Still haven’t had a chance to play Bloodborne
1. Dark Souls 3
I really don’t know why this one is consistently my favorite when I look back at these games…There is something about the atmosphere, story, and lore of this game that hits me right in my ***** because DS3 is the one that I played the most (NG+5, almost 300 hours) and is the one I have the fondest memories of.
Areas like the Ringed City, Irithyl, Smoldering Ash Lake, Archdragon Peak, Lothric Castle…for me, FROM never again captured the magic I felt in these places.
2. Dark Souls
I feel like this is still objectively the best FROM game even after all this time. Everything about this game is pure magic and that includes all of the jank shit like backstabs. I think I’m definitely biased towards DS3 but this one may overall have the most going for it.
3. Sekiro
My first souls game, and one of the few games I would describe as being pretty much flawless, aside from shit like the Twin Apes boss, the Headless mini boss and the other occasional weirdness. And this is the only game I’ve ever played that actually has fun swimming gameplay lol.
The only real criticism I have with Sekiro is that I feel like the exclusion of multiplayer and social features really killed the game’s replay-ability. I understand they wanted to cut these to focus on the overall experience, but I beat Sekiro twice and never looked back. I have played through Dark Souls 1/2/3 and Elden Ring at least 3 times a piece and the social aspect was definitely a huge contributor to that.
4. Elden Ring
Oh Elden Ring
For every step Elden Ring takes forward, it takes two steps backward.
Its lore is so vague that it’s difficult to even perceive what is happening most of the time. And what lore we can perceive is just the exact same lore as Dark Souls and Bloodborne, but worse.
Its world doesn’t feel like Dark Souls worlds, in Dark Souls it felt like you were invading a foreign land that was not designed for a video game and that actually did not care that you were trying to explore it. Elden Ring is a generic fantasy open world complete with video game dungeons and caves scattered throughout, each complete with puzzles and bosses for the player to solve. You’re no longer an invader in a foreign land that doesn’t care about your presence, you’re just a gamer exploring another fantasy open world.
Its bosses are a mixed bag of being a fun challenge and an overwhelming display of rage inducing bullshit.
It’s atmosphere is a weird mix of Dark and High fantasy that just feels off to me.
Elden Ring had serious potential to be the best FROM game, but it tried to reinvent the formula in areas where they shouldn’t have.
5. Dark Souls 2
I’m not even going to shit on this game. I love DS2 lol, pretty much everything about it. I acknowledge it’s flaws but love the game nonetheless.
