As a new comer to the souls franchise I realise I am far from an authority, but this game is honestly incredible. It rewards a patient and methodical play style and ecourages learning from mistakes and overcoming seemingly imposible odds. with an awe inspiring sountrack, oppressive atmosphere, and spectacular enemy design and theeming. However, while challenging and rewarding, this game is far from perfect. The muliplayer aspects are honestly pretty bad, co-op is finicky and lacks stability, pvp is a bore with well established meta's and a seemingly endless circlejerk of tryhards. Another aspect that needlessly hamstrings newcomers is the obtuse way you're expected to learn the game and all it's many nuances. But having said that, it is well worth learning and satisfying when mastered. I give this game a solid 7/10