They were reaching for the stars with this game.

It's a masterpiece like everybody says but not because of its story. It came out before multiverse idea was beaten to death so it's not surprising why the story felt so great back then. But the more writers played with this idea the more it was becoming Bioshock Infinite Plotholes.

In 2019 I didn't have vocabulary or skills to recognize problems of the story but it didn't feel as fantastic as people were describing it. Was probably a honey moon phase for them.

The ideas are great and the reason why it's still so highly acclaimed.
Going from the bottom of the ocean into the skies? Exhilirating Skylines traversal? Set pieces, Songbird, seeing the results of bending reality? It's all iconic and so uniquely presented that it can be found only in this game. Infinite made a huge leap from original Bioshock and it paid off.

It's also one of the first games to have a lively real-time companions. Elizabeth.
She's pure fantasy, feisty but joyful, shy and perfect even when she's alone by herself, sassy queen with superpowers but she also needs your strong hands to open a door for her. This is how gamer falls in love for the first time.

And a gamer like me dies of cringe. Constants and variables, baby.
It felt like someone's imagining of a perfect girlfriend. She's not too bad of character but if they'd just toned down her theatrical dreamy pixie vibe... oh wait. They did just that in the DLC!

Character's train of thought regarding jumping between worlds was baffling at all times.
Their conclusions and decisions were based on nothing, they never thought that jumping into another world can mean millions of things, like for example: what if you meet yourself, why does it even matter to complete your objective in the other universe cause you might never even made that deal there.
And most importantly: WHY do you need to kill Comstock in every other universe if it also means killing yourself and WHY do you think killing Booker means that every other Comstock will die because it clearly didn't work if you played Burial at Sea.

I do like the idea of them f*cking up the timeline so much from all the jumping that it turns into a complete mess but if that was the idea it was not well communicated or underdeveloped

Overall enjoyed parts of the story, especially Burial at Sea episodes.
Because every Bioshock went for the artstyle instead of realism it still holds up and can be considered timeless. The music is perfectly tense, the sting you get when headshotting or killing with the hook is so scary that it feels like you murdered someone in real life.

Downtown segment was amazing and only makes you wish that the game was as open and interactive, just like in the trailers.

Burial at Sea Episode 1 and 2:

Loved the plot twists, loved the tone and moody underworld, nothing beats art deco style, even the skies of Columbia.
Episode 1 is very similar to the main game but Episode 2 is where the DLC shines.
Gameplay turns into full-on stealth, you can't step on glass because you'll notify enemies or oppositely rugs can muffle footsteps, new plasmids that entertain stealth mechanics, "Air Grabber" used as a takedown weapon and a tool to hang above enemies, ledges and vents you can climb, portable crossbow with different darts. Dishonored sends its regards.

It was a huge turnaround from the main game and a pleasant surprise, despite being too easy I still had a blast.

Clash in the Skies:

Now, at first I loved this game mode, defeat waves of enemies on different maps, do optional tasks for additional moneh, upgrade in your hub in-between shooting galleries, build an actual gallery with concept art as reward.

Unfortunately, this game mode reveals a ton of problems in the combat, it would have been a bit more bearable if not for the 1999 difficulty set by default which you can't change. And I really didn't enjoy 1999 after finishing the main game on it because you constantly get stuck on some small object on the floor and it costs you death.
Camera shakes very excessively every damn time you do anything, especially when fighting Handyman enemy, holy sh*t, but when this enemy is present it's just nauseating. Do yourself a favor and disable camera shaking through mods.

Elizabeth's tears also messing up your vision during combat and make it all the more confusing.

Skylines is one of my favorite mechanics in gaming. Despite the character mentioning that Skyhook is magnetized, you can't pull yourself towards the Skyline in freefall, you can only do it from the ground while first seeing the contextual "grab" arrow AND you can't jump off the Skyline without seeing the contextual "drop down" circle!
Small thing but this RUINS the flow SO SO much because you can think you pressed the contextual button, only to realise that you jumped off the map. It is very inconsistent when the buttons appear. And on 1999 difficulty you start to notice these kind of gameplay problems. Being able to hook and land whenever you want would have added so much freedom to the movement.

On top of it, if you jump with the contextual circle you don't get any fall damage but if you jump without contextual circle you get a ton of damage! This is so unintuitive and should just be removed from the game!

Clash in the Skies is a fun mode that suffers from main game's flaws.
But overall a great Season Pass.

Final words:

A classic that should be played.
And one of the games that desparately needs a remake, not only to fix gameplay quirks and story but also to put the content that was left on the cutting room floor back on the table.

One of my favorite games, when it comes to nostalgia. I play it everytime I could plus it is a good challenge with an achievements :)

Amazing game with ming boggling ending.
The DLCs too they're a must have.