Playing this the very last, it's inevitable to see how it has been picked apart by every Souls after this. Dark Souls 1 took the important stuff, Dark Souls 3 the cosmetics.
Breaking up the game into levels like this may not feel as "organic" to lot of people who prefered a long, unique world (maybe the same people who's favourite thing about movies is when a long one-take happens, for the sake of it). I think they can be equally gimmicky if taken out the context. DS1's world's interconnection served to demonstrate how much the fabric of reality had been torn apart after generations of nothing or no one holding it together. In Demon's Souls, the world is at this very moment being threaten by the destruction of reality in the hands of the invisible fog, and so what little remains of the world can be preserved in levels, the only way to go from one place to another without being trapped by the fog. Even then, the fog can still affect this places (hence having to "traverse the fog", a classical element of the franchise that took meaning in here).
This breaking up into levels gives it much more freedom, as you can do them in the order you prefer. Also, the levels are much more enjoyable than in any other Souls game, they have more ups and downs, there are wider landmasses or narrower pathways, the architecture feels more expansive and broken. DS1 may have Blight Town's poisonous deeps, which are a pain in the ass, but Demon's Souls has a poisonous landmass where, if you keep still, dozens of creatures will try to surround you, creating a sense of "lone person in a stranded tiny island, having to deal with the ocean's menace". It is the most varied, without having to resort to hundred shortcuts and a thousand closed doors that read "ok, will be unlocked later".
The bosses are also much more interesting, they don't rely so much in having to learn patterns, but in having to read the room (literally!). I think there's no boss fight that doesn't force you to internalize the area you're placed in, sometimes turning that into an advantage. It's so different from the countless boss fights encountered in a round colosseum-style area.
Even then, my favourite will still be DS1, Demon's Souls as a closed second, due to how many similarities they share.This corrupted land may have lost the punch it had when it came out, after so many iterations on the same concepts, but it's wild to see the very first primordial being as also the most creative one. After DS1, it appears the rest haven't learned much.
Breaking up the game into levels like this may not feel as "organic" to lot of people who prefered a long, unique world (maybe the same people who's favourite thing about movies is when a long one-take happens, for the sake of it). I think they can be equally gimmicky if taken out the context. DS1's world's interconnection served to demonstrate how much the fabric of reality had been torn apart after generations of nothing or no one holding it together. In Demon's Souls, the world is at this very moment being threaten by the destruction of reality in the hands of the invisible fog, and so what little remains of the world can be preserved in levels, the only way to go from one place to another without being trapped by the fog. Even then, the fog can still affect this places (hence having to "traverse the fog", a classical element of the franchise that took meaning in here).
This breaking up into levels gives it much more freedom, as you can do them in the order you prefer. Also, the levels are much more enjoyable than in any other Souls game, they have more ups and downs, there are wider landmasses or narrower pathways, the architecture feels more expansive and broken. DS1 may have Blight Town's poisonous deeps, which are a pain in the ass, but Demon's Souls has a poisonous landmass where, if you keep still, dozens of creatures will try to surround you, creating a sense of "lone person in a stranded tiny island, having to deal with the ocean's menace". It is the most varied, without having to resort to hundred shortcuts and a thousand closed doors that read "ok, will be unlocked later".
The bosses are also much more interesting, they don't rely so much in having to learn patterns, but in having to read the room (literally!). I think there's no boss fight that doesn't force you to internalize the area you're placed in, sometimes turning that into an advantage. It's so different from the countless boss fights encountered in a round colosseum-style area.
Even then, my favourite will still be DS1, Demon's Souls as a closed second, due to how many similarities they share.This corrupted land may have lost the punch it had when it came out, after so many iterations on the same concepts, but it's wild to see the very first primordial being as also the most creative one. After DS1, it appears the rest haven't learned much.