My experience with:
FromSoftware's Souls Series
Posted April 2026
Introduction
It took me a long time to try out the souls series; initially put off by the supposed extreme difficulty, I missed out on Dark Souls at the height of its popularity. Having now played all games in the series, I can say with confidence that the difficulty is greatly exaggerated and that these are all excellent games that are deserving of your attention.
If you have been put off by the discourse surrounding this series, it is important to know that within each game there are multiple options to the player to make your experience significantly easier. The best way to pick where to start is simply to choose whichever game appeals to you most! Note that Sekiro is generally more difficult than the others as there is no option to summon companions to help you.
Since the souls games deliver their story in a non-linear fashion, I thought it would be fitting to write this retrospective in the same way, listing the games in the order I played them rather than the order they released.
Let’s jump in…
Bloodborne (played 2017)
They say that your first souls game is always your favourite, and I definitely consider Bloodborne one of the best in the series. After being dubious of Dark Souls for years, Bloodborne caught my eye due to its fresh visual style and setting. There was just one problem – I didn’t have a PlayStation 4. My solution was to save up through my final year of university and treat myself to a second hand PS4 as a reward for graduating.
In summer 2017, I finally sat down to install Bloodborne as my first ever PlayStation game (I had always stuck with Xbox up to that point). I was immediately hooked! Yharnam was engrossing and a joy to explore from the outset. To my surprise, enemies died in a couple of hits from my saw cleaver and were easy to pick off one by one if I played carefully. I quickly realised that Bloodborne is game where you kill fast or be killed fast, and this greatly enhanced the atmosphere for me.
I also discovered what is now my favourite element of the souls series: the death system. In many games, dying means returning to a previous save and losing all progress since your last save. In souls games, dying sends you back to the last checkpoint and enemies respawn, but everything else stays just how you left it. This means any loot you found stays in your inventory, any shortcuts you opened stay unlocked, and any interactions with NPCs don’t need to be repeated. This made Bloodborne far less repetitive than I envisioned, and I really enjoy how many other games have replicated the souls death system.
Bloodborne has the additional consideration of resource management, with healing and ammunition being limited. This is often viewed as a negative but for me this further enhanced my first souls experience by making me play more cautiously. If I stumbled upon a fight that looked too difficult, I would try to find a way around it. If I amassed a large amount of blood echoes, I would usually retreat to the Hunter’s Dream to level up and stock up on blood vials.
I played Bloodborne 3 times back to back and found that each playthrough mirrored the Hunter’s journey in lore. Playthrough 1 had me cautiously exploring, only engaging in combat when forced to, and generally being terrified by the monstrous inhabitants of Yharnham. Playthrough 2 had me much more confident and addicted to the combat, as if I was struck with the bloodlust that hunters often succumb to in the lore. Playthrough 3 had me ‘gain insight’ as I delved into the lore and effortlessly cut through hordes of beasts to explore every corner of the game world. This strange meta narrative made a lasting impression and Bloodborne quickly became one of my favourite games of all time.
Before writing this review I returned to Yharnham to see how Bloodborne holds up after playing all of the other games and it has aged exceptionally:
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Bloodborne has very strong level design throughout, and the world is utterly engrossing. I do miss the non-linearity from the earlier games though; in comparison to Dark Souls and Demon’s Souls, Yharnham feels more restrictive but is still beautiful to behold and quality remains consistent throughout the experience.
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The combat is unique. Trick weapons, quickstepping, bullet riposting, the rally system and more make for an excellent combat system that always feels scrappy and desperate. You often come out of fights by the skin of your teeth with your heart pounding.
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The world is immaculately detailed. Every location feels completely handcrafted and the sound design and general art direction make for an unforgettable experience. It really feels like FromSoftware wanted to take full advantage of the Playstation 4 and what was, at the time, a new console generation.
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The Chalice Dungeons add replay value. Entering the Chalice Dungeons for the first time felt like discovering an entirely new game. There are so many unique enemies and bosses to find even if the levels themselves do get very repetitive. I also like how the dungeons don’t reset with each new game cycle, so you can always return to them across multiple playthroughs.
Dark Souls 3 (played 2017)
After finally having my fill of Bloodborne I was hungry for more souls games. Dark Souls 3 seemed to be the most recommended due to the ‘modernised’ combat and visuals in comparison to the earlier games, so I picked up a copy.
