If I recall correctly it sorta changes over the course of the games. I think DS1 was primarily focused on character level, or souls spent on levels, while DS2 had a separate tracking system based on how many souls you have collected in total. Can’t speak too much on DS3 though.
For DS1 and DS2 at least, you definitely can climb those ranks to the point it’s difficult to find someone else that’s online and in your bracket, yeah.
Maybe not exactly what you’re looking for, but I’ve been playing Gloomhaven Co-op recently. Dungeon delver, turn based strategy with RPG elements and an interesting mechanic for managing your attacks and movement through an encounter.
This comment is how I always hope my info dumps go when someone asks me a technical question about something I have good experience in using. 10/10 comment, love it.
Now I’m just curious about you, after seeing your posts. I’ve seen a couple of games come up more than once, but a pretty wide variety of games that usually take a lot of time to get through. Have you been hopping back and forth between some “new to you” games while you come back to Skyrim every now and again? I’ve seen a fair amount of RPGs of some variety, are those your mainstay for games?