If I had to describe this absolute piece of garbage, I'd say it's like someone copying your homework and not even bothering to change your name. Even worse, they somehow copy it wrong and ruin the parts that were already good.
Let's start with the visuals. This game is UGLY. And that's coming from someone who genuinely doesn't care much about graphics. But this game is so visually awful that it's impossible to ignore. The level design is just as bad: boring to navigate, uninspired, and completely forgettable.
The main gameplay mechanic is actually an interesting idea, but it's executed in the dumbest way possible. Honestly, I don't even know if they had beta testers because it feels like nobody actually played this before release. The amateurism shows everywhere. The game isn't polished in the slightest.
Now let's talk about the bosses, because that's the funniest part. Out of every Soulslike I've played, this game has the worst progression system I've ever seen. You can choose your own route, but you're basically punished for not following the "correct" path the developers had in mind because enemy scaling is practically nonexistent. So you end up fighting bosses while you're massively underleveled, with barely any healing, and in this game your skill matters less than the game's terrible mechanics.
A perfect example is The Hollow Crow, which might honestly be the worst boss I've ever fought. It's basically a giant bullet hell mixed with a gank fight. The framerate tanks whenever it starts throwing attacks, the visual effects look terrible (just like almost every other effect in the game), visibility is awful, and the transitions between phases are painfully slow, as if they wanted to waste even more of your time. It's like the developers forgot that games are supposed to be challenging but fair, difficult but fun.
It's an absolutely miserable fight. While you're trying to focus on the boss, you're constantly getting sniped from every direction. Your attack animations are slow and clunky, using the lantern feels awful, and the game does absolutely nothing to help you understand what's happening on screen. Also, I'm not sure how DEX feels but STR feels terrible to play, specially the giant hammers.
I always try to play games on the hardest difficulty, but I genuinely don't recommend doing that here. Good developers teach players through game design. This game doesn't teach you anything, it just wants to frustrate you. Fighting Hollow Crow on Veteran while underleveled and going in blind is pure nightmare fuel.
Almost every weapon shares the same moveset. The animations are slow and poorly made. The soundtrack is generic and desperately tries to imitate Dark Souls. The story is painfully boring, every single NPC is forgettable, the dialogue is dull, and the voice acting is just bad.
I honestly feel bad for anyone picking this up expecting a well made, fun game, especially because of all the hype surrounding the sequel. If the first game is anything to go by, I wouldn't expect much from that one either.
Now I get to force myself through the second worst soulslike I've ever played. The first one was the 2014 version of this game.
Overall, this game is a complete mess. It shamelessly borrows ideas from Soul Reaver and Dark Souls while completely missing what made either of them special. It has no identity of its own, just a collection of half-baked mechanics stitched together without understanding why they worked in the first place. Add some of the worst and forgettable bosses I've ever fought, terrible level design, a nonexistent story, cheap deaths around every corner, its own frustrating take on mimics, and endless gank fights, and you've got one of the most miserable soulslikes I've ever played.
The only redeeming quality is that some parts of the game's aesthetic actually look cool. Everything else is just a steaming pile of crap.
If you value your money, stay as far away from this game as possible. And if the sequel follows the same design philosophy, it'll probably stink just as much.
