That's very fair, well explained! I think I may be underestimating the areas of DS1 simply because I know them so well. Some of them are treacherous and it definitely has more opportunities to get stuck for example, like accidentally touching the bottom bonfire in Great Hollow before the Lordvessel or whatnot. At the same time the bosses are so so simple.

Also yeah I know what you mean. I think the lack of rough edges is part of why some people don't like DS3 so much and others like it the most out of the trilogy. It's definitely the most "smooth sailing". And I really don't like how the game is just one long corridor.