I've never played a Soulsborne game but I'm considering giving them a shot now. I was wondering which ones you guys would consider good starting points for the series.
My brother already has Demon's, Dark 1, and Bloodborne so I can easily start with those. I'm personally most interested in playing Bloodborne from what I've seen, but I decided to check what other people thought about the games first.
Any input, /v/?
The first one...
>>340373885
Doesn't matter, they're all the same game anyway
Release order.
Bloodborne is probably a good starting point. That or Dark Souls. They're all great (even 2) but Bloodborne is probably the most accessible. Plus it's its own contained story.
>>340373885
Those 3 are all good entry points to the series, although people have said it's hard going back to Dark Souls after BB because of how slow they are comparatively.
You can't go wrong with release order, though
Start with dark souls and it's dlc, then dark souls 2 and it's dlc (the dlc are a must should you consider playing 2), bloodborne and it's dlc last.
With dark souls 3, play it when all the dlc is out.
I wouldn't play demons souls first, it's tedious and outdated, but it is a far easier experience, play it after dark souls so you can make a good comparison of how it's mechanically inferior and less engaging, but still decent.
Play Demon's Souls first, but if you can only play one play Bloodborne then.
>>340373885
Just pick one they are all the same then you are guaranteed to start shitposting how that one is your favorite.
I would NOT play Bloodborne first. The pace of the combat is much faster than the other games. If you play Bloodborne and then move on to Demon's and Dark, your experience will be diminished by the controls feeling clunky or sluggish comparatively.
>>340374507
What a retarded opinion. Yes! Let's go back to the first one after playing a mechanically better one just to see that it's worse. Fucking idiot anon.
>>340374661
I can see that happening. I've screwed over my experience with a few older titles by playing new ones in other series.
>>340374507
>tedious and outdated
>mechanically inferior
>less engaging
Please, please don't listen to this fool OP. He clearly doesn't know what he's talking about. He's obviously never played Demon's Souls and is just talking to feel included. Demon's Souls is still one of the best. Absolutely do not ignore that masterpiece because of this faggot.
>>340375018
OP here.
I'd like to try all of them at least once it's more a matter of where I start.I'm honestly really intimidated because I believe I'm pretty shit at video games, but I feel like if I never try the series at least once I'll be missing out.
>>340375276
Demons souls. The first one. It's not hard. It's just not run and gun style. It's more block then hit or roll then hit.
>>340375471
So you just have to relax and pay attention?
Perhaps I'm just worrying myself over nothing, then.
Thanks for the advice.
>>340375276
Don't listen to:
>>340375018
Demons souls is an utter waste of time nowadays, the visuals are dull, the gameplay is lacking, the bosses are simple and very dull.
Really the only "difficulty" from the game comes out of getting used to the souls formulae, and the more tedious game design mechanics like world tendency and the lack of checkpoints.
In addition, the music is utterly garbage 90% of the time excluding a few tracks, although as you are new, you should know that the majority of music in these games is boss fight exclusive.
Dark Souls 1 as it stands is a massively superior way at introducing players to the series, the cohesive world, the unfamiliar routes, and the more interesting mythology around the game is just that much better.
The boss designs are far, far better as well, it's almost not even comparable.
>>340375276
I'm pretty shit at most games too, but Souls games really aren't too difficult once you get into the right mindset. Learning that death isn't a fail state, but just an obstacle in your path to victory is important to remember, so don't get discouraged. The beginning is the hardest and trust me when I say it gets a lot easier the more confident in your abilities you become. I would recommend you don't summon actual players (NPCs are fine for beginners) as it will absolutely kill your appreciation for just how well crafted the game is. Its an excellent challenging singleplayer game and summoning allows you to just plow through it and ignore the amount of care put into it.
You should definitely start with Dark Souls 1
I actually started with Bloodborne and it turned out fine.
I moved back to DS2, did not have a great time so I tried DS1 and that game was fucking stellar.
After DS1 I did DeS and that game was also stellar, then I did DS3 and it was okay and made me aprpeciate DS2 a lot more and I went back to DS2
So my reccomended order is
Bloodborne->DS1->DeS->DS3->DS2
Just play Bloodborne, the best one.
If you want more after that go back and play the others in release order. Never play DaS2, its fucking ass.
