Super story that is worth the rushed ending and too much button smashing.
The story itself is a thriller and a mystery. You play both an unwilling murderer and the detectives hunting him. To my eyes the game is also graphically beautiful, it might not be top notch but it's pretty and atmospheric.
About gameplay:
There is some charm and innovation in the way you control your characters but often it does turn into annoying and random button bashing and might even make it hard sometimes to follow what is happening. You can choose from 3 difficulty settings but there are a few places where you can fail pretty fast even with the easy setting. Luckily you usually get more chances and if nothing else, you can always restart every chapter by loading.
In some places the controls work really well, it is fun opening cupboards and pouring coffee etc. Mini-games like playing guitar or boxing are great and failing isn't the end of the world. The true action scenes though are a double edged sword. In a way it gives you more real feeling of action when you for instance dodge and run yourself but often you end up focusing on the buttons instead of watching the breathtakingly beautiful action scenes. Some of them can be watched again later from the bonus section but it's just not the same as to live it during playtime.
In addition to some frustrating action sequences where you whack the buttons until you're sweaty, sometimes the camera is just diabolical. Especially in some of the sneaking scenes you really hope that your characters would learn to turn their head properly. In the bigger scheme this is a rather small issue though.
I also didn't think that the fast timer in dialogue choices was necessary in every conversation. If I am talking to a friend or a spouse I can honestly dig my nose for 10 minutes if I feel like before answering. The timer is sometimes so fast you barely have enough time to read all the options let alone understand what is exactly is that those one word choices hold within. Also sometimes it felt a bit forced that you couldn't go through all the options. Very good detective work just to ask two or three questions at a crime scene and move on...
The mental state idea is also good and for the most part it works. Your characters get into better mood when good things happen to them or when they do something relaxing and they come crashing down with negative experiences. What I disliked that the range was so small. One could have a perfect day and only reach neutral state of mind. Then one bad thing happens and oh no, we are depressed. I never managed to reach zero on any character though, so it's not tuned too hard at least.
About the controversial ending:
Many people say that the story takes a dive around two thirds into the game. This is true yet I strongly disagree that the story would be ruined or ridiculous. It is just rushed, really really fast. As the first two thirds are paced perfectly and you really get immersed in the story and follow your characters very closely. Then suddenly you get introduced completely new elements, the timeline practically skips a month and we are at the end. Everything should not be explained, some open ends are good. But this skipping and the overall style in the ends felt very distant and thus worse than the earlier parts of the game.
The game has 3 main endings (with several more minor differences before the actual cut scenes) and in addition several different failure endings along the road. Unlike advertised most of your actions do not chance the story terribly, only a few pointers in the game truly matter. But those points are good and overall the possibility for even the smaller different paths is to be applauded. Personally I don't mind linear games either but non linearity and multiple choices can be a real treat if done properly.
Overall the game is a great experience, one you should not miss. It would surely have been my favourite adventure if they toned down the buttons smashing and built up the end a bit better.