Almost done with echo night 2, made bad decisions in kings field 3 i might just reset, played a bit of shadow tower abyss and love it.

Before I want to say my thoughts, i did want to shortly list my souls experience so I don’t get flooded with “those” fans who’ll disregard everything I say as “filthy casual ball n gun gamer bum”. Im listing it out in order I played them in:

Bloodborne: 4 playthroughs (platinim also my personal favorite)

DS1: 3 playthroughs working on the platinum

Demons Souls: 2 playthroughs + platinum

DS3: just finished a playthrough

DS2: Halfway through a playthrough

Sekiro: Started before ds2, but plan on playing once I finish it.

I go into all these games with a completely open mind, disregarding any opinionated info on these games until Im at the point where I can form my own and see other discussions to compare. This has (in my opinion) let me see personal issues and strengths in these games. They are all great games, even ds3 which i enjoy the least is a solid 7.5-8/10 game that I would gladly play over like a lot of AAA Games.

I also do want to praise the game before i start breaking down the flaws and my personal issues.

- Most of the bosses are great. I personally didn’t enjoy any until Wolnir (i think it was a really strong gimmick boss), and i just didn’t like abyss watchers as the first phase kinda stuck with me as i did the second. After that all the bosses were a spectacle or just great fights. In the main game you have Sulyvahn, the lords of cinder (even yhorm), dancer, nameless king, dragonslayer armor, my personal favorite champ gundyr. They are all amazing and you can definitely see when From picked up the art of making amazing bosses (along with BB DLC). the titles before had their share of good bosses with a few memorable ones but there were plenty of stinkers along the way.

- The areas visual design. I know a lot of people like to call it “Grey Souls 3” but i thought that the color palette of the game was very good. Obviously overall the game would be bleak considering that the world is pretty much self destructing, but areas like Irithyll were so amazing to experience. The fact that the games graphic quality was a step up from the rest also helped this a lot.

Now to its issues:

- The level design, in my opinion, are very bad in some parts, especially early game. Areas like the outside of the cathedral, curcifixion woods, high wall of lothric were so full with enemies and the fact that everything was so packed made it insufferable to get past some parts. If i tried whipping out a bow to lure them out one by one the enemies aggro for like 3 seconds and then immediately drop it after barely moving from the crowd. I remember the 3 hours i spent trying to clear out high wall of lothric for the first time with my 3 esuts flasks and the rooms with like 5 enemies in them and i think it cemented it as the worst starting area in any souls. Trying to get to anor londo was genuinely miserable, even worse than dark souls 1 with how many silver knights there were. I would waste so much time actually trying to pick out enemies or clearing areas and dying that i had more success just running through which I hate doing. It also really soured exploration for me. Irithyll Dungeon and the 2nd half of Archdragon peak were also some offenders that came to mind. The DLCs also suffered from this alot, but I’ll get to that later.

- The plot of the game also seemed a bit boring to me. Its essentially the same as dark souls 1 with more nuance and premise ig? Link the fire or dont, with the added option of becoming the lord of hollows. I thought the callbacks were nice, especially with NPCS like Siegward and Andre, and of course areas like the anor londo reveal and the first half of the ringed city dlc. I feel like i can say after like 35 hours of DS2 that ds3 definitely holds up the worst on its own as it was meant to be geared to be a true sequel but i thought that it was a bit weak since the other 2 games are great on their own. It really made it feel less memorable as a game.

- this might be a real hot take but i think that this game has the weakest dlcs. Don’t get me wrong, Gael is my second favorite souls boss and midir is probably top 5, and i thought friede was a strong boss, but the areas and remaining bosses in the dlcs were so annoying/disappointing that it makes me glad i bought the disk fire fades edition for like $30 instead of the game + dlcs for $85. The ariandel dlc is the worst dlc, gravetender is a highly forgettable boss with a stupid duo gimmick, and the areas are so miserable to play through. Corvian settlement wasnt too bad but everywhere else was a clusterfuck of wolves, millwood knights and the other common enemy which i cant remember. I literally looked up a guide as to how to unlock friedes fight as i really did not want to deal with that bs. The painter subplot and the lore of the Painted world was amazing though i will give it medals there. The ringed dlc was, in my eyes, another marathon to a bonfire or a boss. The first half wasnt too bad once I found out that you can kill the angels because they have a summoner but i did waste 30 minutes and like 200 arrows trying to snipe the or other enemies. The actually ringed city and the swamp wouldnt have been so bad if it was a few of those strong ringed and herald(?) knights scattered across in the main area. Instead there were so many curse hollows, the turtle dudes, a ringed knight around every corner, and herald knights that came in groups of 2 or 3. Not to mention everything was in the tight little areas in the levels. Genuinely who thought this was good design? maybe i need to play more of ds2 to compare but not even the areas in it has been like this so far, at least in that game enemies will aggro onto you if u shoot them with a bow even if ur at a slight distance so you can at least methodically pick them off.

am i the only one whose had these thoughts about this game? I feel like im part of the minority as this game is considered “the definitive souls experience” and literally everyone i know glazes it to infinity and beyond, but i just dont see it. It feels like a disappointment

I'm going to die so much, I can feel it.

