Wow. I'm new to the Dark Souls series and it's worth it to note that no previous experience in the series is required to enjoy this game. This is the best single player RPG experience I've had since FF7, Zelda, Diablo - I haven't played games in years. I understand why this series has such a strong cult-like following now. As new player that's unfamiliar with the series, you really have to push through the initial learning curve to really start appreciating the game for what it is. What do I mean by that? It's a game that doesn't leave good first impressions in my opinion - my first impression of this game was that it was lack luster. The graphics I thought looked like crap compared to other games like battlefield one, Until dawn, and so on. I thought the controls were stupid - I can't jump, the enemy aiming initially felt bad and confusing. I couldn't even customize the button actions to make it all better and had to adapt to what the game forced me to use and that led to an intial frustrating experience as I struggled to dodge, block, hit enemies and even just general movement across the starting area lead to death from falls off cliffs and unexpected enemies. And the game gives you no breaks, you can't even pause in the game which is what I'm used to. If I want to take a break I just press the pause button, but not in this game you have to be in a safe zone if you want to rest or just plain quit the game ( and there is a special menu option for you to quit , you can't just hit the PS4 button and close the app ). So yes, the game doesn't leave a good first impression, but if you can push past that and give it a few hours, defeat the first boss, learn the controls and start getting better weapons and understand the upgrade system, you start to be able to appreciate what this game has to offer and I think it's a rare thing to have quality RPG games like this. It is genuinely addictive. Gameplay: It's hard to explain the game play without experiencing it yourself. Watch a few game review videos if you want an idea, but the gist of it is that it's not a button mashing game. It's a third person RPG that requires enemy targeting and some level of strategy. Every enemy can be a challenge and has the ability to kill you if you are carelessly swinging. You need to know their attack patterns and know when to attack and if you're really into it, what to use for attacking that works most effectively. It's casual enough that you can just jump right in but not so casual that you can just hack and slash your way through the entire game ( if you're new ). Besides that, the game offers a pretty unique way to level up, but the stat adjustments are typical of the genre but with a twist here since the game has unique attributes associated with each stat. There are no skill branches, just attributes, weapons, armor, weapon/armor upgrades, spell purchases, but it's varied enough that you can have near unlimited choices to make the character you want. And the game can be as hard or as difficult as you want it to be depending on the time you spend upgrading/leveling. Game progression: The game progression itself is rather linear with forks in the quest line that you can choose to do and affect outcomes at different parts of the game with NPCs and game endings, but it's done so well that you never mind that it's linear since there is enough freedom that it makes the player feel they have control of what they want to do next. There are enough things players can do and side areas to explore if they so please. Basically it has an open world feel in terms of side quests vs main storyline but the map areas are pretty closed with hidden and optional areas but the level designs are so well done ( the best I've ever seen ) that I rather prefer that than exploring a boring barren open world. Boss battles: If you're looking for epic boss fights then this is the right game for you. The fights can be brutal but impressive and no two bosses behave the same way or have the same attacks. They are enjoyable and I hesitate a little every time I see the door that could lead to the next boss fight because I just don't know what to expect. Game replay value: I am only going through this game my first time and I'm hooked. The game does have a lot of replay value , different endings, new game difficulty after your first run, and different faction enlistments , different character attributes /customizations / weapons armor you may want to try, and quest lines that could have been missed the first time around, npcs you may want to kill etc. the game is brilliantly designed so it never really gets old even if you revisit an old level. It will offer hundreds of hours gameplay if you choose no doubt. Even just one play through will probably require at least weeks or months to complete if played casually about a few hours a day. The game levels / areas are deceptively huge. They feel large and natural and will take time to explore if you don't have maps or a game guide.