It’s a shame it didn’t click for you.
The opening area, Fallgrim, can give a bad impression I think. You’re not sure if the whole game takes place here or not, the environment looks very similar so it’s hard to know where you are at all times, it’s filled with lots of the same enemies. I got to the castle and it’s obviously different visually with different enemies. I’m probably over 10 hours in and not anywhere near the end of the game, but I’m a slow player in general.
The 4 weapons and 4 shells is a positive in my eyes. It’s very focused and efficient that way. It also means the devs don’t have to balance 30 weapons and 10 shells. As it stands, the shells are all unique and don’t really bleed into each other’s realm of expertise. I don’t know that there would be much benefit by adding more shells in between. They’re all unique from a visual design aspect too.
Eredrim is a tank, Tiel is the opposite with high stamina, Harros is the balanced one, Solomon is the parry king. The weapons sort of pair with the shells too. Eredrim with the Martyr’s Blade, Tiel with the Hammer and Chisel, Harros with the Hallowed Sword, and Solomon with the Smoldering Mace. Of course, they can all use every weapon, but they fit with them visually and narratively, and with Tiel, mechanically.