Overall just a very good souls-like that stands toe to toe with some of the stuff FromSoft makes. It has a familiar feel to Souls games made by FromSoft but retains its own identity with some new mechanics mixed in to keep it interesting. Incredible level design, soundtrack, and boss designs are the biggest things that stand out to me. The combination of dodging, parrying, mechanical arms, fable arts, and fatal attacks make the combat very engaging and almost free flowing because you have so many options to approach a fight. The story narrative is also much more clear cut and easier to follow than it’s predecessors, which I think works extremely well for the game.

The criticisms I have are few and far in between. Boss run backs, albeit minimal, are still run backs and are frustrating if you have to run an unnecessarily long distance and maybe kill an enemy or two along the way, especially for the harder two phase boss fights. Some of the level designs choices just hurt my brain, like the parts where you have to fight enemies on rafters and if you get staggered and fall off, you either insta die or have to make the climb all the way back up. And they did this like 3 times. And finally, the game is very linear, which is not necessarily a bad thing (and I would argue it works well for this game), but I would’ve liked to see more out branching optional areas with optional bosses.

It gets a solid 9/10. Definitely a must play if you are a fan of the genre. Tiers above something like Mortal Shell, Lords of the Fallen and Thymesia.