Unfortunately, after a few hours in Dark Souls 3 I felt like something was off. I was still enjoying the experience, but I really couldn’t muster the same enthusiasm for it as I did for Bloodborne. Everything felt immediately familiar but with many of Bloodborne’s features removed and I found myself wishing I was playing that game instead.
Part of the problem was that was playing it ‘wrong’. My tactic for all encounters was to two-hand my longsword, rush in and spam light attacks until everything died. For the most part this worked, and despite the multitude of cool weapons and spells I found, nothing seemed as effective stun-locking enemies. That was until I hit end-game bosses like The Nameless King and Soul of Cinder, both of whom routinely killed me to the point I simply gave up.
I’ve come to realise that I enjoy exploration far more than the boss fights in these games, so in retrospect it makes sense that I would stop playing at Soul of Cinder as I knew there was no content left after beating him. I also found the levels themselves disappointing; there are so many dreary castles and ruins with nothing to surprise the player. Some levels like the Demon Ruins genuinely felt less detailed and immersive than Bloodborne’s procedurally generated Chalice Dungeons.
I was also irritated by many quirks of the combat in Dark Souls 3. Most of which are also found in the other games but felt far more common when compared to my prior experience with Bloodborne:
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Enemies hitting me through walls with giant weapons
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Projectiles heatseeking around corners and sometimes even through buildings (Irythll Witch line of fire spell for example)
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Huge enemies and bosses which cannot be seen whilst fighting in close quarters because the camera doesn’t adapt to them
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Enemies firing projectiles through other enemies to hit you;
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and so much more…
Needless to say, I didn’t walk away from Dark Souls 3 feeling impressed. Despite still enjoying parts of the experience, I surmised that maybe Dark Souls wasn’t for me and went back to Bloodborne. It wouldn’t be until years later when I eventually returned to the game to finish it, but I’ll touch on that later.
Sekiro (played 2019)
Way back in 2017, the prospect of a Bloodborne sequel wasn’t a joke. After all, Dark Souls had received 2 sequels, so why wouldn’t Bloodborne? At the 2017 Game Awards, FromSoftware released a teaser trailer for their next project, simply titled: ‘Shadows Die Twice’. The gaming world was rife with speculation and I was convinced it was Bloodborne 2, with an eastern setting. Of course it turned out I was completely wrong and that FromSoftware was creating a spiritual successor to Tenchu.
Sekiro released in 2019 to critical acclaim and since it looked very different to Dark Souls I thought it might be worth a try. I picked up a copy and sunk my teeth into what I now consider to be FromSoftware’s most refined souls-like. Simply put, Sekiro is an absolutely fantastic game featuring numerous improvements over its predecessors.
The gameplay is a complete inversion of the typical souls mechanics – encouraging you to stand your ground and deflect all attacks back at your opponent. This makes Sekiro more difficult for experienced souls players than newbies, because you have to fight your entrenched instincts from the other games.
Almost all new ‘soulslikes’ incorporate a Sekiro style deflection system and with good reason: it allows for boss fights to be completely over the top and cinematic because no matter what the boss does players can negate damage and punish the boss at the same time. In Sekiro, FromSoftware have solved the problem of Dark Soul’s most difficult bosses, where boss attacks can chain together in a way that forces you to constantly dodge, with limited room to retaliate. This is why some people refer to Elden Ring boss fights where ‘the boss is having more fun that I am’. A Dark Souls roll only evades damage, a Sekiro deflection negates damage and increases the bosses posture metre, building up to an instant kill takedown.
Sekiro has a suite of incredible boss fights, with the Divine Dragon adding some mesmerising spectacle and Sword Saint Isshin being one of my favourite boss fights of all time. The latter kept me trying for many hours to best him, to the point where I resorted to grinding end-game enemies to improve my combat skills. With each attempt at the boss, the fights got quicker as I was able to control the pace and keep up the aggression. This proactive system is what really sets Sekiro apart from the other souls games.
So much praise and I haven’t even talked about the shinobi prosthetic, the literal reason the game is called Sekiro (translating to ‘one armed wolf’), which adds plenty of variety to the combat in a game that has only one weapon, as well as providing enticing progression goals as prosthetic tools can all be upgraded. In the same vein there is also a skill tree full of new moves to unlock, which links to a fully fleshed out stealth system. All of this makes for a wonderfully polished and consistently high quality experience - an easy recommend!
'Almost all new ‘soulslikes’ incorporate a Sekiro style deflection system and with good reason'
Before I move on, I should reiterate that Sekiro has no multiplayer and does not include NPC summons of any kind. The levelling system is also different from the other souls games, so you can’t just grind to become overpowered if you get stuck. However, there is a secret way to increase your power in the late game, but I’ll leave you to discover that for yourself (or look it up). There are also ways to increase the difficulty through some in game interactions, if the game isn’t punishing enough for you already!
