Every FromSoftware Souls Game Ranked

In 2009, when FromSoftware released the first iteration of Demon’s Souls for the PlayStation 3, it marked the birth of a new trend in gaming – that being, the Souls genre. The birth of this genre not only resulted in a number of inspired game titles throughout the years (which have been appropriately dubbed ‘Soulslikes’) but also, created an inseparable link between this style of game and its original developer. FromSoftware and Souls come hand in hand for many gamers nowadays, and it’s not hard to see why. Though many have tried, Soulslikes never quite hit the same as when one of these games comes directly from the source (except Lies of P. Lies of P is incredible).

So with that in mind, with the recent release of the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion for Elden Ring, a game which has seen a huge resurgence as of late, I decided to revisit one of my favourite gaming franchises of all time, and do what every critical gaming fan loves to do – rank them! Though I love every game on this list, FromSoftware has certainly had its hits and misses throughout the years since Demon’s Souls hit the scene. The Souls name itself has even undergone a genesis – from Souls to Soulsborne to Sekisoulsborne…if people have found a way to insert Elden Ring in there, I’ve yet to hear it. All of those games will be included here though, so with all that being said, let’s get into the list, and rank the FromSoftware Souls games from worst to best!

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7. Dark Souls II (2014)

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If you’ve played through the entirety of FromSoftware’s Souls catalogue, then this placement is likely no surprise for you. Even the most adamant defenders of Dark Souls II recognise the flaws that this game has, and though they may be able to overlook them, many see these flaws as totally undermining a lot of the good that Dark Souls II has to offer. Even FromSoftware themselves recognised that Dark Souls II was kind of a mess – hence the release of Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin around a year later, which featured reworked enemy placements and behaviours, alongside updated graphics. Even then, Scholar of the First Sin wasn’t enough to completely redeem what many will consider, the absolute worst Souls game.

This doesn’t necessarily make Dark Souls II a bad game, by any means. In fact, many cite this as one of the most visually enjoyable games of the series, an opinion that is majorly supported by how beautiful Dark Souls II’s hub area, Majula, is. In many other areas though, from bosses, to enemy types, this title falls behind its counterparts. In terms of difficulty, Dark Souls II is mostly frustrating, rather than feeling organically challenging – an element that is amplified in the worst way by a system which reduces your health as a punishment for dying. Where the other Souls titles encourage you to try and try again in the face of that dreaded ‘You Died’ screen, Dark Souls II almost enjoys kicking you while you’re down, adding a layer of difficulty, but in all the wrong ways. Overall, Dark Souls II stands out in FromSoftware’s Souls lineup for all the wrong reasons, and though I enjoy it, it felt impossible to place any other title in this bottom spot.

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6. Demon’s Souls (2009)

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Up next is the game that started it all – 2009’s Demon’s Souls. To be clear, I’ve never played the 2009 original – I was an Xbox 360 player for that generation. I have, however, played the 2020 PS5 remake, and the remake was so faithful to the original that we can group them together here. There’s a lot to love in Demon’s Souls. The archstone system is a personal favourite of mine – being able to select the world you want to travel to from the hub area brings back a certain linear simplicity from older games that I’ve missed in the modern gaming landscape, which seems to focus on player freedom more than anything else. The bosses are…well, the bosses. In no other Souls game are the bosses as gimmick based as Demon’s Souls. Bosses like Flamelurker and Old King Allant bring that familiar, dodge-based combat that we know and love, but practically every other boss in the game is based in some sort of special gimmick or trick – and they rarely work well.

Also, the killer for Demon’s Souls in many rankings is that dreaded world tendency system – a system so contrived that even the game doesn’t seem to want to explain it to you. In a similar, punishing fashion to Dark Souls II, if you die while human in Demon’s Souls, the world you die in gets more difficult, upping enemy quantity and health. This whole system completely backfired on FromSoftware, with many players opting to throw themselves from the top of the hub area to remove their humanity before ever entering a world, removing the risk of making their game harder, and thus, completely nullifying the whole mechanic. This comes at the cost of players’ health being reduced, but many have simply taken the reduction on the chin rather than dealing with the tendency system. All in all, Demon’s Souls was experimental – and thankfully, some of the experiments that didn’t land never made their way back into the series from this point on. Still, a very solid game, and an essential experience for any PS5-owning Souls fan.

