Laika: Aged Through Blood is a game that embodies a prime example of the themes I am utterly enthralled with in a story. It's rife with feeling, emotion and depth. It's so very beautiful in its bleakness, and the art, animation, character and world designs are expressive, unique, and of high quality all throughout. A western and post-apocalyptic world really is an obvious but great combination, and it meshes perfectly with the titular Laika's struggles and experiences, amplifying the message of the story beautifully. Accompanied by an amazing soundtrack, everything just fits perfectly like a puzzle.

I applaud the writers for being unafraid to make unadulterated creative decisions. I'm honestly impressed; there needs to be more like them who have the "guts" to write stories that include more than just killing bad guys and the usual video game dilemmas. In short, the gore is the least visceral thing you will come across while playing this game.

The gameplay, once you get used to it, is really quite a lot of fun. A unique blend of shooting and riding a motorbike, akin to some old flash games. The progression is okay, though many weapons are often fairly situational unless you force yourself to use them. One of my few gripes with the game is the bosses being pretty easy, but they were never really the focus anyway.

I have read a surprising number of people complaining about the difficulty. I personally had no overall issues with it, and I am by no means great at not dying. I had my moments of repeated failure, though these moments were always fairly short-lived. I never felt that annoyed by them and actually enjoyed having points where I wasn't succeeding.

Laika deserves its high praise for its storytelling, world, music, and uniqueness. For those like me who love stories that make you ache inside, who aren't afraid of guttural conflicts, who are always searching for real, meaningful tales, it is a perfect candidate.