Board 8 > Best Souls game?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I've never played any of these lol

from what I've played

1. Bloodborne
2. Sekiro
3. DS3
4. Nioh
5. DS2
6. DS1 (which I didn't play much of because it's very hard going back to the original after starting with the later entries)

I have only played DS3 and Elden Ring.

Elden Ring wins, but DS3 was still fun.

I haven't finished Elden Ring yet, but it's shaping up to be one of the greatest games of all-time. Objectively. Just, everything it sets out to do is incredible. Bloodborne is my current personal favorite game of all-time, but that may not be the case in a few weeks.

I voted Dark Souls 1, but I think Elden Ring might surpass it depending on how it holds up on a replay (Dark Souls 1 is my favorite game, so I guess I liked it a little bit.)

Haven't played Elden Ring yet, but it's going to be hard to top Bloodborne, which is my personal favorite game of all time. Everything about Bloodborne vibes with me on an intrinsic level. The fact that I still think Elden Ring has a shot has me very excited to play it soon.

Bloodborne, Sekiro, and Elden Ring are tough to choose between.

The former two are great bc they take the souls formula and alter it in fantastic and unique ways. While Elden Ring is the culmination of Dark Souls and perfects a lot of its systems while also taking influence from the other two standouts.

Bloodborne has that gothic horror that I oh so love. The kind you don't really find anywhere else.

Sekiro has such smooth controls and the rhythm to the combat is incredibly satisfying.

Not sure Elden Ring honestly needed to be an open world. The true Souls-like environments are there in more glory than ever before, but the horse rides between them aren't anything special. However, aside from Cainhurst Castle they've pretty much improved on any area that came before. And exploring these new areas gave me such joy.

So I dunno. Elden Ring would be easy to vote for since its new but I can't in good conscious vote against Bloodborne or Sekiro

I've only played Dark Souls 1 Remastered, Demon's Souls PS5, and Bloodborne, but the only one I liked enough to finish was DS1, so that one.

Not done with Elden Ring yet but this very well may be it. Bloodborne is probably still in the conversation just because it plays differently enough (mostly due to trick weapons, rally, quickstep and gun parry) and is much compact with incredible atmosphere and themes for a nice shot-in-the-arm type experience so it may appeal more to some folks in that way.

Elden Ring is truly ridiculous in (amazingly) both scope and craftsmanship though and unless it completely shits the bed in the final stretch I wouldn't hesitate at all to call it an honest to god masterpiece and one of the best games ever made.

I don't consider Sekiro a Souls game.

But either way it's Bloodborne with Elden Ring being damn close.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

I don't consider Sekiro a Souls game.

I totally understand this view, but imo it's kinda just splitting hairs. By Soulsgame we just mean a Fromsoft developed title.

If you were considering Soulsgame as a genre that had to include specific attributes such as using souls (or whichever placeholder name the game in question requires) as currency and having to retrieve said currency after death, then we should be including all the games who blatantly copy the formula. Nioh, Code Vein, Jedi Fallen Order, etc.

Bloodborne
Sekiro
Dark Souls
Dark Souls 3
Dark Souls 2

...Maybe? Bloodborne and Sekiro are really close. And then so are all 3 Dark Souls IMO, particularly 1 and 3.

CassandraCain posted...

I totally understand this view, but imo it's kinda just splitting hairs. By Soulsgame we just mean a Fromsoft developed title.

From has made horror games and mecha games so I def think it's worth clarifying further. Souls games are ARPGs and Sekiro straight up has no RPG components so I'm in the camp of it being its own thing.

CassandraCain posted...

then we should be including all the games who blatantly copy the formula. Nioh, Code Vein, Jedi Fallen Order, etc.

People do call these Soulslikes though.

I know there is plenty of similar DNA to Souls titles, but Sekiro is them making a straight up stealth action game to me. I can't consider it a Souls game without leveling and builds. It's also why I'm not a big fan of it!

Xiahou Shake posted...

From has made horror games and mecha games so I def think it's worth clarifying further. Souls games are ARPGs and Sekiro straight up has no RPG components so I'm in the camp of it being its own thing.

