Well, after taking a few months away from the game after getting filtered as hell, I tried going back to Elden Ring again, and I'm calling it. I've been officially skill-issued, and I refuse to spend anymore time trying to "get gud" with it. After almost 60 hours in the game and countless boss fights, I just can't bring myself to keep at it.
I've only played Dark Souls 1-3 and Elden Ring from FS, and in 60 hours in Elden Ring, I might be able to put one boss from ER in my current top 20 favorite boss fights in the FS games I have played, and it would definitely be on the lower end of the 20 if one did make it. I can maybe name five that I thought were actually enjoyable in the game up to the point I'm stopping. The rest were boring and forgettable or so shitty and frustrating that I didn't even feel a sense of accomplishment from beating them. Just frustration that I had to go through it. Granted, I know I didn't get far enough in the game to probably reach some of the better boss fights near the end, but I'm giving up. The rest of the game has been pretty great, but after almost 60 hours in and barely finding any boss fights that I can consider really good, I don't feel like spending more time. I'd rather just go do another run in DS3 or something.
What ended up filtering me the most is how frustratingly bad the gank fights were. I used to dislike gank fights in general, but playing some of the well-crafted ones in the DS games really gave me an appreciation for a well-made gank fight. Obviously, the O&S fight is a gold standard example of one, but I think my favorite is the Demon in Pain/Demon From Below fight. It's challenging, but the two are synergized so well that it feels buttery smooth fighting them. And then we have Elden Ring with fights like the Valiant Gargoyle duo. Probably the worst gank fight I've ever fought, and as I said earlier, I felt no sense of accomplishment from beating them. I was more frustrated than anything having to go through it. I can't think of a single gank fight I've experienced in ER that felt like they were actually synergized well. It was just literally taking an enemy made for a solo fight and throwing it together with another one, and it just didn't feel fun at all.
For the record, what finally got me was the duo Crucible Knight fight. Both were fine, but nothing special, on their own. But when I'm spending that much time trying to separate them just enough to get one, maybe two hits in while avoiding their chain attacks, it's just not fun, and it pretty much feels this way in all the gank fights I've done.
I'm not saying it's a bad game. I acknowledge that most people genuinely enjoy the game, and I can see why. But after all of this, the game's just not for me. I'm just not able to "get gud" enough to enjoy the game before I just get frustrated with it. It's honestly very disappointing.