Elden Ring (played 2022)
When FromSoftware announced Elden Ring in 2019, information was very scarce. All fans knew was that this was going to be an ‘open field’ souls game with horse riding and large ‘legacy dungeons’ to deliver that classic souls experience. Then came an 18 month gap where practically no information was revealed, causing the fanbase to resort to writing their own lore and designing their own characters.
Elden Ring gameplay was finally shown to the world at Summer Game Fest 2021. It seemed like the game was practically bursting with variety and my interest was immediately piqued. A year later I was sitting in my flat with a brand new PS5 and a physical copy of Elden Ring as my first ‘next gen’ game.
I’ll start by saying that Elden Ring absolutely deserved the praise it got and will rightly be credited as the game that popularised the souls-like sub-genre of RPGs. However, Elden Ring feels like a double-edged sword to me, as everything I love about it also comes with something I heavily dislike. The best way to explain is to briefly talk you through my experience from my first 97 hour playthrough.
When I first started playing, I fell in love with the freedom. Elden Ring has no quest markers or map icons, everything is left for you to discover on your own and almost nothing is explained to you. This made for an unbelievably strong 10 or so opening hours, where every discovery was fresh, with the surprise dragon attack, teleporting to Caelid, and the discovery of the underground being particular highlights for me. This also set the precedent for the scope of Elden Ring; I thought that Limgrave and Caelid made up the entire open world, and that FromSoftware had crafted a game full of unique encounters and surprises.
I continued to be impressed when entering Stormveil Castle, the games first legacy dungeon (basically a traditional Dark Souls level where you can’t use your horse). which was huge and complex, full of new enemies, and featured 2 very enjoyable boss fights with cinematics heralding their arrival. I was wowed with the amount of unique content on display!
Imagine my surprise when I then entered Liurnia of the Lakes – quite simply one of the most stunning vistas I have ever seen in a video game. I would probably say that was the peak of my entire Elden Ring experience. Everything up to that point had been unique content, with a plethora of enemy types and points of interest.
Despite still being enjoyable, the next 10 or so hours felt disappointing purely because of how good the earlier sections of the game were. Luirnia, I discovered, was full of the same content as Limgrave: ruins, caves, catacombs and the like. Even the wandering mausoleum in Weeping Peninsula turned out to be just one of many with at least 3 found in Liurnia alone. I started encountering repeats of all of the field bosses I had already defeated, and the reality set in – Elden Ring has absolutely fantastic exploration, but the world is also filled with ‘copy and paste’ content.
'It felt like the world had outgrown the amount of content to fill it with.'
As I continued playing I saw almost everything the game had to offer. 2 more open world zones and a suite of impressive legacy dungeons all graced with some of the best art direction I have ever seen in gaming. However, by the time I reached Mountaintops of the Giants fatigue started to set in; the game really felt like it had ran out of new things to show me and a lot of the content in that open world zone felt like filler. This was alleviated by the excellent Miquella’s Haligtree and Crumbling Farum Azula areas, but all the same, everything after Morgott felt like the scope of the open world had outgrown the actual amount of content to fill it with . Elden Ring an extremely generous amount of unique and well designed content, but to me it felt like the game would have been much better if they just pulled back the scale a little bit.
I also had quite a few issues with the gameplay and systems in general:
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Bosses felt completely overtuned to the point where fighting them just wasn’t fun anymore. They all read your inputs, chain endless attacks together in combos, and are animated intentionally to be unintuitive so that they can catch you out with said attacks.
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Crafting adds little new to the game. Rather, it adds additional steps to obtain the most basic consumables which would be found easily in any other souls game. I do like the enormous amount of lore that the crafting materials add to world though, particularly the various flora you can collect.
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Legacy Dungeon exploration feels unrewarding. All to often will the player pick up crafting materials as if they were items, despite the fact that all crafting materials already have unique models to show where you can find them in the world. This put me off exploring in the late game, where enemies can kill you so easily – why risk dying to those enemies if that shiny item is just another mushroom?
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Enemy damage feels way to high. Throughout the entire game all enemy attacks take off so much health that it is laughable, to the point where levelling vigor feels like a necessity to reduce frustration.
