How is it so far? Thinking about picking this up for my DS fix.
Can give a small update.
Entered a door to a different area, got wtf pwned by normal mobs that were harder than the boss further ahead. So there seems to be some backtracking in mind, or just areas more suitable for NG+, I am not sure.
There seem to be quite a few "do this, or this" option / quests. Done a few things now that I am not sure what the outcome will be. I am not even sure if I did the right/good things. If you explore you can interact with/find, quest objects before you encounter the actual quest giver.
Harder mobs don't necessarily look harder. Maybe a bigger shield or sword, but you don't really notice you are fighting a more powerful mob until you hit it and you do hardly any damage and they take off 60%+ of your hp in a swing.
Nearly all mobs (at least 2+ hours in) have follow up swings that nearly seem to lock on to you. Think of the large statue men in Heides Tower in DS2. Where they would swing around in nearly 360 archs, making it a better tactic to move in for a hit then move out, rather than hug/roll. My previous statement of hugging mobs being effective can now be seen as false. Shield stuns drain your stamina, and then you die fast.
Not as easy to anticipate boss fights as in Dark Souls games. No fog gates. Third boss I found caught me by surprise while exploring and proceeded to wreck me. Lost all exp as I died on the way back too.
Difficulty and the need to avoid, roll and use tactics escalated quite quickly. Which is great. I am much more excited to keep playing it now that I died 10 times in 20 minutes.
Also, in regards to the length of the game. Devs responded on the main forums that the story is 15 hours, while it took testers around 50 to complete the exploration/side quests. That is not counting NG+ and the added things from that. You unlock a new magic/skill set on each NG, maxing out at NG++. So two new skillsets are available. Not sure what they are.