I don't think the headline suggests paid DLC is a problem, but I do think they know exactly what they're doing when they phrase it that way since nickel-and-diming corporations are such an inflammatory topic. What the intended meaning should be is simply that they made some paid DLC, followed by some free updates and QoL fixes, and now they are planning another paid DLC. Simply a timeline of events.
And of course, not giving the name of the game in the headline is a classic and obvious clickbait tactic.
It's definitely not made to be Dark Souls/Nioh/Sekiro in terms of combat, it's closer to being Assassins Creed or Far Cry, though much more grounded and a little more thoughtful than those two. For me, the combat was not the thing keeping me interested, and that's fine. I was more than happy to just travel from POI to POI since the world was so beautiful, and the little samurai challenges were neat (bamboo cutting for example) and the duels were super cool and cinematic, even if the combat wasn't particularly deep.