Elden Ring Releasing Feb 2022 - Hidetaka Miyazaki - GRRM - FROM Software

[Stg-Flame]

I'm curious to those who are fans of the Souls games, what is the preferred order to play them? I keep hearing basically the same thing along the lines of: Dark Souls Remastered, Bloodborne, Dark Souls 3, Sekiro, then Demon Souls Remastered. The general consensus seems to agree that it's fine to skip Dark Souls 2 and not to play the originals if there's a remastered version available.

I'd like to hear other people's take on this since I've only ever played through the original Demon Souls multiple times and tried multiple times to get into Dark Souls, but was never able to finish a single play-through (just didn't feel like Demon's Souls).

 

[rstrohkirch]

Here's how I'd rank the games as someone who plays these games because I primarily enjoy the combat. From worst to best: 2, 1, 3 + Sekiro. I don't believe 2 is a bad game but the combat just feels slower than the rest. It's like everything is coated in mud or syrup. When I did a play through of all 3 last month I started with 2. After finishing 2 I immediately moved into 1 and it was very apparent how much faster/smoother everything felt. Part 3 is my favorite as the combat is the smoothest, fastest and most visceral of all of them. I enjoyed Sekiro just as much as DS3 but the combat is a bit different. As long as you can get along with that it easily ties the top slot for me. The biggest draw back of that game is that there isn't much replay value because you stick with the same primary weapon through the whole game.

I've never owned a Playstation so I haven't played Demon Souls or Bloodborne.

 

[KentState]

Just my opinion, but I would do Demon's Souls, DS1, DS3 and then Bloodborne or Sekiro last.

Demon's Souls just doesn't have many memorable bosses or mobs. The NPC's are ok, but pretty basic. DS1 as a world is pretty intertwined and the discovery of shortcuts is rewarding. The bosses are a huge step up and take more strategy. DS3 is my favorite because of the spoke and hub design model as well as the areas requiring strategy leading up to very unique boss fights. There are also a ton of optional fights and DLC which extend the play much more than the earlier games. Finally, Sekiro and Bloodborne play very different so I would save them for last as you will have to retrain your approaches. I personally didn't like either game, but I'm more of a fan of the sword/shield or magic builds. I also struggling with parry timing which I feel is more important in the those games over DS.

 

[JujuFish]

Never played DeS. The order I played them was DS 1, 2, 3, BB. I think this is a pretty good order and I don't think you should skip DS2. It has the best DLC of the 4, IMO.

Dark Souls 3 is my favorite. I'm playing through NG+2 to finish getting all achievements and Nameless King is absolutely destroying me in phase 2. I've killed every other boss so far in 1-3 tries, but I've died at least a dozen times to Nameless King and have only gotten him below half health once. Weirdly, I one-shot him on NG+, so I don't know why my dodge timing has gone all to hell this playthrough. I need to do it, though, because while he's an optional boss overall, a ring I need is only accessible after beating him.

 

[KentState]

Dark Souls 3 is my favorite. I'm playing through NG+2 to finish getting all achievements and Nameless King is absolutely destroying me in phase 2. I've killed every other boss so far in 1-3 tries, but I've died at least a dozen times to Nameless King and have only gotten him below half health once. Weirdly, I one-shot him on NG+, so I don't know why my dodge timing has gone all to hell this playthrough. I need to do it, though, because while he's an optional boss overall, a ring I need is only accessible after beating him.

If you just want to get the achievement out of the way, the cross-bow works wonders if you just keep backing off and taking pot shots. I know it's cheese, but it works.

 

[rstrohkirch]

If you just want to get the achievement out of the way, the cross-bow works wonders if you just keep backing off and taking pot shots. I know it's cheese, but it works.

Can't be cheese if the entire magic system is built around the same strategy.

 

[KentState]

Can't be cheese if the entire magic system is built around the same strategy.

I don't mind chessing the system, but some purist take exception.

 

[Stg-Flame]

Demon's Souls just doesn't have many memorable bosses or mobs.

Maybe it's just because I started on Demon's Souls and played through only most of Dark Souls 1, but I can remember every single boss and the entire atmosphere in Demon's Souls, but I struggle to remember anything in Dark Souls aside from fighting two gargoyle bosses on a roof and something in a big lake. I think this also goes back to which game you played first because even on Zero Punctuation's video review on Demon's Souls Remastered, he commented on how the bosses were bland but to me, they were incredibly memorable because it was one of the first games where bosses of that magnitude were just a normal thing.

