I must say the narrative here is quite good for From standards (well, at least until halfway the Altus Plateau where I am now). But it's ABSOLUTELY predicated on players triggering Roger, D and Ranni questlines (even if not going all the way through on Ranni's, just pledging to her as Roger asked/to investigate Death is enough). If a novice misses those, the game becomes directionless and devoid of narrative punch. That was my case in the previous playthrough and what left me with a sour taste. This new playthrough is actually changing my perception of the game, at least from a narrative/setting/lore POV (gameplay aspect still leaves me with mixed feelings).
Edit: btw this narrative reminds me of Shin Megami Tensei (the original, not Persona) where the player is supposed to get exposed to, and pick one of, key NPCs "reasons" to shape the world. Only in SMT said exposition is obligatory at certain points in the story, while From makes then optional/misseable. I shold known better by now, as I remember missing all NPCs questilnes in my DS3 first playthrough too.
