Nah, they're all of the same superb quality.

The reason why people separate these games is actually because the people themselves change, and approach any of the games with different emotions or during a different part of their lives. Meanwhile all the Souls games are exactly as good (except for perhaps Dark Souls 2 which might be slightly worse than the other 4).

I haven't touched 3 yet, but I think 1 is a bit better than 2 tbh.

Though I will say that the PC port of 1 without DSFix is REALLY bad.

You sure remember a lot from Dark Souls considering you only played for three hours a long time ago.

The sewers with the poison rats is only one room lol (the real sewers are in another direction far away from where you were near the bridge). You should have continued. And you can get quite far even if you're poisoned.

I can see clearly that you are a person who could enjoy Dark Souls.

Here's the real reason you dislike the game: You're in blighttown

Seriously, that place sucks. I promptly skipped the sewers and most of blighttown in my second playthough (yes, you can do that).

Especially on consoles where it runs at 4fps...

I remember my first time with Demon's Souls back in 2010.

VGC was already quite familiar with the game because it had a very delayed launch in the EU, almost a year after North America.

Anyway, I launch the game and I couldn't get through the first bridge. I died about 30 times in almost two hours and could only get just past the bridge, and a few meters to the left of it. Bear in mind that my default game mode is an unpatient "run and gun" Rambo style, especially back in that era which was only about dumbed down AAA games.

I thought something must be wrong. Is there something I forgot during character creation? Is it somehow bugged? What kind of game is this? I hated the game in those hours. I thought it was stupid and pretentious and wannabe, and brown and boring. The only thing I liked were the controls and the feel of the combat.

So I asked in our forums if it was normal to die 10-20 times (I had to censor the true number a little) and yes, it was normal, and they said just keep trying lol you will eventually get there.

So I kept trying. And then I fell in love.

I've played them all except for Bloodborne (because I dont own a PS4 yet) and I love them equally much. They're up there with Elder Scrolls for my absolute most favorite games.

I can't believe how incredibly good, intelligent and sophisticated these games are and I'm so thankful that somebody made them.

I started over after my first 20 hours of Dark souls. Then the game clicked, plus starting with the master key the second time helped a lot.

The level design is awesome, the descent to Blightown is one of my favorite gameplay memories. I got spooked, ran, jumped down to a bonfire midway then was stuck there. No clue what the way back was, enemies all around above my current abilities. Dark souls is like learning to dance, learn the positions, the moves, it's old school. Slowly you get better and start thinking 3 moves ahead instead of reacting. Before long the trip back up or down becomes a well choreographed speed run.

But I wasn't fond of the bosses either. Merely annoying obstacles to get out of the way, or a good place to farm souls for upgrades in co-op. I still stuck it out until halfway through ng++, didn't feel like Ornstein and Smough for a 3rd time, plus I had seen all the extra bits already.

DS2 wasn't as good, fast travel ruined the already much weaker level design and my retention of the game. You can't even backtrack if you want to. Beat it, but no ng+.

I still haven't touched Bloodborne although I bought it at launch. Faster action and other changes to combat do not fit my play style. Maybe one day. I've ignored DS3.

There are very rough patches in the game and the Capra Demon stage and Blighttown (with which I personally never had a problem even at ~ 10-15fps on PS3) are probably 2 of the stand out regions (along woth Tomb of Giants .. god, did I hate my first time through that), but that's also why for many it's probably the most charming title in the Souls series (for me that's Demon's Souls) - there are clearly many experimental things in the game and the later titles just feel a bit too streamlined.

Soulsborne is only trial by error if you're not paying attention. It's also held as one of the fairest games of recent years. And finally, I don't believe you really knew what you were doing at all, given your belief that you lose hear and levels (Souls are not levels, nor gear; they can, however, be used to purchase levels and gear).

If these games were trial and error, I would have died a lot more than I did in Dark Souls III. Instead, I knew not to trust any help the game offered to me, and entered every area slowly and cautiously. Devil May Cry this is not, and there are consequences for overconfidence. 

Yea i can imagine it being tough going from bloodborne to dark souls 1. Thing is, dark souls 1 was ground breaking when it came out. It took a huge step forward from the foundation block that was demons souls. A lot of people appreciate it for that reason.

You are also playing the game 4+ years too late. Being apart of the community during the first 6 months after release was amazing. Dark souls online was very active in pvp, lore discovery, speed running, and of course coop. Pvp was active a full 2 years after release (I hardly played any other game besides it until tlou came out).

Someone whos never played the souls games might think the gameplay is the same/similar. However, as you discovered, bloodborne and dark souls are very different. There is obvious speed differences. Dark souls is almost methodical and rewards patience (not the case in bloodborne). Bloodborne (and dark souls 3 to some degree) expect players to play without a shield and take more risks. In dark souls you have the option to armour up and become a tank. Poise is one of the most important stats in dark souls. It doesn't exist in bloodborne and mine as well not in dark souls 3 (unfortunately).

Not sure if you are aware but dark souls 2 was made by From Software's B team, hence the feeling being off. The same group that made bloodborne also made dark souls 1 and demons souls.

I would recommend giving dark souls 1 another chance. At least get to anor londo and fight ornstein and smough. The dlc is top notch as it is in bloodborne.

Btw bloodborne became my favorite in the series after it's dlc.