Great game. Heavy focus on parrying with mission by mission design so do not expect massive map layouts like souls games. I would disregard any 1 star review that dogs the game over its hard first boss. You do not have to grind to win, you just have to learn the games mechanics. Seems to many people are impatient then want to complain about the entire game because it hurt their feelings lol.
The magic has a better focus than just blast mana as it makes you easier to stun but if you are better at parrying by the first boss fight then you should not have a problem! If you are a fan of the Three-Kingdom(Romance or Dynasty warriors) story lines then you will be excited to see familiar heroes!