So is this actually good or not?

Exploration in the first half is an annoying bullshit in which anyone who doesn't use a guide will wander aimlessly for hours and hours until they find their way to the Depths, then it becomes a chore because of how annoying Blighttown is. Then the game just outright stops being fun on the Ceaseless Discharge.

Compared to Demon's Souls, DaS1 has pretty shitty level design.

?
The game's difficulty shits itself the second you stack poise and gets easier as it goes on thanks to how hitstun is tied to upgrades.

>Hollow, Ash Lake, New Londo
Remove yourself

DS2 is the hardest level design simply due to how obtuse and counter intuitive its levels and mechanics are

Some of the areas leading up to them suck shit too, like Great Hollow, Lower Undead Burg, Ash Lake, etc.

>Hollow, Ash Lake
good levels
>Izalith, Demon Ruins
shit levels
>Crystal Cave
short enough that it's not overly offensive, Seath is a good boss but not the best
>New Londo
good level

BB from the second half of the forest onwards is very messy. Nightmare levels in particular feel like sewn together assets and very samey. Snake balls, the area with the buffed enemies, all the bosses except from the final one leave a lot to be desired...

it's the best game of this decade
someone can say bloodborne and i can consent to this opinion even tho DS1 is slightly better for me.

Ash Lake is a shitty straight line, Great Hollow is a shitty vertical line, and New Londo is a samey dull shithole with like 2 enemies.

I wanna get this on switch but the UI looks so fucking bland
And there's no anime shit

Is this an overblown complaint. I've never played a real PC game in my life so I'm not used to ugly UI and lack of style

Hollow and Ash Lake are not good levels. They are boring straight lines that are completely unfinished. New Londo is a muddy mess of gravy textures just completely underwhelming. Crystal Caves are God awful design that doesn't get a pass because it's short. Nightmare Frontier, BB's worst level, isn't as bad as any of these frankly and equitable to the best level level put of this bunch, New Londo.

It's not hard at all to find the Depths, do you have something wrong with your brain? I love Demon's Souls, but to say it has unequivocally better level design than Dark Souls would be to lie to yourself. The Boletarian Palace levels remain some of the best 3D levels in games ever, though

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Ash Lake is absolutely beautiful. It's meant to strike the player with awe and anyone with any aesthetic sense will appreciate it. The Hollow is the best vertical drop level FROM has ever done. Crystal Caves are aesthetically great and add to the diversity of the game's visuals (something Bloodborne very much lacks), but I'll admit the gimmick itself is retarded.
BB's worst level is easily the one with the red mist where enemies are buffed. By that point the lack of enemy variety is really starting to show and it''s just such a tedious and shit experience.
New Londo is a good level. You need to bear in mind that it's meant to be a grim and oppressive environment. The game recommends you go there to cure your curse. It's meant to be a terrible, paranoid sojourn into the dark where ghosts swarm you when your health has already been halfed. Then you come back there later when you're stronger and more able and you feel like a big man.

Why bother replying to me at all if you fall on your sword with "well, that's just your opinion"?
I mean of course it is, but I backed it up with reasoning it least:
Great Hollow and Ash Lake are linear and underdeveloped. Crystal Caves is straight bad game design (you could actually apply this to Great Hollow too). New Londo is a muddy ugly mess where everything blends together into level soup.

it's a janky game. From has convinced everyone everythin jank "a feature"

this
pure retardation

It becomes really dull after the climax point in anor londo. The parts where you go after each of the big badass dudes is plagued by some of the most tedious and uninteresting level design.

Ash Lake is a linear boring level despite its beauty. It's not just atmosphere that makes a level.
Great Hollow is a linear boring level with trial-and-error elements thanks to the God awful jumping mechanics that bring gameplay screeching to a halt so you can proceed with tedium.
Crystal Caves is a linear boring level with trial-and-error elements that bring gameplay screeching to a halt so you can proceed with tedium.
New Londo is ugly level soup that almost gets there as a decent level but falls short. Its also insanely easy.
Also, BB has many more enemy types than Dark Souls 1.

The lack of anime shit is why it has the atmosphere of desperation. You can't get that feel with anime crap

That's because it's basically legend of zelda

Imagine if Nintendo contracted From to make a soulslike Zelda. They did it for Hyrule Warriors, so anything is possible.

Its decent and DaS3 could have been improved with the open exploration concept, but exploration was a bit more horizontal in nature, areas seemed pretty bland, and combat is just dated. Worth a single playthrough, maybe 2.

>It's not just atmosphere that makes a level.
But that's clearly the point of Ash Lake and it excels at it. It's incredibly rich with atmosphere and the Hydra is enough of a challenge and interesting enough of an enemy (e.g. the reveal of its ability to jump) that it makes Ash Lake work. I honestly think the game would be weaker without it. So few games would hide something so beautiful that enriches the world so much
>Great Hollow is linear and boring
>trial-and-error
It does what it sets out to do well: a tricky, careful "should I dropped down here, here or..." series of vertical drops as you get the fuck out of way of Basilisks. It's a scary time before the respite and calm of Ash Lake
I'll concede that Crystal Caves aren't great at all, but I stand by my point that it's an example of Dark Souls' diversity of visual aesthetics compared to Bloodborne.
New Londo is only easier later. Remember, most players first face it when they're cursed. It's an ugly, oppressive experience but that's the point.
Base game BB absolutely does not have more enemy types than Dark Souls.