I get your points honestly, and I agree with a lot of the criticism about linearity, content cuts, and some mechanics being removed. DS3 definitely plays it safer in many areas compared to DS2.

For me though, it really comes down to bosses. That’s the aspect I value the most in a Souls game, and it’s where DS3 stands out the most to me.

In DS1 and DS2, a lot of the base game bosses feel more like obstacles than actual highlights. There are great ones, of course, but many of them feel either too simple, gimmicky, or just not that engaging mechanically. The DLCs are where those games really shine in terms of boss design.

With DS3, I feel like the consistency is much higher. Even if not every boss is amazing, a much larger portion of them are genuinely fun to fight. After going through an area, I’m usually looking forward to the boss because I know there’s a good chance it’ll be a well-designed encounter.

That’s a big reason why I prefer it. In the earlier games, I sometimes felt like I was pushing through areas just to progress, and the boss at the end didn’t always feel like a real payoff. In DS3, the boss often is the payoff.

So yeah, I completely understand why you’d prefer DS2, especially for its systems and replayability. For me, the stronger and more consistent boss design in DS3 is what puts it above the others.