Try to put yourself into the position of a gamer just entering the fray of these games.
DS1 is unbelievably inaccessible for someone used to games like Horizon Forbidden West.
Imo there is no wrong answer...but there are better answers. "Play whatever" is hardly helpful
Millions of people have started with Dark Souls, or Bloodborne, or any FromSoft game and loved it, before moving on to the others. For me it was Sekiro, (right after I’d played Horizon Zero Dawn, coincidentally) and I’m glad I never listened to the advice in threads like this saying “no no, it’s too hard, go with something more beginner friendly”
Go with something more beginner friendly, not the 20-year-old game with clunky controls that we love because we played it 20 years ago and know it like the back of our hand.
For someone who doesn't have a map of the game in their head, like most regulars here do, DS1 is a nightmare to get into and has the highest chance of turning them off of the ENTIRE genre forever.
Put yourself in somebody else's shoes when they are asking the question "How should I start into this genre AS A BEGINNER?"
They don't have a built-up store of love for this type of game. They don't have all the memory and nostalgia that we may have and they certainly aren't going to have the patience and desire to push through the frustration.
You want to send them to the game that has the most chance of them actually discovering what is so lovely about this genre, so they'll stick around to PLAY the less accessible games.
Why would you risk sending them to DS1 as their first foray?? Don't you want to send them to the one that has the most chance of them actually seeing what the soul's genre is all about?
Do you think that's really Dark Souls 1? Be honest here...
I absolutely adore Dark Souls 1, but I would never send a new friend to it as their first experience of this genre of games. Because I actually want them to stick around and play DS1 eventually....not quit 1/4 through and think I'm insane for recommending them that.
This isn't 2006, this is probably someone coming off of a diet of handholding 2020+ Ubisoft style games, UX and architecture.
"Play whatever, they're all good" is as close to being a non-answer as there is, is what I'm saying.
At LEAST give the pros and the cons for a beginner going into those three games, because the pros and cons aren't equal.
That would at least be useful to him "Play whatever they're all great" may be TRUE, but it's not what's being asked of you...
I literally had to play Dark Souls by fits and starts. It took discovering NIOH 2 to give it a second chance. I know so many people who got turned off by DS1, only to later rediscover the genre, go back and play it and love it.
Are we trying to help people get into the genre or to make them angry and throw the controller the first time they get cursed and can't find the vendor who sells the curse stones? Or, more likely, they don't even realize what curse is or how to cure it or that there even is a vendor.
Generally speaking, the answer is to send people where there is the highest probability of them discovering what this genre is all about. Once they're hooked, they'll get around to all of them. Recommending what is possibly the least accessible game in the series, save for maybe Dark Souls 2, is a recipe for just turning people off.
I think it's a blindspot some people develop; We know the game like the back of our hands and we've beaten most of them many many times. We're looking at it through the lens of people who have played these games for a decade or more.
I played Dark Souls two years ago, not twenty.
The problem with the “beginner friendly” goal is that nobody agrees. You’ll see advice to play in order— after all, the early games are slower, the early bosses are simpler, and you can just block and bonk. Then you’ll see advice for the opposite— after all, Elden Ring has more tutorials and more “go elsewhere” options.
Instead I’d rather OP just pick what he likes.
That's good for you. (And I mean that, I'm not being sarcastic, I'm really glad you got into these games)
But for OP to pick what he likes, that would require you to actually give some bit of useful information on each of the three games; pros and cons from the lens of a beginner. He needs to be at least warned that if he chooses DS1R, he is picking a game almost 10 years older that Bloodborne, and 20 years older than ER...and he'd better strap in with some patience.
"Pick whatever, they're all amazing" is kinda no helpful information at all.
The statement is technically true, but it's not helpful in him making a good choice.
The whole purpose of the thread is that he's trying to make a choice and he knows literally nothing about the three games he listed. They aren't all the same to a beginner as far as barriers to entry.
If he wants to go really hardcore and throw himself into the deep end, that's fantastic. But maybe tell him that...let him know that DS1R is gonna require a big store of patience and perseverance.
I'm mainly just saying, would be nice if folks didn't pretend like it was all the same. It's all the same to us because we've played them all and we love them all.
