>>712985601
>Grievously prolonged runbacks with no checkpoints
no idea what you're on about, the game has checkpoints throughout the levels either in the form of the not-bonfires or the level opening up shortcuts itself
>Hideously dated aesthetic rife with muted, muddy hues of brown
opinion. it's obviously inspired by Ueda's games, of which Miyazaki is a huge fan, and it thematically fits since the game is about the Deep Fog fucking stuff up
>Archaic and trivial enemy AI
the challenge is less so the enemies themselves but the arrangement of the enemies
>Shallow and inconsequential worldbuilding with a distinct lack of meaningful characters. A profound lack of storytelling depth
disagreed on worldbuilding. Latria for example has a lot of environmental storytelling going on; the enemies all have a stone-like motif (the giant heart has some stony scales on it too), the gargoyles dropping soul pick-ups hints that they were former humans from the prison that were experimented on with the Soul Arts from the Old Monk. the yellow flags littered around the place represent the Old Monk's influence. the jailers being squid people is most likely a reference to Lovecraft, considering that The King in Yellow is also likely a reference to Lovecraft
can't be bothered going any further