Favorite game of a Franchise: Soulsborne Edition

Thread: Favorite game of a Franchise: Soulsborne Edition

What is your favorite Soulsborne game?

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Hostile_18

Hostile_18

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Each week we focus on one established franchise at a time and see which title D-Pad likes the most and people's general thoughts on the series. This week it's the Soulsborne games by From Software.

Now I'm including Sekiro and Bloodborne here because IMO there's enough connecting tissue, they play largely the same and are by the same developer. Demon Soul's counts as either the PS3 original or the PS5 remake. Once again I didn't want to dilute the games votes, when it's largely the same experience. Presume every entry is its "ultimate" edition with all DLC included. I chose not to wait till next year when Elden Ring is out because even then it will be "too new" to accurately give a fair opinion, and even after a while may potentially have DLC incoming and so "incomplete" for a good while.

Make your choice and Praise the Sun.

fromsoft

Week 1: Metal Gear Solid
Week 2: Tomb Raider
 
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Dark Souls for me was a good experience, I just wished it was a little more fast paced, and magic builds hold no appeal for me, so when Bloodborne came out, it seemingly 'fixed' the issues I had with DS.
 
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Sorry about the typo guys I've reported it, hopefully it can still be changed.

It's actually the most controversial entry for me that's my favorite Dark Souls 2. Yes it has its downsides but it is the longest entry with the most level variety and excellent DLC. It has the best mutiplayer as well. I do wish the overall world design was a bit more cohesive, but it's definitely the entry I've had most fun with. Majula is the best hub world by far as well.
 
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It's very close between Dark Souls and Bloodborne.

Dark Souls was such an epic journey with many possible builds, better world and enemy variety. But BB is the combat GOAT.

I have to give it to Dark Souls, because in the end, the fucked up frame timing of BB causes me to not wanting to play it at all. A 60fps PC version would change that and make it number 1 though.
 
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Hostile_18 said:
It's actually the most controversial entry for me that's my favorite Dark Souls 2. Yes it has its downsides but it is the longest entry with the most level variety and excellent DLC. It has the best mutiplayer as well. I do wish the overall world design was a bit more cohesive, but it's definitely the entry I've had most fun with. Majula is the best hub world by far as well.
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This is like the Dark Souls of bad takes.
 
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regawdless said:
This is like the Dark Souls of bad takes.
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Would it surprise you to learn Resident Evil 6 is my favorite game of that franchise haha.

Dark Souls 2 is definitely marmite but there's a surprising amount of support for it. My first play of it was the Scholar of First Sin edition however. Sekiro is probably my worst. I absolutely fucking hate it... as well as fucking love it. I'm not very good at rhythm games and that final boss took longer to beat than the whole game combined for me 🙈 Oddly the Two Apes were no bother.

I'd order them like this best to worst (from today's perspective)

Dark Souls 2
Dark Souls 3
Bloodborne
Dark Souls 1
Demon Soul's
Sekiro

They are all amazing games though and one of my favorite franchises.
 
I love all games (except Sekiro, too much parry for me) and it's not easy to choose one. That's why my choice is Demon's Souls, the first From Soft game I played.

I remember, I started the game and couldn't understand what the fuck is this shit? I was ruthlessly killed several times in tutorial, and was very close to rage quitting and throwing the game into the garbage bin. But I've found lock-on option, overcame the initial challenge and several days later became obsessed with the game. All my thoughts was only about this game. I've even took week long vacation for it. I played for two months every day and whole weekends - NG+++, several playthroughs, I've read all available info about this game - loot, secrets, world tendencies. Eventually, it was my first platinum trophy ever.

I'd like to relive all this again, but with every new souls game magic faded a little. My only hope is Elden Ring now.
 
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Hostile_18 said:
Would it surprise you to learn Resident Evil 6 is my favorite game of that franchise haha.

Dark Souls 2 is definitely marmite but there's a surprising amount of support for it. My first play of it was the Scholar of First Sin edition however. Sekiro is probably my worst. I absolutely fucking hate it... as well as fucking love it. I'm not very good at rhythm games and that final boss took longer to beat than the whole game combined for me 🙈 Oddly the Two Apes were no bother.

I'd order them like this best to worst (from today's perspective)

Dark Souls 2
Dark Souls 3
Bloodborne
Dark Souls 1
Demon Soul's
Sekiro

They are all amazing games though and one of my favorite franchises.
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At least you got Sekiro right.

