TLDR: I cannot stop playing. Big world. Big Fun.

Overall this is the most fun I've had in a single game for a very long time, I have about 75hrs of play on my character and I still have so much more to explore, fight, and collect.

I think this is a great choice of game to those new to the "souls" genre. The open world allows you to go do other areas if you find one a bit too difficult for you at the moment rather than being stuck in an annoying zone that is the only path forward. Every new area I enter I'm just amazed at all the detail and content to find.

My only main gripes really only have to do with performance, and regarding NPC storylines.

Why in the world they are still capping their FPS at 60 I will never understand, and it's staggeringly more noticeable dropping from 60 frames to 50 as opposed to 90 frames to 80.
I get occasional game freezes that last for up to 3 seconds at the worst, they seem fairly random. They do not always happen in the same area nor in every session.
Some areas will also murder my frames down to 25 or so.

As far as NPC storylines, I know this is standard of souls games to have very vague narrative and you can find quite a few details on items but sometimes there almost seems to be zero clues to where they went next. For a game as expansive as this I can honestly say that I may not encounter one of them many, many hours later.

An example with no spoilers, you help someone heal from a illness and they then say that they are going to travel with absolutely no hint as to where they may end up. Turns out they are on the complete opposite side of the map in an area I had already fully explored, I only knew they went there because I looked it up. I suppose it is possible that some of the items used in this little storyline may have had a slight hint but I didn't find it.
I'm not asking for a "hey, go here". I would just like to see a journal function of some sort that details the conversations you've had and very slight hints like "I'm going to travel, I've never seen this area in person"

TLDR: I cannot stop playing. Big world. Big Fun. Overall this is the most fun I've had in a single game for a very long time, I have about 75hrs of play on my character and I still have so much more to explore, fight, and collect. I think this is a great choice of game to those new to the "souls" genre. The open world allows you to go do other areas if you find one a bit too difficult for you at the moment rather than being stuck in an annoying zone that is the only path forward. Every new area I enter I'm just amazed at all the detail and content to find. My only main gripes really only have to do with performance, and regarding NPC storylines. Why in the world they are still capping their FPS at 60 I will never understand, and it's staggeringly more noticeable dropping from 60 frames to 50 as opposed to 90 frames to 80. I get occasional game freezes that last for up to 3 seconds at the worst, they seem fairly random. They do not always happen in the same area nor in every session. Some areas will also murder my frames down to 25 or so. As far as NPC storylines, I know this is standard of souls games to have very vague narrative and you can find quite a few details on items but sometimes there almost seems to be zero clues to where they went next. For a game as expansive as this I can honestly say that I may not encounter one of them many, many hours later. An example with no spoilers, you help someone heal from a illness and they then say that they are going to travel with absolutely no hint as to where they may end up. Turns out they are on the complete opposite side of the map in an area I had already fully explored, I only knew they went there because I looked it up. I suppose it is possible that some of the items used in this little storyline may have had a slight hint but I didn't find it. I'm not asking for a "hey, go here". I would just like to see a journal function of some sort that details the conversations you've had and very slight hints like "I'm going to travel, I've never seen this area in person"