After finishing Elden Ring, I tried a couple of times to replay it, but it could never keep my interest past Limgrave. I think part of the problem was that I had already repeated content so many times that by the start of my second playthrough, that content was no longer exciting. A good example is the dragon fight in Limgrave – on my first playthrough this was an amazing encounter but by the end of the game I had fought at least 6 of these dragons, not counting the smaller ones in Greyoll’s Dragonbarrow. It’s not like the quality had diminished, rather that the novelty had completely worn off.
I could keep going, but to spare you the rant, Elden Ring is so hard to describe because in some ways it feels incredibly disappointing, where in other ways it feels like a must play experience and an amazing work of art.
Demon's Souls (played 2024)
About 2 years after Elden Ring released I found myself itching for a new souls style experience. I then stumbled upon an article recommending Demon’s Souls as the ‘antidote to Elden Ring’ due to it’s much smaller scale and slower paced combat, so I figured it was a great time to try the game that kicked off the whole series.
I had always put off Demon’s Souls due to the perception that it was outdated and inferior to the newer FromSoftware games. Once again, I had let the opinions of random people online put me off trying a great game, and when I finally played Demon’s Souls I fell in love with the souls formula all over again.
Demon’s Souls is one of my favourite video games of all time and might just be my favourite souls game as well, at least for the moment. I absolutely loved the atmosphere and world, which has a totally different feel to the rest of the series, and the gameplay felt focused on providing a variety of experiences rather than simply upping the challenge as you progress.
Some of my highlights were:
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The non-linear structure allows for a great amount of replay value in a game world that feels focused on quality over quantity. Each of the 5 locations provide a different gameplay experience, with drastically different level designs and enemy types. What’s more, each world is specifically good for acquiring specific resources. World 1 is a great place to farm healing grass, world 2 for upgrade materials, world 3 for spices (used to recharge your mana bar), world 4 for souls, and world 5 for faith items and medicines (to cure status ailments).
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The level design is fantastic, and each area has only 1 checkpoint (an archstone in Demon’s Souls) with numerous shortcuts to unlock. This loop of exploring and finding surprising ways back to checkpoints is my favourite part of the souls games and it exists in almost every level in Demon’s Souls. Each level rewards patience and caution, with long stretches full of traps and enemies and no respite. The narrow passageways made me consider my weapon moveset far more often than in the other games, and the slow stamina regeneration encouraged me to play through each level properly, rather than just running through like I could in Elden Ring.
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Bosses are varied and memorable - not just visually but in gameplay as well. Playing Demon’s Souls made me realise that the reason I felt burnt out playing Dark Souls 3 and Elden Ring is that many boss fights in those games are traditional combat encounters with the primary focus being on memorising boss attack patterns. Demon’s Souls has a suite of different boss styles focused on figuring out the trick to beating them, rather than learning their attack patterns. I still like traditional boss fights a lot, but I found them so much more enjoyable in Demon’s Souls because they were mixed in with ‘gimmick fights’.
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The pacing felt like the best in the series because I was always progressing forward. Each area was difficult, and ended in an equally difficult boss fight where dying meant going all the way back to the starting archstone. In Elden Ring, I often felt like I was blitzing through levels and finding sites of grace constantly, then I would be stuck on the boss for hours, which made the pacing very start-stop in comparison. The fact I could explore a different world if I got stuck only added to the sense of freedom and stopped me from getting bored playing the same area repeatedly.
Just like Bloodborne, I played Demon’s Souls 3 times back-to-back before moving on to other games. Demon’s Souls is the shortest of the souls series and I do think that works to its benefit. The condensed game length combined with the non-linear structure made Demon’s Souls feel highly repayable. I even enjoyed the much-maligned world tendency mechanic, where unique items and encounters spawn at ‘full black’ and ‘full white’ tendency. However, I do think the system is completely unexplained and underdeveloped and I can see why it was removed from Dark Souls onwards.
Before I move on, I should mention that I have only played the PS5 remake developed by Bluepoint Games and I’m aware that the remake contains a considerable amount of artistic changes. FromSoftware are masters at creature design and their character models, even in 2009, had so many little features that make them stand out versus those in other games. On that note, I think it is a shame how much was changed in the remake and I would have loved to see updated versions of the original designs instead. The soundtrack is also very different in the remake and I can understand why some people take issue with the changes and feel that the original game is the superior way to play.
However, I was still completely engrossed by Demon’s Souls PS5 from start to finish, and it felt amazing to play a souls game with such a high level of visual fidelity. All of the environments look absolutely fantastic, as do the updated animations. I would highly recommend Demon’s Souls PS5 to both new players and souls series veterans as it truly feels like a unique experience the likes of which I don’t think will be seen again now that the souls formula is so well established in gaming culture.
