I've never experienced Dark Souls, but the legend of it is KNOWN. And I can clearly see how that pertains to THIS game! Totally capable of being unforgiving if you slip up, don't let the retro-style visuals fool ya. Proceed with caution haha
My suggestions: If you get too close to a wall, the camera completely freaks out leaving you vulnerable for an attack. This happened to me many times, and was mostly why I ended up losing and had to restart. Also the restart; the pacing of the game is slow enough, so having to restart waayyy before the boss fight (only to fall victim to the spazzing camera angles) has the potential to turn-off a player.
I love the old school hardcore style of the game, and would enjoy more if some changes were made!
Great work!