Only have played Bloodborne, but loved it.

Bloodborne affected me more than any of the others. Hunter vs hunter fights were really exhilerating too, more so than in the others for me.

1. Demon's Souls
2. Bloodborne
3. Dark Souls

Haven't played Dark Souls 3 yet. Dark Souls 2 doesn't rate.

So many souls polls this last week.

@sterling: Makes sense since three's about out, though I honestly haven't noticed. I just started getting into it again out of the blue since I don't have anything new to play and never finished Demon's or Dark Souls (which I bought around both of their releases). Nice timing considering three is almost out, though it's not likely I'll get it soon, or play it soon anyways. If I get through Demon's and Dark Souls, I'll probably try to buy the other three all at once next time I go somewhere that sells games. Sounds like you're fed up with the polls/threads though, so sorry about that. Since I haven't really been into these, I can't say for sure because I haven't looked into it much myself, but it seems like there isn't as much excitement for three as expected.

1. Dark Souls
2. Demon Soul's
3. Bloodborne
4. Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin

The top three being pretty close together but Dark Souls feels like something I can return to over many years. Demons almost has the same quality but the linear levels take the edge off. More interesting boss fights, though. Bloodborne has a real consistent challenge to it and there's several bosses I need to revisit and beat. Dark Souls II suffers from maybe my lack of experience with it and just the whole feeling of imbalance in that game. I've only finished it once but I feel less incentive to go back.

Bloodborne. The gameplay finally got to the point where it approached the speed of character-action games. The art, the boss design, the music, the fact that I could've beat the main story in 20-25 hours (eventually finished all the optional stuff by 30). People could call it watered down or whatever, but it felt like such a tight game to me. Then I played the DLC in December and it reminded me just how good that game was. My game of the year, in fact.

I played Demon's and Dark Souls 1 for a few hours each, then got about 20 hours into DS II. And Bloodborne just felt like the game I've always wanted From to make.

So I hope DS3 can take the best of all of them, but we shall see next week.

@ntm: No, not at all. No need to apologize. I like that everyone wants to talk about these games. They are my favorite games. I was just making an observation.

Dark Souls is my personal favorite, but that may just because it was my first souls game and everything felt so different from anything else I ever played.

I never played Demon's Souls, but I have watched EpicNameBro play through most of it, and it seems pretty great. The world tendency mechanic is a little confusing to me. Really wish that it could've came out on pc so I could play it.

I'm in the same situation with Bloodborne. Watched EpicNameBro play through it, and wish it would come to pc.

I love Dark Souls 2 more than most people seem to. I do feel like that are a few too many bosses and some of them aren't very creative. Currently doing a second play through of it and am still enjoying it.

I can't wait to play Dark Souls 3. Hopefully my pc is able to run it. If not then I might just buy it on the xbox.

I love bloodborne. The pace of it and the combat feel so much tighter than the Souls games. People complain about lack of weapons/builds, but most of the weapons in dark Souls are throwaway where all the ones in bloodborne are viable. It cuts to the core of what makes these games great (to me) and that's the methodical combat.

Demon's and Dark are my favourite. There's a quality to Demon's that even DS1 doesn't have, and Dark Souls is overall my favourite. I can't even nail what the quality of Demon's is that I love so much. It's a feel thing. There's a purity of design to it.

Dark Souls 2. It gets its fair share of hate and I don't see why. I've been playing it and playing through DS1 with my brother and DS2 feels like a better balanced and more mechanically satisfying game. It is more linear than DS1, sure, but there's definitely more to level design than having a game that wraps around on itself so much. Besides, I don't feel like that game's world is as interconnected as some people think, and Anor Londo feels like this thing that's separate from everything else. And some parts of the game feel pretty cheap, like the archers who shoot telephone poles at you on narrow walkways in Anor Londo, or fucking everything in Blighttown (The Gutter is only slightly better than Blighttown, though).

You could spend days arguing which one's better, but they're both excellent games. I don't see how anyone could like either of the games without also enjoying the other, even if they don't enjoy the other quite as much.