>>340375686
That's about it. Enjoy.
>>340373885
Release order, except maybe skip 1
Demon's is a fantastic experience and my favorite of the games but a little hard to go back to because of some Quality of Life stuff "fixed" in later games
>>340373885
If you start with Bloodborne you'll hate all the others afterwards. Don't do that
>>340375815
Just because you're a faggot doesn't mean demon's is a waste of time to play now. I just finished it and played it last. I enjoy it more than I enjoyed ds3 desu anon. To each their own but dont be a fucking moron and try to tell op not to try demons souls because youre an autistic nignog.
>>340376537
Except maybe skip 2 ^
Goddamn, bad typo
I've played and completed all of them.
If you're going to play all of them, I'd say start with Demon's Souls and go through them in this order.
DeS - DaS - DaS2 - DaS3 - BB
However, there's nothing wrong with playing Bloodborne first. It's the most unique in terms of how it plays, so it might be good to get that one done first so you won't have to switch playstyle mid-series.
Really, as long you play the DaS trilogy in order, it doesn't matter when you go through DeS and BB.
>>340374369
>accessible
Only available on a certain piece of plastic.
Unless you mean it's the easiest of the soulsborne games in which you would be correct.
>>340376537
So basically the games have a bunch of issues that are ironed out every release, and that would make the originals hard to enjoy if one were to start with Bloodborne?How does Dark 3 hold up, incidentally?
>>340376794
Actually, most people still think DaS is the best in the series.
In terms of how highly they're regarded, I think it goes like this.
DaS - BB - DeS - DaS3 - DaS2
>>340376794
It's not a bunch of issues. You're just new blood in a souls environment right now. Souls fans are a weird bunch and you can disregard any opinion, including mine, and still enjoy all of the games. Now get your nervouse ass off this cum dump site and play some really good games.
If you play DeS first prepare to always have your HP halved, never have any healing items and fail to obtain upgrade materials you sorely need.
>>340377152
I'll try and get around to starting one of them this week.
Thanks anons!
>>340377224
Damn, you suck anon
>>340376975
In my experience it's seemed like the hivemind thinks
BB > DeS > DaS~DaS3 > DaS2
But what do I know. I like DeS best.
>>340376794
I wouldn't even call them issues, just differences like item weight allowance and a slightly clunkier roll and very different level style that could be frustrating if you were used to something different. And DaS2 is the clunkiest of all of them, so it's not like it's a straight progression.Also I generally hate "quality of life" improvements
I started with Bloodborne, but it kinda fucked me up when I went into Dark Souls 3 and you can't really play the two the same way, you adjust though. I tried playing SOCT inbetween the two, but I didn't really get what I was doing and I'm a scrub so I gave up early on. You can probably start with any of them. If you don't really care much for the story or having to play through them all I'd recommend 3 or BB
>>340377897
>SOCT
Why am I unable to decipher this acronym?
>>340378049
Because I fucked up lol
Scholar of the First Sin
SotFS
Idk how I did that
I would say play dark souls 1 first it will make you appreciate warping in the newer games
>>340373885
>>340373885
It's better to play DeS before DaS1 because DaS1 has more mechanics (for example, poise and jumping). After that, skip DaS2 because it's so bad that it's not worth your time. DaS3 is pretty meh. Good level design and movement controls are fixed, but the enemy design and balance is poor, and the balance between playstyles has gone to dex only, but overall it's fun to play once. If you are still itching for souls after that, you could try DaS2, but I'd advise getting it on steam so you can refund it once you realize that the most challenging aspect of the game is the bad controls.
If you want to play bloodborne first go ahead, but it might sour your enjoyment of the other games because it has some weird mechanics that you might miss. I'd save it until at least playing DeS and DaS1.
>>340376747
nah the third dark souls was the easiest
>>340379120
DeS has climbing, world tendency, and more. Its not more mechanics, its different mechanics.
>>340378374
Warping is for pussies
>>340373885
Just make sure you dont use 'Soulsborne' in public. People might think you could be retarded.
Honestly, DeS, DaS or Bloodborne are all fine starting points. Technically each is its own series, obviously later ones built on earlier games concepts, but story isn't connected at all and playing DaS before Bloodborne may actually be detrimental because you might develop playstyle habits that fuck you over in other games.
