this was a cool experience (that im not quite done with, im partway into NG+ and im gonna do that at least twice, and then do at least one more proper run alongside bloodborne). basically had my hand held thru the entire thing, so i didn't have to suffer quite so much frustration doing things like finding bonfires and navigating the more painful areas (depths etc).
having other humans witness and acknowledge the fact that i actually learn and improve at things pretty quickly has been incredibly validating. weirdly enough, the people in my life i most associated with dark souls before this were the people who consistently made me feel stupid the most severely and often (notably, called me an idiot a lot, although one of them stopped when asked). i didn't realize that til i started writing this paragraph, but being pretty goddamn proficient in the game those people like so much is kinda vindicating/cathartic.
She is frankly underselling in this post how good she got at it, and how quickly. I've shepherded a number of people through a number of these games, and I don't think I've seen anyone go from "getting ground into paste" to "walking all over the boss" so quickly, so reliably.
It's true that she had my voice (and others') in her ear feeding her tips and strats, but there's a huge gap between "hearing someone give you advice" and "quickly internalizing that advice and competently putting it into action". There were several boss fights where all the Souls freaks watching along on Discord were just making 
faces on the winning run: beating Lightning Smough the fourth time she saw him after perfect-rolling the giant slam, sightreading Ceaseless Discharge with six consecutive flawless dodges, and killing Artorias two runs after saying "yeah I don't think I'm gonna get this tonight" just by learning to stay close and pressure his power-up.
This last thing, I think, is a crucial part of what makes the experience of learning Dark Souls so impactful. I say often that it's a didactic game, a game that teaches you how to play it if you learn to listen to its language. But more specifically, it teaches you to play it confidently. You win fights by staying close to the foes who wish you harm, by putting your shield down until it's really necessary, by dodging in instead of away. This is a lesson that takes much of the game to fully internalize, and to a degree that must be relearned for each fight as you feel out its movement and dangers. But once it clicks, not only can you win, but you start to own the fight that once posed such a fearsome challenge.
The most gratifying moment to me came in the midst of Sable's Ornstein and Smough attempts. When she first began this project of playing Dark Souls, she told me "I want to give this a try, but I reserve the right to stop playing once it gets so hard that it pisses me off." But while riding the elevator up to the Anor Londo great hall, she mentioned "This fight is tough but it's clearly doable. It's funny that Sam said it was the hardest in the game." I replied, "It is the hardest boss fight in the game." She paused for a moment, then said incredulously, "Then this game is easy!" I replied with a huge grin, "Now you're getting it!"
This game has such a fearsome reputation, built up for many complicated cultural reasons, but at the end of the day it wants the player to win. This desire is woven through every inch1 of its design, and once you learn to read it the game itself inexorably pulls you forward. Every challenge it shows you that feels so hard it must be impossible is there so that you feel incredible when you finally accomplish it.
It feels odd to me to say that I'm proud that my friend beat a video game, but honestly: yeah. Beating this game, in this way, with this frame of mind? It's a beautiful thing, and I'm very glad to have helped it happen.
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This is an exaggeration. Bed of Chaos is a bad fight that sucks.