;)
 
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Disclaimer: I haven't played Bloodborne or Sekiro

My choice is between 1 and 3. 2 is fundamentally flawed because of its shit movement and basics, and Demon's (OG) never clicked for me the way Dark did.

1 has so much that's good, and only suffers by having some incomplete parts (Lost Izalith) and not having the incremental upgrades that 3 has.

3 benefits by accumulating QoL upgrades over time and it's growth means it's bigger and has more of everything. It's got some great bosses, great equipment (and things like 4 ring slots and 3 weapons per hand to use it all), and great spells. It gives so much choice. But it suffers by trying to be Bloodborne. It tries to be too quick and chaotic, but without the reasons and balances for being quick and chaotic that Bloodborne has, like getting life back.

The answer is 1. I enjoy it so much that I've played it to death. I've done SL1, I've done runs with nearly every weapon that's worth my time, and I've even done bow only. That's all possible because of how free and open the game is. Similarly to MGS, if you put 1 into 3's engine/shel so I can benefit from a few of the upgrades, I'm happy as can be.
 
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Despite some technical issues with the original release (Blight towns terrible framerate for the most part) since addressed with the remaster. I just always find the integrated nature of the level design in Dark Souls never ceases to impress me. I'm hard-pressed to think of many games that have ever leaned into actually taking the time to read the environment to as great a degree as Dark Souls. It's an absolute work of genius in that regard.
 
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I'm kind of disappointed that Dark Souls 3 isn't getting any love despite been the best refinement of the series so far. Mind I suppose it's ultimately more of the same. That's what I think Elden Ring will be. Not saying it as a bad thing though. I only play From Software Soulsborne games so fatigue doesn't set in for this very reason.
 
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Hostile_18 said:
I'm kind of disappointed that Dark Souls 3 isn't getting any love despite been the best refinement of the series so far. Mind I suppose it's ultimately more of the same. That's what I think Elden Ring will be. Not saying it as a bad thing though. I only play From Software Soulsborne games so fatigue doesn't set in for this very reason.
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There is a danger that mayhap it might not be breaking away from the mould too much, but I dare say they could just have easily called it Dark Souls 4 if that was the case and the hype wouldn't be any less, so I expect even beyond its open-world nature, it will be attempting to do things differently versus the Souls series in some fashion even if the principals may at this juncture appear the same.
 
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Mirabilis said:
Titles edited as requested. Hopefully everyone is now happy (who am I kidding ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )
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Cuz we're always happy either way

crying-laughing.gif
 
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I think Sekiro might be my fav, with Bloodborne as a close 2nd. I like em all except DS2. I started with an ASIA-import copy of Demon's Souls on PS3.

Sekiro distills the parts of the series that I like, and trims the parts that I don't. Lots of combat and learning the enemy patterns. Fewer trial-and-error deaths. Less story. Less time spent grinding / tweaking your current build.
 
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Kadayi said:
There is a danger that mayhap it might not be breaking away from the mould too much, but I dare say they could just have easily called it Dark Souls 4 if that was the case and the hype wouldn't be any less, so I expect even beyond its open-world nature, it will be attempting to do things differently versus the Souls series in some fashion even if the principals may at this juncture appear the same.
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When I saw the trailer I was like this is absolutely Dark Souls 4. It had the opposite effect for me it went from a "maybe" to a "Day 1". I can totally understand it putting people off, I think on balence it will do more to attract people.

I expect Dark Souls 4 in a smaller but very detailed open world. I just can't see me riding miles without much happening.
 
DonDonDonPata said:
This attitude would probably set you up to play the games cautiously, which would let you overcome a lot of stuff that impatient players get tripped on. By the end of it -- sure, there'd be some challenging parts along the way -- you'd be asking w the rest of the fanbase why the heck people think the series is so "hard".
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I wanted to jump in recently but Namco Bandai refuses any price cuts to DS1. Even if they sell DS3 for pennies at sales. Maybe I'll try Sekiro at some point.
 
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HE1NZ said:
I wanted to jump in recently but Namco Bandai refuses any price cuts to DS1. Even if they sell DS3 for pennies at sales. Maybe I'll try Sekiro at some point.
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Yeah everyone kicks off about it on the Steam forums. But I got mine from CD Keys for £14.99. Must be some contractual reason why it never goes on sale over there, even on the recent publisher sale.
 
Hostile_18 said:
Yeah everyone kicks off about it on the Steam forums. But I got mine from CD Keys for £14.99. Must be some contractual reason why it never goes on sale over there, even on the recent publisher sale.
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Something to do with discount for upgrading from old version to "remaster" I think.
 
