I was a latecomer to the FromSoftware games. I bought Dark Souls 2 in a Steam sale back in 2014 and like most other games sold to me by Gaben, it sat in my library untouched. Then in 2018, Dark Souls Remastered was released for the Switch, and I thought I’d give the series a try. I enjoyed the experience, but I didn’t touch another FromSoft game until January 2023 when for reasons I’m not entirely sure of anymore I decided I would try and complete the 7 Soulsborne games (in this order):

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

Other than a break towards the end of 2023 for Baldur’s Gate (which I might write about another time), the seven games above are pretty much all I’ve played since. I finally finished them all today, coincidentally release day for the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, so what better time to write up my thoughts on the series, and how else to do this other than my ranking from what I consider the worst to the best.

7. Dark Souls 2

The worst in the series in my view, and I don’t think I’m alone in saying that. Dark Souls 2 was an almost entirely forgettable experience, and the few bits that are memorable are usually for the wrong reasons. The only things I really remember are that Majula was pretty, Black Gulch and the Gutter sucked, combat felt slow and cumbersome, there were too many enemies hidden in corners trying to ambush you, and too many NPC invasions. Ambushes and NPC invasions are a part of all of the games to a degree, but in DS2 they felt particularly cheap and overused. Overall, wouldn’t recommend.

6. Bloodborne

Placing this was a bit of a struggle, and some of this probably comes down to the timing and age of the game by the time I played it. I enjoyed the world and aesthetic of the game, and liked the twist on more aggressive combat that can be used to replenish health during fighting. I was also a fan of the trick weapons that provided you with alternative move sets that could be used for different scenarios. That said, the game is hamstrung at 30 FPS and I experienced awful screen tearing that bordered on unplayable at time. I never get motion sickness, can play VR without issues, ride roller coasters, travel by Plane, Boat or Car without issue, but at points I genuinely felt unwell when playing Bloodborne due to the graphical issues I experienced. Also the Chalice dungeons sounded like a great idea but ultimately felt very grindy. If there had been a next gen update or remaster that fixed some of the above issues this would have probably placed higher on my list.

5. Dark Souls 3

Trying to decide where to put this compared to Bloodborne was difficult. Gameplay wise I enjoyed the aggressive style of Bloodborne more, but Dark Souls 3 was a bit of light relief coming off the back of Dark Souls 2, and it didn’t have any of the graphical issues I experienced with Bloodborne. It was a fairly enjoyable game, with some good challenges at times. None of the bosses felt unfair, and I wasn’t banging my head against them for hours. The thing that let it down slightly in my view was that it borrowed a lot from Dark Souls 1. Perhaps this is an unfair judgement considering I played them back to back, but at the time it felt like I was playing Dark Souls 1 with some new features rather than a separate game. Maybe if I’d played them with years in between this might have placed higher.

4. Elden Ring

Possibly a controversial choice putting this so low down the list, but here it is. It was a pretty game that just didn’t draw me in. To be honest, it might have always been off to a losing start when I played it after Baldur’s Gate, but I couldn’t wait to finish it and play something else. It felt like having an open world added nothing to the game, and I think it might have actually benefitted from having a more traditional Souls style map. My main issue however, came from the abundance of bosses. Some people will probably see this as a positive thing, but to me when everything you kill is a “Great Enemy”, then nothing feels all that great. The game also didn’t offer me the challenge I was expecting, and I didn’t experience the struggles with some of the bosses that other people did, possibly due to balancing issues that have been addressed since launch.

3. Demon’s Souls

Possibly a surprise for some people placing this one so highly. I played the PS5 remake, and it is visually a great game that performs very well. It makes for a very crisp experience, and although it doesn’t have some of the bells and whistles that came with the games that followed, the cut down experience was enjoyable. I liked the karma system, which unfortunately hasn’t been included in the games that followed, that provided consequences for actions that changed the world around you. It also had memorable boss fights, encounters and regions. Even though the bonfire placement meant I had to run miles back to bosses if I died it never really felt like a chore, although closer bonfire positions in the games that followed were definitely appreciated.

2. Dark Souls

The first souls game I ever played, and it’s placed high on my list. I loved the interconnected world, with almost everywhere linking back to Firelink. I loved the bosses and enemy variety, the covenants, and the environments. Even the areas that people warned me were awful, such as Blighttown weren’t as bad as I expected them to be. Not really a lot else for me to say on this one other than out of the bunch, this is one of the few that I would consider playing again.

1. Sekiro

When I set out to play through these games I asked some friends where I should start, and the general consensus was that Sekiro was the most unique with a distinct playstyle, so I should probably start there to avoid having to adapt to it once I had habits from the other games. I think my only regret about this is that I hadn’t played it sooner. I loved the world, the storytelling and the combat. I’ve heard people compare it to a rhythm game, and to a degree I can understand that comparison. It is a very satisfying experience when you learn the patterns and perfect the timings on your parries. My main complaint at the time was that there was some re-use of bosses, but looking back I can definitely forgive that. Unlike other games in this list, the bosses were actually that. They weren’t overused, and didn’t just become standard enemies later in the game. Boss difficulty came from unique abilities and mechanics, not just making them stronger or adding an extra enemy into the room. Out of all of the games, Sekiro is the only one that I still have installed with the hope of going back to it.

Closing Thoughts

It feels like I’ve written a lot here without saying much at all. Overall the games were fairly solid, but I don’t think they all live up to the hype that surrounds them. FromSoftware seem to excel at building beautiful and immersive worlds, and they have a unique way of storytelling within them.

I enjoyed the bare bones nature o the games, without some of the bells and whistles that have become a part of a lot of modern RPGs. There aren’t quest markers, or maps (for the most part), and you just have to figure things out for yourself. If you speak to an NPC and don’t know where to go next, it’s liberating to just move on and you never know, you might stumble across them later.

Having said all of that, it feels like at some point between Dark Souls 1 and Elden Ring, the direction of the games has changed. I’m not sure if this is to cater to the “git gud” portion of the community, but quantity seems to have become preferred over quality. More bosses or bigger maps doesn’t make for a better game in my view, especially when more bosses just means reskins or re-use, or putting two enemies in the arena instead of one.

I’m almost certainly going to trigger some people here as well, but it feels like there should be no excuse for games not running at 60 FPS on modern hardware. Especially when the games, although pretty, aren’t pushing any graphical boundaries so performance isn’t being sacrificed for the sake of resolution or fidelity. It seems like this just comes down to poor optimisation, and it’s telling that the Demon’s Souls remake which is probably the best looking and best performing game in the series in my view, was made by a different studio.

Overall though, I’d definitely recommend people gave some of the games a try. Some people are deterred by the difficulty but if I can finish them all, then so can you. My main takeaway from the experience though, is to stop doing things I don’t enjoy. I have a decent amount going on, so the limited time I get to play games I want to be spending playing something I enjoy. No more just finishing games because I’ve started them, and the same goes for books and TV shows too. Life is too short to force yourself to finish things that aren’t worth your time.