If Bloodborne interests you the most, play it first.
>>340378339
I thought you meant Shadow of the Colosuss, which I though was odd to mention.
>>340379283
I was thinking of combat mechanics, but even considering those I still think DeS to DaS1 is a smoother transition, especially with the rest of the games in mind. Climbing happens automatically near applicable ledges, and world tendency is pretty much just a score of how you interact with NPCs. I usually ended up pure black or white just by playing through each level thoroughly.
Another thing I just thought of was the continuing characters from DeS to DaS1, such as Patches and the guys who used the shotel (practically the same character). It's more interesting meeting them in the correct order than the other way around.
>Dark Souls isn't related to Demon's Souls
>first cutscene of the game mentions Demon's Souls fog stuff
How about starting with the one that was made first?
>>340375815
Boy are you retarded. Demons was the only part where bosses were actually interesting, because it wasn't omgsohardoreXD. Each boss had its own unique style and its own nique weaknesses. Starting with Dark each game only has three types of bosses: humanoid of about player's size with quick attacks, bigmclargehuge thing with slow wing-up that you run up to and hack at its shins and a selection of mediocre enemies taking you with numbers. There are no blind giants, no flying manta rays, no respawning magical doll, fucking nothing.
>>340381897
The witches in BB were a cool idea. Too easy though.
>>340373885
Either demons souls or dark souls 1, depends on how invested you wanna get
>>340375815
Dark Souls 1 literally copied all of demons souls mechanics then threw in a couple things like plunging attacks and jumping
>>340382161
aldritch was dreaming about heides tower of flame
>look up boss fight vids on youtube
>"this fight is really easy when you know what to do"
>the player has a mile-long HP-bar and just tanks all the hits while bathing in blood vials
>mfw I put all the points to str and skill and get one-shot unless I evade everything
So your only options ever are either "git gud" or "farm the shit out of mobs like a scrub"
>>340382483
Could be, make your case.
Is Adjudicator's arch the definitive git gud level in souls?
Shits fucking ridiculous
>>340382692
Undead Burg and Central Yharnam
>>340382774
>Undead Burg
Not even close
Still haven't played bb though.
>>340382774
>Undead Burg
Only if you're playing online.
>>340382584
ornstein is guarding the cathedral in dark souls 2. also the entire place is submerged in water
>>340382916
What does Ornstein have to do with anything?
>>340379278
They're all pretty easy. The Souls difficulty is overrated as hell.
>>340382981
in the first game ornstein was considered to be an illusion. In the second game we find out he was corrupted by the abyss. Basically im saying anor londo is submerged in water in dank souls 2.
>>340383374
This premise is really shaky, even for Dark Souls.
>>340383519
well its kind of a newer theory i read somewhere ,though im not saying it plausible
>people are still doubting oldstein in DS2
Ive played Demons Souls, Dark Souls, and Dark Souls II. I recommend Dark Souls because it is better than Demon Souls in every way. You will get so much entertainment out of the other, far better games in the series that you should ignore Demon Souls. Dark Souls II feels like it is made for people who have beaten Dark Souls, Dark Souls II strives to be harder than its predecessor and succeeds, it gives you more equipment options. It is best played after Dark Souls so it feels like a greater challenge and upgrade of capability.
>>340383637
I don't see it fitting, that would mean that Ornstein is basically the only one who is static between 1 and 2. And it's just covered in water, that's on the nose, which was never what the lore was.
Is this the Souls thread?
Where do I go after Nito, Seath and Bed of Chaos? The boss in the painted world just told me to fuck off.
>>340383970
Somewhere where you haven't killed everything.
>>340383970
go to new londo and kill the 4 kings
>>340384038
what kings? last I checked there were only ghosts and the guy on the roof
>>340384025
I killed everything
>>340383970
Grab the abyss ring and head down to new-londo for 4kids
>>340384262
you have to lower the water level first by pulling a lever. then you have to go to dark root basin to kill sif to get a ring called covenant of artorias so you traverse the abyss. then head back to new londo and find a fog gate that will lead you down to the abyss
>>340384262
there is something past the building with the guy on the roof
He gave you a fucking key that you haven't used, shouldn't that be a hint?
