Traditional Souls design puts you in a series of gauntlets. You’re edging forward against the unknown hoping to survive just long enough to hit the next bonfire and release the tension. That design appears in ER as the legacy dungeons.

The open world is a break from this coil-and-release. It also helps the world feel more real and connected. The Lands Between feel like a real place because of how you traverse them and see the connections. And the wide open exploration makes finding things more satisfying. And if you manage to kill then it opens up a wider area to explore more safely.

If anything I think Torrent is the problem. In the open world you’re so fast and mobile that you can avoid almost all combat freely and charge through areas with no real risk. That swings the pendulum a little too far from the traditional design. I like the idea of the open world bosses (dragons, night cavalry) serving more of a gatekeeper function where if you want to explore without fighting them you’re going to have a more difficult time than avoiding random soldiers.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5141554&forum_id=2#44759418)

There is some bloat in the little mini dungeons, but there are tons of huge unique levels with interesting bosses. The scale of the underground levels is fucking amazing when you first get exposed to it.

Combat is clear improvement over DS 1 and 2. Main issue is probably boss balancing around spirit summons. But if you are dedicated to soloing bosses, you probably already really like this game.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5141554&forum_id=2#44761905)

Combat is not an improvement because the hitboxes are often sloppy as fuck on many bosses (first game in the series to have that issue . . . precision was formerly a major strength), and there is no balance at all to the weapons, items, and builds. Another Souls first is having to refrain from using certain easily gettable weapons/spells/summons ect because they will trivialize the boss and maybe even melt it in one hit. Every other Souls game encourages you to figure out how to use your limited capabilities to down the boss. The only way to make this one difficult is by putting artificial, self-imposed contraints on yourself because the developers threw a bunch of shit at the wall.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5141554&forum_id=2#44762504)

I didn’t love the caves, but mostly skipped those after the first area.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5141554&forum_id=2#44762366)