Okay ... this is going to sound really stupid and i'm sure no one will agree with me ... but ... like ...
I feel like every Souls game after Dark Souls pretty much focused entirely on the combat and almost nothing else. I mean sure, they all had interesting art styles and good graphics and a decent story and some good lore(especially Bloodborne). But I really felt like Dark Souls did the best at balancing the whole experience. When I play Bloodborne I mostly only play it for the combat. Same with DS3 which pretty much threw out caring about unique worlds.
I really felt like Dark Souls 1 was THE World-based game in the series. Now that could be my nostalgia goggles, or maybe if I played Demon's Souls I would think that game was the best at balancing everything. But right now I think DS 1 takes the crown