Brutal and unenjoyable at first. It suffers from the same "gotta Google the questline" mechanic if you want to balance the game out quickly. Otherwise, you'll bang your head on the same boss until you decide to summon a spirit or stumble around every nook and cranny looking for a blessing fragment to even the odds.

Watching someone beat the final boss at level one without any blessings makes you think it's not the level of blessings you have but how stubborn you are at throwing yourself against any boss.

I wish we got a light GS and backhand blade accessible early on in the base game.

IMO, if you can manage the bosses without getting stuck due to blessing level or don't mind summoning, FromSoft once against captured the "open world wandering" experience from the base game.

Brutal and unenjoyable at first. It suffers from the same "gotta Google the questline" mechanic if you want to balance the game out quickly. Otherwise, you'll bang your head on the same boss until you decide to summon a spirit or stumble around every nook and cranny looking for a blessing fragment to even the odds. Watching someone beat the final boss at level one without any blessings makes you think it's not the level of blessings you have but how stubborn you are at throwing yourself against any boss. I wish we got a light GS and backhand blade accessible early on in the base game. IMO, if you can manage the bosses without getting stuck due to blessing level or don't mind summoning, FromSoft once against captured the "open world wandering" experience from the base game.