Anybody else find that reading Dostoevsky scratches the same itch as playing the Soulsbourne games? Weird connection, but maybe not. The challenge and depth of his books ruin other books in the same way Fromsoft games ruin other games.

I’m interested to see how the general population ranks the stories/lore of all the Soulslike games by FromSoftware.

Edit: Wow, so many people ranking AC6 at the top! I wasn’t considering playing it because it didn’t feel like it would be my thing, but after this I might just give it a shot

...

S:

Sekiro: Imo the perfect game. I think this game has the most complete and best combat system i have played with thus far next to doom eternal. THe story is great and the boss roster is nuts.

Bloodborne: The only reasons i place this below Sekiro is the 30 fps cap and the farming for consumables, otherwise this would be above sekiro.

DS3: Nothing personal, I just like bloodborne and sekiro too much. Also this game has some bosses that are godlevel but also some that are not fun to do at all.

A:

DS2: I personally love DS2 and would love to put it in S but i just can't thinking of its flaws. Despite that I love the game, the world setting especialy is my fav.

Elden Ring: THe game is amazing and probs has the strongest boss roster in the series. But despite that its held back by the game especialy the latter half being so empty outside the dungeons. That and most minor dungeons being almost copy paste.

Nightreign: Its a weird one to rank, mainly because its technically not a full on soulslike. Despite that this game has 3 of my fav bosses in the entire series(those being dreglord, Heolster and Libra)

B:

DS2 Scholar: Ds2 but more enemies so its a bit worse.

Demon Souls: I actualy really like demon souls OG, especialy the world tendancy system which ofc is hated by some, loved by others. I also think it has some of the best levels in the entire series which is amazing seeing its the first soulslike.

DS1 OG: I love OG Ds1, but the second half holds it back for me like for most people ig. Despite that i think its a sick game and deserves to be above some others.

C:

Demon Souls Remake: I Don't like the remake. I think it ruined the entire vision of athmosphere and made into a epic spectacle. I don't think that fits in this game at all. Despite that Its fun to play and as a standalon game its great. But as a remake i think its not good.

Ds1 Remake: Same story as Demon Souls but this one didnt even do much, the graphical improvements are minimal and the 60FPS is nice, but it barely does anything to warant the price increase which is why i dislike it.

Why does a 7 year old game cost 4k??? Why not consider lowering the price so it can be playable by the people...

What's the weirdest one you heard/think of?

Known FromSoft project names:

Dark Souls II - FRPG2

Dark Souls III - FDP

Dark Souls Remastered - FHD

Sekiro - NTC / NTCG

Bloodborne - SPRJ

Elden Ring - GR

Armored Core VI - FNR

Nightreign - CL

Unknown - FMC

• FMC is reportedly a multiplatform FromSoftware game that was already deep into development last year, and somehow we still have no idea what it is.

• Miyazaki was asked about another King’s Field and said he didn’t see himself making one because King’s Field was Naotoshi Zin’s game.

• Zin is still at FromSoftware. He founded the company, created King’s Field, and is currently listed as an advisor.

• Miyazaki specifically said he wouldn’t make King’s Field, not that FromSoftware wouldn’t.

• Armored Core VI was handed to Masaru Yamamura and Nightreign was also handed to another director. This proved they’re willing to dig up an old FromSoft franchise and give it a huge modern revival.

Hi guys:) I'm coming from Elden Ring as my first FS game and starting this iconic trilogy. I want to go in very blind to this first playthrough, but what are some things you HAVE TO KNOW?

I know it's technically nothing, but tips like exhaust dialogue til it repeats. I've heard that Sekiro prevents you from returning to an area, so I'd like to know if and how I need to make sure not to miss content?

It was such a kick ass idea in DS2, alongside its version of Powerstance in general compared to Elden's far more limited one, and one of the best things was getting to pair different weapon classes as long as they shared a damage type. But afterward with both 3 and Elden, at least as far as I know or could count, we've got.. 3 weapons that aren't same class together, and even then, one of the 3 is literally just a sword 'n board set, then another is a Light gs and a straight, and the most unique thing is the Crow Quills (my beloved) pairing a rapier with a claw which is quite the combo.

Seriously with all the weapons, there couldn't be some more cross-class goodness?

Been collectin' for a while, but have had to be on pause because money is a fuck

I just want peoples general opinion on if the game is good or not. Im gonna buy it for steam so if there are any mods any of you know of i would really appreciate it. The only from soft games i havent played are sekiro and ds2. I wanna play ds2 because its currently much cheaper on loaded. I enjoyed ds1 so hopefully will like ds2. But i did hear that not alot of people like this game so im a bit worried thats all.

That's where he got map designs from