Anyway, I played DS2 first. That's not the only reason it's my favorite, but I imagine it has something to do with it. Visually, it's a more colorful and vibrant game, with locations and levels that stick out more in my mind. Dark Souls 2 has too many bosses and some of them are recycled, yeah, but I still think the Demon of Song and the Duke's Dear Freja are some of the most interesting bosses in the series, both visually and mechanically. I only just now finished the Sunken King DLC and I think all of the bosses in it were pretty great, especially Elana, and I hear that the rest of the DLC bosses are some of the best in the series. Still haven't fought anyone as satisfying as Artorias, but some of them come close.

Maybe PVP was way better handled in Dark Souls 1, but I didn't engage much with invasions so that wasn't a concern of mine when playing.

I don't have a PS4 so I haven't played Bloodborne. I've played Demon's Souls and, while I might finish it eventually, I don't think it's anywhere near as good as Dark Souls 1 or 2. And, of course, I haven't played 3 yet.

I feel like I answer this thread once a week. Scholar of the First Sin is best.

@rongalaxy said:

Yep. This pretty much sums up why bloodborne's my favorite as well.

1. dark souls
2. bloodborne
3. demon
4. ds2

haven't played ds3 so... gonna guess it'll be somewhere between Ds1 and demon.

Darks Souls followed closely by Demon Souls for me.

I do feel that the Scholar of the First Sin version of Dark Souls 2 improved the game considerably. Some of those DLC areas were great.

1. Demon's Souls
2. Dark Souls
3. Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin
4. Bloodborne

Demon's is top because nothing has matched the atmosphere of Boletaria, Tower of Latria, and even the end of the Valley of Defilement. DS is the clear runner up. Still working on DS II, and while it's the most flawed of the games, there's still a lot of like about it, especially build variety. Bloodborne, while still good, is overly simplified, and find the move toward more speed, while logical, not as interesting as the slower pace of the Soul games. Also, and I know this is a little weird, even for these games I don't find Bloodborne's "story" to be very good, or at least found the ending anti-climactic.

Fuck Demons' Souls, marry Dark Souls 1, Kill Dark Souls 2, maintain a puzzling stare at Bloodborne as I don't have a PS4.

I played them in order (outside of BB), and Dark Souls is the clear winner. Demons' Souls had the atmosphere and mystery that I love, but it was a bit too obtuse at times (world/character tendency?) and it had the most mechanical jank. Dark Souls 2 improved over its predecessor on the gameplay front, but I couldn't get into the world in the same way. It lacked the magic that I felt in the older games.

Dark Souls had just enough wrong with it to be charming, but not enough to be frustrating (outside of one or two bullshit bosses, like The Bed of Chaos). And it had the best world out of all of them.

Bloodborne is my favourite even without the replayability of the other games (which never really mattered to me anyway because I always end up sword n' boarding it anyway). The combat just felt way smoother and less clunky-- trying to go back to DS2 when SotFS came out and realizing how unpleasant the rolling was (and that weird shit with the i-frames maybe kinda being tied to a stat but nobody really knows) just cemented my feelings on Bloodborne's combat.

Dark Souls is a pretty close second, just because it was the first one I really got into, and I still love the atmosphere/level/boss design in that game more than any of the other games.

DS2 felt like a Hollywood sequel or something. Really fun, some smart design changes, but it felt a little soulless in the end.

Demon's Souls is just kinda there.

1. Demon's Souls
2. Dark Souls
3. Dark Souls II

Demon's Souls had the biggest impression on me largely because it was something new. It also had design choices that I would have carried over to the sequels, such as the carry limit, which balanced the game somewhat. Also, I thought armor made more sense not being upgradable, with the precious upgrade materials being used strictly for weapons. Why would a rock upgrade something like a robe? Your character stats combined with your armor were enough.

Demon's Souls is my favorite, but that is more for personal reasons than the quality of the game. That said I think that every game does something better than all of the other games.

Demon's Souls- Most original, best bosses.

Dark Souls- Best game world, story, and npcs.

Dark Souls 2- Best weapon/armor variability.

Bloodborne- Best gameplay.

At this point I think the thing that I am most excited about when it comes to Dark Souls 3 is discovering what it does better than the other games.

Cool, the majority matched my position. Haven't played Demon Souls though.

Dark Souls comes first marginally. Incredible immersive and well-designed world and great variety in loot, armour etc. Bloodborne comes second for the lack of variety in the equipment. I also much prefer having a shield and armour. The world of Bloodborne is incredible though. Truly remarkable environmental design.

