>>719671883 (OP)
It's painful how many amazing ideas in DS2 were scrapped just because they're from DS2. Yeah we got a dumbed-down version of power stancing in Elden Ring but where are the new enemy spawns on NG+, the weapon and shield catalysts, the armor with significant passive effects that noticeably change your build, the casting speed bonuses from stats other than dex, the bonfire aesthetics, the no death/no bonfire challenge runs, the hard mode covenant, the unparryable ultra weapon heavies, the single-player invasions, the estus block during invasions, the unique glow you'd get for winning tons of area PvP fights
There was so many amazing mechanics in DS2 that never really returned in any of the other games and people only ever focus on the few experimental bits that didn't work
2 was jankier, it had higher highs and lower lows, but 3's core systems made its PvP much worse and difficulty much lower
Almost every weapon in 3 being tied to two hit combos in PvP, rolls and estus being way too fast, and having essentially endless stamina made 3 by far the easiest game in the entire series but also gave it by far the least satisfying PvP
3 is basically if Bloodborne had blocking and heavy armor, but also all the enemies were way slower
There were parts of 3 that worked. I loved the purple phantoms, the callbacks to 1 were neat, it had some nice visuals
But the core gameplay of 3 just doesn't hold up, especially when Elden Ring does everything 3 set out to do better
If I want SOVL I play 1
If I want good PvP I play 2
If I want fast, reactive combat I play Elden Ring or Bloodborne
There's no reason to replay 3
