Must have at least 1000 hours across all souls games at this point, playing the first one for the first time has been quite interesting

The locations and overall art is full of flair and details, the atmosphere is very desolate and everything is very well achieved for a 2009 game with a small budget.

It's weird to see just how much or this game's DNA have made it into the massive launch that was Elden Ring. So many ideas have been reused over and over and seeing how Boletarian Palace might as well be a prototype for Stormveil Castle is quite interesting. Same with the mines having the same rocky enemy types weak to strike, and the zone outside being just literally Blighttown. I'm sure there are other zones for which I can point more out but I haven't gotten that far in the game due to laziness and general unwillingness to make a mental effort

There's an evident lack of polish (for obvious reasons) that'd be addressed in later games. Just how much the games were streamlined later on (so much of this game is either frustrating or obtuse while the bosses are really easy), but still rehashing the same ideas feels like a natural evolution but also stuck in time. Playing Demons Souls and then DS3 is at times like playing Ace combat 2 and then 7. 20 years of difference but still the same ideas. You might say it's creatively bankrupt but at this point it's a safe bet, a money printer.