Additional Comment: Since I writing this review it has been announced that Bluepoint Games has been closed down. Out of respect for the developers I want to thank them for their amazing work on multiple remasters that I have enjoyed over the years. Thanks to them I was able to discover Demon's Souls and Shadow of the Colossus, both of which I couldn't have played without buying an older console and both of which are now some of my favourite games of all time.
Dark Souls (played 2024)
Demon’s Souls reset my thoughts on the whole series. Everything I had played prior to that point felt more action orientated with gameplay focused on dodging and deflecting to overcome all encounters. In contrast Demon’s Souls felt more RPG orientated with a greater emphasis on planning and stat allocation. Craving a similar experience, I picked up a copy of Dark Souls, the game that popularised the entire formula!
I had always heard that the world design in Dark Souls stands above the rest of the series. Bloodborne, Dark Souls 3, Sekiro, and Elden Ring all have detailed interconnected worlds so I couldn’t imagine how this could possibly be done any better. Everything became clear a few hours after starting Dark Souls, which has my favourite world structure and design of any game I have ever played.
The typical souls game has separate areas full of interconnectivity, with less detailed paths to travel between areas (with Elden Ring’s open world zones being the exception). In Dark Souls, there is a surprising amount of interconnectivity between each area; with your starting point in Firelink Shrine providing quick access most areas in the game once you have found and unlocked all of the shortcuts. Areas are stacked vertically, so you can spend hours ascending/descending only to find a lift or pathway that takes you all the way back to the beginning in minutes.
Dark Souls is the only game in the series that does not allow warping between checkpoints, which facilitates this unique world design. This also creates novel situations such as wanting to upgrade your weapon but being multiple areas away from the nearest blacksmith.
The game also gives the player an astonishing amount of freedom from the outset, with 8 different options for your first boss if you know how to get to them. At its core, Dark Souls feels like a metroidvania world with no locked paths, where the only thing stopping you from progressing down your chosen route is your capability as a player.
As for the content within the world, it is varied in both theme and gameplay, feeling like the developers crafted each area with a specific experience in mind. Bosses are similarly varied and memorable, with a good mix of traditional combat and puzzle orientated encounters.
'Dark Souls feels like a metroidvania world with no locked paths, where the only thing stopping you from progressing down your chosen route is your capability as a player.'
After besting Ornstein and Smough, you gain access to 4 new paths to obtain the lord’s souls. I found the final stretch of Dark Souls to be a drop in quality from what came before. To break down each area:
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New Londo Ruins is dripping with atmosphere and has some really interesting lore tied to it. The first half of the level is filled with ghosts fly through the air and phase through buildings to get to the player. You can only damage ghosts by being cursed, and I felt this really made them stand out as enemies versus all depictions of ghosts in the rest of the series. Later you primarily fight Darkwraiths which are a fun endgame enemy.
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Tomb of the Giants takes place entirely in darkness which made it stand out against the others. The enemies here are challenging and it can just feel like a gauntlet of combat at times but I still found the overall experience of scrambling in the dark enjoyable for the most part.
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Duke’s Archives feels like missed potential as there are concepts like the moving staircases which feel underutilised. It also starts in a weird way, where you are imprisoned but get to keep all of your gear and weapons (worst guards ever). FromSoftware thankfully revisited this style of level design with the Research Hall in Bloodborne and the Grand Archives in Dark Souls 3, which are significantly more fleshed out and well realised.
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Lost Izalith is a part of the game that I don’t think anyone could argue is good – it isn’t a chore to get through or anything like that, it’s more that there is very little going on. There is barely any enemy variety and the boss at the end is easily the worst in the series in my opinion (I did like the unlocking the shortcut back to the Demon Ruins though).
Thankfully, the final location in the game was absolutely mesmerising with FromSoftware’s presentation skills on full display. Then the DLC, Artorias of the Abyss, features a selection of new areas and bosses which are all excellently designed. It also has one of my favourite storylines in the series.
On that note there is the story and lore of Dark Souls, something I haven’t really commented on much so far. With Dark Souls I decided to stop relying on YouTube videos and to take notes throughout my playthrough to figure out the lore for myself. This significantly enhanced my experience and I would highly recommend it as it allows the game to retain a sense of mystery even on repeat playthroughs.
Also, the presentation and music of Dark Souls made me feel nostalgic for a game I had never played; many areas feel magical and oddly cozy, with the visuals exuding a certain charm that feels timeless.
