Haven't finished playing yet, and while I LOVE the atmosphere I'm not sure I have it in me to keep playing. I'll try though, the whole concept of the thing is engaging enough to make me want to try.
I do have to agree with another comment in that while I love the idea of the fencing system it does seem... Obtuse. Most of the process for reading your opponent genuinely feels like guess work. Some things seem to imply that the opponent is gonna prepare to parry a strike, but it turns out he's attacking instead, sometimes I assume that the opponent is gonna feint because of the position of their sword or the look in their eyes and it turns out that it was instead an attack, not to mention the whole process of trying to read whether the opponent is advancing or retreating.
I want to love that fighting system. I really do.
I am having a hard time figuring it out though. It feels more frustrating than anything else.
The setting is absolutely splendid though, it's one of the things keeping me playing right now, same for the music.
EDIT: Just finished the game. Beautiful ending, had to lower the difficulty of the fencing fights and completely disregard the parry option to proceed, essentially only making choices between attack and feint with movement based on who had the advantage. I still think the fencing system is not the best, most of the tells from the opponents are more confusing than anything else, however, the story, art and music are all really good. The setting is really intriguing too.