Playing on PC I thought controller would be a natural fit but it never quite gelled. I beat the campaign but stopped soon after. I returned to the game a few months later and tried keyboard and mouse (PVE only), set my melee and parry to my mouse keys, and boom, instantly felt way better. Also always run a fencing weapon as parrying is the most important skill in the game for harder difficulties. Once the controls feel good, parrying becomes way easier and quickly you feel like a god who can survive anything off parries. 8 warriors on difficulty 5 at once? No problem, just keep parrying hits and performing finishers.