Great game.

Captures the worldspace inter-connectivity and pacing of DS1, with a smoother less jank combat system. It has deliberate pacing in combat (slow estus heals, attack commits, long skill casts, knockdowns, etc,) that mirrors true souls-likes yet has snappy moves, combos and general speed of something closer to elden ring or code vein. Very clean and rewarding combat; no input queuing issues or iframe jank at all.

Generally great boss fights (especially towards the end of the game and in the DLC) with few long boss runs and quality design- they test the players spatial awareness and pattern recognition rather than quick twitch reactions, like a true souls-like should. Enemy movesets become increasingly diverse but always remain exceptionally readable and telegraphed, so they always seem fair (even one shots). I played primarily as a staff mage build and the enemy boss kiting felt fair; frenetic at times, most bosses had interesting gap closers and directional combos to keep a ranged combat difficult and satisfying (I played on challenge mode for reference).

Story showed that you can weave a moderately complex narrative into a souls-like and enrich the game; the cutscenes and verbose dialog and notes engendered me to the story, rather than taking me out of it.

Character customization felt meaningful and solid, playstyles felt diverse and unique depending on build.

Can't say enough glowing remarks about this game. They took the souls-like formula and knocked it out the park. I especially like that they were able to develop a quality souls-like without any of the unfathomable genre-defining 'waste the players time as a meaningful failure consequence' design garbage that even Miyazaki has now abandoned.

Don't let the unique aesthetic fool you; this is an exceptional game for souls fans, and considering its an indie title it deserves far for recognition.