SANABI

• Genre: Platforming Action
• Spoiler Free Review: Not entirely, a little bit spoiled contextually, mechanically.
• Time Played: Can't see yet. I don't know... 15 hours?
• Too Short/Long: It's mostly fine, but I rarely enjoy the "rerun through whole game again" shebang, which this has you do, to be fair it was an abbreviated version that went pretty quick, but still.
• Soundtrack: It has some really cool and atmospheric tracks, it's high points are high but it's mostly just serviceable.
• Why I played: I'll likely give any game where grappling hook is a primary mechanic a shot, but this one is definitely more my style. I kind of forgot why I added to my wishlist for a long time and screenshots didn't do it justice. A friend mentioned playing it(may have suggested it?) and so that bumped it up on my to-play. 
• Did I cry: I got choked up a couple times and thought I was at the end and going to say "Surprisingly, no", but then it got me for a long one.
• Jank: The jank comes mostly from the localization being a little awkward. Sometimes it feels perfectly fine, sometimes it feels weird, sometimes there is a reason it is weird, sometimes I think it's an odd choice for why it's weird. Other than that, there are times where it feels the mechanics or controls are working against you/not exactly how you want, but it's mostly fine.
• Difficulty: It can be pretty difficult at times. Mostly it's not entirely too hard once you grasp how the grappling handles - which I do feel is slightly off, but regardless, it probably didn't help I went the whole game without using the "slowdown time and aim" feature. I noticed it once early on, didn't need it for a long time, forgot about it, had some areas I had more trouble with, then accidentally pressed the button for it and "remembered" it existed in the final moments of the game, by then my muscle memory was already adequate enough to carry me the rest of the way.
• Recommend to others: I would definitely recommend Sanabi to people who like unique takes on platforming action. It's not quite like it, but it reminds me of Dandara, just because of how unique Dandara is in how it handles. Sanabi isn't quite that unique, but you're likely spending more time swinging on the grappling hook, pulling in your line (which does feel Dandara-esque), and running up walls, then you are running along the ground.
  

Sanabi was a good game and overall I really enjoyed it. The story is a little convoluted and takes awhile to get it's point across. It could also do a bit better with providing more of the story throughout the game rather than backloading I think what might be the vast majority of it. Not that some of the earlier interactions aren't necessary to build it up, but that just means it feels a little empty in the middle and the end is a dramatic shift. The pacing is off, is really all I'm saying.

It doesn't specifically have "levels", it's more of a "chapter" game, but each chapter has it's own set of gimmicks, which is pretty fun, so I feel like it's mostly well designed in that aspect. They utilize some aspects more than others, but they usually expand upon things later on and toss a little in later to mix it up. That might also be a part of what the final rerun through the game is for, but it could have been a new area instead of replaying(albeit modified).

There is one thing I don't like graphically, and I jumped right into another game that did it and decided to play something else. The "blank space" of the game is just all black. In a game with some gorgeous cyberpunk style art in the backgrounds, you'd think they could have put some foreground textures up. Instead it's just black space and it makes it feel very... game makery. I think it's mostly a well crafted game, it's just something like that takes a bit away from it's personality and makes it feel like less effort went into it. I know a ton of games do it, but it kind of made me realize I don't like, and am tired of seeing it. It's especially common in twitchy precision platformers for some reason so maybe they're just playing to the genre. But I don't want it. At least just fill it in with some generic metal panels or something.