I like the Souls series and BB, even DaS2 for the broken mess it is has its high points.
But I don't understand why it's being touted by gamers and game journalists alike as some culmination of terror when it comes to challenge and difficulty. Ninja Gaiden Black ans Sigma on Master Ninja difficulty - now that's something on a whole other level. Souls games might have a slight learning curve due to poise and stamina and numerous brushes with "Huh, so this thing can oneshot me", but the fact that you can SL1 without a shield and only a wooden club or similar even if you're kind of a scrub shows it's not all too difficult in the end, just patience.
Completely OT: The article seemed to be mostly you talking about your experience anecdotally, but there weren't really too much stats or sources where you could have made your points more clear on what they're based on. So many gamers rely on stats, drop chances etc. enough to do calculations and guides for how and when these "rolls of the dice" may or may not happen on any playthrough, lots of good guides on GameFaqs for example.
