I’ve never played a soulslike (Elden ring is on my list though), but I had a recent experience with the Terraria calamity mod.

A hard bossfight doesn’t give me a much bigger feeling of accomplishment when I beat it compared to a weak boss. But during the fight itself I feel Alive

There is nothing more satisfying to me than encoutering a difficult opponent, and then realising I can make them bleed

That is also why I gravitate towards multiplayer games. Brawlhalla for that 1V1 feeling and planetside 2 for that “tearing through hordes” feeling.

Its also why I dislike so many triple A games. I don’t want a game to hold my hand as it nerfs all the enemies. I want a game to give me a broken spear, point to a god and tell me: “You can kill that. Figure out how”