I agree with Super.  I'm waaay into the game and it's still the same hack, move, hack, move.  Even though I agree DS is about the best looking game I've seen, the gameplay is tedious.
I have, however, had some fun with the Exploding Powder combat spell.  If you throw it at the ground instead of a monster it'll bounce, slow down, and speed up like a combo bowling/golf ball, and responds very well to the terrain. It's fun to pick out a monster in a group and rim shot him with a strategic bounce way outside the range of any other weapon you've got.
But other than that, I find that my weapons and armor always seem underpowered for the intermitable wilderness areas I'm currently playing.  Even when I aquired the grenade launcher, flamethrower, and dragon mini-gun!   I shoulda gone through those monsters like Alien or Predator on PCP in a petting zoo.
When I know there's a town or shop somewhere ahead I find that if I race thru the area, not stopping for any monsters or fights, I can get to the shop, buy decent stuff and return to kill what I left behind.
I've yet to try multiplayer tho and haven't reached the endgame.
-sudz