I absolutely loved this game. It kept me captivated for over 90 hours, a rare feat. As someone who's favorite game is currently Bloodborne and before that was Skyrim, this game feels like it was aimed to appeal to me.
Combat feels like a refinement of Dark Souls 3 which personally, I'm in favor of. I don't think that's the best combat in any From game (that's Sekiro) but for a game with this many different weapons and skills its the best fit.
Character building is fantastic here. There's a lot of room for different builds. Maybe the best in any From game. I actually had trouble deciding how to play as a result. For example even if I did decide on a mainly Faith build there's so many different weapons that are good for that and such a ridiculous variety of incantations. I also really appreciate the addition of Ash of War so weapons aren't restricted to one skill opening even more possibilities.
The exploration of the world is some of the best I've seen. It's refreshing not to have your hand held with map markers like in most modern open worlds. It works well here because even without that there are good visually indicators for places of interest. Also every side dungeon you find giving at least one cool new weapon/talisman/spell etc. makes this all feel super rewarding. I also want to draw attention to how I was never sure if I had actually found all the areas because every time I thought that I wound up somewhere new unexpectedly.
I loved the side quests (that I could find). They had some of the most interesting lore in the game and some of the better ones lead you to some of the cooler optional areas and bosses in the game. A few felt much more consequential then ones in previous From games. I also want to share my appreciation for how many side quests intertwine. Mostly not in ways that make you choose one or the other but rather in fleshing out that characters do share relationships with one another instead of it feeling like each of their stories exist in a bubble.
My biggest criticism of the game is that most bosses are not memorable and/or many are too relentless making getting attacks in a challenge. The biggest thing contributing to the memorability part are that most bosses are used multiple times. That feels like it was a necessary concession because that was the most realistic way to fill a game of this scale. Regarding bosses being too relentless, I have to assume the existence of summons is what warped the boss design to be like this. There's now a near guarantee bosses will have two targets even if a player won't summon another actual person which may have made From feel like bosses would be too easy if they had bigger openings.
At the time of writing this, From really needs to fix the stuttering issues on PC. The game may be so good I ignored it but many rightfully wont be as forgiving.
Overall one of the best games I've played in years even in spite of the criticism. I will be genuinely shocked if it is not my personal game of the year. I'm unsure if it will unseat Bloodborne as my favorite game ever as I'd need to think more on that bur it definitely cracks my top ten.
Combat feels like a refinement of Dark Souls 3 which personally, I'm in favor of. I don't think that's the best combat in any From game (that's Sekiro) but for a game with this many different weapons and skills its the best fit.
Character building is fantastic here. There's a lot of room for different builds. Maybe the best in any From game. I actually had trouble deciding how to play as a result. For example even if I did decide on a mainly Faith build there's so many different weapons that are good for that and such a ridiculous variety of incantations. I also really appreciate the addition of Ash of War so weapons aren't restricted to one skill opening even more possibilities.
The exploration of the world is some of the best I've seen. It's refreshing not to have your hand held with map markers like in most modern open worlds. It works well here because even without that there are good visually indicators for places of interest. Also every side dungeon you find giving at least one cool new weapon/talisman/spell etc. makes this all feel super rewarding. I also want to draw attention to how I was never sure if I had actually found all the areas because every time I thought that I wound up somewhere new unexpectedly.
I loved the side quests (that I could find). They had some of the most interesting lore in the game and some of the better ones lead you to some of the cooler optional areas and bosses in the game. A few felt much more consequential then ones in previous From games. I also want to share my appreciation for how many side quests intertwine. Mostly not in ways that make you choose one or the other but rather in fleshing out that characters do share relationships with one another instead of it feeling like each of their stories exist in a bubble.
My biggest criticism of the game is that most bosses are not memorable and/or many are too relentless making getting attacks in a challenge. The biggest thing contributing to the memorability part are that most bosses are used multiple times. That feels like it was a necessary concession because that was the most realistic way to fill a game of this scale. Regarding bosses being too relentless, I have to assume the existence of summons is what warped the boss design to be like this. There's now a near guarantee bosses will have two targets even if a player won't summon another actual person which may have made From feel like bosses would be too easy if they had bigger openings.
At the time of writing this, From really needs to fix the stuttering issues on PC. The game may be so good I ignored it but many rightfully wont be as forgiving.
Overall one of the best games I've played in years even in spite of the criticism. I will be genuinely shocked if it is not my personal game of the year. I'm unsure if it will unseat Bloodborne as my favorite game ever as I'd need to think more on that bur it definitely cracks my top ten.