I think it depends on what you consider "mindlessly mashing buttons." I mean, over 90% of Dark Souls I just spend running in a circle and occasionally hitting R1, but apparently everyone thinks those games are all deep and demand astute mastery or whatever. For Honor's combat is, to me, so closely linked with its guard/hit-level mechanic that without it, I can't say it reminds me of that (which is kind of a shame, because I'd totally dig a game with For Honor's system focused on PvE). God of War has, historically, had very limited selection of weapons and combat moves/techniques, and all I've seen from this one is the axe, which hasn't impressed me.
Everything they've shown makes the game look overwhelming "meh" but with a huge budget thrown on top. I'd probably give it a spin if it were free, but I'm not going to pay $60 for 30 hours of mediocrity.