I am Horrifically Bad at these games

I’m talking like, “struggling against basic enemies” and “rarely makes it past the first boss” levels of bad. And it’s literally every game in the genre. It’s something about 2D combat that I am just not understanding. But I WANT to like them. I love the art and the storytelling and the exploration and I even love the combat in theory, I’m just Horrifically Bad at it.

I’m not a bad gamer by any means. I’ve beaten the entire Soulsborne series multiple times and other games that are generally considered difficult, and I have above average skill in games in general, but clearly I am doing something wrong. I can get through all of Dark Souls without dying once but the first boss in Symphony of the Night took me like 30 tries.

I don’t even know what I’m asking honestly. I’ve never beaten a Metroidvania, I don’t think I’ve even made it half way. But I really want to. So I guess what I’m asking for are tips that someone completely new to the genre might not know about, or game recommendations for total beginners? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Editing to add that I only have a PS5