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[sublimit]

Sekiro is exactly the same as the other Soulsborne games lol minus the coop/invasions and a few other minor gameplay changes.

"Minor"? lol
If you really believe that then you have totally missed the point of Souls and Bloodborne games.

 

[V4skunk]

"Minor"? lol
If you really believe that then you have totally missed the point of Souls and Bloodborne games.

Yeah Sekiro has very minor gameplay differences which i just mentioned.
The core gameplay is exactly the same.
To deny this fact shows you are deluded.

 

[GymWolf]

if you like more scifi souls with some spins the surge series is tragically underrated, especially the second one.

 

[eot]

I would play them in order of release if you can.

Btw, people will shit on Dark Souls 2, but it's a masterpiece.

I understand liking it, but a masterpiece? I'm not going to go on a rant shitting on it, I did enjoy my time with it, but even after 100 hours I never got over how much worse it feels to play, and how ugly many of the animations are.

 

[Laconian Sword]

Just start with Bloodborne if that interests you the most. It'll motivate you to push through to the point where things click, especially since these games are most difficult in the beginning.

After that, I would just choose what appeals knowing that the earlier games are less forgiving, particularly Demon's Souls. Order isn't so important; there's no grand story arc to miss out on. DS3 or Sekiro would be natural choices after BB if you want to continue exploring the genre.

 

[sublimit]

Yeah Sekiro has very minor gameplay differences which i just mentioned.
The core gameplay is exactly the same.
To deny this fact shows you are deluded.

If there's anything "minor" between SoulsBorne games and Sekiro it's their similarities and not their differences.
Actually insignificant would have been a much more appropriate word to highlight their few similarities.

Souls and Bloodborne may have and incredibly robust action DNA in them but at their very core they are RPGs. At their core they are about option and variety in they ways the player approaches both gameplay as well as story. All 4 Souls games and Bloodborne give you a multitude of options that you decide how to approach each situation. Sekiro on the other hand (and other pure action games) do not do that. In Sekiro the approach in terms of combat is much more one-dimensional when compared to Souls and Bloodborne. You don't have the option to built your character as you want. This one-dimensionality also reflects in the way the game is presented and this is why Sekiro also has a main character and not a character creator. This is why it has a much more straightforward story than any SoulsBorne game.Because they all (gameplay and story) fit together in the lack of variety and option they offer. Which is the very antithesis with the variety SouldBorne games offer both in terms of gameplay as well as story and lore interpretations.

I get that it's possible that some people who like SoulsBorne games may also like Sekiro just like someone who likes SoulsBorne games may also like Devil May Cry or Bayonetta. When we compare SoulsBorne games with Sekiro we're talking about completely different genres that happen to share some very minor and insignificant similarities.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Oh yeah I know that.

They all seem like great games. Lore-wise I really dig Bloodborne. It seems the most Castlevania-like.

Pick a character template with high Skill stat, then pick the 'Threaded Cane' (one of three possible starter weapons) a bit later if you want the most Castlevania-like experience.

 

[johntown]

If you have the ability to play Demon's Souls (on PC) I would start there. Playing on PS3 or PS Now is an option too but PC emulator makes it feel more modern. If you decide to do this I recommend going through the game once and then use a guide to see everything you missed. Demon's Souls is overly complex and full of secrets but one of my favorite in the soulsborne series.

I would do Dark Souls after that which is the spiritual successor to Demon's Souls but makes some of the systems a little easier to understand. I recommend the Prepare to Die version and not the remastered as they changed a few things in the remastered. If the remastered is the only option then no worries (the changes were minor).

Dark Souls 2 - skip IMO. While I did enjoy the game I would save this one for last as it does not really continue the story or just feels different. Great game but different.

Dark Souls 3 - if your a little tired of the Dark Souls series do the one under this. If you cannot get enough then Dark Souls 3. Fantastic game and feels like it left off right where Dark Souls stopped.

Bloodborne - If after Dark Souls you want something different then this is the game for you. Lovercraftian, unique and really hard. If you don't care for the medieval setting of Demon's and Dark Souls then start with this one.

Sekiro - this is Bloodborne in a Japanese feudal setting. One of my favorite games ever! The combat is hard and makes you play differently than you are used to in almost any other game but once you understand it and get it......the fights are just so satisfying and fun you will want to platinum the game.

Dark Souls 2 - great game in itself but different from all the others. Play this last.

 

[sublimit]

Sekiro - this is Bloodborne in a Japanese feudal setting.

lol

 

[ruvikx]

if you like more scifi souls with some spins the surge series is tragically underrated, especially the second one.

