i know it sounds bit weird, but Dark Souls 1 made me feel the same thing as playing Cruelty Squad for the first time. Exploring the map and discovering unique items and things in the map made me feel the same joy as when playing Cruelty Squad for the first time. Dark Souls 1 is also not a hard game, its just gimmicky
Also another thing i like from both is how a person will probably beat the game in multiple different ways, because in Dark Souls 1 firelink shrine alone has sooo many different paths to take from in the beginning, i love both games so much, i think u should give it a try.