Modern day soulsgames maybe?

I consider Sekiro as a Soulsgame but not a Soulslike.

Soulslike to me is a game that copies the formula, which means I wouldn't refer to any of the From developed games by that name. Soulsgame is specifically their games from Demon's Souls on, which includes Sekiro since it still sports their incomparable souls polish.

This is of course just me making shit up since I've recently started disliking the "Soulsborne" moniker. I mean otherwise we're just arguing with opinions which won't get us anywhere. I still totally understand the viewpoint that it doesn't belong with the rest.

Xiahou Shake posted...

From has made horror games and mecha games so I def think it's worth clarifying further.

No one cares about those games though. When you say 'From Software game', everyone knows what you're referring to.

Xiahou Shake posted...

Not done with Elden Ring yet but this very well may be it. Bloodborne is probably still in the conversation just because it plays differently enough (mostly due to trick weapons, rally, quickstep and gun parry) and is much compact with incredible atmosphere and themes for a nice shot-in-the-arm type experience so it may appeal more to some folks in that way.

Elden Ring is truly ridiculous in (amazingly) both scope and craftsmanship though and unless it completely shits the bed in the final stretch I wouldn't hesitate at all to call it an honest to god masterpiece and one of the best games ever made.

Trick weapons in particular is why bloodborne still holds the edge for me. I can see why people who prefer mage builds aren't into it, but the character that each weapon has really butters my biscuit.

Having just finished the Elden Ring platinum it's 100% the best game FromSoftware has ever made

Genre arguments aside, Sekiro is an incredible game that I regard nearly as highly as Bloodborne but for wildly different reasons.

Also want to shout out Nioh 2 for having absolutely bar none the best combat in any Soulslike I've ever played. Like, it's not even close. It may be one of the best combat systems I've ever seen and I focus hard on that stuff.

1. Dark Souls
2. Bloodborne
3. Elden Ring
4. Dark Souls 3
5. Sekiro
6. Dark Souls 2
7. Demon's Souls

Would be my personal ranking, but honestly they're all good to excellent. I'm about 75% into Demon's Souls, which is the only one I haven't beaten, but I doubt it breaks out of the bottom position.

From a technical perspective, Dark Souls is not as good as the games that came after, but I have to give it the edge just for how it solidified an entire genre and defined the decade that came after. And its first half remains incredible to this day.

Bloodborne has to be shoe-in in every top 3 - amazing atmosphere, top-tier area design, fantastic combat, along with a few banger bosses in there - such a great game.

Elden Ring, I'll have to play it again someday to see if it holds up. For a while, I had it at the top, but it faltered in the last 10% and got just a bit too hard and unfair. Still a monumental achievement, and I wouldn't even say they 'dropped the ball' in the last 10% - just balanced it a tiny bit poorly, but it doesn't invalidate the rest.

The other ones are just varied levels of enjoyment I had playing through. I probably enjoy Dark Souls 2 more than Sekiro, but I have to give the latter the edge for the creativity in the combat system.

Demon's Souls is so rough and janky to go back to, especially straight after Elden Ring lol. Weapon upgrading is a mess, the bosses thus far are not particularly memorable, and it really made me appreciate Estus all the more as a mechanic by its absence here. Still a good game, and fun to see the premise of the series that it would become.

It's hard for me to have an objective Demons Souls take since that game is in a wierd place for me since it's, like....a time killer?

The game is stupid easy compared to the rest of the series and I fuck around with builds and how fast I can beat it. The game is burned into my brain, it's a well oiled machine.

Also I was one of the wierdos who was mega hyped before it came out and making topics about it before it was even confirmed to be releasing over here, and everyone here was saying I was a lunatic for thinking the game looked cool as fuck, lol.

I legitimately hated Demons Souls when it first launched but have now come around and was there like day 1 for the remake (or at least day 1 of me getting a PS5)

I think Elden Ring has to take the #1 spot, although theres obviously recency bias there. I just got so caught up in it, did basically everything there was to do, and even got invested in the lore in a way I hadnt really before.

