I haven’t played Demon’s Souls, but what hindered my enjoyment with Dark Souls the most is the poor checkpoint locations. Bed of Chaos would be less hated if the player didn’t have to walk 2 minutes each try. I don’t want to play a walking simulator!
I can imagine many others not having the patience for this kind of stuff. I almost gave up for good at O&S. It’s still a game I appreciate.
Elden Ring resolved the problems with checkpoints, and that game turned out to be one of my favorite games of all time.