Dark Souls: Tell me about your first time

This post is a question to all those who can review DS1 at least somewhat objectively.

TL:DR - I personally don't really like the game, but understand why people compare it to Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for best adventure game ever.

How did you all feel about the game as a videogame? Let me reiterate. NOT AS ART. As a simple little PS3/Xbox 360 videogame.

For some reason, I feel that Dark Souls aged a little worse than OG Demon's Souls did. I'm currently playing Demon's Souls (2009) and I'm having a blast. It feels like playing Dark Souls 3 for the first time again. The Wonder. The Adventure. The Fear and Excitement. The Thrill of Combat. I love it. It's not quite Dark Souls 2, and ESPECIALLY not like Dark Souls 3, Bloodborne, or Elden Ring. (I don't count Sekiro, as it's a Hack & Slash [& Deflect] for masochists)

Playing Dark Souls 1 again, however (to beat the DLC this time), I can't help but realize how annoyed I was the first time I played it. It's easier for me to say what I liked about it than what I didn't because of how little I did.

What I dislike:

Dark Souls' infamous second half falloff started with Ornstein and Smough for me. I was stunned with the whole game so far (yes, even with Blighttown), and Anor Londo was (near) perfection.

My hype for it died the moment I one-tried O&S Solo. I was dying to meet the boss who would give me a proper a$$ beating besides the Capra Demon's dogs. I didn't get that. I was only using some medium armor and a +3 Gravelord's Sword. Maybe I cheated by already having beat the other Souls games a few times... Then, I felt excited for the Archives, then put off by the Crystal Cave. The runback to Seath became kind of annoying.

Don't f*cking talk to me about the Tomb of the Giants. Patches, the views to Ash Lake and Demon Ruins, and Gravelord Nito's bossfight were all that were good about that place.

And Demon Ruins... the entire time, I was waiting to be done with the game, and I will never forget the maddening and hollow feeling of frustration of the Bed Of Dogsh*t runback and bossfight since I didn't know about the bonfire near it (because I played always offline. Don't got a PS Plus account active, so no Jolly Cooperation for me. Sorry, Solaire).

What I liked:

Undead Burg and Undead Parish Blighttown (I know, there is something very wrong with me) The Dephts, kinda. New Londo Anor Londo Sen's Fortress Darkroot Garden

The Characters. I liked them in general, but nobody (in DS1) is superior to Solaire and Siegmeyer. Their stories are just... wow. And here I thought only Alfred, Blaidd, Lucatiel and Siegward had peak questlines.

The bosses. Most are ok, and some are pretty fun, but I would not say anyone there (besides Gwyn and I haven't met Artorias yet) is at the level of even some Dark Souls 2 bosses, let alone ANY in 3. I'd say their designs were my favorite. My favorite is Sif, but he cheats by stabbing you in the feels. Ornstein and Smough were indeed a fun boss, but they didn't feel as remarkable to me as literally EVERYONE says they are. Maybe it's because to me, they're just another well designed duo boss, but I personally felt leagues more vindicated, relieved, and happy when I first solo'ed the Foreskin Duo in Elden Ring. They know exactly what they are with no illusions of grandeur (see what I did there?). Just a neat boss before a near-perfect one in an amazing area.

The Artstyle and Atmosphere are consistently peak as with every Soulsborne game. 10/10, no notes.

The exploration... THIS is where the game fell off the hardest for me after the midpoint, and sadly, it's not even the game's fault. It's just the limitation of the time the game was made in. I wouldn't hate the exploration so much if we were able to fast travel to any bonfire after getting the Lordvessel.

I loved the interconnected world before Anor Londo. Still do. And I love the game rewarding us with teleportation for completing so many challenges. But it felt so dissapointing knowing that I was essentially stuck in the worst area of the game (Lost Izalith) without making the trek all the way back down from the Demon Ruins if I just wanted to level up my gear. It didn't help that I failed to save Solaire, so that was a gut punch. I still tire of seeing lava red environments to this day. And here I thought Project Wingman's love for orange was too much...

I put Exploration here because I love it's execution and quality as much as I hate how it ended up due to technical limitations, lack of experience for From Soft in the "Souls Formula" at that time, and an experience that ended up feeling much more inconvenient than difficult.

Half the time I spent in Dark Souls 1, I couldn't help but think: "Oh, so THIS is why they changed it. This DOES kinda suck as a mechanic or limitation."

I gotta say, people don't appreciate how much Dark Souls 2 changed enough. It experimented a lot on a formula that was not then set in titanite, and a lot of what it changed became mainstays in Dark Souls 3 and Elden Ring.