Ask for the shape of the challenge.

The EMMI zones are one-hit deaths with a counter window measured in frames, and the bosses expect dodges on reaction rather than pattern.

Parry-first combat with windows tight enough that blocking on reflex fails and blocking on rhythm works.

There is no block button — parrying is a direction plus an attack, aimed at the incoming blow, and the game tells you this once and then assumes it.

Steady, honest pressure plus a map that makes you earn the right to know where you are standing.

The world is kinder than Dark Souls and the bosses are considerably meaner — almost all of the difficulty has moved into the fog gates.

Runs are fast and deaths are total. Boss cells stack modifiers until a loadout that felt comfortable dies to two hits, and there is no difficulty setting hiding under them.

Two hits and you are in your underwear, three and the level restarts, and the game expects a second full loop before it will show you an ending.

Modern checkpoint generosity on the surface, with a completion layer underneath that wants every box and no deaths across a level built to cause both.

A parry game wearing a Souls coat: dodging alone will carry you for two hours and then stop working entirely.

Bullet-hell reflexes bolted to roguelike stakes — the two hardest things to hold simultaneously for two uninterrupted hours.