Bloodborne has been my favorite for a while .. but Elden Ring takes it

it's pretty obvious that people tend to have an attachment toward their first Souls game. these two statements back to back speak for themselves:

Solfadore posted...

I'm about 75% into Demon's Souls, which is the only one I haven't beaten, but I doubt it breaks out of the bottom position.

From a technical perspective, Dark Souls is not as good as the games that came after, but I have to give it the edge just for how it solidified an entire genre and defined the decade that came after.

for me it's absurdly obvious that the second statement applies just as much to Demon's Souls, if not more, than Dark Souls. but I guess since I played Demon's Souls first that is easier for me to recognize. and despite the game being the most clunky and having the worst bosses, I still rate it in the top half.

to answer the topic Bloodborne is almost certainly the best and there's a reason why it's usually among the top 2 or 3 picks for anyone who has a complete ranking. actually, many reasons.

Demon Souls is one of the two main reasons I bought a PS3, the other being MGS4. It hasn't aged well compared to the games that came afterwards but it'll always hold a special place in my heart.

Wish the remake had done more to modernize it, though.

yeah I had a list of things where I would have been happy if they had made even one of those changes and of course they made none of those changes. here's to hoping in 10 years the bloodborne remake will make a few of the most simple adjustments that would fix major problems with the game.

though in bluepoint's defense I will say that fixing the issues with demon's souls would take a lot more work. most of them have to do with balancing.

fixing the problems with bloodborne would be easy because there are few very and for the most part they would literally only take a few lines of code to fix. honestly a bit disappointed that we didn't even get a patch with the old hunter's DLC for some of these things;

1. bold hunter's mark can take you back to the workshop OR to the lamp
2. instead of going lamp > workshop > lamp you can travel between any two lamps like in dark souls 2 and 3
3. fix the glitch that causes half of the chalice dungeon layouts to become locked out of your dungeon pool if you open too many of the different coffins in ailing loran root
4. fix the glitch that causes a +21% Bolt/+5 Fire Damage gem to convert your weapon to Fire instead of Bolt. this is obviously just an issue with the priority order for converting weapon damage but it arbitrarily makes Bolt gems MUCH harder to farm for because any +Fire damage becomes an immediate brick stat even worse than a typical curse effect

you could also do things like give back iosefka the lines of dialogue that were already recorded and put into the game, but she never actually speaks. or adding bosses who are missing from the chalice dungeon pool into at least one of the dungeon boss pools.

Dark Souls
Bloodborne
Elden Ring
Demons Souls
Sekiro
Dark Souls 2

Elden Ring started out very strong, but its issues become more and more apparent the longer it goes on for.

Tossup between Bloodborne and Elden. Leaning Bloodborne

I think one key difference, and this is a community issue more than anything, is that each of your issues for BB you just listed are 100% objective issues that cannot be argued in favor of.

For a lot of things people wanted to see change in the DeS remake, it would have also pissed off a lot of diehard fans, too.

Unlike Bloodborne, a large chunk of the DeS base likes the game because it's busted.

castlevania sorrows give me all the souls i could need

Dark Souls > Elden Ring > Bloodborne (these first three are in my all-time top 20) > DS3 > Demons Souls > DS2

I gave up on Sekiro because I am not actually good at these games but I want to give it another shot eventually. But, ultimately, it goes all in on the action when what I really like from these games is the sense of exploration that I wasn't really feeling.

Also, RIP Dark Souls II.

KamikazePotato posted...

Also, RIP Dark Souls II.

Unfortunately, Austin Walker does not post on this board, and there is nobody else who would pick it, so....

DS2 is the worst by a country mile, and I'm glad to see there aren't a bunch of edgy contrarians here trying to convince anyone that it's the best.

Might be recency bias, but Elden Ring is easily the most refined and approachable. As much as I love Demon's, DS3, and Bloodborne, Elden Ring got my vote.

It's going to be.....

INCREDIBLY difficult to go back to any other Souls game and not be able to jump now.

And I mean actually jump, not that L3 shit.

Dark Souls 2 would be one of my favorites if you cut out half the game. There's just too much mediocre filler. The good stuff is very good though.

