What other game series did the DS series make you better at? ER and BB excluded.
So I know the average gamer usually has a niche game genre they like and play regularly where some gamers have a broader range of genre they like for example. I really enjoy cozy farming sims like Rune Factory or Stardew Valley but I also thoroughly enjoy fighting games, RPGs, action adventures, and a dash of racing games.
Amongst the cornucopia of games, currently 200+ on my Playstation account alone, I have enjoyed the Monster Hunter series since psp era and have followed through various consoles up to the recent Monster Hunter World and Wilds. Now this occurred to me before the iceborne dlc for World launched while I was going back and forth between one of the DS and MHW.
Although obviously not the same game but when I thought about it they kinda were the same.
DS series pits you against larger than life bosses that you have to wade through hordes of mobs to reach then fight.
Monster Hunter pits you against larger than life "Monsters" that you have to track down and kill/capture all the while smaller monsters and animals roam the surroundings either posing an annoyance or adding depth to the environment.
You progress your characters differently but also by a similar means.
Dark Souls, you improve your characters stats plus equipment all by finding items from the environment or as enemy drops along with souls.
Aside from the items you find outright in the world, progression is tied to exploration, enemy grinding, and allocation of garnered resources.
Monster Hunter, you improve your character mostly by crafting new gear and consumables as you hunt monsters for parts, zenny, and gather materials from the environment. While you don't manipulate your characters stats, the gear you craft reflects your stat and in game skill growth.
Progression is again tied to exploration, enemy grind, and resource allocation.
Where it boils back down into the same experience though is the actual fights and where experience gained from either helps the other. Granted if you have a hard time learning from failure and translating experience from one to the other I understand that.
My wife brought that last bit to me. We both game, where I would be the more avid of the two. I've had a longer history of gaming compared to her.
Where I'm at the point of I've played so many different renditions of the same mechanics the translation from game to game is easy.
She on the other hand takes time to adjust to each game and doesn't translate the past experiences as well. That's not a complaint or crack at her in anyway, it makes me happy she gets to enjoy games like that still.
Fighting games are my best example.
I've nearly played at least one installment of every major fighting game entry in the history of fighting games and no matter the fighting game I pick up I have a baseline skill level im already sitting at even if I havent played that specific game.
Talking mid tier level, good enough to play and win online in my favorites but not good enough to enter tournaments. Which lead to the eventual decline of me even playing fighting games. I digress. Lol I will tangent my tangents if I don't stop myself.
Back to the topic though.
In the end, Monster Hunter made me a better Souls player and the sheer unforgiving nature of Dark Souls made me a better Hunter. There are several more comparisons I could make between the two but I want to know what game's were that for you?
Two similar souls that lead similar lives but went about it in different ways.