Let's talk Soulsborne

I started playing the Souls games about two years ago. I now have something like 1200 hours between all the games, and have played through Dark Souls 1 at least a dozen times. Modded runs, challenge runs, co-op runs - I love them all.

They really are something special. There's so much detail in the world design and the lore that they've designed. The gameplay feels great as you're taking down bosses, and navigating the world. And the mechanics just tie everything together.

There's a great balance in the risk/reward of pressing on or turning back to spend your souls. And when you do, do you level up or buy items and spells? Do you sit at the bonfire to refill your estus? The player is constantly adjusting their route.

I played through Bloodborne once it became available on PS Now. It was interesting playing with the stream lag, but definitely doable. I only curse Sony for not including the DLC in the service.

I'm currently playing through Demon's Souls for the first time as the emulator rpcs3 now runs it well. It's slow (literally, I mean - terrible framerate), but I'm loving the game all the same. It's great to compare notes on the mechanics I know, and see what's changed (item burden, thankfully).

I could talk for hours on the topic, but I just adore the Soulsborne franchise.

I picked up Demon's souls when it was new, and I really didn't enjoy the experience. I didn't think that it was a well-designed game. The level design combined with the heavy Dodge requirements meant that it was very common to fall off ledges. I tried very hard to look past it's problems, but the final nail in the coffin was how it constantly disconnected me from the online mode for no discernable reason.

I picked up bloodborne a few years after it came out, figuring that From seems to have a much higher budget on these games now, so they have probably ironed out all the links in game play. They did, and it is a much better experience playing this game than Demon's souls. Better yet, the world feels much more rich and unique, making Demon's Souls seem generic by comparison.

Unfortunately I have changed a bit in the years since then and I don't have the patience for the game anymore. Open level design is usually great, but the big problem with this series is that every segment of every map is a level/skill check, meaning you will probably die when you get there. That forces you to fight through the same hallways over and over again. I just don't have the patience for that.

I started out 2-3 years ago playing Demon's Souls on my PS3 and absolutely loved it. The horrors of dying after collecting so many souls was crushing, but it teaches you to learn different techniques and boss movement patterns. And the environment! After beating Demon's Souls, I moved on to Dark Souls and actually found it to be a bit easier (no more item weight management!) but harder at the same time (fuck you, Blighttown). I still haven't beaten DS yet, though.

There's so much depth and complexity to these games that seems almost too simple at first glance that makes them so deeply satisfying, but also anxiety provoking, to me!

I played Demon's Souls way back in like 2010 or 2011 at a friend's place since I didn't own a PS3. We'd get together and he'd recap what he'd done while I was away but we'd chip away at the game slowly but surely. That game was seriously spooky. My buddy is really not into horror movies or jump scares at all, like he really can't handle it, so I think he liked having me around to ease the tension a little.

There was always some creepy horror lurking in the dark around the corner and I quickly became obsessed. The Tower of Latria has to be my favourite level in the series, just from a design perspective. I remember I even ended up buying my own PS3 just to play this game whenever I wanted. Demon's Souls was phenomenal.

When I first played Dark Souls I was a little let down by the the lack of ... well dark, really. Everything was so bright and cheery, most areas were well lit, even if they were supposed to be "spooky". It just didn't have the same atmosphere that Demon's Souls had. But, the interconnected world design, and the improved mechanics were definitely a plus. So was enemy and item variety. I would say that the world building was on par with Demon's Souls in terms of depth and I would have a hard time picking between the two as they both have interesting characters, though I would say Demon's Souls character stories are a little more obtuse, if you can believe it.

Now up until a month ago, that was all of the Soulsborne series that I'd had the chance to experience, but on Black Friday we decided to grab a PS4 as the deal was just too good to pass up and there was now a plethora of great titles the wife and I wanted to check out. Bloodborne was amazing. Holy moly that was the vibe I was missing from Demon's Souls. I just loved the world of Yharnam, and all the characters stuck in it. The dreamy nature of the setting was really cool, and I really liked the distilled gameplay mechanics. No more upgrading armor, weapons didn't have multiple upgrade paths, there were no boss souls, and it was hard as nails. This game was definitely the hardest I'd experienced so far. I did the whole thing with no summons and tried my best to stay at a reasonable level. That DLC has my favourite bosses by a long shot. I would say the only boss that deserves to be mentioned in the same breath is Manus.

Now, I'm about halfway through Dark Souls 2 Scholar of the First Sin and I have to say, I'm really liking this game. I love the armor variety (who doesn't love Fashion Souls) and weapon variety. The first time I set foot in Majula my jaw dropped. You feel a lot less alone in this game compared to Dark Souls, its much more like Demon's Souls in that regard. Also, I really like that you can warp between bonfires immediately, that really makes it much more fun to go exploring wherever you want. Always having to go back to the Hunter's Dream so you could use another gravestone was pretty annoying and I was surprised that they didn't let you warp between lamps in Bloodborne.

And I haven't played Dark Souls 3 yet, but I got it on sale a couple weeks ago on PSN along with all the DLC so it'll be up next after I finish DS2.

Anyways, sorry for the rambling, but this series is definitely my favourite of all time. I really can't wait to see what FromSoft comes out with next.

The lore of Dark Souls is the best, in the way it's presented. If you ever read the wikis you see how the fans can connect every innocuous item description to some important character, and all the characters can be connected to each other in various ways. Figuring out these mysteries is a big part of the games' lasting appeal.