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5. Dark Souls (2011)

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Dark Souls is an incredible game. I’m hoping that putting that out there from the jump will calm any avid Dark Souls super fans who reserve their top spot for this title. I love Dark Souls, but unfortunately, its biggest enemy has been time. First, the good. The atmosphere of the original Dark Souls is perfect, and really nails the vibe that many of the follow-up titles tried to capture. Perhaps unexpectedly, I also have to give Dark Souls credit from a story perspective. Sure, many fans will never take notice of the story in these games, but for those of us that do, Dark Souls’ story stands out as one of the most intriguing of the bunch. Also, it would be wrong to not mention how well Dark Souls connects to itself – all of the areas flow together very nicely, and makes the game feel compact while retaining the series’ trademark exploration elements.

Unfortunately, the game has gone up against the test of time, and hasn’t exactly prevailed. The gameplay here is very slow, and borderline clunky at times. Most of the bosses feel fairly unrewarding and stagnant, until the game decides to ramp up the difficulty and throw some of the most frustrating and clumsy bosses in the series at you, and overall, many of the most memorable elements of Dark Souls stand out for bad reasons rather than good. It’s an iconic title, and a very enjoyable experience for any Souls series fan, but up against FromSoftware’s other entries, it falls on the lower end of the spectrum.

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4. Dark Souls III (2016)

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I’ve often joked about how in my ranking of the Souls games, the four entries with the titular ‘Souls’ in their titles find themselves making up the bottom four. With that being said though, most fans would actually expect me to rank Dark Souls III lower than this. It’s a game that’s garnered a strange reputation over the years. Aside from Bloodborne, it was the first Souls game I experienced, and it was such an incredible experience that I was pretty shocked to learn that many fans view this as one of FromSoftware’s weaker titles. What I can agree to is that it’s one of their easiest titles – compared to my runs through other FromSoftware games, both before and after playing Dark Souls III, I died in this game a shockingly low number of times. I will also yield and say that yes – this game is pretty unpleasant to look at. There’s a strange beauty to the other Souls titles, where what you’re looking at is horrific, but visually stunning all the same. Dark Souls III is sort of just…horrific. And pretty visually bland too.

This is far from the case when it comes to the bosses though, with some of my favourite bosses in the franchise finding their home in this title. The game also feels refreshingly fast-paced and responsive, especially when compared with the other two Dark Souls titles. Though gimmick bosses are present, and though they’re not much more well executed here than in Demon’s Souls, they don’t overstay their welcome, and most of the game is left to the thrilling combat and spectacular boss fights we’ve come to love from FromSoftware. So though it may falter difficulty-wise, and it’s not exactly a feast for the eyes, Dark Souls III holds a special place in my heart, and on this list.

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3. Elden Ring (2022)

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Ah, Elden Ring. A game so polarising that it’s impossible to predict where it’ll be ranked on anyone’s list of these games. For some, this spot is still not high enough, and for others, anywhere but the bottom three is a wrongful placement for this gargantuan Souls experience. Let’s begin with the good. Elden Ring is an incredible achievement on the part of the FromSoftware team. Applying the Souls formula to an open world format is one thing, but applying it to an open world of this size is wholly commendable. The Lands Between is incredibly well-crafted, and brimming with life – and though you can spot a few small areas where they’ve left things underdeveloped, the amount and diversity of content in this game is almost mind-boggling. The character customisation is also a huge strength for the game. Your chosen Tarnished can take on the threats of the world in just about any way you can imagine, with a huge range of weapons, spells, and armour pieces to be found across the open world.

There is some bad though, and it has to be pointed out in the name of fairness. The open world, as impressive as it is, can feel overwhelming sometimes, and the lack of direction can quickly go from thrillingly free to annoyingly isolating. There’s only so many times I can accidentally wander into a high-level area and die in one-hit before it starts to get old. The bosses in this game are also uncharacteristically difficult at times, feeling disproportionately more challenging than any of the enemies you encounter on the way to them. FromSoftware also seems to not take advantage of its own mechanics at times – though this has been recently amended, the inability to summon your mount, Torrent, in the battle against the Elden Beast was a complete head-scratcher, and frustrated fans for years before FromSoftware addressed it. In short, Elden Ring is a phenomenal game, and a massive achievement for the Souls series – but at times, it was too massive for its own good.

