I have played it for ~10mins and found it boring/uninspired ... I still have it installed and I might give it a shot some day but the whole setting reminds me of a Onenchambara rip-off targeted at a larger audience or something... plus the fact that I am spoiled from Demon's/Dark Souls didn't help the game much to keep my attention yeah I know I only played for 10mins, it's just that the game seemed so shallow
You need to play up to stage 3 before the game opens up. I liked it but after going through it 3 times I got bored and left it.
Finished the story the other night. I liked it quite a bit, though the combat was just average. Nick really stole the show for me. His writing and delivery of was spot on.