jawa asks... how would you rank the Soulsborne games?

How would you rank the Soulsborne games?

Oh, yeah, I'm going there... this is it! Armageddon! It's time for GRcade to rank the Soulsborne games!

Just for clarity, these are the six games that we're asking you to place in order from best to worst:

Demon's Souls
Dark Souls
Dark Souls II
Dark Souls 3
Bloodborne
Sekiro

If you haven't payed them all, don't worry - just rank the ones that you've tried. For the purposes of this thread, remasters/remakes are not counted separately; we'll group them together.

Okay... please post your ranked lists and - hey! - feel free to write down words to support your choices.

1 > De (PS3) > 2 > 3 > BB

I've only played two of the titles so far and my ranking is:

Dark Souls
Bloodborne

Apparently I've played around sixty hours of Dark Souls on my PS4 . I feel that it's an amazing game, perhaps more so because I'd avoided it for years, thinking that it would be far too difficult for me to enjoy. I do find it super-tough but the buzz I've felt when making progress has been incredible and a big factor in this was having a few folk on-stream to cheer me on and provide the occasional hint; that was so neat.

Bloodborne is very good; slightly faster-paced and the graphics are beautiful. I've not played too much yet - just the opening hours - but I will return to it again.

I've just picked up Demon's Souls and will be giving that a go. It'll be interesting as, although I have the PS5 version, it's an older game and I'm wondering if it may be a little too demanding. I'll soon find out.

site23 wrote:1 > De (PS3) > 2 > 3 > BB

It's cool that you enjoyed Demon's so much, site, as I know you only played it recently. It's surprising how folks' views can vary as I have the feeling that people generally assess 3 and Bloodborne as being the best... but the reverse is true here! I *think* it's the case that you enjoyed them but not as much ad the earlier titles?

I think De was great. To my eye it has the widest range of viable play-styles of any Souls, and it's also one of the most nonlinear - its world might not be interconnected but you can tackle the levels in any order you like and that's great. It really lets you make a lot of meaningful choices about how to play it. I actually quite like its World Tendency too for similar reasons (even if it's a bit confusing - probably worth looking up a quick overview of that mechanic before you play Jawa!).

I enjoyed 3 a lot on my second attempt, but I had to find a particular build that I clicked with. I really like BB's world and story but I don't like the combat.

From what I've tried playing:

De (PS3) > 3 > 2

What I expect if I tried playing the others:

BB > 1 > Sekiro > De > 3 > 2

Maybe that's just me being overgenerous in believing the others are better

I got Demon's Souls on release and gave up on it after a few areas, which muted any interest I had when Dark Souls then came out. I picked up 2 when I saw it cheap thinking I should give the series another go and that just reinforced me thinking it wasn't for me (and honestly thinking 2 is a pretty bad game). I briefly tried 3 when my partner was playing it and almost immediately stopped - it felt the most unfriendly to newcomers? Not like how 2 hits you with cheapshots that you can't see coming unless you already know about them, but in a way where it is expecting you to have played the previous games, which is fair considering its the third game.

Blooborne looks more like a game I'd like for being quicker paced and standalone. Sekiro though I suspect I'd get frustrated with not being able to actually play the whole of it as a stealth game.

site23 wrote:I think De was great. To my eye it has the widest range of viable play-styles of any Souls, and it's also one of the most nonlinear - its world might not be interconnected but you can tackle the levels in any order you like and that's great....

That sounds great; I love the idea of exploring and trying different routes.

site23 wrote:...I actually quite like its World Tendency too for similar reasons (even if it's a bit confusing - probably worth looking up a quick overview of that mechanic before you play Jawa!)...

Eek! I'd heard about this aspect and it sounds a bit tricky. I'll blunder through and then ask questions back here!

site23 wrote:...I enjoyed 3 a lot on my second attempt, but I had to find a particular build that I clicked with. I really like BB's world and story but I don't like the combat.

Yeah, BB has a different feel; far more pacey than Souls in my (relatively limited) experience. I suspect that you may not enjoy Sekiro as - from what I've seen - that looks to be even faster. The exploration and verticality of the stages appears to be great, though!

OrangeRKN wrote:...I briefly tried 3 when my partner was playing it and almost immediately stopped - it felt the most unfriendly to newcomers? Not like how 2 hits you with cheapshots that you can't see coming unless you already know about them, but in a way where it is expecting you to have played the previous games, which is fair considering its the third game...