>>340384262
There's also the abyss, but you need Artorias' ability to traverse it.
>>340384270
alright thanks
>>340384480
iirc all the levers were inoperable but I already beat the dog
>>340384505
there's a key? wtf
>>340383970
>>340384262
First go check out Darkroot Garden again. Then take a stroll through New Londo, see what you can dig up.
DeS -> DaS -> DaS3 -> BB
>>340384624
He literally tells you that he is giving you an item that will allow you to get rid of the water in new londo. Pay attention to what people tell you dude
>>340384624
oh right go talk to that guy , he gives you the key because you possess the lord's vessel. and you use that key to unlock aa door that leads to a lever to drain the water
>>340384703
this Tbh
>>340384821
>lordvessel
son of a bitch
should've took the hint when some NPCs changed dialogue after the lordvessel, thanks
>all these plebs hating on DaS2
There are exactly two words that make that game superior to the rest of the franchise: power and stance. There is literally no way to play any of the souls games and have more fun than two caestuses and nothing else.
>>340384985
np
so uh
why is andre alive in das3?
>>340385228
timey wimy
wibly wobly
>>340385280
still makes no sense for him to be alive after his period
>>340384884
No, DeS has no impact with anything, even worse combat.
item text takes ages to go away.
Rolling is shit.
And from designed most levels to just be a clusterfuck of a thousand different enemies.
grass stacks for ez souls
etc
>>340385349
>And from designed most levels to just be a clusterfuck of a thousand different enemies.
(you)
>>340385228
He's a god.
>>340385436
SHRINE OF STORM
NIGGA FUCK YOU THAT SHIT IS GOD AWFUL.
LITERAL MANTA RAYS THAT CAN SHOOT SEEKING SPEARS ON TOP OF SKELETONS THAT ARE LITERALLY SANIC WITH A SWORD ON TOP OF A SKELLY ARCHER ALL WHILE ON A TINY ASS LEDGE THAT YOU CAN'T DO SHIT ON.
AND THEN YOU GET INSIDE AND SHIT A THOUSAND CYCLOPS ABERRATIONS THAT RESPAWN. UNTIL YOU FIND GRIM.
DES CAN SUCK A DICK.yes i'll git gud tomorrow when i play it more
>>340385685
nigga are you playing on mute? just use the sound of them charging their sting rays to time your roll/hide behind something
>>340385746
If they're far enough away you won't hear it.
Honestly I can run the path fine now, but the lack of checkpoints just makes it tedious.
And it's even easier to slide off a ledge without your control.
Playing on release order is probably a good idea, if only because Demon's will feel a little dated after you play the others.
If you play only one, make it Dark 1 or Bloodborne. If grafix matter to you, pick Bloodborne, if they don't then just toss a coin.
Don't play Dark 3 before Dark 1 otherwise nothing will make sense.
>>340385228
Fanservice
>>340379491
If anything it made me appreciate it less because I realized how fucking lazy the level design was when you can just hop around. I haven't played Demon's, but Dark 2 and 3 suffer immensely from bonfires out the ass, and you can warp to all of them. This leads to straight fucking paths the whole game instead of the shortcuts and clever design present in Dark Souls. Thankfully, Bloodborne was able to mostly avoid this by having lanterns more spread out
>>340386151
Yeah, bullshit, Bloodborne is exactly the same as 2 and 3 in that regard, but it has pretty tiny world and porting is a huge pain in the ass, so you just stick yo your route because you don't want to go through two loading screens.
>>340386151
Bloodborne had lots of lanterns as well as shortcuts everywhere. Much like DaS3 (especially the second half of 3).
DaS1 still handled progression the best of all the series because of its open structure, but let's not pretend that BB and 3 (maybe even 2 if you want to push it) are that different from each other in that respect.
>>340373885
if you start with bloodborne, you won't fully appreciate the gameplay direction of a full-lightweight-speed build
start with demon souls
>>340386552
I'd like to know why From abandoned DS1 in nearly every aspect.
Souls is a better game by DS1 navigation anyway.
Earning instant warp felt good and didn't diminish the experience somehow.