I am currently playing through Dark Souls 2 and was having a fine time

but Ive just arrived at the spider nightmare zone and fuck this game forever

at least with the ants in Elden ring I could basically always see them coming and pick them off before they could be a threat

these fucking spiders are ambushing me in huge groups and its not ok

but I am enjoying the part where I got an absurd giant hammer by pure chance basically ten minutes into the game that lets me just totally slam dudes to death

im in the bell ringing club which makes you automatically invade people if theyre in one of two specific locations
shockingly there are other people playing the game right now too, and Im loving just showing up as this creep with a jester mask and a giant hammer to crush people and then disappear

Didn't vote because I can't decide between Dark Souls and Elden Ring. Might need to replay Elden Ring a few more times before I settle into which one is better.

Soul Calibur 3

Armored Core 3

MoogleKupo141 posted...

I am currently playing through Dark Souls 2 and was having a fine time

but Ive just arrived at the spider nightmare zone and fuck this game forever

at least with the ants in Elden ring I could basically always see them coming and pick them off before they could be a threat

these fucking spiders are ambushing me in huge groups and its not ok

IIRC the spiders in DS2 won't approach you if you have a torch in hand.

DS2 was my intro into the series, played the hell out of it. Absolutely loved it and still think back on it very fondly.

Still I recognize it as the least best in the series and I've had trouble trying to go back to it for years. Probably never will now that Elden controls are leagues better.

It also doesn't help that Scholar of the First Sin is the only version readily available, feels like it made the already not so great balance far worse than vanilla.

Bloodborne pretty handily. The health regain system seals the deal alone, but to have the awesome atmosphere and world design on top of that, so top notch.

KamikazePotato posted...

No one cares about those games though. When you say 'From Software game', everyone knows what you're referring to.

I'll just be over here in my corner crying with Kuon and the Echo Night series :(

Murphiroth posted...

IIRC the spiders in DS2 won't approach you if you have a torch in hand.

i found that out in time for the boss which was probably very helpful

never have I been more concerned about dying to a new boss than I was on that one. I absolutely did not want to go through that webbed cave again.

also it keeps them from attacking you, but it doesnt keep them from dropping down from the ceiling on top of you which is still quite unpleasant

Bloodborne's blood vial system sucks

Bloodborne's load times on the only platform it was available on sucked

Its builds felt kind of restrictive as well- I've never felt compelled to go back to it

Every from game has its own strengths and weaknesses, and they're all clearly the same game. it's impossible for me to choose one as best

Some entries were really good, but since I had played 4 entries already they just didn't have the same shine

Blood Vial system is fine after you get out of the opening area, literally haven't had to grind once past the first boss.

Load times were patched big time, not really an issue anymore even on base PS4.

Builds can vary a lot, it's just in different ways than Souls games since it's all in weapons rather than weapons and armor. Less overall weapons but more actual different types of weapons.

The Souls games are very much not all the same, other than their most basic core.

Blood vials weren't crippling, they were only a silly system

I'm glad they fixed the load times

The weapons were not different enough to make playthroughs satisfyingly varied

I'm not saying from games are identical. I'm saying they all have the same control scheme, same progression systems, same storyline, and same storytelling techniques. They're more similar to each other than any other games are to them

I'm saying this as someone who has enjoyed every single one of them since DeS

Dark souls 1 is the closest to real art and has the best level design. It's also unforgivably inscrutable and the latter 30% isn't finished

Dark souls 2 has the best pvp and most straightforward implementation. It also has the least soul

Dark souls 3 hits all the right notes of nostalgia and makes traditional souls combat fluid. It suffers by not doing anything new

Sekiro is the most tightly paced combat, and is the most fun to run around in. It suffers due to a lack of multiplayer, a uniformity of builds, and high difficulty, locking many players out of finishing the game

Bloodborne has the boldest setting and coolest aesthetic. I'll always love it for breaking From out of its routine for the first time after finding wild success, if only a little bit. Not as open to builds as souls, not as crisp combat as sekiro. Still don't know if it's the best of both worlds or just a mash