 

[Rhezuss]

I'm curious to those who are fans of the Souls games, what is the preferred order to play them? I keep hearing basically the same thing along the lines of: Dark Souls Remastered, Bloodborne, Dark Souls 3, Sekiro, then Demon Souls Remastered. The general consensus seems to agree that it's fine to skip Dark Souls 2 and not to play the originals if there's a remastered version available.

I'd like to hear other people's take on this since I've only ever played through the original Demon Souls multiple times and tried multiple times to get into Dark Souls, but was never able to finish a single play-through (just didn't feel like Demon's Souls).

The release order is: Demon's Souls -> DS1 -> DS2 -> DS3 -> Bloodborne -> SK
My personal "Difficulty order" from hardest to easiest: SK -> BB -> DS1 -> DeS -> DS2 -> DS3 (based on first playthrough for each game)

I'd say, play them in order of release if you want to play them all. They all give a cool and unique experience. I personally loved Dark Souls 2 for it's uniqueness. It felt weird and I loved it.

Bloodborne is still my favorite of them all...and I can't stand Sekiro.

 

[JujuFish]

The release order is: Demon's Souls -> DS1 -> DS2 -> DS3 -> Bloodborne -> SK
My personal "Difficulty order" from hardest to easiest: SK -> BB -> DS1 -> DeS -> DS2 -> DS3 (based on first playthrough for each game)

I'd say, play them in order of release if you want to play them all. They all give a cool and unique experience. I personally loved Dark Souls 2 for it's uniqueness. It felt weird and I loved it.

Bloodborne is still my favorite of them all...and I can't stand Sekiro.

It's funny how everyone has a different experience. For me, Bloodborne is far and away the easiest.

 

[JujuFish]

If you just want to get the achievement out of the way, the cross-bow works wonders if you just keep backing off and taking pot shots. I know it's cheese, but it works.

Thanks. I got him without cheese, but I was ready to fall back to that if I really had to. Got the rest of the rings I needed and killed the final boss for my 3rd ending. All achievements done!

 

[Artorias]

New story trailer out. Most likely the cinematic intro for the game.

 

[quikah]

New story trailer out. Most likely the cinematic intro for the game.

This trailer was awful. It gives you a bunch of background with no context. What is the elden ring, why does it matter, who are the demigods, why should I care?

 

[Artorias]

This trailer was awful. It gives you a bunch of background with no context. What is the elden ring, why does it matter, who are the demigods, why should I care?

Not sure what you're expecting, it's not going to spoil the plot in a trailer. I'm confused as to what the hell the whole in game world is about, but that's the point, as you play you discover the plot and lore. Have you not played a FROM software game before? The story/lore is mostly given to you in the form of item descriptions, aside from a handful of NPC that give some exposition.

 

[quikah]

Not sure what you're expecting, it's not going to spoil the plot in a trailer. I'm confused as to what the hell the whole in game world is about, but that's the point, as you play you discover the plot and lore. Have you not played a FROM software game before? The story/lore is mostly given to you in the form of item descriptions, aside from a handful of NPC that give some exposition.

Just want a reason to care about any of this? Is this elden ring important? Does it do something special, why should I care about it? Why are these demigods important? etc. This is basic setup of what the world is supposed to be.

 

[KentState]

Where's the hype for this? Less than a week out and I have a lack of motivation to play Horizon Forbidden West knowing this is what I really want to play next.

 

[Artorias]

Where's the hype for this? Less than a week out and I have a lack of motivation to play Horizon Forbidden West knowing this is what I really want to play next.

I'm slowly working my through God of War. Still hyped for this however may not play immediately on release.

 

[quikah]

Watched a couple hours stream of this (some media event yesterday). Pretty much seems like Dark Souls 4, not necessarily a bad thing, but I was expecting something a little more. Will see how it is once the full game is released.

 

[Stg-Flame]

I thought it was pretty much supposed to be Dark Souls 4. What was the gimmick that separated this from the Souls series?

 

[quikah]

I thought it was pretty much supposed to be Dark Souls 4. What was the gimmick that separated this from the Souls series?

The whole GRRM angle. /shrug
Maybe I read too much into it.

 

[Stg-Flame]

And what in the hell is GRRM?

 

[Achilles97]

And what in the hell is GRRM?

George RR Martin - The writer of the literature that Game of Thrones was based on.

 

[rstrohkirch]

I'm going to let it go a month or 2 for patches before I play it. Playing God of War right now, then I'm going to play Cyberpunk now that the first content patch is out. Then we'll see how the state of Elden Ring is.

 

[Artorias]

Launch trailer just dropped today. Getting me hyped.

 

[KentState]

This Thursday evening can't come quick enough. The review embargos lift tomorrow around lunch ET.