Top critical review
2.0 out of 5 starsWell made game, but not very enjoyable.
Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2020
As a fan of From Software’s Souls series, I was excited to see them do something different. However, this one just doesn’t have the same entertainment value as it’s predecessors. Like From’s other games, it’s brutally hard, but unlike Bloodborne or a Dark Souls, getting better at the game isn’t fun or rewarding. It’s just a slog. The mechanics of a great game are here, but they are implemented poorly. The game includes several great systems that simply don’t work cohesively together. A tight, intricate combat system is introduced, and poorly explained, at the beginning of the game, and you will never get to practice it outside of boss fights, because there are so many enemies that stealth is your only viable option. The stealth system itself is old fashioned and utterly broken. You can kill an enemy in plain view of his comrades, go hide for twenty seconds, and they will go back to business as usual. If you die to a mini boss (and you will) you have to patiently pick off all of the enemies that surround him before each attempt. This would at least be an opportunity to practice the combat, but again, if you try to go toe to toe with an enemy, you’ll just be stabbed in the back and shot by the dozen other enemies. As for the bosses, they require countless hits to break their guard (which you typically have to do several times) but can often kill you in one hit. It gets very tedious very quickly. It isn’t really any harder than Bloodborne or Dark Souls, but those games were hard in a way that made you feel like you were overcoming great obstacles and doing the impossible. This just feels like the deck is stacked against you out of obligation to maintain From’s reputation for difficult games. I just didn’t enjoy the process of learning the mechanics and overcoming the challenges. I beat the game, but really didn’t enjoy it and I regret forcing my way through, because it never really got better. It’s a beautiful, well made game that a lot of people enjoy, but I found it tedious, frustrating and disappointing.
