Needs a little time to click with the parry mechanic (specially if it wasn't your thing on other SoulsBorne games) but once it does, is awesome.
Exploration is good, feeling agile as a shinobi is meant to, and of course lots of hidden areas and good items to find in weird places.
It feels too hard in the beginning, but after you learn the basics I'd say is more 'permissive' than DS games.