>>718617596
Gameplay wise I liked the few big changes it brought, though I think the deflect system should have been baked in from the get go. I got all the way to Radahn before backtracking back to the the first field and finding that Tear. The Lion and Messmer are much better fights with that available while I found them frustrating but ultimately manageable. Relying on just the default toolset, I found Rellana and Midra the most fun. Bayle is a downright bad bossfight, I don't care about roleplaying Ishmael.

Story wise it was kind of a mess, which is typical of Fromsoft DLCs but with the base game being a much more sensible and solid bunch of characters, it did make it kind of disappointing to go back to the sort of aimless nonsense Fromsoft usually dishes out. The Crusader stuff was all solid, Messmer and the Black Keep and the background for Marika was definitely the highlight of the game, but I found Miquella and his companions to be very poorly done.