I jumped back over to Dark Souls 2 before I try to tackle the DLC this time. (I already made it past the Sanctuary Guardian, but my infused halberds aren't going to do me a lot of good against the DLC bosses.)
I'm not loving the way it feels to play as a mage. Affinity (hex version of Homing Soulmass) is the first spell that feels like it really has a significant punch, but I don't want to run to safety, cast, and walk up to enemies over and over. I also didn't expect I'd have more trouble with crowd control as a mage vs. the dex build I took through the game the first time through. (
The cast times are rough, too. I now understand why every mage who summoned me for dragon covenant duels tried to ambush me during my first run.
I like a lot about DS2, or at least the concept of DS2. Tonally, it's good. Aldia, hollowing as dementia, etc. However, the things people complain about are harder to ignore on this run. The expansiveness and openness of the world aren't as striking now that Elden Ring is there for comparison.
Elden Ring feels like it would be an awful lot of work to go through again. Maybe the new Sekiro-style leveling in Shadow, however that's supposed to work, will also bring with it the ability to revisit boss fights that Sekiro had.
I've got runs in progress in all the Souls games atm. They're all mage runs, except for my sub-sl50 halberd run in DS1. I just need to get my life together and kill False King Allant without cheesing in Demon's Souls.
Overall I'd say DS1 just keeps holding up, aside from Lost Izalith.
Since Miyazaki probably is going to read this as he plans out his secret "final cut" collection release, here are my notes:
Demon's Souls: Make tendency a little easier to work with. Elevator switch visibility in Stonefang.
DS2: Any tweaks necessary but keep the world and the lore.
DS3: This one is hard to talk about. Mechanically, it's great. When you consider the game's scale and level of detail, it's hard to believe that it came out two years after Dark Souls 2, one year after Bloodborne, and just four months after The Old Hunters DLC.
However, it also feels like it doesn't have an identity of its own. So much of it is an "on steroids" tribute to what came before, including, as good as it is, an encore-medley final boss. The DLCs do a lot to address this, which goes to show that the callbacks themselves aren't the problem, so long as they're used in an interesting way. Ultimately the ending of the series, the one that feels true, has nothing to do with linking the fire, or ending it, or usurping it, but is something much more quiet, eerie, and sublime. In the burning attic of Ariandel chapel, you deliver Gael's blood to his Lady, for her painting.
So, I don't know, maybe figure out a way to better integrate the base game and DLC.