Bought it, and gonna start it up as soon as I finish my second route in Three Houses.

I thought the first 8 hours was good, not great. I don't care too much for the investigation aspect of the game. It comes off as a bit tedious. Having said that the game continues to get better and better with every chapter. I am currently on chapter 8. In particular the battle system gets better with each chapter, by chapter 7 the battles are superb. I'm in the 8/10 or 9/10 camp thus far. Really good game, a must own thus far.

Edit

Art style is superb.  

I think the Investigation and sidequests are pretty fun. One part that I disliked is Puzzle/Light-Platforming in the Astral Plane.

I've played like 2 hours. I like the game in general... but dodging is difficult AF. Specially compared to Bayonetta. I'm having serious problems getting the timing right with most enemy attacks.

Dodging is hard because the camera is a bit weak. At times I find myself not knowing who is even hitting me.

I don't think is about the pattern... but the window in which the dodge is effective. It seems to be much smaller than in other Platinum games

Use sync attacks, dodges by themselves aren't good as they're not intended to be an escape mechanic like they are in action titles it's better to perfect dodge then activate a sync attack as those have much larger iframe windows which will stop other enemies hitting you while you counter the attack you dodged.

On the topic AsCh is one of the most unique arpgs released as well as one of the best, contrary to what some who've yet to play it may think it's not an action title as if you approach the game in an action title manner you'll get destroyed as the are many high level Bayo and DMC players who got ripped apart until they figured out how to approach the game combat requires some thought in what you're doing, for a start the's no jump button. Best way to describe the gameplay is that it's like a much more high octane Bloodborne combined with Nier Automata with elements here and there from other PG titles, the game really begins in Chapter 3. A lot of people also don't realize they can augment combat with the gene codes you pick up as they have abilities they can grant you in combat, the reason battles get better is because like all other rpgs you unlock more options with character growth and equipment and the same rings true here for example you can equip a parry ability on a Legion with some gene codes and upgrading your weapon unlocks new melee moves.

As with PG games the is quite a bit of depth and tech to play around with one particular trick is dubbed US (unsummon) Cancel as you can unsummon the legion at almost any point and it lets you act again allowing you to string moves and combos together that you normally wouldn't be able to.

This is because you unlock abilities for dodge later on that make it very powerful you're doing what we all did and tried playing things like an action title due to PG being the developer which is a bad idea at the start when you don't have any abilities, the base dodge is not meant to be an escape option in this game it's more of a positional and set up mechanic later you unlock a counter ability which through the duration of the counter you're invincible the result is the dodge can't be like how you see it in action games as the player would be impossible to kill if it was spammed the game makes it that the player has to perfect dodge to make use of the mechanic and its abilities to encourage players to get better and not spam.

bought it and loving it I'm on file 4 right now

Gotta be a 9/10 for me.  This and Fire Emblem are my two top picks for GotY right now, and seeing as how they are two totally different experiences it is hard to pick one over the other.  Loved every second of both!

If I had to nit pick something about AsCh though...the silent protagonist does not fit the game IMO.  I mean both twins had voice actors, just whichever one you chose was silent.  It did not make sense to me, and it felt off from a narrative perspective.

Of course Fire Emblem had a similar deal, but Byleth still felt real.  The interactions you have with your students puts you in the driver seat and it complements the role play.  In AsCh however, both twins felt like a character and there was really no room for roleplay.  In this case, the Silent Protagonist didn't do it for me.  It just felt like wasted potential in that regard.