It ' s very similar to DS 3 . Dark Souls 3 is basically Dark Souls 1 on fastforward , to put it in a bit of a cheeky way . The controls feel very similar although they have kept some of the improvements made in DS 2 like being able to roll in any direction while lockedon . Enemy design is similar too . Unlike DS 2 which mostly had humanoids there ' s a massive amount of enemy variety in Dark Souls . They vary a lot between each area ' s ecosystem , geography , culture , political state and history and they ' re usually very creative , interesting and fun to fight . The game also has the same great level design as is found in Dark Souls 3 with a lot of shortcuts and intricately connected areas . The biggest difference lies in the world design and how you progress through the world . but I ' d rather not tell you anything explicit about that because it ' s really best experienced by yourself , blind for the first time . I would say the world design is probably the thing people praise most about Dark Souls 1 though . It has arguably been surpassed in level design , combat , enemies and boss battles but to this day Lordran is considered From ' s best world design work . The setting and storytelling is also great in this game , far superior to 2 and 3 in my opinion . You can really tell From were on a creative high with Dark Souls 1 as they established the world and central themes . It probably has some of the best environmentalpiecemeal storytelling ever put into a game , with devoted lore enthusiasts digging up new or overlooked details and piecing it all together even to this day after 5 years .