I don't know what I can say about Dark Souls that hasn't already been said, it's an all-timer. I think the biggest thing I want to remark on is how well it has aged. The weighty and intentioned combat makes the jank feel baked-in, like it's just part of the experience. The visuals also have a sort of timeless beauty to them, the art direction and enemy/boss designs are fantastic. My favorite thing to do in the game was just exploring for secrets and examining every nook and cranny of all the fantastical locales the game depicts. I was most always rewarded with a cool enemy encounter, a sick item, or a pleasant bonfire. The creative map design, and how they twisted and turned in upon themselves always pleasantly surprised me. My only real criticism I have is how in the second half the areas feel a lot less impassioned, a perfect example being Lost Izalith. Not only is the boss just annoying, but the whole area itself isn't interesting at all really. There are hardly any unique item drops to incentivize exploring, and there's very little enemy variety, more than half of which don't even feel like they fit the area. It's not just boring (especially during boss runbacks), but how my partner described it was "full of microaggressions," which I thought was really funny and apt. You have to use a certain ring just for a small section, there's a bunch of enemies but they're mostly just in the way, and you can constantly get caught on the map geometry. Not a big deal individually, but summed together can kinda get under your skin a little. I think this is compounded by the fact that by this time I was kinda set in my build. I didn't really need to level or advance my gear anymore past the point it was already at, meaning there was so point in rummaging around for the disappointing soul drops or anything. This may be a two-fold issue though, as even if there was some cool weapon to be found there I'm not sure it would've mattered to me at that point in the game anyways. It's a shame because the gorgeous and interesting maps the game is mostly made up of are absolutely amazing. Because of all this I felt pretty fatigued going into the DLC, but with how brisk the pace is I didn't feel the urge to rush through and drop exploring altogether, which felt nice. The focal point of the DLC was definitely a lot more boss-oriented, and the areas were not too large to begin with. I would also like to say I beat the game with a spectator, so not a full on guide, but someone to help me when I got stuck. Even coming from other Souls games and RPGs in the past, this game can be very esoteric and confusing at times. I can easily see how you could have a very frustrating experience as a new player. While I think exploration and the joy of figuring stuff out on your own is a big part of what makes this game special, I would recommend playing with a guide of sorts - at least for emergencies. Frankly, I love this game, it's great despite its flaws. I very rarely found myself missing the modern features present in something like Elden Ring. It's extremely solid as-is, and as a result has aged surprisingly well, there's just some unfortunate moments in the later half that can feel lackluster. The only thing more timeless than its gameplay and art is the idea the game represents.