I played Severance: Blade of Darkness in like 2001. It was pretty amazing for the time in many ways (realtime physics, shadows, water reflections, dismemberment, 3D blood physics). It took a lot of ideas from Zelda gameplay like 'z targeting' and put that into a medieval fantasy setting with some realistic gore. It even had a mod scene spring up when only the demo was released because the main game code was in python and could be edited directly (in the demo!). It was a niche game with a niche community that made some cool stuff like new campaigns and features such as using the torch to cook dismembered body parts so you could eat them for health.

So when I finally got around to checking out DS1 on PC I was a bit underwhelmed. I had heard so many good things about it, the innovation and the hardcore gameplay, the unique multiplayer interaction, etc. I tried to get into it and 'be cool' since it was all the rage. I did enjoy exploring the world, but it was such a chore to do so. I eventually made it through most of the locations before I just got tired of it. I crafted a nice sword, but everything in the game just began to feel like such a chore. The lack of fast travel (I was probably getting close to unlocking it) combined with all the location knowledge needed to avoid a quick death when going between locations just kinda ruined the exploration vibe that had kept me somewhat interested. I felt like it was enough for me.

The most upsetting aspect of the gameplay was the lack of interesting move-sets. There's some variety, but it's entirely weapon dependent so it just feels really limiting. Compared to Severance which had at minumum 3-4 base combos (depending on character) for a weapon type plus unique power combos for almost every weapon, DS just seemed very weak. Like if you're gonna make a game that's mostly about melee combat, then don't have like only 2-3 moves you can do with a weapon. It's so repetitive after a certain point.