My only issue has always been that I cannot throw more money at the ape. So I buy the game for gaming-adjacent friends and almost always ruin their lives convert them
Reading comprehension, even more challenging than dark souls nowadays eh? No idea what you’re even going on about now, but glad you got your nice rehearsed rant off your chest.
The main souls games have already gotten progressively more and more “””accessible”””, somewhat to the detriment of what originally made them appealing. Options are a mutually preferable alternative - people that enjoyed the original gameplay would still have their torture, or you can play on games journalist difficulty and have basically the same experience as watching someone else play on twitch.
I would sub in like maybe Darkest Dungeon 2 over Frostpunk? Less well received but still better than any of the other three. Both were distinct changes of pace, darkest dungeon just sold its soul to the epic games store and lost the bond you formed with characters over a long campaign in exchange for the roguelite shorter runs.
What’s giving you trouble? Combat just takes some getting used to, but you also need to recognize when you’ve got too much heat and bail - you walk faster than the zombies, after all. Walk into the woods, do a big loop, and come back out with maybe 3-4 zeds still on your tail.
3 was great, 4’s biggest improvement was functional multiplayer. I have core memories of hunting every animal that moved from the side of a gyrocopter piloted poorly by a very inebriated bud.