Dark Souls is overrated, it simply isn't fun

[Asriel]

I'm not sure where I stand on it yet - I'm 20 hours into my first playthrough and am in Anor Londo. Most of the time I haven't actually had much difficulty with boss fights; I've usually killed them on the first or second attempt. I've also done some optional areas, like Darkroot Garden/Basin, the Catacombs (I hate the wheel skeletons), and the Painted World (entirely accidental - I didn't realise what the painting did!).

I have had difficulty with things I consider to be cheap placement rather than 'difficult', but that might just be a reflection of frustration. For example, I'm currently stuck on the Silver Knight archers in Anor Londo - I'm told by a friend who's done Dark Souls multiple times this is a common area of frustration. I've tried a few different strategies but can't get passed just yet.

Broadly, I love the interconnected level design, atmosphere, art design etc, but find the game a little too obstinate in places. Sen's Fortress, with its booby traps and difficult enemy placement (i.e. across bridges you needed to cross with swinging blades) was pretty much the sum of my experience so far. I admired the design of the level in many ways, loved the atmosphere and enemies, but found the repetitive, tough reversal pretty dull. I get that's intentional - it's designed like the games of the mid to late 80s, which would be difficult by way of making sure people spent a long time playing them. One issue I have is that I've heard so much about difficult, intimidating bosses and as I've said, they've very rarely troubled me - being cautious, choosing your window and healing regularly gets you through fairly easily. The other issue for me with Dark Souls is I'm repeatedly trying the same thing over and over and I have so many other options for my gaming time, I'm not sure if it's worth sticking with. I have limited time for videogames and like to feel like I'm making concrete progress - an hour with Souls might simply leave you stuck on the same section.

My friend said if I can get through Anor Londo then the final stretch is a bit more open-ended - he said I'll have some choice in how I go about the next chunks of the game, so I'll make some more attempts to finish Anor Londo tonight and again on Sunday. I'm glad I've stuck with the game this far, but I'm not sure if I've got the patience for the rest of the slog - especially with so many other games competing for attention.