I think Souls games do feel *very* unfriendly at first and I could see why folk give up on them; if I hadn't had stream folk cheering me on, I would have stopped early on with Souls 1. But... I gradually learnt that they're not unfair... mostly not, anyway. There is a lot of jank and clunk (paging Matt to the thread!) and moments of annoyance, but you do gradually learn how things operate and that timing is critical. Things that I'd initially thought were, for me, impossible... gradually became possible. I've still only got up to Smaugh and Ornstein in Souls 1 but even getting that far felt incredible.

OrangeRKN wrote:...Blooborne looks more like a game I'd like for being quicker paced and standalone. Sekiro though I suspect I'd get frustrated with not being able to actually play the whole of it as a stealth game.

It may be worth trying BB to see if the faster action could be more up your street, Orange. The graphical styling is tremendous, too.

I've enjoyed them all equally (except Sekiro which I haven't played).

satriales wrote:I've enjoyed them all equally (except Sekiro which I haven't played).

satriales... dude... we're looking for controversy here, not everything being equal!

Nah, seriously, nice one - glad you've enjoyed 'em all! Are you planning on re-visiting any of them soon?

jawa_ wrote:I think Souls games do feel *very* unfriendly at first and I could see why folk give up on them; if I hadn't had stream folk cheering me on, I would have stopped early on with Souls 1. But... I gradually learnt that they're not unfair... mostly not, anyway.

The unfairness in 2 was in it repeatedly placing enemies where it's impossible to see them coming so they can get a cheap shot on you, like up above some stairs so they jump down on you as you walk up, things like that. Once you know to expect them you can deal with them but it felt like the worst aspect of arcade era design without even the justification of getting you to spend more money! I'm told this is a problem specifically with 2 to be fair (and possibly even more specific to the original release?).

jawa_ wrote:It may be worth trying BB to see if the faster action could be more up your street, Orange. The graphical styling is tremendous, too.

I've seen a lot of most of the games as my partner has played them all (excepting Sekiro which she has only just started in the last week and Dark Souls 1 which she has on Switch so I haven't seen played on the TV). There are some very cool location and enemy designs but I can't say I've found the art styles particularly to my tastes unfortunately, even in Bloodborne. I do want to try it though, I suspect you're right and I will get on with the combat more!

jawa_ wrote:

satriales wrote:I've enjoyed them all equally (except Sekiro which I haven't played).

satriales... dude... we're looking for controversy here, not everything being equal!

Nah, seriously, nice one - glad you've enjoyed 'em all! Are you planning on re-visiting any of them soon?

I played them all at the time each was released and for me a lot of the enjoyment comes from being dropped into a new world and not knowing what is around the next corner. So I don't have any desire to replay them again. Even Demon's Souls remake on PS5 doesn't appeal.

I missed Sekiro as I didn't have a PS4 at the time, but I will probably try and play it on PS5 at some point.

OrangeRKN wrote:The unfairness in 2 was in it repeatedly placing enemies where it's impossible to see them coming so they can get a cheap shot on you, like up above some stairs so they jump down on you as you walk up, things like that. Once you know to expect them you can deal with them but it felt like the worst aspect of arcade era design without even the justification of getting you to spend more money! I'm told this is a problem specifically with 2 to be fair (and possibly even more specific to the original release?)...

Yeah, I've not tried Souls II yet but I saw Matt's playthrough and it did seem to be - as you say - that enemy placement and the use of multiple enemies was a bit cheap, Orange. It appeared that you had to learn by remembering placements rather than being able to deal with them the first time around. There seemed to be *tons* of dragons towards the end, too!

Oh, and it's cool to hear that Partner Orange enjoys the series!

satriales wrote:I played them all at the time each was released and for me a lot of the enjoyment comes from being dropped into a new world and not knowing what is around the next corner. So I don't have any desire to replay them again...

That's an interesting point, satriales - I kinda felt that many folk like to re-play the games to try different builds and/or routes... but I do get your thinking about wanting to be surprised by the events.

OrangeRKN wrote:The unfairness in 2 was in it repeatedly placing enemies where it's impossible to see them coming so they can get a cheap shot on you, like up above some stairs so they jump down on you as you walk up, things like that. Once you know to expect them you can deal with them but it felt like the worst aspect of arcade era design without even the justification of getting you to spend more money! I'm told this is a problem specifically with 2 to be fair (and possibly even more specific to the original release?).

Enemies hiding behind corners is a big Souls thing. It's in the others and Bloodborne too - and even the Elden Ring trailer, ha. I realise this won't convince you, but you're supposed to become suspicious of any and all corners (or ceilings, stairs, alcoves, trees...) and be ready to roll backwards if something jumps out. It's about maintaining tension while in the exploration phase of the gameplay loop.