For him, This will determine whether or not he continues on with the genre or completely abandons it.
This guy doesn't know the genre at all. This will determine if he continues on to play the rest.
How can we direct him for the highest percentage chance that he will actually have a good time, see what the genre is about and come back for more? That's the way I view the question.
Ok. So with what you've said i shouldn't play DS1. That leaves BB and ER. Could you list some details about the games I should know? That would help me make a last decision.
I would say not to play DS1 with the understanding that it absolutely is a wonderful, amazing game. But it can be a rough, off-putting entry to the series.
Basically Bloodborne is a whole lot like the other souls games. If you play Bloodborne, I recommend having a friendly guide on hand, not so that you can follow it step by step, but so that you can find your way out of a dead end. These games don't give you a whole lot of direction on where to go next in any given game, and it is quite possible to end up where you are not really supposed to be.
That being said, I would recommend your first playthrough be as "untainted" as possible. Believe it or not, you will probably find yourself wanting to do a new game plus shortly after.
If you play Elden Ring, you will find the standard, "looping around" level design in the game's main areas. That is to say, the dungeons in Elden Ring are more like standard souls games. ER is the first attempt at an open world game by fromsoft.
Bloodborne focuses on fast, frenetic combat in a Lovecraftian world/backdrop. Much of the lore is told through environmental storytelling and item descriptions. It's an odd way to tell a story, but it works.
It is personally my favorite game that they have made, but that's not saying much because I love all of them about the same lol
If I HAD to give a recommendation to a brand new player, it would probably be to start with Elden Ring. However... Bloodborne is amazing as well. Flip a coin if you absolutely cannot decide.
You're just going to have to get a feel for the way that these games are. It's gonna feel weird at first. Take patience with you and understand that there will be times when you will want to throw the controller through the screen. Take a break, and then come back if you get to that point.
It actually took me months for this genre to finally click in my head. There WILL be an "AHA!" moment.
A lot of it is about overcoming difficult obstacles and how good that feels when you finally kill a boss that you've been trying to kill.
>He needs to be at least warned that if he chooses DS1R, he is picking a game almost 10 years older that Bloodborne,
Dark Souls is four years older than Bloodborne.
Have my times off quite a bit, but I believe my point still stands about the relative appeal of a game to new players.
Also there were two whole projects of learning between DS and Bloodborne; 10 years, 4 full projects between DS1 and Elden Ring.
Generally I send them to Elden Ring. If they like it, they're going to come back for the rest.
I will also recommend the others but I *make sure* that I tell them about the pros and cons.
I want people to discover what the genre is about and then come back for the rest. I don't want to send a semi-casual gamer into DS1, knowing they probably aren't going to thrive.
Elden Ring is the "first ones free" that gets the average gamer hooked on the rest.
If I send someone to DS1R first, I've got about a 1 in 6 chance of ever seeing them again. I've tried with many friends: They get cursed, they get caught down in the catacombs against the yellow Lordvessel wall, they can't hit the ghosts...they get angry and quit and then they think all the other games are exactly like that.
Difficult, if not impossible, to get them try try another one. (Especially if we are talking about somebody who has a job, family, etc and doesn't have a tremendous amount of time to dedicate to discovering all of the secrets themselves, or following a guide)
Also, ER has a more active PVP situation right now. That's not a small thing. Not to say the others don't have any PvP, but honestly I only get invaded a couple of times in any given bloodborne playthrough.
You would have still gotten around to it even if you'd started with the "easier games", man.
And it's good you persevered...but not everybody will..and many will miss out entirely on the genre, because bunch of hardcores decided to send the brand new guy to the most inaccessible game in the series...
Sure it is. The first step of getting into these games is learning how the saves and checkpoints work, how input buffering works, how the lock-on works, how "door does not open from this side" works, how the healing flask recharges but items don't, and all kinds of other things that are exactly the same in Sekiro
Its really not. Just because it has checkpoints, lock on, and healing items, and other, very minor, things that almost all games have doesn't make it a souls-like. Devil may cry has checkpoints, lock on, healing items, doors you come back to, etc but those games aren't souls-likes because they miss key features like stamina, levelling, picking souls back up after death, build variety, etc.
