@auto: Your choices are Dark Souls 2, 3, or Bloodborne.

Bloodborne is a PS4 exclusive and in my opinion the best of those 3 options. Get it! It's a fantastic game no matter which one you end up preferring more

Bloodborne is a sleeker game with the playstyle variety aspect trimmed away, you either appreciate that trade-off or you don't. I really like Bloodborne for what it is, and I honestly grew to appreciate it more after playing Dark Souls III bosses which seemed to function on Bloodborne logic that my Dark Souls III character couldn't handle with all his input queuing and lack of swiftness. It made me appreciate the mechanical changes they made to Bloodborne's movement. That said, barring the DLC, Dark Souls III provides a much stiffer challenge due to the more deliberate movement. It's gonna take some time before I know which I prefer more. They do different things better, but right now I'm inclined to say dark souls III with its build variety is king because I'm greatly enjoying that aspect of it at the moment (although I mourn the loss of actually worthwhile tanky builds).

To newcomers, all these games are really freaking good and I wouldn't listen to hyperbolic put downs of any particular entry in the series. Even Dark Souls 2 has its merits.

Bloodborne is diffferent than the Dark Souls games. It's a cousin, rather than a sibling.

Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3 are the most polished and approachable of them, and are my personal favorites.

I've always thought every Dark Souls game sort of played like Ocarina of Time on roids. While not a bad thing, after 4 games Dark Souls gameplay as run thin for me.

Bloodborne just feels like a breath of fresh air. I love Bloodborne's more aggressive, faster, and dynamic gameplay.

I do like the Souls series story and characters more. I just wish they weren't so damn impenetrable.

I feel like Bloodborne has something going for it whilst Dark Souls 3 is heading for home. Both do their thing pretty well but I can't place one over the other yet. I'm playing a ton more of III than Bloodborne, mind.

I get the feeling that DS3 will win just because it's on all platforms and people who havent played Bloodborne will vote for DS3. It seems petty and pointless but that's polls for you.

I enjoyed Bloodborne more, i'm not going to say it's a better game but I found the weapons and bosses to be more interesting.

I haven't beat Dark Souls 3 yet but I definitely prefer Bloodborne. From a pure gameplay perspective I like that it's faster and more encouraging of aggressive play.

I also think that things like the world, level design, and bosses are far better.

BB's regain system encouraged spamming so much that, while it's a good game, is not as good as DS3.

It encouraged an aggressive playstyle and kept you moving forward rather than shielding up and hanging back. You couldn't simply spam because enemies would still stunlock and murder you, but it also meant that one bad dodge didn't mean you had to waste an entire flask, and coincidentally it removed the estus system altogether which in my opinion (and I realize I'm in the minority here) has never been particularly good.

Yeah, Dark Souls is still about leading enemies on a pivot or countering the big dudes when the window arrives. Bloodborne encouraged trading blows. I feel like the Estus system is good as it gives the team a marker to design around. At least at the beginning.

It just feels like a lot of the things people are saying as negatives aren't actually negatives, they're just statements about the game?

"It encourages a certain playstyle"

"It's easier to spam because of health regain"

"There's not a lot of weapons."

Yeah....because that's what the game wanted to do. Notice the title doesn't say "Dark Souls." I know it's a souls ass souls game but it's not a game in the Dark Souls series. This is Bloodborne and obviously they wanted to do something pretty different. Prefer what you will but that doesn't mean the game is bad.

I did like Bloodborne better.
The setting did a lot for me.

I can't even be bothered to finish Dark Souls 3. It's so utterly boring and unfocused. The story/lore is weird and very fan-servicey. We cloned Siegmeyer...and a dozen more.

Bloodborne was great from start to finish. Crazy art direction, much better combat. It felt focused, an adrenaline rush.

A much more interesting conversation would be: Is Bloodborne better than Dark Souls 1? Dark Souls 3 is increasingly frowned upon in the Souls community, for the following reasons.

1) Unbalanced to the point of being broken PvP. This has been a problem since day one. They're still trying to fix it. The latest patch reduced the ludicrous host advantage a little bit. Who knows if it'll work.

2) Enemies attack at Bloodborne speed. Player character moves at Dark Souls speed. Feels bad man. Very obvious Miyazaki had moved on from slow Souls style combat.

3) Magic is not viable(until endgame, and only then with insane stat investments). This ties in to broken PvP, but its also a problem in single player.

4) The faster Bloodborne style enemies mean that slower weapons have to long of a wind up and too long of a recovery to be as effective. Straight Swords own PvE.

5) Poise stat is broken af. Thinking you can make heavy weapons more viable by wearing heavy armor and poise through attacks during your giant weapon's long wind up. NOPE. Poise has been broken since day one. Also implications for PvP.

6) Incredibly derivative/regurgitated lore and story(Ashes of Ariandel anyone?). At the very least Dark Souls 2 added something original and interesting to the Souls lore.

tl;dr Magic is garbage. Using heavy weapons in PvE is a chore. PvP sucks. All you guys complaining about Bloodborne's lack of variety/choice. Pot. Kettle. Black.

Agreed. Bloodborne is amazing and new.

Dark souls III is the twilight princess of the dark souls series. Its a prettier rehash of the game you love and inevitably fails to live up to the original.

