You have to do all that, but it's all so railroaded and predictable. It's got that Guitar Hero feel to it of "press the right buttons at the right time to win". There's far less unpredictability in it than other games of it's ilk.
Stealthing becomes the preferred option simply because it's quicker. Fighting is just as predictable & easy, it just takes longer.
Nioh had it's flaws & got on my nerves after a while, but it's 10x the game this is. The lack of genuinely demonic vibe is a big miss too.
GOTY though? Shit it must be good! Skyrim got that!
Stealthing is not faster, grappling around from point to point is, you're basically flying, if you want to speedrun.
"Press the right button at the right time to win"? Hm, sounds like Dork Souls. 1 vs 4, but I get what you mean about that vibe, but doing this during boss fights feels good and deserved. The game demands that you learn it. It's a wall and it's not going away until you break it. No coop, no magic, no summonable NPCs.
Fighting is easy if you learn the combat system and eventually master it. A lot of people didn't find this game easy when it launched as I'm sure you remember the bitch fits.
About GOTY award, this one time they got it right.
Out of curiosity, if you don't mind me asking, are you a game journalist?