>>340386478
>porting is a huge pain in the ass
>even post patch DaS1, you can only port to certain bonfires and have to waste time running to whereever you want to go
ok
>>340386552
>>340386478
Not really, come on now.
Huge areas like Cathedral Ward, Forbidden Woods or Central Yharnam have only 1 lamp each, while areas like Undead Settlement have what, 3? Its retarded.
>kill vordt, get bonfire
>watch cutscene, get bonfire
>open gate, get bonfire
Sure, the bosses spawn lamps in Bloodborne so I guess Central would have 2 after killing Cleric, but they're still a lot further placed than in 2 or 3
What are the odds of just stumbling into Artorias of the Abyss?
>>340386939
Not very high considering the obtuse DLC entry.
>>340386851
Cathedral of the deep smashes anything BB has to offer for looping map. But the main point is that BB still has zones with single enter and exit and the shortcut loops through it, while DaS1 had single sprawling world constantly looping on itself.
>>340386992
Okay then google it is
>>340387062
Are you trying to find the abyss ring m8?
>>340386992
I find it to be less obtuse than BB's one.
>>340387035
Because Cathedral of the Deep is a huge clusterfuck of barely anything
The inside of the Cathedral is 90% just pointless running
>>340387114
That's the one from Sif right? I'm trying to get into the DLC stuff.
>>340373885
All the games post-Demon's Souls make a lot of quality of life changes that will make Demon's Souls not as enjoyable if you play it after.
I would say just play release order, but skip DS2 because it's actually shitty.
Demon's into Dark Souls 1 + DLC into Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3.
>>340386552
BB is less linear than DaS in the first half (you can go to nightmare frontier right after amaleia, hemwick/old yharnam/cainhurst before night) but second half DaS is the most non linear
>>340387198
Oh nevermind then.
it's just going past the basin hydra, to the archives and then back to area past the hydra.
>>340387324
>basin hydra to the archives
welp guess I missed something
Why would you play not in release order? Would you start reading a book series from the middle one because it's considered to be better than the rest? Just fucking play in release order all of them and form your own opinion on the series.
>>340387437
You kill the hydra yet?
Or even took the alternate path down to the basin at all?
>>340387504
Well books are plot-centric.
DeS-Dark only have obscure references and fan-service.
>>340387659
Okay I rescued Dusk of Oolacile. I misread your post, now to the archives then back here, thanks.
>>340387753
What if it's disjointed series, like Discworld? You'd still read it in release order.
>>340387928
mhm, enjoy the DLC m8.
It's the highlight of DS1.
>>340387954
Discworld which oddly enough I was about to mention in my previous post is more like Final Fantasy.But I guess, I don't disagree with you on release order. I'd still reccomend it for people who want to get into MMBN even though one's a chore.
if he plays bloodborne first probably wont like demons or dark souls cause they are slower compare to bb. first play demons or dark souls, my first souls was dark souls but if you can play the first of all series just play it
>>340386851
Central Yharnam also has the Gascoigne Lantern, right before you get the Cathedral Ward Lantern. But really that's not too relevant anyway - each game has individual areas where you see more or fewer lanterns and fewer/more shortcuts to go with it - it's easy to cherry pick on any side you want to there, really.
What really matters to me is the way each game approaches the early game progression because that's where builds take shape and where much of the replayability comes from. I don't hate linear games (and DaS2 onwards are still good at giving the illusion of freedom) but I do love me some real non-linear metroid-style freedom where I at least have some meaningful choices on where to go and what to do early on.
>>340385228
He's literally fan service. There's no other explanation other than "lol time", which is the lazy excuse Dark Souls gives for everything that doesn't make sense.
I wish Crazy Uncle Vamos returned instead of Andre, he was a better character and FS wouldn't even have to have an explanation.
>>340374661
this, op play the other two games first
>>340386750
Making decent, connected non-linear levels is hard. Adequately guiding the player through them without getting lost or unable to figure out what to do next is even worse. DaS1 was a fluke and we are unlikely to see something like it again.
My main gripe with later games is the loss of equipment variety in the early game.
>>340388527
Honestly, if 2 didn't go through dev-hell we probably would have had the sequel we wanted.
It started off strong with guiding you to the old fire keepers via the big blue light instead of rail-roading through.
