if you want an enjoyable experience, definitely don't play this on hardcore difficulty or above! a lot of enemies that (assuming, based on my mercenaries playthroughs) are easy on lower difficulties are outright broken. it can lead to a lot of stunlocking and unavoidable deaths. the game is definitely at its strongest when it lets the player explore at their own pace and fight smaller groups of enemies! there are a number of really fun puzzles in the game too, which totally calls back to the earlier games in the franchise, as well as resident evil 7.

the atmosphere - especially during the second area of the game - is super well executed, despite some missed opportunities with how scenarios play out. without spoiling anything, there is a hide & seek segment in the game, not unlike one seen in amnesia: the dark descent. it's disappointingly short-lived and could have done more to force the player into hiding. besides all of this, short or not, each section has something fun and unique to offer!

i recommend playing the game in smaller bursts and stopping after you defeat each lord. you'll thank me, because you'll WANT to keep going, but the stylistic inconsistency between areas becomes a lot more noticeable than it should be if you binge the game.