Troll and I

Troll and I has a bit of a reception for being a notoriously bad game, and while it is indeed a game, I don't believe it deserves the low reputation it has; far from it. The game tells the tale of a forlorn teenager named Otto, like the bus driver in The Simpsons, and a monstrous looking eponymous troll as they work together to return back to their families. You fight, solve puzzles and collect secrets through beautiful Scandinavia while the villain Nico and his men hunt the troll down. It isn't just man that threatens you, it's also the diverse nature hazards and the hostile mountain goblins that use a variety of weapons to hurt both you and Troll.
The skeleton crew that made this game have been extremely ambitious in their attempt of creating a bond between man and monster, and sometimes they succeeded. Each have their own strengths such as Otto being able to sneak, get back-stabs, craft gear and gather food while Troll can throw rocks to disable goblin spawn points, bellow at enemies to stun and even go invisible. And it all works pretty well. The main issue is where they work together as it often provides no main benefit that you can't get from playing separately and having the AI badly handle their own combat encounters. A perfect example of this is ordering the troll to follow you; many times he would get stuck in terrain that is relatively easy to avoid and instead it's quicker to simply mount Troll and guide both at once. Often it is visually cool to see a large battle between three forces fight but those situations are extremely rare.
Many of the issues I had with the AI could be solved by playing in co-op mode. The issue I have is of course, being a loner. It has no online co-op limiting you to a controller for one person, and keyboard/mouse for the other. So I can't really comment but I'm sure it will make the game even much more enjoyable. However, there are definitely touching moments through the campaign that are heartbreaking and I think the game should be played for these very few moments even if alone.
The world design is impressive and similar to Dark Souls believe it or not. Multiple times you will come across rocks that block locations because you do not have a spear strong enough to break them. They are just a colour swap of the spears so it is difficult to remember these locations as they blend it with the rest of the environment, which is simply just plains, rocks and trees. There is also no map, but still a mini-map for some reason, which can further complicate things when wondering if backtracking is necessary. As the game progresses you do come across buildings that have good vertical design with many floors and plenty of secret idols are well hidden. These idols can be used to upgrade your characters skills such as health but they don't introduce new combat mechanics.
Going on this adventure being hunted should of course have a mental impact on Otto, and initially it does. However not long after, Otto seems to show no remorse for the humans he is killing and would even finish off people with a flurry of combo attacks long after they died. Maybe because there is no blood effects, these “people” aren't actually human but that seems too deep of a story for this game. One neat thing about these animations is that they change depending on what weapon you are using, but the parry animation stays the same.
A concern I have for potential buyers is the prevalent issue of bugs (not the insect kind) that worsened as the game went on. Some weren't too bad such as getting stuck at the top of stairs and throwing invisible spears, but there are a couple that require restarting the chapter because Otto gets stuck in the air continuously falling. One bug was so severe that I had to restart the game from the very start due to Troll being stuck in a unmovable state that didn't fix itself. This could have been softened with the ability to save in multiple slots, but you can't. What hardened the blow was the new game I created DID save into a new slot.
Overall, Troll and I might be a hidden gem as absurd as it is to say. The game takes clear nods from The Last Guardian and The Last of Us, and sometimes comically so, but those aren't bad games to take inspiration from. It can feel quite monotonous exploring such similar environments over the course of 7 hours but the story segments that show off an incredible friendship are worth witnessing even if like me you have to redo 75% of it.