One thing's for sure, there are going to be a lot of people selling this in a week or two after putting a controller through their TV!
I might be one of them. Dark Souls is probably my favourite game of all time and I've played all the other games and loved them all. I expected this to be different, but even better and in some ways it is, but I'm not enjoying it as its incredibly frustrating.
Getting stuck on a mini boss because you cant fight enemies the way you want, only the way the game allows you to, which means die and repeat ad infinitum until you either get lucky or eventually learn how the game wants you to beat them. Yes the other games had this in a way, having to learn areas and enemies, but it sucks the fun out of it and spoils immersion as it feels like you're playing against a system or mechanic, rather than an organic free thinking enemy.
The grappling is good but also stupid. It adds a nice vertically to the game but why cant I grapple to a roof in certain areas to get an advantage, yet if I move slightly out of that area I can grapple to a roof of the same height and then jump to the roof I wasnt able to grapple to before... Huh? Also why you can't grapple enemies I dont know. Maybe that's a skill later on, who knows.
My early impressions are that the rigid nature of the posture based combat adds a fake layer of difficulty I find frustrating, especially the special attacks. Sure it might get better as skills unlock or I get better at the game but I'm not sure I have the patience. It might be an epic game but for me, at the moment, I'm not feeling it. I will play some more later but it may end up being sold if I cant get into it. :/