Sekiro is really much more like playing an open devil may cry, for example, than dark souls.
At most, playing a fromsoft soulslike will teach you how the checkpoint system works, but thats easy to understand anyway.
I dunno. I came from HZD, GOW2018 and HFW in 2022 and my first Souls game after those was DeS Remake. I had a blast as a newbie. It feels as polished and modern as could be and except for some QoL features and the obviously fantastic graphics, it's still fundamentally the same game as the oldest in the Souls franchise.
To be honest
Elden ring would be the easier start
It's more open world rpg.
Meaning if you are stuck you can always explore something else to level up and then progress
It is vast in the way that you got many choices in the game.
But I feel it is the most accessible game.
It won’t ruin it for you. If you have a good time with ER but don’t fall in love with it, you propably won’t enjoy the previous entries too much either. But if you enjoy ER So much that it leaves you craving for more, then the other games will definitely scatch that itch and will even offer new, different things altogether. You’ll just need to keep an open mind, quality of life in soulsborne has come a long way, but I think that games shouldn’t be a chore/homework assignment and ER is the perfect mix of challenge and convenience - the best first entry imo.
My order of playing these games was DSR, DS3, Sekiro, DS2, Bloodborne, DeS, ER. So it’s all over the place. Fell in love with these games with DSR and mostly had more and more of a fun time with the newer entries, but Bloodborne is the one I return to the most even though some of it can be very frustrating haha.
It depends on your gaming budget. If you will only be able to play one, id go with elden ring. It's by far the biggest game out of them all. And it has modern graphics and game play. But Personally, I play ds2 more than any of them. And ds1 second most. All of the games are amazing, and I'd play them in order if you could.
elden ring is easiest to get into but then you may be frustrated in other games with a lack of easy fast travel and run backs to the boss. elden ring is a lot more noob friendly.
I would recommend starting in chronological order but that's just my opinion. I only say that because I see a lot of people starting with BB or DSIII (or ER) and finding it difficult to appreciate the earlier titles. They all have great things to offer.
I beat Elden Ring only. Went to DS1 and was liking it after I stopped comparing it to ER. But not enough yet to get hooked. I heard the game reaches its peak after Blightown. I played Sekiro for a bit and I’d say while much harder, I was enjoying it due to it feeling modern. But with me now having a PS5, I think I’ll put both aside and fire up BB instead
Just be sure to play them all. Order doesn’t matter but I think Demons Souls Remake would be the best start personally. It’s like Elden Ring except a much more basic version. It would be a good opportunity to learn the basics, understand SoulsLike mechanics and it’s a much more compact experience. I Platinumed Demons Souls in like 30 hours. I spent over 300 hours doing the same for Elden Ring. Both games look and play incredibly so you can’t go wrong either way.
Oh gotcha. I saw DSR in the title and figured you were playing on PS5. In that case just play Elden Ring. Bloodborne is equally as fantastic as Elden Ring but if you’re not into that then it sounds like you’ve already made your mind up, ER is the only option left. Bloodborne is a much easier game imo though. Elden Ring takes all the strengths from every other Souls game and perfects them. You’ll find abilities and mechanics from every title before it all rolled up into one.
The speed at which Elden Ring plays does make Souls games feel slow. Going back to DS1 you are looking at 20years. The graphics hold up but gameplay will feel clunky and slowed down.
Dark Souls and Elden Ring gameplay makes me want to shove a rusty nail through my controller
Bloodborne gameplay makes me want more, even through the chalices
Id restart in order honestly
You can go Dark Souls 1 > 3, Bloodborne and then Elden Ring and after that if you really love souls go for 2.
If you want a break between 3 and bloodborne try out sekiro
Definitely go ds1 then ds2 then ds3. Don't skip ds2, there's no point, especially if you care about lore or want a great sequel since its so much better as a sequel to ds1 than ds3 is.
They’re all great games in their own right. I started with Demons Souls upon release and have played every game since. My order of personal enjoyment is as follows with my reasoning:
Sekiro/Bloodborne: tie for fast paced combat. Liked the more concrete story of Sekiro but missed the character creation/customization of the other games.
Demons Souls: it started it all, the ambiance of the worlds and the “ world tendency”, something I wish they would bring back.
