Games

Nearly all action games have some amount of RPG elements built into them these days. A few titles come to mind:

1. Horizon Zero Dawn and then Forbidden West.
2. God of War and then Ragnarok.
3. Spider-man, Miles Morales and upcoming Spider-man 2.
4. Read Dead Redemption, Read Dead Redemption 2.
5. Jedi Fallen Order, Jedi Survivor.
6. Guardians of the Galaxy
7. Resident Evil 2 Remake, 3 remake and 4 Remake.
8. Ghost of Tsushima.

Plenty more but that should keep you busy. All of these have character progression, leveling up, getting better gear to varying degrees combined with forgiving dificulty (which you can tweak).

It sounds like you should play Skyrim.

Dragon Age: Inquisition. You also mentioned you loved Witcher 3, the game is similar in gameplay.

You may also want to start with Dragon Age: Origins, but starting with Inquisition is fine, though you'll miss some references.

Lords of the fallen is an easier, yet fun, souls like. Not as good in terms of exploring or atmosphere but still very fun and not too difficult.

Older gamer here, that has just dipped his toes in RPGs in a long time by buying Elden Ring. These days there's no time to bash your head in the same bossfight two dozen times. Fun has to be a little less "long haul".

My suggestion: Valheim

Shadow of Mordor

And if something like 60% of Elden Ring's difficulty is fine with you, Bloodborne.

The Witcher 3, maybe?

Maybe Diablo II Remastered or Diablo IV?

Seeing what's been already recommended here, my suggestion sounds out of left field even to me... But somehow, "Elden Ring bug easier" makes me think first and foremost of Zelda breath of the wild and tears of the kingdom. Huge open world with secrets everywhere, engaging aesthetics and, challenging yet less punitive combat. The only thing would be that the combat is less emphasized, an exploration and problem solving more. But combat is still very much there and you can go quite deep in its mechanics, especially with all the time stopping and telekinetic shenanigans.

Edit: Not really a western ARPG I guess but the freedom of play is similar

Rdr2 is a must play. Also checkout fallout new Vegas or fallout 4. They're older but mods can make them very enjoyable.

I don't really see how Elden Ring is a western, but I can recommend rdr2 or call of juarez gunslinger if you prefer something less serious.

Would branching out into spectacle brawlers work for you?

In that case, check out Bayonetta 3 on the Switch and Armored Core VI on PC/whatever!

For something closer in combat feel to Elden Ring, Atlas Fallen maybe? But I haven't personally played it and reviews are mixed, so can't really say how enjoyable that would be.

Mass Effect Legendary Edition. Play the game on story mode and enjoy it. That trilogy has the best characters and some of the best quest storylines in the industry in my opinion.

Forgot to mention that I prefer PC games, but I do own all three current gen consoles.

You might enjoy "The Surge" 1 and 2, they're souls-like in gameplay but in a more industrial-punk atmosphere. There's also the "Darksiders" games, I enjoyed all 3 of them. They're action-RPGs, but "Darksiders 3" is closest to a souls-like. "Remnant: From the Ashes" and "Remnant 2" are also very good fun.

• Mass Effect trilogy
• The Outer Worlds, though this one has a healthy dose of "shooter"
• Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, though this is probably shooter first, ARPG second
• ...Minecraft?

Man, I thought I'd have more suggestions, but they're all either as hard as Elden Ring or not Western

I recommend Dragon Age: Origins.

I feel like a cheater, but I tried my best to not cause any griefing. I'm also in my 40s and don't have the time to git gud when I just wanna play the story.

Dark souls 2 & 3 have mods that make it easier. DS2, I had crazy defense and rolling. Poor invaders would backstab me 5 times and only take me to 50% health. Then 3 basic quick hits would kill them.

DS3, I was around level 200 thanks to a xp multiplier mod and was able to steamroll bosses. Invaders still destroyed me, but that's fair. Frequently I let them and to my surprise, most invaders if you don't attack, won't attack back and will just goof off. I loved it.

I'm going to wait until Elden Ring is a bit more quieter before I play with mods. Again, not interested in griefing. Just want to adventure on my own terms.