I realized something about why DS2 and DS3 feel so different from DS1

DS2 was almost silly while DS3 is insanely gritty, while DS1 was kinda in the middle.

DS1 had tons of dark and depressing stuff but it also had the mushroom people, giant enemy clams, and Giant Dad. It was a great balance between the two and made the happy moments more precious and the sad moments more heartbreaking.

DS2 had literally just Ornstein, Medusa, a fat demon with stupid lore, a volcano on top of a windmill, etc. It was really goofy at times, and the thriving PvP community bolstered that. The forgettable NPCs and occasionally nonsensical lore made it less depressing and more comedic than the other games, and the abundance of healing items made the experience less stressful.

DS3 lacks a lot of that funny stuff. Almost every area has an oppressive atmosphere and Decay is visible everywhere. NPCs are much more like DS1 NPCs, which is to say 90% are either assholes or have crippling depression, or both. Bosses are much tougher than previous games, adding to the stress. PvP has improved but it's been much more heavily criticized and the community isn't as positive. Overall it's simply much more gritty than the previous games. There's still funny stuff, don't get me wrong, but less so.

Another thing I found odd was that in DS1, your a complete nobody in jail and you have no clue what your doing for a long time. In DS2 and DS3, the story focuses much more heavily on your character. Your almost immediately given purpose and a goal, right away your given targets while DS1 keeps most of that a mystery for awhile.

It's weird to think how much the series really has changed over time. Of course this stuff is all just from my point of view and I'm sure other people had different experiences, just felt like sharing mine.