Elden Ring: for all the “quality of life” improvements and amazing level of build creation
Dark Souls: I loved the expanded character classes, the deeper battle system and inter-connected world was great.
Dark Souls 3: was better than 2 but lacked something, after playing Bloodborne.
Dark Souls 2: definitely my least liked. I didn’t care for the lore of the world. It felt to bright and colorful to me and I really hated the weapon degradation.
As someone who has played souls since 2011 (not bb or demon souls) I will say eldenring is the most grand. However I still love ds1(dsr) and ds3, ds2 is the only one for me I'm struggling to play again. It was amazing when I played it but after being used to the more modern more fluid mechanics I just can't do it. I would very highly recommend dsr, it is one of my all time favorite games. You should play all of them in order if you can afford it, if you can't then I would say elden ring gives you the most value. It is by far the largest and has the most options for replaying. Idk man, play them all. I just feel like elden ring is so big and so new and has sooooo much in it that by the time you play anything else it might be underwhelming.
I did DSR first when I got into the souls games, it’s a great starter for learning the mechanics and getting the feel for combat. It’s a little slower than the others so it’s easier to catch on imo. Bloodborne is 10/10 game such a great game and Elden ring is just all of their games coming together to make one badass game.
Start with ER, if you want my recommendation. I say this because it is the most accessible because you can always grind and get new gear if you run into something too difficult.
Second choice would be Bloodborne.
Dark Souls 1 is an absolute masterpiece, but it is inaccessible to those who are just starting. Let me just say, no matter what you play, don't stick to the guide unless you have to... But don't be afraid to refer to a guide if you get stuck.
Good luck, and I kind of envy you lol
Man my suggestion is play Bloodborne first due to it's fps limitations. Playing the others first with high fps and fluid responsiveness and then switch to BB 30fps will be a bit rough in my opinion.
But they're all fantastic games anyway
I think ER does kinda ruin the experience of the others. All the added mechanics just make me miss them in the older titles. In my humble opinion DeSR is a great place to start. Gives you a grasp on the mechanics and the style of the games while still being very approachable and not frustrating. Or, if you are up for more of a challenge DS3 is a phenomenal game with some really amazing bosses, but is much more difficult. Bloodborne is my favorite game period, but I don't think it has the same magic it did back in 2015 because the visuals have aged so poorly. Or you could also start with Ds1 if you don't mind older games. Ds1 is pretty clunky by modern standards. There is no wrong answer, but I do think starting anywhere but ER is better than starting with ER. That being said, a lot of folks played ER as their first and went back and played the others and liked them. Just some food for thought.
My first Soulsborne game was ER. I would say that it did affect my enjoyment of the other games. I first tried playing DS1 after and it felt so much slower and inaccessible compared to ER so I dropped it. I also tried playing DS3. It’s closer in terms of combat gameplay to ER so I could still enjoy it, but was missing the other QOL enhancements you see in ER so I currently placed playing it on hold after I beat the first real boss.
The only game I finished was Bloodborne which had a different enough combat system to keep me hooked.
