I haven't beaten the game yet, but in one sitting I got to the final area. Played from 7:30PM to 2:30AM last night to do so. This game is far far better than the first for me in every possible way. Like it's ridiculous how much better it is. And the graphics are much better than I thought they would be. Sure it has a lot of small issues that people are making a huge deal over in other games like R2. But the art direction and overall package just brings it to that next level.
Keep in mind that my brain can somehow be impressed by console graphics even though I play all my PC games with the highest settings my GTX 280 can muster, when I say that this is the best looking console game I've played to date (which means it's been released since I never bother with betas). It's giving me that Soul Calibur on the DC in 1999 feeling when I look at it

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I love when games come together this well.