Dark Souls 3 look like it might usurp Bloodborne as my second favourite. It looks fairly similar but with all the equipment again!

I see what you did there.

@sterling: What is your opinion on the matter. Like one more than another, or is it about equal for all?

It's still Dark Souls. That's still the game in this series, though they're all extraordinary.

I voted for the love them all option. But I'd say Demon's Souls gets a slight edge over the rest. I would have to say its also my game of last gen. I actually imported the Japanese and Asian version, and got the platinum in all three region versions. And I still go back and play it from time to time. And if I had to say a least, it would be Bloodborne. Not a fan of how fast paced it was. I didn't really care for the weapons either. And the guns replacing shields. And I didn't care for how magic was handled. Overall I just didn't like the changes to the formula. Its the only one that I haven't played a second of since getting the plat. And I probably never will play it ever again. But I'll keep playing all the others until they eventually take the servers offline.

I've only played Dark Souls 1 and 2 because I only have a PC for gaming, and I have a really tough time deciding between them. I think I enjoyed the mechanics of DS2 more, but liked the atmosphere of DS1 more.

I really don't understand why everyone hates on DS2 so much. The DLC in particular is pretty awesome.

Should have just made it a multiple choice poll because Demons, Dark, and Bloodborne are pretty much tied at number 1 for me.

I'm hoping Dark 3 topples them

I second this.

I think each of them do different things the best, and each of them have unique flaws. I choose all of them :)

Either Dark Souls 3 or Bloodborne, I go back and forth.

Dark Souls 2 after that and then eh whatever.

God that is a hard question. I think Dark Souls 2 has been the best built of the ones I've played, but I think I'm gonna have to hand it over to Demon's Souls. DeS just has so much atmosphere and lore to it, and I feel that the environments are more iconic. I never actually beat Dark Souls 1, and the memory of Blighttown kind of sours the whole thing for me (I would abuse the hell out of that master key in the beginning if I ever went back).

Bloodborne and Dark Souls are my favourite games of all time - I could never choose between them. I have a ton of respect for Demon's Souls basically inventing everything that makes this series great, but I think my two playthroughs of it are quite enough.

I can't put Dark Souls III on the same pedestal, even if it can be pretty amazing at times. I'm afraid it's *only* a 9/10; I'm not overly fond of the first half and while most of the homages are well-executed I know they can do better than that. At least it has maybe more Demon's Souls callbacks than it has Dark Souls, which caught me off guard.

Dark Souls II is more of a 7. The gameplay changes I can take or leave (probably leave) but the way the game looked and sounded had so much less character than the rest. If you asked me to name something cool from that game I wouldn't know what to say. Loyce Knights?

I don't know about favorite, but the one I can see myself going back to play through again is bloodborne. DS3 aside, the only souls game I've yet to play is Demon's.

@sterling: You can play them offline you know? Though it takes aspects out obviously. Are the games not enjoyable enough without the online portion to you?

@beforet: I've heard many mentions of Blighttown, what in particular is so bad about it? It sounds like it posed a huge challenge, perhaps cheaply so? Right now, reading the wiki about it, does this sum it up, or is it something else?

"One of the rough areas due to status effects, difficult terrain, and framerate issues. The only shortcut is using the wooden elevator from the poison lake. Can be accessed early if you have a Master Key."

@ntm: Yeah, those three things define Blighttown, though the framerate issues don't crop up on the PC version. Other than the framerate I think it's a fair area. I'm a big fan of it from a level design perspective: the likelihood of unintentional falls actually makes it quite replayable (since enemies will come at you from different directions than you're used to), and also let you get creative with skips.

@ntm: I mostly play PVP in those games now. So if the servers go offline I'd just be playing the single player part of the game. Which I could play blindfolded and is no fun anymore.

I'm disappointed in myself, I freaking quit playing Demon's Souls all that time ago because I thought it was too time consuming (though as I've mentioned before, I didn't dislike the game for it). I just, for the first time (and on my first go) beat the spider boss. When I played the game originally, I got to that point, and I considered it near impossible unless I summon another player to my side, and yet that's not even close to the case. The Armor Spider went down easily with a few melee attacks.