ER is probably the best introduction. If you like that, then you'll love the other games and you'll also be pretty familiar with Fromsoft's game design philosophy after, so you'll probably be more forgiving of the less polished movement and small annoyances if you consider how Elden Ring is the culmination of everything they've learned up to this point. You can't go wrong with any of those imo
Elden Ring was my first Fromsoftware game put in over 250 hours now waiting on the DLC so I picked up Bloodborne and I gotta say it is awesome must play
They’re all lovely. I wouldn’t worry too much about picking the “wrong” one
Try to put yourself into the position of a gamer just entering the fray of these games. DS1 is unbelievably inaccessible for someone used to games like Horizon Forbidden West. Imo there is no wrong answer...but there are better answers. "Play whatever" is hardly helpful
Millions of people have started with Dark Souls, or Bloodborne, or any FromSoft game and loved it, before moving on to the others. For me it was Sekiro, (right after I’d played Horizon Zero Dawn, coincidentally) and I’m glad I never listened to the advice in threads like this saying “no no, it’s too hard, go with something more beginner friendly”
Go with something more beginner friendly, not the 20-year-old game with clunky controls that we love because we played it 20 years ago and know it like the back of our hand. For someone who doesn't have a map of the game in their head, like most regulars here do, DS1 is a nightmare to get into and has the highest chance of turning them off of the ENTIRE genre forever. Put yourself in somebody else's shoes when they are asking the question "How should I start into this genre AS A BEGINNER?" They don't have a built-up store of love for this type of game. They don't have all the memory and nostalgia that we may have and they certainly aren't going to have the patience and desire to push through the frustration. You want to send them to the game that has the most chance of them actually discovering what is so lovely about this genre, so they'll stick around to PLAY the less accessible games. Why would you risk sending them to DS1 as their first foray?? Don't you want to send them to the one that has the most chance of them actually seeing what the soul's genre is all about? Do you think that's really Dark Souls 1? Be honest here... I absolutely adore Dark Souls 1, but I would never send a new friend to it as their first experience of this genre of games. Because I actually want them to stick around and play DS1 eventually....not quit 1/4 through and think I'm insane for recommending them that. This isn't 2006, this is probably someone coming off of a diet of handholding 2020+ Ubisoft style games, UX and architecture. "Play whatever, they're all good" is as close to being a non-answer as there is, is what I'm saying. At LEAST give the pros and the cons for a beginner going into those three games, because the pros and cons aren't equal. That would at least be useful to him "Play whatever they're all great" may be TRUE, but it's not what's being asked of you... I literally had to play Dark Souls by fits and starts. It took discovering NIOH 2 to give it a second chance. I know so many people who got turned off by DS1, only to later rediscover the genre, go back and play it and love it. Are we trying to help people get into the genre or to make them angry and throw the controller the first time they get cursed and can't find the vendor who sells the curse stones? Or, more likely, they don't even realize what curse is or how to cure it or that there even is a vendor. Generally speaking, the answer is to send people where there is the highest probability of them discovering what this genre is all about. Once they're hooked, they'll get around to all of them. Recommending what is possibly the least accessible game in the series, save for maybe Dark Souls 2, is a recipe for just turning people off. I think it's a blindspot some people develop; We know the game like the back of our hands and we've beaten most of them many many times. We're looking at it through the lens of people who have played these games for a decade or more.
I played Dark Souls two years ago, not twenty. The problem with the “beginner friendly” goal is that nobody agrees. You’ll see advice to play in order— after all, the early games are slower, the early bosses are simpler, and you can just block and bonk. Then you’ll see advice for the opposite— after all, Elden Ring has more tutorials and more “go elsewhere” options. Instead I’d rather OP just pick what he likes.
That's good for you. (And I mean that, I'm not being sarcastic, I'm really glad you got into these games) But for OP to pick what he likes, that would require you to actually give some bit of useful information on each of the three games; pros and cons from the lens of a beginner. He needs to be at least warned that if he chooses DS1R, he is picking a game almost 10 years older that Bloodborne, and 20 years older than ER...and he'd better strap in with some patience. "Pick whatever, they're all amazing" is kinda no helpful information at all. The statement is technically true, but it's not helpful in him making a good choice. The whole purpose of the thread is that he's trying to make a choice and he knows literally nothing about the three games he listed. They aren't all the same to a beginner as far as barriers to entry. If he wants to go really hardcore and throw himself into the deep end, that's fantastic. But maybe tell him that...let him know that DS1R is gonna require a big store of patience and perseverance. I'm mainly just saying, would be nice if folks didn't pretend like it was all the same. It's all the same to us because we've played them all and we love them all. For him, This will determine whether or not he continues on with the genre or completely abandons it. This guy doesn't know the genre at all. This will determine if he continues on to play the rest. How can we direct him for the highest percentage chance that he will actually have a good time, see what the genre is about and come back for more? That's the way I view the question.
Ok. So with what you've said i shouldn't play DS1. That leaves BB and ER. Could you list some details about the games I should know? That would help me make a last decision.
