I sussed out the answer to my question. Very glad I did, kinda important. 😉
Spent a few hours with it this evening and really enjoyed it. I’m inclined, at the moment at least, to say that it does a better job at making, and helping, you git gud than the main Souls games. There’s very much a ramp up and aggressive style that reminds me more of Bloodborne than Souls, without going as far into super twitchy reactions like Sekiro did.
Still progress measured in inches though, I found a new shell (Tiel) and defeated the enemy in wait at the end of my session. But getting that far took a lot of very slow and methodical exploration, it’s very open right from the start and there’s no nudge in any particular direction. I’m sure somebody will come up with some sort of most efficient route but it felt more fun this way.