I really think 1 was just a straight downgrade compared to anything else, the bosses were boring, soundtrack was kinda meh, NPCS felt sort of useless and too distanced from the player except maybe solaire just because he was friendly.

Menu systems and the humanity system were awful, PvP was even worse, the level design seems overrated as most of the time the 'smart' shortcuts were just kind of pointless. Blighttown might be the worst area out of the whole series.

2 was a lot better on bosses in general, soundtrack was still questionable but it was much better than the same demon soundtrack playing 4 times over and over. PvP was also a lot better with the menus and hollowing system a lot more bearable compared to humanity and previous menus. The locations felt a lot more thought out in the sense they all served some purpose and despite there being so many there were quite unique as a whole. Even if the frigid wastes made me want to commit harakiri.

3 is just the best accumulation of all those series and systems, maybe there were far too many bonfires but at least the levels felt better and also had good shortcuts without being too plentiful or stupid. Bosses are all great, even the crystal sage and deacons feel much more unique and cool compared to any base game 1 boss just by unique soundtracks and designs. Menus were the best in 3 and the ember system is probably the most streamlined version of humanity and hollowing, PvP is almost definitely the most enjoyable as you dont need to worry about not being able to heal into the presence of a 4 man squad ready to eat you alive, nor do you have to worry about chain backstabs or giantdad.

1 just feels really weird, almost a recession from demons souls even if they're not part of the same series.