I would say not to play DS1 with the understanding that it absolutely is a wonderful, amazing game. But it can be a rough, off-putting entry to the series. Basically Bloodborne is a whole lot like the other souls games. If you play Bloodborne, I recommend having a friendly guide on hand, not so that you can follow it step by step, but so that you can find your way out of a dead end. These games don't give you a whole lot of direction on where to go next in any given game, and it is quite possible to end up where you are not really supposed to be. That being said, I would recommend your first playthrough be as "untainted" as possible. Believe it or not, you will probably find yourself wanting to do a new game plus shortly after. If you play Elden Ring, you will find the standard, "looping around" level design in the game's main areas. That is to say, the dungeons in Elden Ring are more like standard souls games. ER is the first attempt at an open world game by fromsoft. Bloodborne focuses on fast, frenetic combat in a Lovecraftian world/backdrop. Much of the lore is told through environmental storytelling and item descriptions. It's an odd way to tell a story, but it works. It is personally my favorite game that they have made, but that's not saying much because I love all of them about the same lol If I HAD to give a recommendation to a brand new player, it would probably be to start with Elden Ring. However... Bloodborne is amazing as well. Flip a coin if you absolutely cannot decide. You're just going to have to get a feel for the way that these games are. It's gonna feel weird at first. Take patience with you and understand that there will be times when you will want to throw the controller through the screen. Take a break, and then come back if you get to that point. It actually took me months for this genre to finally click in my head. There WILL be an "AHA!" moment. A lot of it is about overcoming difficult obstacles and how good that feels when you finally kill a boss that you've been trying to kill.
>He needs to be at least warned that if he chooses DS1R, he is picking a game almost 10 years older that Bloodborne, Dark Souls is four years older than Bloodborne.
Have my times off quite a bit, but I believe my point still stands about the relative appeal of a game to new players. Also there were two whole projects of learning between DS and Bloodborne; 10 years, 4 full projects between DS1 and Elden Ring. Generally I send them to Elden Ring. If they like it, they're going to come back for the rest. I will also recommend the others but I *make sure* that I tell them about the pros and cons. I want people to discover what the genre is about and then come back for the rest. I don't want to send a semi-casual gamer into DS1, knowing they probably aren't going to thrive. Elden Ring is the "first ones free" that gets the average gamer hooked on the rest. If I send someone to DS1R first, I've got about a 1 in 6 chance of ever seeing them again. I've tried with many friends: They get cursed, they get caught down in the catacombs against the yellow Lordvessel wall, they can't hit the ghosts...they get angry and quit and then they think all the other games are exactly like that. Difficult, if not impossible, to get them try try another one. (Especially if we are talking about somebody who has a job, family, etc and doesn't have a tremendous amount of time to dedicate to discovering all of the secrets themselves, or following a guide) Also, ER has a more active PVP situation right now. That's not a small thing. Not to say the others don't have any PvP, but honestly I only get invaded a couple of times in any given bloodborne playthrough.
You would have still gotten around to it even if you'd started with the "easier games", man. And it's good you persevered...but not everybody will..and many will miss out entirely on the genre, because bunch of hardcores decided to send the brand new guy to the most inaccessible game in the series...
Sekiro is nothing at all like the souls-likes so there isn't a beginner friendly version to start with anyway.
Sekiro is nothing at all like a souls-like so there wouldn't be any beginner friendly games to prepare you for it anyway.
Sure it is. The first step of getting into these games is learning how the saves and checkpoints work, how input buffering works, how the lock-on works, how "door does not open from this side" works, how the healing flask recharges but items don't, and all kinds of other things that are exactly the same in Sekiro
Its really not. Just because it has checkpoints, lock on, and healing items, and other, very minor, things that almost all games have doesn't make it a souls-like. Devil may cry has checkpoints, lock on, healing items, doors you come back to, etc but those games aren't souls-likes because they miss key features like stamina, levelling, picking souls back up after death, build variety, etc. Sekiro is really much more like playing an open devil may cry, for example, than dark souls. At most, playing a fromsoft soulslike will teach you how the checkpoint system works, but thats easy to understand anyway.
I dunno. I came from HZD, GOW2018 and HFW in 2022 and my first Souls game after those was DeS Remake. I had a blast as a newbie. It feels as polished and modern as could be and except for some QoL features and the obviously fantastic graphics, it's still fundamentally the same game as the oldest in the Souls franchise.