The Surge 2 is excellent. I'm currently playing through it (I'm in the Gideon's Rock foliage area) & so far it's totally worthy of standing alongside the Souls games & Bloodborne at the top of the genre. The 60 fps mode on the One X helps a lot as well. Bloodborne is still my favorite due to the level design, Lovecraftian art style, music & combat, but The Surge 2 is definitely worth playing for people who like these games.

I heard Ashen is also good, but I've never played that one.

 

[GymWolf]

The Surge 2 is excellent. I'm currently playing through it (I'm in the Gideon's Rock foliage area) & so far it's totally worthy of standing alongside the Souls games & Bloodborne at the top of the genre. The 60 fps mode on the One X helps a lot as well. Bloodborne is still my favorite due to the level design, Lovecraftian art style, music & combat, but The Surge 2 is definitely worth playing for people who like these games.

I heard Ashen is also good, but I've never played that one.

i find ashen to be mediocre at best tbh, i don't know how the fuck that game has a metascore higher than surge 2...i was utterly bored after 10 hours or so.

 

[Roberts]

From meh to . Tried Dark Souls way back in the 360 days, wasn't really impressed and clearly didn't understand its brilliance. The silly irony is that it took a rip-off (Lords of the Fallen) to get hooked and now it is basically my favorite genre. Sekiro is probably my favorite. Ashen and both Surge games are best rip-offs.

 

[#Phonepunk#]

OP we look forward to your LTTP game no matter which one you pick.

Soulsborne games are all top quality. You really can’t go wrong

 

[ruvikx]

i find ashen to be mediocre at best tbh, i don't know how the fuck that game has a metascore higher than surge 2...i was utterly bored after 10 hours or so.

Good to know.

The Surge 2 is indeed tragically underrated. The level design is awesome, finding all the shortcuts is as good as a Souls game & I never, ever get tired of the executions. I just made a GIF from some of my own gameplay:

 

[GymWolf]

Good to know.

The Surge 2 is indeed tragically underrated. The level design is awesome, finding all the shortcuts is as good as a Souls game & I never, ever get tired of the executions. I just made a GIF from some of my own gameplay:

the game also has is unique spin with the target limbs system and the personalization of the build is absolutely massive.

the combat for me is on par with bloodborne and superior to any other soulslike except maybe nioh.
it's the only game where i use all the weapon class because all the moveset are fucking cool.

 

[The Bloody-Nine]

The Surge 2 is excellent. I'm currently playing through it (I'm in the Gideon's Rock foliage area) & so far it's totally worthy of standing alongside the Souls games & Bloodborne at the top of the genre. The 60 fps mode on the One X helps a lot as well. Bloodborne is still my favorite due to the level design, Lovecraftian art style, music & combat, but The Surge 2 is definitely worth playing for people who like these games.

I heard Ashen is also good, but I've never played that one.

I thought Ashen was very good.

The Surge 2 is also good. I've just arrived at Gideon's Rock and the level 5 statue is currently kicking my ass. I see people say The Surge is one of the easier Souls clones.....I don't get it.

 

[Fbh]

I heard something along the lines that Demon's Souls is more linear while Dark Souls and Bloodborne have a more Metroidvania style.

Story wise Demon's Souls and Bloodborne interest me more.

Yeah Demon Souls is definitely the more linear one. Unlike all the other games it doesn't have a seamless interconnected world. You basically get to a hub area and from there you can be transported to different locations/levels.

As for the Metroidvania style, they do have some common elements like the interconnected worlds, usually with a boss at the end, as well as shortcuts you can find to make traversal faster, but I wouldn't call any of the souls game a "Metroidvania". As I said, there's a lot less focus on backtracking and there also aren't big changes to how traversal works. To me a big part of Metroidvanias is getting new skills and then going back to earlier areas and using those skills to reach new locations, and the souls games don't have a lot of that. You might occasionally find a key or some item which lets you enter a previously inaccessible area and there's more central locations you'll probably get back to multiple times. But it's not like you learn to double jump and then have to go back to earlier areas to find places to reach with your new double jump. Your core skills are almost the same at the beginning and the end of the game.
If anything, you might find areas which are really hard, so you avoid them and go in some other direction and then come back hours later with increased stats and better gear to make things easier.

 

[johntown]

lol

Yeah probably a stretch there. The parry timing part of Bloodborne's combat is closer to Sekiro than the souls game. While they are very different games the combat as it relates to parries and timing is similar to Bloodborne.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Yeah Demon Souls is definitely the more linear one. Unlike all the other games it doesn't have a seamless interconnected world. You basically get to a hub area and from there you can be transported to different locations/levels.

