Ranking the Soulsborne games

#1
KnoxRealtorVOL

KnoxRealtorVOL

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#1
I post a lot about Dark Souls and Dark Souls-like games on here, but this is pretty much the only forum where I discuss gaming and I love the whole Soulsborne genre. I’m replaying DS2 right now, haven’t played it since it first came out. It prompted me to rank the From Software games of this genre, and this is what I’m thinking:

1. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
2. Bloodborne
3. Dark Souls 3
4. Demon’s Souls remake
5. Dark Souls 1
6. Dark Souls 2

Any other opinions?
 
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#2
#2
Wish I was good enough at these games to really enjoy them. My only experience is with the PS5 Demon's Souls and I can see why people love them.
 
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#3
#3
Need to play Bloodborne and finish Sekiro.

But I'd go

Dark Souls 1 (yes it's probably nostalgia)
Dark Souls 3
Demon Souls Remake
Demons Souls
Dark Souls 2 (utter trash)
 
#4
#4
CubsFanTN said:
Wish I was good enough at these games to really enjoy them. My only experience is with the PS5 Demon's Souls and I can see why people love them.
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Hard curve, but once you get past the curve, they really aren't that difficult imo. Maybe expect Sekiro, I couldn't get pass that curve so I put it on hold for a while lol. Bloodborne idk yet.
 
#5
#5
I haven't played Sekiro or the DeS remake, but here's my ranking:

1. Bloodborne
2. Dark Souls

Big gap

3. Dark Souls 3
4. Demon's Souls
5. Dark Souls 2

BB and DS1 are masterpieces IMO. That said, both suffer from the same problem. They both lose a little momentum roughly halfway to 3/4ths in. In Dark Souls, this happens after Anor Londo and acquiring the Lord Vessel. In Bloodborne, it happens after defeating Rom. And in both cases, it happens at a dead end. Up to that point, you're continuously progressing and unlocking shortcuts and exploring more and more of the interconnected, labrythian map. Then, after a climactic boss fight and plot point, you're thrust back into the map you came from and the sense of progression and exploration are diminished a little.

DeS and DS2+3 lack that problem, but they also don't have the incredible interconnectedness of their first halves like BB and DS1 have.
 
#6
#6
UTK said:
Need to play Bloodborne and finish Sekiro.

But I'd go

Dark Souls 1 (yes it's probably nostalgia)
Dark Souls 3
Demon Souls Remake
Demons Souls
Dark Souls 2 (utter trash)
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DS2’s problem is they had too many areas where they substituted hard/challenging for just downright annoying. The Black Gulch area with the poison statues everywhere comes to mind. That’s not hard, it’s just tedious and annoying.

I’m about to wrap up DS2 (Scholar of the First Sin) but I’ve hit the same wall known as “Fume Knight” that I hit last time. Only Souls Boss I’ve never beaten, across all games.
 
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#7
#7
knox-townVOL said:
DS2’s problem is they had too many areas where they substituted hard/challenging for just downright annoying. The Black Gulch area with the poison statues everywhere comes to mind. That’s not hard, it’s just tedious and annoying.

I’m about to wrap up DS2 (Scholar of the First Sin) but I’ve hit the same wall known as “Fume Knight” that I hit last time. Only Souls Boss I’ve never beaten, across all games.
Click to expand...

Fume Knight is a one-hit and run boss. If you get greedy, he will destroy you. You also have to roll through his flaming sword sweep, not away from it.
 
#8
#8
knox-townVOL said:
DS2’s problem is they had too many areas where they substituted hard/challenging for just downright annoying. The Black Gulch area with the poison statues everywhere comes to mind. That’s not hard, it’s just tedious and annoying.

I’m about to wrap up DS2 (Scholar of the First Sin) but I’ve hit the same wall known as “Fume Knight” that I hit last time. Only Souls Boss I’ve never beaten, across all games.
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Agree plus a few of the boss fights are "more enemies since that's harder" right? Game clearly wasn't designed the same way that made the others great. The joy of learning what makes the areas and bosses challenging but realizing it's completely fair if you put in the work and strategy. DS2 was just hard in a cheap and non fun way a lot of the time.
 
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#9
#9
UTK said:
Agree plus a few of the boss fights are "more enemies since that's harder" right? Game clearly wasn't designed the same way that made the others great. The joy of learning what makes the areas and bosses challenges but realizing it's completely fair if you put in the work and strategy. DS2 was just hard in a cheap and non fun way a lot of the time.
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This is my biggest pet peeve when it comes to bosses in games.

We can’t figure out how to make the boss more challenging… so we’re just gonna spam additional enemies while the boss still whacks away at you.
 
#10
#10
1. Dark Souls 3 (maybe because it’s the first one I played, but also because it’s awesome).
2. Bloodborne
3. Sekiro
4. Demon’s Souls remake
5. Dark Souls
6. Dark Souls 2

Will find out about Elden ring soon!
 