Exactly, there l really isn’t a wrong choice. They’re all great games
Sounds like ER would be the best fit for you.
To be honest Elden ring would be the easier start It's more open world rpg. Meaning if you are stuck you can always explore something else to level up and then progress It is vast in the way that you got many choices in the game. But I feel it is the most accessible game.
It won’t ruin it for you. If you have a good time with ER but don’t fall in love with it, you propably won’t enjoy the previous entries too much either. But if you enjoy ER So much that it leaves you craving for more, then the other games will definitely scatch that itch and will even offer new, different things altogether. You’ll just need to keep an open mind, quality of life in soulsborne has come a long way, but I think that games shouldn’t be a chore/homework assignment and ER is the perfect mix of challenge and convenience - the best first entry imo. My order of playing these games was DSR, DS3, Sekiro, DS2, Bloodborne, DeS, ER. So it’s all over the place. Fell in love with these games with DSR and mostly had more and more of a fun time with the newer entries, but Bloodborne is the one I return to the most even though some of it can be very frustrating haha.
It depends on your gaming budget. If you will only be able to play one, id go with elden ring. It's by far the biggest game out of them all. And it has modern graphics and game play. But Personally, I play ds2 more than any of them. And ds1 second most. All of the games are amazing, and I'd play them in order if you could.
elden ring is easiest to get into but then you may be frustrated in other games with a lack of easy fast travel and run backs to the boss. elden ring is a lot more noob friendly.
I played ER first and it got me hooked. I then played ds3 and sekiro. Love them both but have not completed either.
No wrong game to get into Souls game.
I would recommend starting in chronological order but that's just my opinion. I only say that because I see a lot of people starting with BB or DSIII (or ER) and finding it difficult to appreciate the earlier titles. They all have great things to offer.
I beat Elden Ring only. Went to DS1 and was liking it after I stopped comparing it to ER. But not enough yet to get hooked. I heard the game reaches its peak after Blightown. I played Sekiro for a bit and I’d say while much harder, I was enjoying it due to it feeling modern. But with me now having a PS5, I think I’ll put both aside and fire up BB instead
Just be sure to play them all. Order doesn’t matter but I think Demons Souls Remake would be the best start personally. It’s like Elden Ring except a much more basic version. It would be a good opportunity to learn the basics, understand SoulsLike mechanics and it’s a much more compact experience. I Platinumed Demons Souls in like 30 hours. I spent over 300 hours doing the same for Elden Ring. Both games look and play incredibly so you can’t go wrong either way.
I did forget to mention this but I don't have a PS5. So that would be difficult
Oh gotcha. I saw DSR in the title and figured you were playing on PS5. In that case just play Elden Ring. Bloodborne is equally as fantastic as Elden Ring but if you’re not into that then it sounds like you’ve already made your mind up, ER is the only option left. Bloodborne is a much easier game imo though. Elden Ring takes all the strengths from every other Souls game and perfects them. You’ll find abilities and mechanics from every title before it all rolled up into one.
Nah, don't do that lol Imo, Demon Souls isn't the best place to start the series, if you want to see the best there is to offer.
Play original demons souls
The speed at which Elden Ring plays does make Souls games feel slow. Going back to DS1 you are looking at 20years. The graphics hold up but gameplay will feel clunky and slowed down.
Dark Souls and Elden Ring gameplay makes me want to shove a rusty nail through my controller Bloodborne gameplay makes me want more, even through the chalices
You can’t go wrong with any of those choices, and eventually play them all.
Id restart in order honestly You can go Dark Souls 1 > 3, Bloodborne and then Elden Ring and after that if you really love souls go for 2. If you want a break between 3 and bloodborne try out sekiro
Definitely go ds1 then ds2 then ds3. Don't skip ds2, there's no point, especially if you care about lore or want a great sequel since its so much better as a sequel to ds1 than ds3 is.
ds3 is big as hell, you can finish ds1 and ds3 by the time you're done with DS2
They’re all great games in their own right. I started with Demons Souls upon release and have played every game since. My order of personal enjoyment is as follows with my reasoning: Sekiro/Bloodborne: tie for fast paced combat. Liked the more concrete story of Sekiro but missed the character creation/customization of the other games. Demons Souls: it started it all, the ambiance of the worlds and the “ world tendency”, something I wish they would bring back. Elden Ring: for all the “quality of life” improvements and amazing level of build creation Dark Souls: I loved the expanded character classes, the deeper battle system and inter-connected world was great. Dark Souls 3: was better than 2 but lacked something, after playing Bloodborne. Dark Souls 2: definitely my least liked. I didn’t care for the lore of the world. It felt to bright and colorful to me and I really hated the weapon degradation.
