I think you’ve probably got the answer by now, but it was a fair question. Going from a third entry to an original can be clunky and regressive. Luckily, DS1 doesn’t suffer from that.
1 is definitely a slower game than 3, which came out after Bloodborne. The timing for things like enemy attacks is different - I took that as 3 subverting the expectations of confident 1 players who thought they would be able to dodge everything straight away.
There’s a few things that changed by 3 to balance things out, like how Pyromancy isn’t based on stats at all in 1 (aside from dex for cast speed).
Dark Souls 1 had truly great level design, and I hope you update is when you play it. Play it, enjoy it, and come back if you need some guidance - it might be strange playing it in reverse.