Just finished it last night. And I'll have to agree with Nevandal.
Some general thoughts (WARNING: Spoilerific):
I think it is kinda like Mass Effect in the way that you can choose to go good guy, or go rebel. The choices you make (even some of the more minor ones) affect later events, but in Heavy Rain's case, that effect is MUCH more pronounced -- to the point of changing character and plot dynamics almost 180 degrees. There are entire chapters of the game (as well as trophies) you can only access by either flubbing up with your character at the time, or doing something "good/rebellious" with them.
Graphics were pretty amazing, but I've come to expect that with current gen PS3 exclusives. There was some tearing, but nothing too bad.
Music and sound were amazing, as well. Both fit what was happening on the screen squarely. As I said in an earlier post, I was worried with all the reports of cheese I heard second-hand, but after playing it, I can honestly say that there were very few moments that I found to be forced and weak. The English voice actors all did amazing jobs, IMO. Coupled with the character animations and top-notch facial expressions, some of them (like the old clock/typewriter repair guy) seemed to be as real as if you were watching a flesh and blood actor on TV.
Speaking of the characters, I liked them all. Scott Shelby and Ethan Mars are tied for my favorites. Scott was a not-to-be-F'ed-with Private Eye; Ethan, for an average Joe, kicked large amounts of *** (and not necessarily in the physical sense). Norman Jayden, the badass FBI agent (<3 ARI), is my close second. Madison Paige was my least favorite, but I still liked her very much. Looks aside, she was just the right amount of strong woman with vulnerable, average Jane that I like. Carter Blake was an ***, and:
Lauren Winters I found very believable, and I truly felt sorry for her. She'd been through so much, and really got played there at the end.
The controls took some getting used to, and if there is one aspect of this game that I can really see people getting turned off by, it's that. Some will be able to adapt, some won't. And personally, I found that the little quick-time events that made up the game's actions, no matter how mundane, were really nicely-done. In fact, just going around doing normal, everyday stuff was sometimes equally entertaining than some of the main sequences. I had some issues every now and then, but overall I adapted. Oh, and some of these QTE's were pretty unforgiving, so you always have to be focused on the prompts when they come up, or you could flub up an entire chapter.
Speaking of main sequences, I just have to reiterate from my earlier post how friggin' intense some these scenes were. Standouts include:
The only annoying part was having to replay chapters if you messed something up. To make it worse, you generally did not find out until the end of the chapter/early next if you screwed it up or not. It wouldn't have been as bad if you didn't have to exit all the way out to the main menu and select the chapter from there. Would have liked to have seen a quick-option for replaying a chapter, but oh well -- minor gripe.
Whenever the killer's identity was revealed, I was pretty shocked. Several people online mentioned that they "knew who the killer was since early on," but I really don't see how. Unless there were some massive, blaringly-obvious clues I overlooked, there's no way to know until that scene where they flat-out tell you.
The only loose end that was left hanging out there (unless it was explained in a scene that I didn't unlock):
Overall Score Range: 9-10/10 (At its worst for me, there were a couple cheesy moments along with some screen tearing and temperamental controls, as well as the replaying chapters thing. At its best for me, it is a masterpiece through and through with only minor quips that are overshadowed by the game's awesomeness.)
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