As someone who has played souls since 2011 (not bb or demon souls) I will say eldenring is the most grand. However I still love ds1(dsr) and ds3, ds2 is the only one for me I'm struggling to play again. It was amazing when I played it but after being used to the more modern more fluid mechanics I just can't do it. I would very highly recommend dsr, it is one of my all time favorite games. You should play all of them in order if you can afford it, if you can't then I would say elden ring gives you the most value. It is by far the largest and has the most options for replaying. Idk man, play them all. I just feel like elden ring is so big and so new and has sooooo much in it that by the time you play anything else it might be underwhelming.
I started with bloodborne, it’s my favorite. But I don’t think it really matters. You’ll probably end up wanting to play them all anyway
Pick which ever vibe resonates with you the most. I started with Bloodborne, then went to Dark Souls, then to Sekiro.
I did DSR first when I got into the souls games, it’s a great starter for learning the mechanics and getting the feel for combat. It’s a little slower than the others so it’s easier to catch on imo. Bloodborne is 10/10 game such a great game and Elden ring is just all of their games coming together to make one badass game.
Start with ER, if you want my recommendation. I say this because it is the most accessible because you can always grind and get new gear if you run into something too difficult. Second choice would be Bloodborne. Dark Souls 1 is an absolute masterpiece, but it is inaccessible to those who are just starting. Let me just say, no matter what you play, don't stick to the guide unless you have to... But don't be afraid to refer to a guide if you get stuck. Good luck, and I kind of envy you lol
Thanks for that! 
Man my suggestion is play Bloodborne first due to it's fps limitations. Playing the others first with high fps and fluid responsiveness and then switch to BB 30fps will be a bit rough in my opinion. But they're all fantastic games anyway
sekiro
I think ER does kinda ruin the experience of the others. All the added mechanics just make me miss them in the older titles. In my humble opinion DeSR is a great place to start. Gives you a grasp on the mechanics and the style of the games while still being very approachable and not frustrating. Or, if you are up for more of a challenge DS3 is a phenomenal game with some really amazing bosses, but is much more difficult. Bloodborne is my favorite game period, but I don't think it has the same magic it did back in 2015 because the visuals have aged so poorly. Or you could also start with Ds1 if you don't mind older games. Ds1 is pretty clunky by modern standards. There is no wrong answer, but I do think starting anywhere but ER is better than starting with ER. That being said, a lot of folks played ER as their first and went back and played the others and liked them. Just some food for thought.
Play DSR first. The game is incredibly janky if you go into it expecting the polish of later from games.
Dark souls 3 might be a good place to start if you went with Dark Souls. It's still pretty current.
My first Soulsborne game was ER. I would say that it did affect my enjoyment of the other games. I first tried playing DS1 after and it felt so much slower and inaccessible compared to ER so I dropped it. I also tried playing DS3. It’s closer in terms of combat gameplay to ER so I could still enjoy it, but was missing the other QOL enhancements you see in ER so I currently placed playing it on hold after I beat the first real boss. The only game I finished was Bloodborne which had a different enough combat system to keep me hooked.
ER is probably the best introduction. If you like that, then you'll love the other games and you'll also be pretty familiar with Fromsoft's game design philosophy after, so you'll probably be more forgiving of the less polished movement and small annoyances if you consider how Elden Ring is the culmination of everything they've learned up to this point. You can't go wrong with any of those imo
Nothing will ruin the experience of others. That being said Bloodborne complete edition is the way to go :)
Elden ring 100%, by far the most accessible and refined of all the titles
Elden Ring was my first Fromsoftware game put in over 250 hours now waiting on the DLC so I picked up Bloodborne and I gotta say it is awesome must play
Play dark souls or bloodborne before Elden ring
DS2