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[The artful mincer]

I think it's how the level design, exploration, art and combat all seamlessly comes together.

When they don't it can become a much lesser experience.

E.g. the chalice dungeons bloodborne feel really soulless (lol) compared to the main game I can never get into them.

Also the run of mil caves in elden ring feel much worse than the rest of the game.

 

[BbMajor7th]

Funny seeing these results when most imitators focus on combat and difficulty + better graphics.

 

[BlakeofT]

I voted for Exploration, but now see Level Design. To me they are kind of the same. I could live without the difficulty spikes of some of the bosses, but I do love the challenge present in every day exploration.

 

[MiguelItUp]

Music, lore and world building, and art style.

I of course love the combat, and the miscellaneous mechanics as a whole. But those things always stand out to me immediately.

 

[Hoddi]

Combat, level design, and difficulty.

I'd rather call them challenging than difficult though. My favorite SNES game back in the day was Super Ghouls n Ghosts and they remind me a lot of that. They're just challenging in the sense that you can't yeehaw your way through them but need to move slowly and watch the attack patterns etc. Makes it all the more rewarding when you manage to reach the next checkpoint.

 

[Rickyiez]

Level design and world building is unmatched

Combat is still a tier below games like Devil May Cry

Btw where’s FashionSouls option ? It’s another aspect I enjoyed very much

 

[DenchDeckard]

Exploration
Combat
Challenge

 

[Killjoy-NL]

1- multiplayer and the social aspect

2- art style

3- weapons

Everything else is less relevant to me.
And on one hand the challenging nature of the game is what I like, but at the same time I just lack the patience for these kind of games.

 

[playXray]

It’s amazing how hard I found it to choose just three.

 

[existensmaximum]

The challenge and satisfaction of finally progressing. Does that go under difficulty..? I don't think it's exactly the same thing but whatever

 

[GymWolf]

Most of the enemy design
Level design
Having a good level of challenge

 

[Judge Magister]

When you think about the options you notice that From Software tick all the boxes really.

Intriguing and ambiguous story
⤷ Great art style

Exploring the unknown
⤷ Smart level design

Satisfying combat
⤷ Rewarding; nerve-raking difficulty

 

[Gp1]

Dark Souls 1 is a masterclass in lore, world building, level design and combat to a point that defined the series and an entire new generation of games.

 

[skneogaf]

I love it all

 

[Famipan]

Combat, Boss Fights, Difficulty AND Level Design AND animation quality AND art style AND sound effects.

Music I can live without tbh

 

[Rivdoric]

Gitting Gud

 

[Shubh_C63]

Exploration

So much so I had no incentives to beat the final Bloodborne boss.
No map to explore afterwards so why bust my hump ?

 

[Kupfer]

Artstyle, because it's basically Berserk.

Souls-games per se aren't my jam.

 

[Soodanim]

I'm surprised voice acting has almost zero votes.

I guess it's more the other aspects being excellent rather than VA being bad. Still though, I don't think they get enough praise for their voice acting work

You're not wrong, there are bits that stick with me from them. But VA is such a small part of the experience overall that it necessarily gives way to much more ever-present elements.

 

[SEGAvangelist]

There's literally one game with "borne" in the title. I remember cringing the first time I read "Soulsborne."

 

[Thief1987]

Level design, exploration. Only in a couple of games though. Nothing in the others.

 

[Trogdor1123]

Exploration for me too. Just awesome games. I hope an Elden ring bundle goes on sale on pc soon. I beat it on ps5 but moved over to pc and want to play again

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

Only reason I stick to repeating bosses is to see the next area.

yup, these days, most of the time, i see bosses merely as an obstacle to keep exploring

miss the the dark souls1 fog door style where sometimes itd be a boss, sometimes itd be a new area... sometimes you'd play it safe and trek back to the closest bonfire before going through... other times youd say "screw it", go through, hold your breath and just hope for the best.
fun going through, realizing its a new area, and just stand there with your shield raised, looking around, thinking "wtf is this place".

feel like DS1 also had more boss difficulty variety. like some bosses felt like mini-bosses.
feels less formulaic when you dont know what to expect.

 

[Generic]

Only 5 votes for multiplayer? The biggest innovation of Demon Souls was the enduring world with players' messages and invasions.

Not surprising this franchise is now about rolling.

 

[Barry Burton]

Level design, exploration and art style.