline NSFW stuff like stripper outfit you need to retrieve from a brothel to give to a character during a sidequest or a "glory hole" machine on a monkey train of all places... Yeah.

Still a decent game, but quite a shame as the game clearly had potential to be much much better with a little more time and a little more direction.

[b]I bought this game a while ago and decided to give a try recently. So here's my review:[/b] [b]A somewhat good game with a decent story, so I'll still recommend Eastward. Might want to consider giving this game a chance during a sale. [u]But make sure this game is for you first.[/u][/b] Music and the graphics/artstyle of the game are easily the strongest features of this game. The setting and atmosphere of the game are another strong point. I think I liked every location with the exception of the location on Chapter 6. Puzzles, which utilized both player-controlled characters were quite decent. You will spend most of time watching cutscenes or talking to NPCs so be wary of that. Combat is a little basic and quite easy - I didn't die a single time throughout the entire game. Even the bosses were so easy that they felt like regular enemies. You could technically tank all enemies since you have a lot of health and you get so much health from the food you make - you can even pause during combat to consume as much food as you want effectively turning you a god. The minor exception is only the boss right before the final boss of the game - that was the only time I felt nice to not only tank. That specific boss was a lot more decently designed compared to other bosses on the basis that she wouldn't drop dead after 10 seconds. Introduced a cool parry mechanic as well which you would only see again at a portion of the final boss (which was a shame). Exploring was unfortunately lacking a little as well, because your path was severely restricted, either by natural blocks (e.g. thorny bushes you need to burn later) or by NPCs (Sam: "we cannot go there, we need to go there first, John!"). The slow start on Chapter 1 and the entirety of Chapter 6 also severely kill the pace of the game, the tension really started building up after Chapters 4-5 but then you go on Chapter 6 to do boring minigames. At least you can skip Chapter 6 after completing the game, since you are given the option to start at specific chapters Some twists that take place on the final chapters don't make sense, for example [spoiler]how did Isabel know how to merge Charon and Alva, and why does Alva return as a ghost after merging with Charon? Why does Sam even come back to life after Charon is defeated?[/spoiler] The game won't give answers to some questions that are raised throughout the story, but this isn't always necessarily bad, for example [spoiler]with the case of Sam[/spoiler]. However, there were cases were an answer to some questions was clearly needed to explain these twists - [spoiler]like the case of Isabel, Charon and Alva[/spoiler] - otherwise these twists feel like they come out of nowhere. To think of a comparison, see how Leila suddenly flies back to the starship after being blown out to space during the Last Jedi. It sucks because these could have easily been solved with a few additional cutscenes and/or changes to dialogue, for example [spoiler]Isabel learns about how to merge Alva and Charon from the Mother or from Solomon[/spoiler]. It really felt like there were twists simply for the sake of having twists. And speaking of having things for the sake of having things, can I also mention that the game will also throw at you random out-of-place and borderline NSFW stuff like [u]stripper outfit you need to retrieve from a brothel to give to a character during a sidequest or a "glory hole" machine on a monkey train of all places...[/u] Yeah. Still a decent game, but quite a shame as the game clearly had potential to be much much better with a little more time and a little more direction.