Crushing the Crystal Sage didn't take much effort. The rest of the area - and exploration - proved pretty easy. Defeated an invader, tackled those dreaded Swamp Bros, and lit the bonfire to Farron Keep and Cathedral of the Deep. Hey, I didn't mean to make those rhyme! This was the easiest area so far to chew through with side content. Run into an NPC that gives you a covenant here, kill an invading NPC with the aid of a giant enemy crab there. It's been a relatively linear experience so far, I think Miyazaki might have been worn out as Bloodborne had released the following year while DS2 was being handled by a B-team.
Overall Dark Souls 3 has been a good experience. Very memorable bosses, and it's a lot faster of a ballgame than DS1 felt like. Juggling it and two other games, I'm not sure how long Dark Souls 3 will take me, hopefully not as long as SOTFS!