I played on the Twilight difficulty (hard) and it was a challenging game for me, but rarely did I feel frustrated at a situation or fight. I died a lot, but most of them were due to careless error. Checkpoints were generous so even deaths didn't lead to much loss of progress which would be my biggest issue with these type of games.
All boss fights are against other humans and many of their fights can get pretty intense. Some feel unfair at first, but it feels great to learn their attack patterns after a while and successfully parry stuff. In regards to the parry mechanic in general, it's not really needed against the mob enemies. Their health aren't very high in general so simple combos can quickly dispatch them. Boss fights on the other hand really emphasize the need to parry. Their attack chains are very long and deal heavy ki damage (stamina) even if you block them. Even a successful parry however doesn't necessary turn the situation around since they recover fast and can quickly continue another attack chain. Oftentimes, it takes multiple parries to deplete their ki and leave them exposed to a critical attack as opposed to the grunts which just need 1-2 parries.
My main issues with the combat is that too much of the actions are tied into ki. Blocking damage and dodging can quickly deplete the ki gauge which makes parrying more important than I'd liked. Fortunately, less of an issue for mobs. Camera can also be a pain to deal with. Being pinned against a wall or object will make the opponent invisible so you can't even see the attacks to properly respond.
I did enjoyed the open world stuff, but it has those types of maps where you’re not really exploring for hidden secrets. Nearly everything of importance are shown on the map. Even then, I just enjoy going through the scenery and seeing some parts of Japan’s locations recreated in the game. Kyoto in particular has a lot of pretty sights. Gliding around is fun as well. The maps aren’t too big and the collectibles never feel overwhelming either. This segment reminds me a lot of Ghost of Tsushima which had open world elements that I found relaxing to complete.
There's a ton of loot scattered throughout the game just like in Nioh. It was annoying at first, but I learned to just ignore them for the most part. I only upgraded my main weapons if I get a new legendary one. I only bothered checking the armor if I find myself dying multiple times to the same boss. Having an auto-sell function and being able to filter out specific rarities to sell is a nice QoL though.
What did surprise me though was that I found the story to be very intriguing. Taking place during the Bakumatsu period, the game did a good job reflecting a lot of the political issues and developments during this time. You can make key decisions at various points to change the timeline and create some what-if scenarios compared to actual history so that’s also interesting. You get perspectives on both sides of the two major factions and both have likable characters so it's not a clear cut answer of who is in the right.
Character missions are entertaining in general. I liked the story behind them and many of them could fit very well into the main story due to the content. While most of them are of the serious nature, there a few amusing ones as well.
One issue with the story though is that there’s a strange disconnect with what goes on in the main story and the side stories. Due to the game’s structure, you can shift alliance frequently and do missions on behalf of the “other” side which puts allies as enemies. They might say something about it afterward, but the characters still continue to act as allies of sorts. It's best to think that the player character is a Ronin that plays both sides and while characters might be frustrated with that, they'd understand.
Overall, had a really fun time. Finished the game at about 70ish hours and not going to bother with the post game Midnight difficulty stuff. I only did one mission for the trophy and while it wasn't incredibly difficult compared to Twilight, the boss had become a damage sponge annoyingly. More parries are required to deplete the ki gauge as well.
All boss fights are against other humans and many of their fights can get pretty intense. Some feel unfair at first, but it feels great to learn their attack patterns after a while and successfully parry stuff. In regards to the parry mechanic in general, it's not really needed against the mob enemies. Their health aren't very high in general so simple combos can quickly dispatch them. Boss fights on the other hand really emphasize the need to parry. Their attack chains are very long and deal heavy ki damage (stamina) even if you block them. Even a successful parry however doesn't necessary turn the situation around since they recover fast and can quickly continue another attack chain. Oftentimes, it takes multiple parries to deplete their ki and leave them exposed to a critical attack as opposed to the grunts which just need 1-2 parries.
My main issues with the combat is that too much of the actions are tied into ki. Blocking damage and dodging can quickly deplete the ki gauge which makes parrying more important than I'd liked. Fortunately, less of an issue for mobs. Camera can also be a pain to deal with. Being pinned against a wall or object will make the opponent invisible so you can't even see the attacks to properly respond.
I did enjoyed the open world stuff, but it has those types of maps where you’re not really exploring for hidden secrets. Nearly everything of importance are shown on the map. Even then, I just enjoy going through the scenery and seeing some parts of Japan’s locations recreated in the game. Kyoto in particular has a lot of pretty sights. Gliding around is fun as well. The maps aren’t too big and the collectibles never feel overwhelming either. This segment reminds me a lot of Ghost of Tsushima which had open world elements that I found relaxing to complete.
There's a ton of loot scattered throughout the game just like in Nioh. It was annoying at first, but I learned to just ignore them for the most part. I only upgraded my main weapons if I get a new legendary one. I only bothered checking the armor if I find myself dying multiple times to the same boss. Having an auto-sell function and being able to filter out specific rarities to sell is a nice QoL though.
What did surprise me though was that I found the story to be very intriguing. Taking place during the Bakumatsu period, the game did a good job reflecting a lot of the political issues and developments during this time. You can make key decisions at various points to change the timeline and create some what-if scenarios compared to actual history so that’s also interesting. You get perspectives on both sides of the two major factions and both have likable characters so it's not a clear cut answer of who is in the right.
Character missions are entertaining in general. I liked the story behind them and many of them could fit very well into the main story due to the content. While most of them are of the serious nature, there a few amusing ones as well.
One issue with the story though is that there’s a strange disconnect with what goes on in the main story and the side stories. Due to the game’s structure, you can shift alliance frequently and do missions on behalf of the “other” side which puts allies as enemies. They might say something about it afterward, but the characters still continue to act as allies of sorts. It's best to think that the player character is a Ronin that plays both sides and while characters might be frustrated with that, they'd understand.
Overall, had a really fun time. Finished the game at about 70ish hours and not going to bother with the post game Midnight difficulty stuff. I only did one mission for the trophy and while it wasn't incredibly difficult compared to Twilight, the boss had become a damage sponge annoyingly. More parries are required to deplete the ki gauge as well.