I don't mean this in the sense of "The beginning and end of a soulslike should be equally hard" or "They need to be easy", but more like how DS3 is way harder than DS2 or Bloodborne. I feel like whenever there's a new soulslike, instead of letting me rely on my skill of other games, they have to add something to make it harder and more challenging and frustrating with every new game.
Essentially, I feel like, throughout my journey with all kinds of soulslikes, I've already built up skills in those games and I'd rather be able to use those skills in new ways instead of building up new skills I'll only be able to use in that specific game.
Like, perfect parries, perfect dodges, reflections in Khazan are awesome, but only really good for this game. The combat is awesome and lots of fun, but since its combat is so different to its contemporaries, the skill you build is not really transferable, at least not fully.
I guess in a sense I get why soulslike get so much more difficult these days: fans of the genre had years of practise with other titles, so the challenge needs to be upped to accommodate for their skill. However, unless you accommodate for the rise in difficult and offer difficulty options, which some soulslike have started to adopt recently, it also artificially bars people from playing the game, be it because they lack the necessary mechanical skill or because they lack the patience/tenacity/perseverance to keep at it. Some bosses still just feel absurd (shoutout to Khazan's final boss who's easily comparable to Sekiro's)
I'm just not a huge fan of this arms race that soulslikes have fallen into where every new soulslike has to have the new hardest boss or whatever. I didn't like it with Elden Ring, even though I appreciate a lot of its boss designs, or Lies of P or Khazan. Just let me feel good about being good again lol. And maybe focus a bit on other aspects of the genre that are so beloved: storytelling, world building, level design, atmosphere
What do you think?
I feel like the game as a whole offers quite a bit to generally be more approachable than Bloodborne or a game like Sekiro, but some of the boss patterns are just a little crazy for my tastes (can't comment on the DLC - basically one boss in). It feels like for how few ways you get to interact with attacks, that is block or dodge, the attacks are just a tad too out there. Super long and convoluted chain attacks, huge reach, lots of attack feigning. You can somewhat level the playing field with summons, buffs, leveling, but it only took me so far, personally.
Sure, git gud and all, but yea, that's been my experience with many ER bosses. In some cases, it didn't feel like I learned the fight and just lucked through it by chance. One fewer attacks I tanked, a lucky bleed proc, stuff like that. Didn't feel as accomplished as in Sekiro or Khazan or Lies of P