>Equipment variety
Kind of funny considering I went with the upgraded Baxe you get right out of firelink all the way to anor-londo for the Silver knight set, and then all the way to gwyn with that occasionally trading out for the black knight halberd.
>>340388527
>My main gripe with later games is the loss of equipment variety in the early game.
How early? DaS2 had plenty of variety early on in SotFS. It's mainly just DaS3 where variety and linearity cripple subsequent playthroughs.
>>340373885
Leave Bloodborne to last. It's so much better than any other Souls game that it'll ruin your experience if you play them afterwards.
Just do them in chronological order, and skip DaS2, it's a waste of time
Demon's > DaS1 > DaS3 > BB
Play them in that order, end with a sweet note.
>>340393241
>Leave Bloodborne to last. It's so much better than any other Souls game
Between trenchcoat edgelord aesthetics, barely any build variety, atrocious chalice dungeons, annoying as hell hub porting and 90% of levels looking identical, what exactly is it that makes this game so much superior to DaS games? Ability to spam golden face meme whenever someone disagrees with you?
>>340388103
I played BB first, yes the others are a bit slower but it's all the same shit really
>>340393503
Well, it certainly triggered you.
It's a waste of time to argue since everyone chose their horse already, but my reasoning is that even after DaS3 came out, Bloodborne is still the fastest game with the most complex/fun individual weapon movesets, or even if you disagree with that, we all agree it deviates from DaS/DaS2 gameplay more than DaS3 does. Going back to DaS3 from BB that isn't as fun and playing it last, in my eyes.
Going through the Dark games in order, being immersed in that world, and then playing BB is better than playing DaS, followed by DaS2, then for no reason playing BB, and then finishing with DaS3. There is no logic in that other than release dates.
Now that all the games are out it makes more sense to play Das>DaS2>DaS3 in a row
Even though I have fond memories of MHFU, I wouldn't tell a newbie to play MH4U first and then jump back to MHFU if his intention is to play all the monster hunter games.
>>340385228
Dunno why people think that cause NK is prolly Gwyn's son that Andre ceases to be a legit person to speculate on as being Gwyn's firstborn as well.
Killing him means nothing; you literally MUST kill Orns and Smough in game 1, but both were alive in game 3 afterwards.
In a game of undead shit, killing a dude means nothing for keeping him down.
>>340388075
>highlight of DS1
I just got to Manus and this fucker is kicking my ass but up to this point the DLC feels pretty standard. Artorias was fun though.
>>340393503
oh stop you salty motherfucker
nobody takes you seriously
also bloodborne jas the same build variety you cluless pleb
BB
str
skill
arcane
bloodtinge
DS
str
dex
faith
inteligence
Can someone tell me whether or not I should start this series with the original Dark Souls or with the Prepare to Die Edition
>>340397337
are you retarded?
the prepare to die edition is the original with dlc
i mean what the fuck?
>>340397461
Just in case it changed any of the gameplay/levels for the worse. I want the best experience
>>340397525
Among the series, only version that changes base game is DaS2:SotFS and in general it makes it better, though you can always play vanilla if you want more authentic first experience.
>>340381897
Agreed.
Demons Souls feels like it has the most... i dont want to say gimick bosses because that sounds bad but I mean it in a good way. All the bosses had a unique thing that separated it from other bosses. Each one had 1 weird trick that players hate and once you figure it out you can easily take on the boss, but they all had their own unique "thing".
>>340375815
Dark Souls 1 sucks after Anor Londo where as Demons Souls is consistently fun.
>>340373885
Demon's then Dark Souls then Dark Souls 2 then Bloodborne then Dark Souls 3
>>340376736
This nigga got the right answer
>>340400056
I'd say the only area that really sucks in Dark Souls is Izalith
>>340385685
Equip the Thiefs ring, Manta Rays won't even see you.
>>340387150
> Kill the hydra
> kill the golem in the lake and free dusk
> kill another golem on the other side of the game
> take pendent to the spot you rescued Dusk
> all with zero direction
VS
> After a certain point in the game an item appears in the hub
> when you pick it up the game flat out tells you to get grabed by creature outside Oedon chapel.
> exact same mechanics as how you get to Lecture Building via tonsil stone
How is BB's DLC more obtuse?
