I'm a veteran of the first two games. I thought this one was pretty damn great. I wondered how well they'd do without Hugo & Amicia, and whether Sophia had enough wasta to carry a game by herself. I would say that this came through in spades!
I posted before, fighting people face to face is probably the biggest change and the best part. We sneak around, do stuff, and then get to schwack some guys. I would agree with many other critics in that it could use some more polish, and was kind of medium-to-OK, but it was a welcome change to sniping people with Amicia and then getting annihilated if you got found. I had trouble with the parry system - I dont think anyone can do it better than Sekiro. Like several other games with a parry system, they do not quite get it right. Do you parry when it hits you, right before it hits you...? I think this was kind of fiddly. But at least we can fight, and it's very cathartic.
One thing that did not change were the unbelievable graphics and art direction. This is one of the best looking games of all time. No notes there.
I think the pacing was a little iffy, especially at the start. It hits the gas around chapter 4. I think the character swap was an awesome way to change pace and do some things differently instead of stay with Sophia in a big gross depressing underground cave system. I think that in the last third, we could have used some more breaks with brighter-lit areas, even if the gameplay was mostly underground. Having a Theseus swap fixed a lot of this imo.
I'm not sure how I felt about the main enemy. Instead of a gigantic mass, unending swarm of rats, now we have a bizarre,unkillable ash-snake-worm thing. I think this did what it was supposed to do in the game, and there was a devastating scene at the end when the source is revealed, but maybe it's just me - I really dont like games where the only thing you can do is run away. I'm not an Alien Isolation guy. But again, did it work? I think so, it's just not my cup of tea overall
The voice-acting, like the first two, is sublime. Really loved the hell of this aspect. And I also loved the cameo at the end.
For regular peeps, this should be accessible and enjoyable. I usually try to buy games on sale, or at some kind of discount, but this game is well worth full price. For veterans of the first two games, this is mandatory playing.