It's hard to find a souls-like game which has also contains a non-cryptic branching story. Only I can think of right now is Lies of P. The vestige system was perfect, listening the memories of your companions in a way as if you read it in a visual novel which is very nice design. Words can't describe the sound quality of this game (voice acting, soundtracks all are amazing).

The world seemed dull at start and I thought oh no here's another generic story comes again but the narrative changed swiftly and made me interested about the story again. All characters are very well designed, telling each one's story really made me want to explore more to find more about them. And game nails the first impressions for new characters because your opinion change drastically about them compared to your first meeting later in the game.

Difficulty is a problem for a souls-like game because it's non-existent. At mid to late game they start to scale up but you're already a god in the game so it doesn't matter that much. The unnecessarily complex and broken coop system is a huge disaster because game is already given you a bunch of companions so it's intended to play with them but not with your friends. Real shame.

The whole story, characters development top-notch for a souls-like game. I really didn't expect this much. But ending undone all the progress. All of the endings are terrible, I think that's a curse we can't really get rid of in these type of games. Muted player is a bad choice, because it really breaks the whole conversation. Only nods everything said to our player which is making him behave more like an npc instead of a player controlled living character.

There are 1 gamebreaking bug (stuck in elevator still anyone) which is annoying and some other minor bugs. For elevator part alt-tabbing the game solves the problem somehow still don't know why. And level designs (my nightmare) are gets worse each level thanks to over-designing the ♥♥♥♥ out of the map. Since all places look same thanks to reused textures (that's normal by the way but should have more clearer signs about places to be familiar with) you can lost countless times even with a map because you can't see floor levels on map only the obnoxious abomination on your minimap (a little bigger version in game menu).

Starting with the cathedral level, designs get much worse. I still think the worst level is cathedral, lots of shortcuts, jump downs, ladders, doors everywhere. It's a nightmare if you want to collect all collectibles (which is required for good ending I think).

For combat aside from it's over-designed features it's very satisfying and blood veils are too op to begin with, all you had to do move to the back of the enemy then let the blood veil do all the work for you. From the start and to the end of the game it deals insane amount of damage (for late game it makes sense but early game not so much). Enemy variety is scarce and it's a shame really. If you're not %100 exploring all places, you might not notice it but if you do depths missions (I still question why they even exist) you'll see lots of recycled bosses and enemies.

Definitely a recommendation, normally I don't play games that has an art style like this but they nailed it with the world setting and all other mechanics.

Ive heard a lot of people try to belittle this game and make it seem as if it was a cheap "anime souls" rip off, but it's actually really good. Very enjoyable gameplay, a solid story with lore to explore, and a high skill-ceiling as well! Would recommend to anyone who enjoys games like Dark Souls, SW Jedi: Fallen Order, or Monster Hunter.

one of the most excruciatingly painful experiences ive ever had to play though. worse than dark souls 2 by far. can't wait for a sequel.