FromSoft’s Soulsborne ‘series’ — referring to Demon’s Souls, the Dark Souls trilogy, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and Bloodborne — are among the most influential video games of the 21st century. I don’t know how. These games are weird, obtuse objects of fascination. Narratively, the Soulsborne games focus much more heavily on environmental storytelling than most games. Expensive cutscenes are rare, and the games utilize level geometry, object description, and creature design to tell their stories.
But there is something undeniably special about the Soulsborne games. 2009’s Demon’s Souls was expected to flop, and its unexpected success would still put it deep in ‘cult’ territory. 2020’s Demon’s Souls remake was used as a selling point to launch a pricey next-generation console. Over the 2010s, these games influenced encounter design, worldbuilding, and storytelling in ways we’re still coming to grips with. It spawned a subgenre (the ‘Soulslike’) and influenced a Star Wars game. Soulsborne games went from cult curiosities to the pinnacle of the gaming world in the span of a decade.
Now, a new game is on the horizon. Elden Ring, a collaboration between FromSoft and George R.R. Martin, drops soon. In celebration of Elden Ring‘s long awaited release, I wanted to look back at the games that made it. So let’s rank every Soulsborne game!
#6: Demon’s Souls (2009) / Demon’s Souls (2020)
Demon’s Souls is aggressive. I can see why it hit so hard with the video game press when it was first released. This is a game that isn’t afraid to mislead you and then punish you for following what would be in any other game the clear path forward. I spent hours lost in some of these levels, in a way that didn’t repeat in the future games in the series.
That said, the core magic that made the Soulsborne franchise the definitive 2010’s breakout hits is still clearly present. The fist-pumping victories against what feels like overwhelming odds still feels like magic. The original Demon’s Souls is slightly better than the Bluepoint-led remake in 2020, thanks to a stronger aesthetic sensibility, but both games share the same core flaws. That said, the original Demon’s Souls is incredibly hard to find and play right now, and this is still an excellent, even essential Soulsborne experience. It has more rough patches than the rest of them, but it holds together beautifully.
#5: Dark Souls III (2016)
Dark Souls III is good. The first post-Bloodborne Soulsborne game clearly takes a lot from their PS-exclusive megahit. Dark Souls III is faster than the previous two games in the series. Your rolls are quicker. Weapons are faster, and the quicker dexterity-based builds are suddenly more viable. I had typically relied on strength or magic builds in the previous games, but Dark Souls III charmed me most when I was dual-wielding sellsword twinblades.
Unfortunately, fan reaction to Dark Souls II was quite negative, and Dark Souls III is a wild overcorrection. Many of the innovations of II are abandoned, and the story hews more closely to the tone of the original Dark Souls. This was the first Soulsborne game that felt familiar, and I don’t mean that in a positive way. Part of the appeal of the franchise, to me, is forging my way in a hostile environment. But Dark Souls III is too reverential to feel new. Combine that with one of the series’ weakest set of maps, and you have a technically impressive game that lacks a lot of the series’ bleak charm.
#4: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (2019)
FromSoft games have a reputation (not entirely deserved) for being hard. I don’t think that’s typically true. They’re unforgiving — they want you to play a certain way and don’t really bend to player preference. But they give you a lot of tools to mitigate the actual difficulty. From summoning supportive players to over-leveling your weapons to magic builds, most Soulsborne games do try to give you tools to overcome their challenges.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is the exception.
Here, you have the hardest bosses in the franchise. Nameless King in Dark Souls III, a hidden, optional boss, has nothing on Sekiro‘s obnoxiously challenging final boss. And the game’s hidden bosses? Nightmarish. And unlike the other games in the series, there is no summoning help, no grinding to get more powerful. Sekiro has some of the best movement and exploration in the franchise, as well as an excellent, richly thematic narrative. But make no mistake; this is far and away the most alienating of the Soulsborne games.
#3: Dark Souls (2011) / Dark Souls: Remastered (2018)
Demon’s Souls is the first of the Soulsborne games; Dark Souls is what turned it into a success. Changing from a series of distinct levels to a shockingly interconnected world introduced an element of surprise and exploration into the series that has captivated players for more than a decade now. Technically, Dark Souls is a surprisingly linear game, given its reputation. But it never feels like it. It feels open-ended, exploratory, free-form. It gives players a sense of a coherent world in a way Demon’s Souls never really did.
It’s also the slowest of the Soulsborne games. Even in its (still very good) remastered version, this is a deliberate game. You move slowly. You dodge slowly. Attacks, spells — everything takes time, and that is a big adjustment. It leads to players learning, I think, to play the game ‘wrong’. “Turtle up,” it seems to say. “Find a strong shield and hide behind it.” You can do that, sure. It’s a totally valid way to play.
It’s just not a fun one.
Later games in the series, like Bloodborne, Dark Souls III, and Sekiro show that these games are designed to push you to dodge and parry. They want you to be active and aggressive in combat. Dark Souls has phenomenal world design, but it would be a few more games before the series figured out how to teach players to have the most fun with it.
#2: Dark Souls II (2014) / Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin (2015)
Ah, finally, I can get canceled in peace. Dark Souls II is a truly great Soulsborne game. It has a deeply negative reputation; newcomers to the series are often scared off by the game’s more vehement detractors. And I get why. Dark Souls II ditched some of the things that made Dark Souls such a critical darling. Gone is the massive, interconnected map. In its place is a byzantine, mazelike monstrosity of a world. The epic mythology — the Kiln of the First Flame, Gwynne and the dragons, Frampt and Kaathe — is gone. In its place is the story of the rise and fall of a new kingdom, untethered in time from the events of the first game.
But that story is fucking great. Dark Souls II has the best storytelling in the Souls series. Its world design is inventive and bizarre. And its DLC is genuinely fantastic. Unfortunately, the later (and more readily available) Scholar of the First Sin remaster amps up the difficulty of some encounters in a way that doesn’t particularly appeal to me, but even that is well worth playing. YouTube critic Hbomberguy did an excellent and expansive video on Dark Souls II that captures the game’s strengths well. But if you (understandably) don’t have time for that gargantuan beast, suffice it to say: Dark Souls II‘s reputation is not deserved. Everyone interested in this series should play this one.
#1: Bloodborne (2015)
This is the game that perfected the Soulsborne formula. When people ask me how to get into these games, I point them to Bloodborne every time. Bloodborne just does so much right. The combat is quicker and better-balanced than Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls. Yharnam is a more interesting visual locale than the more typical medieval European-fantasy inspired locations. It’s fast and prompts you to learn how to parry without the brutal difficulty of Sekiro. Bloodborne just works on every level.
The downside? It’s hard to play! Bloodborne has never received an official PC release, and is currently only available on PlayStation 4. If you have a PS4 or PS5, this is a must-play game. If you don’t… well, time to join the legion of fans begging for a port.