Basically, Blighttown was the most stressful area in the game, and a lot of that was the framerate. I played it on PC, so it only dipped to about 15-20, but on console you'd hear stories about it dropping to single digits. Plus it was very difficult to navigate, enemies shot toxic darts at you from the darkness all the time. It just didn't feel as well designed as the rest of the game. I was just glad to be done with it when I was. The Master Key opens up a path that lets you skip to the boss, so that's what I would end up doing on a second playthrough.

Dark Souls 3, haven't played it and have seen very little of it.

Dark Souls

Dark Souls 2

Demons Souls

Bloodborne

@milijango: @beforet: That's unfortunate. I've always heard of Blighttown being this thing that people find... daunting, but I never thought it was an issue due to frame rate. Hm. I hope when I get to Dark Souls it doesn't tarnish my experience. I have it on PS3. So far, I'm still really enjoying Demon's Souls. The difficulty could spike later at some point (I think I heard the Tower of Latria is difficult), but right now, I kind of feel suitably powered for the sections I'm going to, so nothing is overly threatening now. There's always that feeling of hesitance when a new enemy pops up, and especially boss, but so far, walking into the Armored Spider, as well as the Adjudicator on my first go, they were pretty weak, though still fun to defeat. I'm currently just after that, farming the area by killing the reaper over and over. Is farming/grinding a common thing to do in the Souls games? It seems like it's needed, though any time I hear people talk about the game, it's not a topic I hear about.

Dark Souls, then Dark Souls 2. Don't have a PS3 or 4, unfortunately. Dark Souls 2 is a really close second though, that game is fantastic and gets called bad for being not the same game as Dark Souls.

I really didn't like how Bloodborne forced you to grind blood vials if you sucked (I suck, btw). I also didn't like the shaky performance and load times. It's a shame cause the combat was great and the focus on one playstyle made it more focused and tense than the previous games, IMHO.

Demon's Souls with Bloodborne following closely behind it (not finished yet, however). A lot of why I prefer those basically comes down to me not liking the Estus Flask and being limited by the number of spells/miracles I could use. I preferred having a magic bar that can--depending on equipment--restore over time or be replenished by using items. I didn't think farming for restorative items was annoying either, because not only were they plentiful, but you could hold substantially more in your inventory than you could EFs.

Another aspect has to do with how well the games performed. In Dark I quit around Blight Town because I (personally) just couldn't do it. With the frame rate being what it was on top of all the other bullshit going on, I just called it quits. I wasn't enjoying it and with a multitude of other games I could be playing, nah. Another factor was after watching videos of other people playing (i.e. Load Our Last Souls) and seeing just how much more game there was after that section. I don't recall ever having issues with Demon's Souls.

The layout of the world is a bit of a wash. While I liked the "levels" in Demon's, I also liked the more open feel that Dark had.

All that being said, I don't think I would have liked Demon's as much as I did if I hadn't gone back after quitting Dark. Initially I stopped playing Demon's after the first boss and you're on the bridge with the dragon. It didn't have anything to do with the difficulty, I just wasn't getting into it. I went on to other games and eventually tried Dark Souls. After learning the mechanics and how to actually play these games I decided to give it another shot and ended up really liking it.

I haven't mentioned Dark Souls 2 because I never played it. A common quote going around was "if you didn't like Dark Souls 1, you won't like this". Add to that the fact that enemies will eventually stop spawning just killed any interest I may have had.

As far as Bloodborne goes, I'm enjoying it quite a bit. I'm at about to fight the boss at the Healing Church and just killed the boss at the Unseen Village. Playing it offline too and I haven't run into any problems defeating any of the bosses up to this point either. I find myself spending a bit too much time in Chalice Dungeons though, they're kind of fun!

Dark Souls II is my favourite. I've only got Dark Souls to compare it to (until I play III).

I just had a better time with II, it felt like a real adventure. It gave me a cool feeling of actually exploring a Kingdom fallen to ruin. I also found a lot of the environments more interesting and the PvP was drastically improved.

A poll won't show you anything surprising really. Dark Souls was released on multiple platforms and gained YouTube momentum when that scene was really blowing up. As such it will always win every single poll over console exclusives like Demon's or Bloodborne. It may not be the best game in the series, or even second best really, but it is the mostly widely played one.