Bloodborne or Sekiro.
I did ER, DS1, DS2, DS3.
Interestingly, my favorite is DS1
I’ll probably skip DS2 lmao
Ds2 is worth playing if you like the franchise/genre. It tries some stuff different from the previous game, and some of it works.
It think it’s also easier than ds1, and maybe DS3. I almost cleared it without dying, just using a normal build. Because of the weird “lose max health on death” mechanic, if you die a lot it can snowball, but if you stay alive your max health is pretty generous.
DS2 gets a bad rap, but it really is a great game in its own right. Sure it’s kinda chunky to play, but you get used to its rough edges pretty quickly. It also (in my opinion, at least) far and away has the best vibes of the series. All of these games are known for being lonely and melancholy, but DS2 really cracks that up to 11. More than the others, this one really feels like you’re picking through the ruins of something that used to be great — which is sort of appropriate, I suppose, since many consider the first game to be superior…
It also has the most content of the 3 (if you include all of the DLC that you can easily get bundled), and also the most build variety when it comes to customizing your character.
Anyway, DS2 may still be the weakest Dark Souls and my least favorite in a lot of ways, but it’s also the one that I personally can’t stop thinking about. At least give it a go and see if it clicks with you, because the few things it does well, it does REALLY well.
Seconding the vibes. Fromsoft absolutely nailed the atmosphere in ds2
I love it, personally. But to each their own!
My second favorite dark souls
Dark Souls 1 is like a nice palate cleanser after Elden Ring; much easier, much quicker to go through, really only like 1-2 really difficult encounters by modern standards.
Dark Souls 2 has kinda become more interesting over time. You can start to see the bones of what would eventually become Elden Ring with mechanics like powerstancing and armor sets with bonuses, but the differences in healing and the mistake of Adaptability turn a lot of people away.
DS3 is honestly just “another one” in retrospect. It introduced what would become weapon arts and simplified magic to use a mana system, both things that would continue through to ER, but I very rarely return to it.
If you can find a way to access it, I’d also highly recommend Bloodborne. It plays the most different to the rest of the franchise, while still retaining a lot of the Soulsian trappings.
I’m glad to see others reassessing DS2 a bit. I understand the criticisms of the game but honestly I have more hours in that game than either I or III. Maybe just because it was the first I played, but I’ve always really liked it.
Another crab’s treasure. It plays like a soulslike but it’s designed like a Rare n64 game in all the good ways.
Lies of P!
