personally i think the series is a bit overrated, and that the story is too vague and confusing, but i like the combat, i'm waiting for dark souls 2 to come out to PC so i can play it! and i also like the different styles of weapons and builds, my favorite is either thief or warrior, i really like those badass looking big swords and axes!
actually i don't think the other 2 were hard once you memorize the enemy location and block effectively, let's see if DS2 improved on that, i'm quite excited for the challenge, but i think that most people that say that the game is too hard die because they rush too fast into the areas, don't use the lock-on mechanic like angry joe, aren't cautious entering areas with shield raised and don't memorize the enemy locations, even after they were just killed