I wouldn't say Demon's Souls is more linear per se, at least it wasn't for me. Players have access to all 5 archstones from the start. Each world has its own loot which can drastically alter how your character build goes, depending on what you tackle first. When I would get walled in an area/boss I would try my hand at a different archstone. I don't think I've ever beaten one archstone fully, then moved to the next one, beat the next one fully, etc

The other games definitely have a more metroidvania feel in terms of backdoors and shortcuts and secrets, I fully agree.

 

[Werewolf Jones]

LMFAO at sublimit berating anyone who just describes any Miyazaki directorial follow up as "It's like the previous game he made."

Ever think about how every game is about discarding your humanity? Deep huh?

 

[ruvikx]

I thought Ashen was very good.

The Surge 2 is also good. I've just arrived at Gideon's Rock and the level 5 statue is currently kicking my ass. I see people say The Surge is one of the easier Souls clones.....I don't get it.

You need to use the combat drone to take some life off him & also dodge around him. I use a charged Dark Star weapon attack on him from a safer distance to smash his shield, i.e. it makes the player character jump quickly to the enemies' location (as my previous GIF showed). But it's true, they're a tough enemy.

I also found the Little Johnny boss fight tough as well. Far harder than Father Gascoigne (if we're comparing it to one of Bloodborne's first boss fights).

the game also has is unique spin with the target limbs system and the personalization of the build is absolutely massive.

the combat for me is on par with bloodborne and superior to any other soulslike except maybe nioh.
it's the only game where i use all the weapon class because all the moveset are fucking cool.

I hope people with gamepass download The Surge 2 & try it. I loved that first boss fight against the warden. The whole gameplay loop & mechanisms just work really well (i.e. batteries charge, core power, implants, gear via severing limbs etc.).

 

[The Bloody-Nine]

You need to use the combat drone to take some life off him & also dodge around him. I use a charged Dark Star weapon attack on him from a safer distance to smash his shield, i.e. it makes the player character jump quickly to the enemies' location (as my previous GIF showed). But it's true, they're a tough enemy.

I also found the Little Johnny boss fight tough as well. Far harder than Father Gascoigne (if we're comparing it to one of Bloodborne's first boss fights).

I managed to do it by using an implant that shows you the direction of each incoming attack. It makes parrying him a piece of cake.

Little Johnny can kiss my ass. I couldn't believe the trouble I had with him.

 

[TexMex]

I was in the same boat but now I’m obsessed. Got Dark Souls and Bloodborne plats, working on Sekiro.

“One cannot me told what the Souls Games are....one must see them for themself.” - Morpheus

I never finished a Souls game. I finished Sekiro (died a zillion times), but never a Souls game (or Bloodborne)

I’m the opposite. Sekiro is brutal to me, I can’t hang.

 

[Gamernyc78]

Sort of misleading title since I haven't actually played any of the Soul games or Bloodborne.

I used to get tired hearing about Dark Souls but very recently became intetested in it. I love how Lovecraftian all the games seem to be.

Setting and lore-wise, Bloodborne seems really cool. It's one of the more Lovecraftian games I've seen.

So are the Souls games kind of Metroidvania or more 'open world'?

What's good to start with? I know the games are known for being aimed at new players and considerably very easy and forgiving.

Anyways it's just on my mind. I can't afford to buy games at this time but I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Bloodborne and Demon souls my most favorite then Ds1, 2 and 3. Bloodborne is very independent of the others so you could start with that. I've put hundreds of hours into each game but for some reason Sekiro was my least favorite.

 

[Darkmakaimura]

If I understood you correctly OP and you're tight on money, then I suggest getting Bloodborne. It's the reason why I bought a PS4 and it's one of the greatest games to have come out this generation.

However I still maintain that Dark Souls 2 has the best pvp out of all of them. The level design doesn't have the Miyazaki touch and it makes it the weakest of all the Souls single player experience, but the MP in this game is off the charts.

I can't afford a cup noodle really but yeah I'm asking about this when I do get around to it. Bloodborne's Lovecraftian feels great.

 

[Terenty]

Started playing Demon's Souls on the emulator and it plays quite decently apart from sometimes flickering objects and annoying sound stuttering that's unfortunately cant be dealt with.

I have a question, is there no lore descriptions for items like in all other souls games?

 

[sublimit]

I have a question, is there no lore descriptions for items like in all other souls games?

There are. Not for every single item/equipment but they are there.

 

[Shin]

Next-gen "soulsbornE" have arrived folks From Software got nothing on this!

 

[Ar¢tos]

Next-gen "soulsbornE" have arrived folks From Software got nothing on this!

I didn't know they were still making games for the Wii!

 

[vaibhavpisal]

You must start with whichever looks best to you. There is a possibility you wont have stomach for second game. Or time.

I personally would start with bloodborne at this point.