Out of all of them, I still think DS1 is my favorite. The connected world design is just something special.

Started a new character recently with the goal of “How much of the world can I explore, how many items can I get / level up, without beating a single boss”. This is without any glitches or out of bounds skips.

Ok, I had to beat the tutorial boss the get out of the asylum, but after that, with the master key, it is crazy how much of the world is available to you.