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2. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (2019)

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In a tale that is likely as old as time for fans of the Souls series, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice once fell at the very bottom of my list. I picked up the controller, tried to play it like I play any other Souls game, and was quickly met with frustration and the inability to progress along this game’s incredibly challenging path. What it took for me to come around on it was some time, and a new approach. Approaching Sekiro as Sekiro wants you to approach it, rather than how you think you should approach it reveals that this game is a masterpiece, and more than anything, it might be hindered by its grouping together with the Souls series. The parry system takes some getting used to, but once you lean into it, rather than relying on those staple Souls dodges, Sekiro becomes the most satisfying of all of these games to play, and one of the most satisfying combat-oriented experiences in gaming history.

Sekiro is incredibly difficult, but never feels unfair. Even the game’s final boss, one of the hardest in Souls history, is insanely challenging, but in all the right ways, and never feels cheap. In fact, most of the bosses feel this way, with the occasional fight suffering from some Souls traditions that I wish were long abandoned (insta-death status effects and time-consuming gimmick fights to name a few). However, once you master Sekiro’s combat, it’s an experience like no other. So, why only second place? Well, to nitpick, Sekiro does lack the customisation that the other titles do, and notably, it lacks content compared to the rest, with it never receiving any sort of DLC expansion to the world or core game experience. Still, its atmosphere is incredible, it’s story is notably coherent compared to the other games in the series, and the combat is, dare I say, the best in the franchise. Sekiro is a masterclass, and comes in second only to a game that I can comfortably name as my favourite of all time.

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1. Bloodborne (2015)

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The world wasn’t ready for 2015’s Bloodborne. In nearly every way, Bloodborne is a perfect Souls game, and even, a perfect game. As a horror fan, taking the Souls formula and applying it to a horror theme is a match made in heaven for me, and Bloodborne doesn’t disappoint on the horror front. The environment and world design is my personal favourite in the series, the perfect implementation of Souls level design into a gothic, Lovecraftian world. The enemy types are chilling, from tainted villagers who scream out at you as you attack them, to mind-bending creatures that are, canonically, beyond human comprehension, to the point that looking at them in game for too long causes your character to instantly die – perhaps, the only use of the insta-death mechanic that I actually enjoy because of its lore implications. And speaking of lore, the Bloodborne lore, though it takes some online sleuthing to fully get a grip on, is my favourite of the series. It’s such a perfect mix of hopelessness and morbid beauty, I can’t help but read every single item description I find each time I replay this game.

The boss fights are top notch, with a few standing out as fairly weak, but with so many standing out as top contenders for the best in the franchise. The chalice dungeons stand out to many as a glaring flaw in the game, but for me, they offered me more Bloodborne gameplay, so why would I complain? Speaking of additional content, the Bloodborne DLC, The Old Hunters is, for me, the strongest DLC FromSoftware has ever made, and Shadow of the Erdtree has not dethroned it. The game is very difficult, more challenging than many of the other games on this list, owing to its rapid fire combat and challenging bosses, but that doesn’t deter me from facing the challenge it offers head-on. There is one flaw for me in the game, that being the finite healing system, which personally, I hope never returns to the series. It’s also trapped as a PlayStation exclusive – please FromSoftware, give us a remaster, or even a PC port! But other than this, Bloodborne is Souls perfection. I could talk about it for hours, and I can’t see any other game claiming the top spot on this list.

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Conclusion

It’s always tough to rank these games, as they all hold their own experiences for me, all of which I enjoy. FromSoftware has created something special with this series, and I cannot wait to see what they bring us next in the aftermath of Elden Ring. With that being said, what is your favourite Souls game in the series? And what about your least favourite? Do you agree with my list, or have I missed the mark completely? Be sure to join in the conversation and let us know your thoughts!

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