This is actually really good! I initially tortured myself by starting on hard mode and decided to revisit it on another day to give it more time to simmer. All I can say is, after unlocking the final weapon, hard mode is so smooth sailing.
Some thoughts:
- Very good pacing and bosses are all so unique to each other. The gameplay is actually not what I'm accustomed to as I typically play very fast paced action-games reminiscent of modern trends today (I'm talking DMC, Armored Core, Sekiro) - but I still strongly enjoy this in the same way, having to learn boss attack patterns and dodging accordingly. The red knight and the final boss are stand outs in this aspect.
- The exchange mechanic is much more well built than I believe anticipated. Whether it is intentional on your part, I think the exchange mechanic somewhat extends to the health/mana system and how if you use mana skills, it gives health, and vice versa.
- Expanding on the first point, I find that I can just almost brute force the green and blue boss (or yokai, in this case) with the reaper weapon with little repercussions, even in hard mode.
All in all, game is actually super well paced and adequately challenging. Very fun! Easy all 5 stars for me.