Ok so i beat the game. I think the games opening does not do the entire game justice and thats why i could never get into it. It's FAR too punishing in its opening areas and I think it could hold a lot of people back. Sword on sword combat is fucking beautifully executed and thats not really given a chance to shine until maybe the first boss. Stealth does not work properly until youve upgraded it enough so trying to stealth your way out of gank fights early on is basically impossible. That being said, once youre past the first boss the game is mesmerizing to beat and LEARN. One thing that will make revisiting other fromsoft games much more difficult is the ability to parry. I was never a fan of the soulsbourne dodge-r1 spam because i was at the mercy of dodge roll i-frames and shitty hitboxes. With the deflect mechanic, I could learn the boss and I could feel myself understanding the game much much more. I will come back to this game many times in the future as its just too damn good.