Okay let me start with two heavy hitters right from the get go and don't forget these are only personal oppinions and I absolute understand if you like those games. Good for you!
Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Not a bad game per se, but I don't get the hype behind it. Sure the dungeons are fun but the world is so lifeless, the story non existent, the combat pretty shallow, the tower climbing is very much like FarCry but for some reasons it's okay here while Ubisoft gets the blame...like I said I dont get why the game is so beloved. Never finished it after the 20 hour mark and probably never will.
Red Dead Redemption 2 - Just like Zelda not a bad game, but imho highly overrated. Graphics and and atmosphere are amazing but the controls are clunky and overloaded, nearly everybody is an unlikable douchebag who I would love to shoot myself at the first opportunity (maybe except Jack and Abigail) but I have to root and care for them. The game is just so long and feels very stretched, you already know that you won't get Dutch because it's a prequel and for an open world game you often get handholded in your weapon selection or things you can do because you have to wait for them to be unlocked by the game. I'm now nearly done with the game, playing the epilogue at the moment and I would say the last chapters are more entertaining than the rest of the game, but I still can't understand why this game was on so many game of the year lists and I really wanted to put the controller down a dozen times.
So there they are, two highly controversial oppinions by me and now I'm really curios what your takes are and how highly I get downvoted into oblivion ๐
Not the OP, but IMO it's that difficulty is an actual feature. And that feels stupid. Difficulty should be a parameter, not a goal.
I'm a story guy myself, so if the game doesn't have a really good story, it's not for me. And souls-likes usually sacrifice everything to difficulty. And even if the story was good, dying 20 times with every new boss would break me out of it all the time.
I think with Souls games in particular, difficulty can be part of the atmosphere. Whether or not that is your sort of thing is another story. My husband completely bounced off of Dark Souls even after playing Elden Ring. To him, Elden Ring was the first Souls game that was more interested in being a fun game rather than a difficult experience.
Difficulty is not the goal of any of the Souls games (not talking about soulslikes). The challenge is a means to get you to think methodically and strategically, and is a vessel to bring you catharsis and release when you overcome it.
That's what I said to him. I personally think overcoming the challenge is very enjoyable. I love Dark Souls.