I never got the chance to play Bloodborne because of Sony but I’ve heard its the best one. I did play through their other games after Elden Ring came out, and i wouldn’t say the problem is always the player. Fromsoft does an absolutely abismal job telling new players where to go and how to play. Elden Ring especially just expects that you already have experience with the series and that you’re going to have the wiki open on your second monitor to follow a basic questline. Personally i just dont understand that philosophy.

Videogames that intentionally break their difficulty curve with the intention of seeming elite and prestigious. I’ve suspected for a long time that games like Darksouls and Kingdom Come deliberately try to manipulate their players into getting caught in sunk cost falacies, trying to get people to blame themselves for any failure of game balancing.

Over time they’ve fostered communties which are so toxic that they will lash out at anyone trying to criticize the game. This then frees the developer from all fault and casts any grievance as the players lack of understanding, skill, or hardware. Eventually, any mistake the devs make becomes seen as an artistic choice and will be defended tooth and nail by the players.