I agree and that's why I'm happy not all studios not going this route. It usually means they game will be unique above average because one of the reasons would be needing the engine to work for something else than a "typical game template".
I've read somewhere they had several attempts until they could comfortably support the scale of the game, so maybe it was just rebuilding some major parts
There are many studios with their own engines that rival or exceed UE5 - which seems overhyped, because at this point they caught up with graphics fidelity without terrible performance that dread a lot of UE5 titles.
Recent notable example is Crimson Desert, they spent years building their own engine for this game and IMO they raised the bar when it comes to creating a huge realistic world.
Others that come to my mind are Decima and RE Engine.
This is one of the most sane takes on shipping code using AI where it's being actively reviewed and it respects your colleagues' time and attention. I like it.
About every soulslike has to have this one anxiety-inducing platforming section. I saw a lot of players complain about this particular part but IMO it's wasn't the most frustrating one:D
It's getting better year by year but I suspect it'll take another decade before we'll have acceptable air quality during the heating season. During earmer seasons it's fine tho.
The pain point was desoldering the old analog, I found a lot of other people online struggle with this particular part.
It's probably way easier if you have proper soldering setup at home, which won't be true for average person just expecting an easy fix. I understand how it can be quick and simple for someone with more experience
The game's way darker still but it doesn't feel overdone. You can tell a lot of soul was poured into it. Nice to know that it all somehow traces back to its source
I remember hearing about "Pinnocchio soulslike" and just couldn't imagine how that'd work. Now it's one of my favourites - especially with the expansion.
Compare it to Sony who still put potentiometers in their controllers. Good luck desoldering and replacing that once analogs inevitably start to drift. It's super easy to damage something else in the process as I learned.