It’s got better, but for a while there was a big rise in “Souls like” combat being touted in so many games - even now 90% of a PlayStation show is combat that looks identical.
Accessibility has got better, but for a while it took a big step back thanks to this new combat system that was suddenly everywhere (and still hasn’t fucked off lol) - for example we get random difficulty spikes in games that have easy modes that’s often down to the stupid combat.
Immortals of Aveum was one - it had a battle halfway though you had to win to progress, but even in easy mode you had to react to certain attacks in certain ways that are just too fast and complex for anyone with a motor or reaction issue (for example my autistic brain doesn’t communicate fast enough or deftly enough to complete difficult sequences).
Honestly, it’s easier to name the games in recent years that haven’t had Souls combat than have - the only plus side being that yes, accessibility is finally catching up again, but it’s still too often the exception rather than the norm (Control and SteelRising in particular did it well) - I can honestly look at 50 to 75% of action / RPG games coming out and find either difficulty spikes / no levels or lacking accessibility options enough that I’m put off buying it (thank god for Game Pass so I can try it).
Easy difficulty is only valuable if it’s actually easy throughout - if they chuck in stupid reaction time scenarios, quick response combat where you need to hit the right reaction or have silly spikes in difficulty, it’s not accessible and if anything can be more frustrating as like with Aveum I spent 30 odd hours on it just to hit a point I can’t get past despite having breezed through the rest of it till then.
I could use a trainer (part of the reason I’ve upgraded my PC is so I can introduce my own accessibility using one where I need to!) but the title isn’t Play Anywhere so I’d have to restart on PC - and while I’ve got that option now, it’s really not fair on console only gamers who’ve got accessibility requirements.
The other thing many games have taken from Souls is to not allow saving anywhere but set checkpoints / locations - I always hated it on GTA and the few other games that did it, but it became more widespread after Souls became popular. For anyone with limited time to game or who’s likely to have issues so have to replay from a save quite a bit, it’s such a pain in the arse - even Banishers, one of my favourite recent games did it (they at least did do the difficulty levels correctly).
Overall if you dislike Souls it’s a not a brilliant time to be playing AAA games - the combat system is bloody everywhere (and makes the games all so similar and repetitive) and the genre has influenced so many others making it impossible to avoid unlike almost every other genre where you can just choose not to play them…