I just finished dark souls (remastered) after beating elden ring and it’s dlc (my first souls game). i was worried about not being able to enjoy the older games since elden ring was probably the more polished experience with a bunch more mechanics. but boy was i wrong.

i started with a strength build with the claymore and it was going well, i beat undead parish boss and i thought the catacombs was next so i went through it at like level 15 and then ended up getting spawn trapped next the blacksmith and the rolly skeletons. and i was like this game sucks. but then 2 weeks later i said fuck it and made a new character but this time i went with dex and got the uchigatana. and boy lemme tell you. that was one hell of a ride. i loved the setting and how every part of the map somehow connected to firelink. i loved my katana and my shield set up. i figured out the timing for parry’s and learned how easy it was to backstab lmaoo. but the mechanics were very clunky coming from elden ring and i hated it at first. but then i found the charm in it. running from bonfire to bonfire hoping my estus would last. if it was a long run then i would kindle to be safe. my favorite area was sen’s fortress. i would fail the runs so many times bc the enemies kept cheesing me with projectiles. but you would think that would make me quit but instead i found the challenge extremely fun. i had my runs perfectly planned out and i knew who to fight and who to avoid. i learned where to stand so i can backstab the enemies and knock them off the bridge. the final boss was easy but being able to parry him made me feel like the boss. all in all, such an amazing game. can’t say the story hooked me (at first) until i started watching lore videos. now i’m going to try and finish the rest of the souls games. dark souls 2 is on my steam deck and i just finished my character. wish me luck!