#11
#11
UTK said:
Hard curve, but once you get past the curve, they really aren't that difficult imo. Maybe expect Sekiro, I couldn't get pass that curve so I put it on hold for a while lol. Bloodborne idk yet.
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Sekiro is a masterpiece. I know everyone wants a Bloodborne sequel, but I would prefer a Sekiro sequel myself. The next step in this genre needed to be bigger range of motion, and that’s what Sekiro brought with the jumping and swinging.

Elden Ring is going to take a different next step with taking this genre and making it open world. Certainly an interesting move.
 
#12
#12
knox-townVOL said:
I post a lot about Dark Souls and Dark Souls-like games on here, but this is pretty much the only forum where I discuss gaming and I love the whole Soulsborne genre. I’m replaying DS2 right now, haven’t played it since it first came out. It prompted me to rank the From Software games of this genre, and this is what I’m thinking:

1. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
2. Bloodborne
3. Dark Souls 3
4. Demon’s Souls remake
5. Dark Souls 1
6. Dark Souls 2

Any other opinions?
Click to expand...
Looks right to me.
 
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#13
#13
A few weeks after the release of Elden Ring now. Where do y’all fit it in?

I’m not through the game enough to give a final ranking, but I would put it somewhere between 3-5? I still would say I enjoyed Sekiro and Bloodborne more.
 
#14
#14
knox-townVOL said:
A few weeks after the release of Elden Ring now. Where do y’all fit it in?

I’m not through the game enough to give a final ranking, but I would put it somewhere between 3-5? I still would say I enjoyed Sekiro and Bloodborne more.
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Bloodborne and dark souls 3 are my favorites but bloodborne by a mile
 
#15
#15
UTK said:
Hard curve, but once you get past the curve, they really aren't that difficult imo. Maybe expect Sekiro, I couldn't get pass that curve so I put it on hold for a while lol. Bloodborne idk yet.
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Since then I’ve beat DeS Remake multiple times and I ventured into ER a bit. Oddly enough I like the linear gameplay more than the open world style of ER so now I’m working my way through DS3. It’s funny how you get a grasp on the gameplay and think “well now I can cruise through any of these games,” but nope, they just keep on whipping your butt anyway lol
 
#16
#16
Elden Ring is No. 1 for me now, but I do think the switch to open-world reduced a lot of the tension and difficulty of these games. The sheer freedom in progression means that it's basically impossible to balance the game properly and much, much easier to become obscenely overleveled for certain areas and bosses. Part of the appeal of the Soulsbourne games is the masterful level design and the constant cycling between stress/tension/frustration and achievement/relief. In Elden Ring, you can play for long stretches and not experience the same highs and lows of the previous games.
 
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#17
#17
Aesius said:
Elden Ring is No. 1 for me now, but I do think the switch to open-world reduced a lot of the tension and difficulty of these games. The sheer freedom in progression means that it's basically impossible to balance the game properly and much, much easier to become obscenely overleveled for certain areas and bosses. Part of the appeal of the Soulsbourne games is the masterful level design and the constant cycling between stress/tension/frustration and achievement/relief. In Elden Ring, you can play for long stretches and not experience the same highs and lows of the previous games.
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This is an exceptionally good take
 
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#18
#18
I’m playing sekiro now and it has a better combat system than every other of these games. I played elden ring for a bit and I just couldn’t get that connection with it. I just don’t like the open world at all
 
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#22
#22
He y’all, my son is struggling to get started on DS2. He blew through Elden Ring, DS, Sekiro and Bloodborne easily. Now he’s playing DS3 and having little trouble. For whatever reason DS2 has him perplexed though. Any advice?
 
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#23
#23
hUTch2002 said:
He y’all, my son is struggling to get started on DS2. He blew through Elden Ring, DS, Senior and Bloodborne easily. Now he’s playing DS3 and having little trouble. For whatever reason DS2 has him perplexed though. Any advice?
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DS2 ties i-frames (what makes you invincible when you roll) with the Agility stat. And you raise that by leveling the Adaptability stat. It’s a pretty poor design decision but when you start the game, rolling isn’t nearly as effective as it is in the other FromSoft games for avoiding being hit. It evens out once you start really pumping up the Adaptability stat though.
 
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#24
#24
hUTch2002 said:
He y’all, my son is struggling to get started on DS2. He blew through Elden Ring, DS, Senior and Bloodborne easily. Now he’s playing DS3 and having little trouble. For whatever reason DS2 has him perplexed though. Any advice?
Click to expand...

So DS2 is considered to be the weakest of the Souls games. In a lot of areas they traded out classic Souls difficulty for just plain out annoying, in an attempt to accomplish "being a hard game"

Can you tell me how far along he is? Like is he literally in the first hour, or has he opened up some areas already?
 
#25
#25
Aesius said:
DS2 ties i-frames (what makes you invincible when you roll) with the Agility stat. And you raise that by leveling the Adaptability stat. It’s a pretty poor design decision but when you start the game, rolling isn’t nearly as effective as it is in the other FromSoft games for avoiding being hit. It evens out once you start really pumping up the Adaptability stat though.
Click to expand...
Thanks! Good advice as I know he mentioned the rolling sucks.
 
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