Dark Souls 2 was a you-had-to-be-there-at-launch situation. It was an entirely different experience of a game when there was no meta. I spent days in the royal rat covenant sewer area pvping, i was the rat king of the sewers, farting out poisons. There were these crazy builds you could make like invisible giant club, 1 ammo one-hit-kill go for broke magic build (i think the spell was called hex?), poison farts, and a fuggin ben hur horse boss lmao. It also had a very unique aesthetic and I liked the story as a cautionary tale about marriage. Places like Heide's Tower of Flame felt like fully realized dream landscapes, almost Daliesque in a way. In terms of lore its my favorite cause of Aldia and his content, he really elevated the series. There's also a giant dragon the size of a building that's hard as hell. Dark Souls 3 just felt like it wasn't trying to do anything and I barely remember any of it. The most fun online pvp I've had in a Fromsoft game was Dark Souls 2 cause of the whacky builds. It's like the Temple of Doom of the franchise and I like that.

I wish I could articulate Dark Souls 2's aesthetic and vibe but it's hard to put into words.