Maybe I like Elden Ring more in a lot of ways, but many of those ways are purely because it's newer. Looking at DS for its time and circumstance, that atmosphere, that level design, all the hidden things to find. DS sought out to be a more connected adventure compared to its predecessor, and it exceeded in nearly every way

While the Dark Souls sequels failed to capture the connected world the original had, Elden Ring fixes that in a way by just having an open world. Despite this, there really isn't much of a compromise on level design, as areas like the academy and the capitol are some of the best designed areas in the series, while being contained in a massive open world. Elden Ring can stretch thin in a few places, but there is a very short list of games that put me in awe as I enter a new location.

DS3 brings some very genius level design to the table, but continues to lack that cohesion the first game had. Combat is moderately improved, but now enemies are faster and more chaotic then they have ever been. Bosses are more distinct and engaging, but also act much more like roadblocks. The castle architecture is very detailed, but gives the game a samey feeling visually throughout. DS3 does many things great, but makes small tradeoffs in many areas that bring it down.

People see that your health halves on death and think DeS is the hardest game in the series. No, it's not. It is the easiest and by a decent margin I say. DeS strength's and weaknesses are in its relative simplicity compared to later titles. Most ideas this game has are just done better in the future titles, though DeS has a standout atmosphere that continues to remain distinct despite the surface level visual similarities to later titles.

Many point to DS2's bosses as the game's big weakness when really I can't agree. The game has some very good bosses and just because some are forgettable does not bring the rest down for me. Where this game falters compared to the other Soul's titles is level design. Not even the interconnected-ness, but on an actual level by level basis DS2's levels lack the details of the other games and can feel very artificial with what can be best described as locations that feel very "video gamey" with their layouts. The other games managed to feel much more natural in their layouts while also being more enjoyable to explore. Despite this, I still really like the game, which just shows the quality of the series as a whole.