I loved both bloodborne and dark souls 3, bloodborne was even my first platinum. I like the build variety in dark souls 3 cause I really missed that coming out of bloodborne. I also liked having the bulkier armor and shields as an option. Bloodborne had a much more unique setting overall and the story was cool. It had some of my favorite bosses in any of the souls games (Maria, Gehrman, Gascoigne). I fucking hated the defiled chalice but I did that to myself so can't really fault the game. In dark souls it was easier to do coop which is something I really enjoy in the souls games. Both did some things poorly but both stand on their own. I can't really put one over the other.

I think Bloodborne is the best of the "Souls" games and I've played them all.

I loved a whole bunch of Bloodborne but, man, were those chalice dungeons a goddamn chore. Which is frustrating because a lot of the game seems to be contained behind them.

Bloodborne is my least favorite Souls game. Still an excellent thing in its own right.

DS3 is my next least favorite though, if that means anything.

They are both equally good in my opinion.

I don't why other people keep saying " its a Souls game" on a very different game. Very different concept, very different gameplay and an entirely different story.

Just beat Bloodborne. Can't wait to start Dark Souls 3.

After beating Dark Souls 3, here's what I thought.

Gameplay

Bloodborne > Dark Souls 3

I really like Bloodborne fast pace mechanics. The weapon can even be transformed. I enjoy spamming my transformed Hunter Axe R2 spin. Really help me beat Maria and Gehrman. I actually beat Gehrman on my second try spamming my R2. Don't really care about sorcery or pyromancy from Dark Souls 3. I always the melee type.

Boss battle

Dark Souls 3 > Bloodborne

5/5 stars Dark Souls 3 boss battle: Slave Knight Gael, Soul of Cinder, Sister Friede (total 3)

4/5 stars Dark Souls 3 boss battle: Demon Prince, Twin Prince, Abyss Watcher (total 3) Namless King and Midir could have been 4/5 stars if not because of camera angle.

5/5 stars Bloodborne boss battle: Ludwig, Orphan of Kos (total 2)

4/5 stars Bloodborne boss battle: Lady Maria, Martyr Logarius (total 2) I will let the number speak for itself.

Level Design/Area

Bloodborne > Dark Souls 3 Fishing Hamlet, Hunter Nightmare and Research Hall are superb places. Dark Souls 3 didn't really have that much notable area for me. Anor Londo for me still count as DS 1 area.

User Friendly

Dark Souls 3 > Bloodborne I'm not sure if user friendly is the right word here but as the video said, I also prefer it when every time your die, your blood vial recharge fully rather than farming it. Bloodborne really become one of the most tedious game and tedious is something I really dislike in game. Dark Souls 3 is more user friendly simply because it recharge your estus fully after you die. In Dark Souls 3, every time I die to boss battle, I didn't feel upset or bored because I just told myself 'Just Bring It' and let's have another round immediately. For Bloodborne, when I die, I sigh and feel bored because I know I need to farm again.

I find Bloodborne to be better than all of the Dark Souls games, excluding Demon's. I just like Yharnam and its surrounding areas a lot more, the lore is more intriguing, trenchcoats and axes that can transform into scythes are cooler. The gameplay is also more to my liking.

I feel off of DS3 and need to get back into it, Bloodborne right now has got me hooked. The world feels more cohesive, better put together. Right now I agree I like it more than DS3.

Pizza is definitely better than cake.

Unless I'm in the mood for cake.

Then cake is definitely better than pizza.

and you know what, thats the sign of a great series.

I myself constantly can't decide if I prefer demons, dark, or BB as the best.

Yep. Needed to be said. From Software's best game, a true eldritch masterpiece.

Same here. I like the boss battle in Dark Souls 3 better than Bloodborne but there are times when I wish I can play the game faster pace and use back my hunter axe.

You will hear no argument from me good sir

Ehhhh. I think they're all equally good.

I agree. The lore and the gameplay both were more interesting for me in Bloodborne.

Dark Souls 3 doesn't have nearly the amount of build options that people here are claiming it does. Here are 20 different spears, they all have the same attack animations, but if you dig into the boring minutiae you'll find that they have different scaling. YAWN.

Making a build is my least favorite thing in souls. It involves a lot of number crunching and looking at obtuse stat pages. I still do it, but I wish I didn't have to.

Then along comes Bloodborne and cuts through all the bullshit. Here are 13 weapons that are actually meaningfully different from a gameplay standpoint. The stats are simplified and we can get around to doing what really matters, testing your skill against giant monsters and exploring a beautifully realized world.

Bloodborne did for the Souls series what ME2 did for Mass Effect. Trim down the extraneous rpg bullshit.

I like both, and don’t really want to choose.

Bloodborne is the best game in the series. Best level design, best art design, best combat, best story. I'll never understand the criticism over lack of weapon variety. The trick weapons are infinitely more interesting than the 100 sword clones from Souls. Game of the generation for me.

Having both finished the last DLC on Dark Souls 3 and restarted Bloodborne in the last month I can say no. Something about Bloodborne rubs me the wrong way and I can't really say what. One thing for sure is I hate the roll/dodge mechanic in Bloodborne.