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HE1NZ said:
I wanted to jump in recently but Namco Bandai refuses any price cuts to DS1. Even if they sell DS3 for pennies at sales. Maybe I'll try Sekiro at some point.
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Was gonna chime in but

HE1NZ said:
Something to do with discount for upgrading from old version to "remaster" I think.
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I think this is it. Vanilla Dark Souls 3 (which is very good and should be your first choice if you only wanna dabble) launched in March 2016. DS1 Remaster launched more than 2 years later with all content included.
 
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regawdless said:
You're right, poor Souls 3. It was a great game overall, but nothing really new. The other games gave me sweet feelings, while DS3 felt like a best off.
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Which raises the question: if we're looking back at previous games and evaluating our favorites, are we weighing for nostalgia or are we picking based on how good it is to play right here and now? I think if I were to replay a Souls game, I'd go back to 3 and ignore the others. Not even that interested in Demon's Souls Remake (I still have my dusty ol PS3 copy anyway). As you said, it's a Best Of. Crammed with content. Best combat system of the Souls games and most flexible character-building / gear-building of the franchise. Maybe it wasn't the Souls game I spent the most time with but it has improvements over the rest that would feel clunky to go back to. I really loved playing Monster Hunter Freedom 2 and Freedom Unite, as well as 4 Ultimate and Generations, but I'd never bother going back to those old MH games now that I have World and Rise.

Sekiro and Bloodborne, on the other hand, are my tippity tip top experiences, each in their own right. FROM needs to find a way to refine the combat even further but Sekiro will be hard to surpass.
 
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Enjoyment of Sekiro depends how well you can parry. There's lots of different options in the other games which makes them more popular IMO.

Personally speaking I always rate my games how fun they are to play today. Some games were amazing at the time but we've come along way since then and many don't hold up as well 😊.
 
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I feel weird voting for Bloodborne even though it is usually considered the best. I bought it at launch and it didn't really click with me. I tried it again a few years later and the same thing. I decided to give it one last try this year and it clicked this time. I flew through it pretty quick putting in a lot of hours each day until I beat it.

I'd rank Demons Souls after it. I like the world structure where if I get pissed off at one level I can jump to a completely different world and try something else out for a bit.
 
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That's tough... I love them all. All things considered, I would have to go with Dark Souls, although there are lot of things I like more about its two sequels.

If Bloodborne gets a good PS5/PC port, then that might become my favorite.
 
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Hostile_18 said:
Enjoyment of Sekiro depends how well you can parry. There's lots of different options in the other games which makes them more popular IMO.

Personally speaking I always rate my games how fun they are to play today. Some games were amazing at the time but we've come along way since then and many don't hold up as well 😊.
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Sekiro has a very generous Block, especially if you're used to the posture-breaking attacks of all the other Soulsborne games. You can Block quite a lot of stuff in quick succession and there's no timing involved. There's also a well-known gimmick of tapping the block button to fish for parries. The window between the Parry and the Block is based on your timing, and actual knowledge of Parry timing is superior, but it works in a pinch while you learn stricter parries.

Yes, if you wanna Ninja Gaiden through every encounter without using any tools then learning strict Parry timings is going to be one of your main goals. Some folks love character-actions games for that specific reason. But it's not as central to the combat if you don't want it to be, esp when you add in other attacks and tools. Unlike other Souls games, you don't have as much of a "build" that excludes other combat styles, so you can freely sample as you progress.
 
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Hostile_18 said:
@mcz117chief we stand alone against the world!
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Well, I honestly do believe that Dark Souls 2 is my favorite game of the franchise despite NOT being my first as some might assume. I started with Demon's Souls and totally loved it, I was in so deep as it reminded me of Berserk and other dark fantasy media (first played the imported and then the EU version). Then I played Dark Souls which I did finish but didn't like nearly as much as Demon's Souls and I only went through it once. Then on PS4 I decided to buy Dark Souls 2 Scholar of the First Sin despite the negative press and I absolutely adored the game since the start. Majula is one of my favorite hubs in video games; the music is fantastic, the perpetual dawn/dusk is beautiful as well as the view, the sound of crashing waves is incredibly calming and the Emerald Herald is hot. The constantly changing, quite literally dream-like atmosphere of the game makes the nonsensical layout and other "faults" of the game much more fun, moody and unique. I just can't describe how much I love Dark Souls 2. It is, so far, my favorite souls-like game, the only thing I like even remotely as much is Demon's Souls and Code Vain.
 
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