Really enjoyed this one and still found it pretty challenging despite having so much recent experience with souls games. The world in this one looks beautiful and is designed so well in the way that it remains mostly interconnected and Metroidvania-esque akin to DS1. You can pretty much get to anywhere from any of the lanterns which is awesome.
The lore in this one is also somewhat understandable for once. I loved the creepiness and areas like Old Yharnam and the Unseen Village will likely remain memorable for a long time to come. Some levels do go on a little too long in my opinion though, it felt like I spent an age in the forbidden woods even though I had fun exploring. I wish there was more time spent in Yharnam proper.
My only problems come with the combat really. At the start its pretty jarring to have healing linked to a purchasable item although it doesn't really matter in the long run once you get more souls. Some of the bosses feel awesome to fight like the Blood-Starved Beast, Father Gascoigne, and the final boss. Others, however, can feel big and janky in the worst ways with huge hitboxes and spongy healthbars. Some of the chalice bosses are absolutely terrible and the worst offenders in this regard, especially the fire dog in the dungeon where you have half health. In fromsoft games by the end I usually have pretty good faith in my ability to dodge but in this the inconsistency in bosses and timing really threw me off a few times - the sidestep is not it. Although I actually had a pretty easy time with the DLC bosses like the Orphan of Kos and Laurence I didn't feel like I had got the hang of parrying and it felt like I still needed good rng to win. At the end of Sekiro or DS3 I could confidently say that if I lost a fight it was due to my own error. In this it felt 50/50 my fault or just straight jank.
Speaking of the chalice dungeons, they did feel like pretty blatant padding. Don't get me wrong, I had a lot of fun on my way to killing the Queen of Yharnam but it was primarily in the same set of rooms fighting the same sets of enemies. It makes you realise how much shorter the actual meat of this game is than other fromsoft games - although I would have easily traded all the chalice dungeons for one more overworld area.
The DLC is okay: the bosses are pretty great and are probably the best, most fairest set of encounters in the game. The initial area though is a bit of an asset flip to be honest. I liked the fishing hamlet and the clocktower, but I don't really understand what it is about the DLC that makes people laud it as one of the best ever. The Orphan of Kos was one of the best fights in the series I'll give you that, but I still had more fun comparatively with the bosses in The Ringed City.
Overall this was great. I hope my review doesn't come across too negative, this one still had all the hallmarks of a great souls game and some of the bosses had me on the edge of my seat. Lastly, on the technical side, its impressive to me how responsive this feels at 30fps. I was expecting it to be tough to get into after playing the Dark Souls games at 60fps but it felt great.
The lore in this one is also somewhat understandable for once. I loved the creepiness and areas like Old Yharnam and the Unseen Village will likely remain memorable for a long time to come. Some levels do go on a little too long in my opinion though, it felt like I spent an age in the forbidden woods even though I had fun exploring. I wish there was more time spent in Yharnam proper.
My only problems come with the combat really. At the start its pretty jarring to have healing linked to a purchasable item although it doesn't really matter in the long run once you get more souls. Some of the bosses feel awesome to fight like the Blood-Starved Beast, Father Gascoigne, and the final boss. Others, however, can feel big and janky in the worst ways with huge hitboxes and spongy healthbars. Some of the chalice bosses are absolutely terrible and the worst offenders in this regard, especially the fire dog in the dungeon where you have half health. In fromsoft games by the end I usually have pretty good faith in my ability to dodge but in this the inconsistency in bosses and timing really threw me off a few times - the sidestep is not it. Although I actually had a pretty easy time with the DLC bosses like the Orphan of Kos and Laurence I didn't feel like I had got the hang of parrying and it felt like I still needed good rng to win. At the end of Sekiro or DS3 I could confidently say that if I lost a fight it was due to my own error. In this it felt 50/50 my fault or just straight jank.
Speaking of the chalice dungeons, they did feel like pretty blatant padding. Don't get me wrong, I had a lot of fun on my way to killing the Queen of Yharnam but it was primarily in the same set of rooms fighting the same sets of enemies. It makes you realise how much shorter the actual meat of this game is than other fromsoft games - although I would have easily traded all the chalice dungeons for one more overworld area.
The DLC is okay: the bosses are pretty great and are probably the best, most fairest set of encounters in the game. The initial area though is a bit of an asset flip to be honest. I liked the fishing hamlet and the clocktower, but I don't really understand what it is about the DLC that makes people laud it as one of the best ever. The Orphan of Kos was one of the best fights in the series I'll give you that, but I still had more fun comparatively with the bosses in The Ringed City.
Overall this was great. I hope my review doesn't come across too negative, this one still had all the hallmarks of a great souls game and some of the bosses had me on the edge of my seat. Lastly, on the technical side, its impressive to me how responsive this feels at 30fps. I was expecting it to be tough to get into after playing the Dark Souls games at 60fps but it felt great.