A common criticism of DS2 is that it tends to have more big crowds of enemies than the other games. The SOTFS remaster changes this to some extent, but also adds more enemies overall, some of which are overlevelled for the area they're in. I do see why either would be frustrating - though overall I've personally still enjoyed what I've played of it. (My playthrough is still ongoing because I promised Pedz I would only play it on stream.)

1. Sekiro/Bloodborne (either one of these will be top on any given day can't decide)

Sekiro - one of the best world maps of all the games. Excellent combat and boss fights. I strawberry floating hated this at first then gave it another go only to go on and platinum it

Bloodborne - best setting and lore of the lot. Loved the faster pace of combat. Big story twist was brilliant.

2. Dark Souls 3 - I'm a massive fanboy of DS1 lore so thought all the callbacks in this were really cool. Some of the best bosses in the series and some nice build variety. I think this probably has my favourite online stuff.

3. Dark Souls - still holds up very well and I've replayed this countless times. ZWEIHANDER.

4. Demon's Souls - only considering the remake here, I really liked the structure and how "open" it was. Was far too easy if you were a magic build which was a shame.

5. Dark Souls 2 - preferred the SOTFS re-release and I think the three DLCs were better than the main game, especially Crown of the Sunken King. I still think it's odd none of the other games had the extra stuff in NG+ like this did.

It's a 1 > 3 > 2 for me. I love them all though.

I'm missing the bookend games here - so far I've played everything except Demon's and Sekiro.

Ranking for me would be as follows:

Dark Souls 1
It's still the one that I have the fondest memories of, the design of the first half of the game is basically perfection. Later entries have refined certain elements but this is still the one where I felt the most joy in exploration and mapping out the world for myself.

Bloodborne
A very close second. The combat is sublime in this, the slightly increased pace and rally system creating a fantastic cocktail that really tightens up the risk/reward nature of these games and turns it into something truly exceptional.

Blessed with some fantastic lore and world/art design as well. Some incredible boss encounters too!

Dark Souls 3
If this had retained the interconnected nature of DS1 I think it would probably top it as the best of the Dark Souls games, it improves on the original in pretty much every other way and like BB they have really upped their boss game here.

Dark Souls 2
I've not actually finished this yet so it's placing is provisional, but it would have to do something special in the later game to leap frog anything else. It's still a very, very enjoyable experience and definitely features a feel that is unique within the series as a whole which is commendable. But it's just lacking some spark to make it stand out, a little too much bagginess to the area design, a bit too much repetition of the first game, a few too many "meh" bosses.

Mafro wrote:...Sekiro/Bloodborne... either one of these will be top on any given day can't decide...

I recall your Sekiro and BB streams, Mafro - they were great, perhaps more so because you occasionally took a sip of whiskey to aid progress .

Mafro wrote:...Demon's Souls... Was far too easy if you were a magic build...

You know, I think I might go for a magic build when I start Demon's .

Nah, I won't, but I'll bear it in mind for a future run!

more heat than light wrote:It's a 1 > 3 > 2 for me. I love them all though.

I kinda have the feeling that your order aligns as, generally, the most popular one, mhtl. Would you think about doing another run on one of them at some point?

Jenuall wrote:...Dark Souls 1... It's still the one that I have the fondest memories of, the design of the first half of the game is basically perfection...

Yeah, I agree, I've tackled the opening stages a couple of times now and it sure is a great experience, Jen. The areas, the bosses, the environments... just terrific.

Jenuall wrote:...Dark Souls 3... If this had retained the interconnected nature of DS1 I think it would probably top it as the best of the Dark Souls games, it improves on the original in pretty much every other way and like BB they have really upped their boss game here...

You know, this is the one that I don't think I've seen anything of. The polishing of the popular style sounds good, though, and I'm looking forward to trying it.

It'd be good to see you experience Demon's Souls on your PS5 at some point; the idea of visiting the starting point of the series but with modern presentation is pretty neat.

Actually I need to put Demon's Souls at the bottom of my list. I tried talking to the blacksmith but pressed the wrong button and accidently poisoned him with my weapon. I had to watch as he slowly died. For the rest of the game he was dead, so I couldn't upgrade my weapons

satriales wrote:Actually I need to put Demon's Souls at the bottom of my list. I tried talking to the blacksmith but pressed the wrong button and accidently poisoned him with my weapon. I had to watch as he slowly died. For the rest of the game he was dead, so I couldn't upgrade my weapons

... . Thanks for the tip; I will try and avoid killing the blacksmith, satriales!