Man, this game... sure is strange.
First of all, it's a Souls-like. Good one at that. But there is SO MUCH wasted potential, it's almost sad, to be honest.
Anyway, let's break it down, shall we?
Gameplay
This game, as I said already, is a Souls-like. Plays like Dark Souls 3, if not a bit faster. Enemies, especially bosses are BRUTAL. They are fast, hit very hard, sometimes plain annoying to deal with. Which is fine, but... the local "Estus flask" is way too slow to use. Until some of the recent updates you couldn't even cancel the heal animation. I can't count how much I died while healing, because bosses are so damn fast and spammy. I do understand why it's like that though. The game is clearly optimized for Co-Op experience, whether it's real player or AI. And that's a shame, because the game unnecessarily harder without it. I don't like playing with AI. I don't like playing Co-Op in Souls-like games too, first playthrough at least. Why should I be punished for that? Co-Op makes the game way too easy. Solo? Way too harder than it needs to be.
Some things are good tho. The entire class system is top-notch and allows you to create many very viable builds, you just need a little bit of time to tinker with it. And maybe a little bit of time to grind some stuff. The game is decently generous in that department, thankfully. I also like that you can switch your class in the middle of an area without any drawbacks. This is the thing that is done right.
Story and lore
Man oh man, where do I even start with this one...
It was very promising from the start. I almost fell for it. But after a couple of hours it's turned into literally an anime with way too much Bongas dashing around. Bongas are fine tho, physics included, if you're into that sort of thing. It just felt cliche. I couldn't invest myself in this characters, story or even the world itself. Yes, there were some good moments, but still, not good enough for me. Characters are likable enough to tolerate them at least. Of course all of this is subjective, so... you do you I guess.
Lore is full of holes. Like, very big holes. Like Bongas in this game. That huge. It's clearly evident that developers wanted to imitate the success of Dark Souls, but they just couldn't I guess. Which is... disappointing to say the least. Potential is here tho. Maybe DLC or a sequel\prequel will help. Or maybe not.
Graphics and design
It's an anime game. Looks good for an anime I guess. Unreal Engine sure is great.
I can't say the same about the enemy design, sadly. Most regular foes look very, VERY bland and uninspired. Recolored and reused assets doesn't help at all.
There are WAY TOO MUCH details. Sometimes it's ridiculous. Looks very overloaded and that's a bad thing in my book.
Bosses, on the other hand, look good. Mostly. There are some hits and some misses. Also bongas. Yeah, even bosses here regularly have a giant pair of Bongas. It's... good.
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
The world is a hit or miss too. Some areas are great, for example: snowy location. Some areas are questionable, for example: some certain cathedral. Some are plain bad and lazy, like this certain crypt with ton of reused assets. You'll know when you'll see it.
I won't say anything about the character creator, you can read about it in dozens of other reviews. It's very good and there is a Bongas slider. That's all you need to know, really. You will spend a hour or so. That's just the way it is.
Music
Music is fine. I do like unique boss themes. Regular combat music is kinda boring, but it's fine.
There is one thing I don't understand. So, there is a cutscene introducing the boss. Looks hype and all that jazz. Music is rocking, smooth transition to gameplay... default boss theme plays. Why would you do that? It should count as a crime. I'm dead serious right now.
Co-Op
I don't have very much to say about the co-op. I played it with my gf and it was fun when it worked. It's kinda glitchy and netcode just stinks. Maybe it was an issue from our end, but I've seen many negative stuff about it online.
I even somehow died and got resurrected while the game froze. Became invincible and couldn't damage the boss with my pointy stick. For some reason I could damage it with magic. That was fun.
In the end, despite all of its flaws, it's a nice game and I do recommend to play it, just don't expect much from it.
