Don't know how intentional it is, but I love how the visuals and art design slowly shifts from a more realistic fantasy to more surreal, massive environments. It really feels like you're constantly descending into a greater unknown, with the exploration being the best part. These changes in the game's aesthetic are also represented in the gameplay. The level design goes from tight and interconnected to massive levels that are just tedious to go through. There's also still a lot of unique gimmicks in this game that range from incredibly creative to needlessly frustrating. Even with the problems this game keeps from Demon's Souls and some of the new ones it creates, this is a wonderful redesign to the formula and definitely one of the most interesting first time playthroughs I've had with a game.