To wrap it up I think Dark Souls lives up to the hype and is a must play gaming experience if you like dark fantasy or RPGs. It still stands out amongst a sea of imitators and direct and spiritual sequels.
Shadow of the Erdtree (played 2024)
When Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree released, I was disappointed to hear that it was full of extremely difficult boss fights. It seemed like with each new release FromSoftware was pushing to up the challenge to the point where I would ultimately loose interest.
After loving the slower pace of Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls, I didn’t want to go back to the over tuned bosses of Elden Ring. However, Elden Ring also had very enjoyable exploration and the DLC had such a strong art direction I decided to ignore the online consensus and give it a try.
To my pleasant surprise I was totally enthralled by what felt to me like a superior experience to the base game. For a game as critically acclaimed as Elden Ring, that is a bold statement, so I’ll try my best to explain why.
The first thing that struck me about Shadow of the Erdtree was the overall world design, which felt much closer to Dark Souls 1 than any other game in the series. Despite sharing the same open world structure, the experience of exploring the Land of Shadow is completely different to that of the Lands Between. Exploration feels more like a puzzle, where you see a landmark in the distance and can spend hours figuring out how to get there. The open world zones cross over each other like how the areas do in Dark Souls, creating a greater sense of verticality, and I frequently stumbled into new areas completely unexpectedly.
Whilst points of interest and field bosses still repeat, this amount of repetition in Shadow of the Erdtree is considerably dialled down compared to the base game. There is a stunning amount of visual variety in the areas you get to explore and I found the design of new underground areas such as Gaols to be a big improvement vs the simple caves and catacombs in the Lands Between. Even small points of interest like Townships feel varied and complex in their designs. I should note though that some areas like Charo’s Hidden Grave feel very empty and borderline unfinished, almost like the developers ran out of time whilst making them.
SOTE introduced 8 new weapon categories and new rare items that can be used to increase your health, stamina, and damage resistance - the latter of which are absolutely essential for completing this DLC for any sane player. These additions, combined with the fact that the world is absolutely filled with upgrade materials, made exploring the open world considerably more rewarding than in the base game for me:
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For a start, the new weapon categories feel far more ‘modern’, as in they aren’t just carry overs from FromSoftware’s early titles. The animations are flashy and push you forward with each attack, allowing you to pursue bosses more effectively. I fell in love with the backhand blades, light great swords, and great katanas, and I was able to try out new weapons easily because upgrade materials were so plentiful.
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The ‘Scadutree Fragment’ system allowed for much more experimentation with my playstyle, as all of my levels could go into stats like arcane and faith, allowing me to try out many different spells and weapons without having to worry about upgrading health and stamina. It also made me want to explore every inch of the world just on the off chance I could find more fragments to get stronger.
Another big improvement in SOTE was the boss design, all of which were surprisingly easier to learn than the base game bosses. I’m not sure what specifically changed, but attacks felt more telegraphed and were delayed less often, making combat feel much more intuitive to me. I can honestly say I had a blast fighting all of the DLC bosses. This isn’t just because I got better at Elden Ring, as I found to my peril when I started the base game again and found those bosses just as unintuitive to fight as I always have.
I do have one criticism of the DLC boss roster – the final boss felt like a huge difficulty spike. He felt more like a hidden optional boss than the one I should need to beat to finish the DLC, and I’m very glad FromSoftware ‘nerfed’ him before I got to play because I think I would have simply given up otherwise. In isolation he isn’t too hard, but he felt so much more difficult than the other DLC bosses that it threw off the experience for me.
All in all, Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree was a pleasant surprise for me and felt like a massive step forward from the base game for the most part. If this is the basis for a new FromSoftware game in the future then I am all for it! It’s a shame there is no way to access the DLC with a pre-levelled character, because the start point is very far into a game that I don’t want to play through again.
Dark Souls 2 Scholar of the First Sin (played 2025)
Often labelled as the black sheep of the trilogy, Dark Souls 2 had been on my radar for a long time. I’m aware that my opinion on souls games doesn’t align with what appears to be the online consensus, so I was curious if this could be a new surprise favourite for me like Demon’s Souls was.
Last autumn I picked up Dark Souls 2 after a lengthy break from playing souls games. I was eager to get back into the dark fantasy world of FromSoftware titles and the foggy hills and constant rain where I live made for just the right backdrop to start exploring a new dark fantasy world.
Dark Souls 2 is a very interesting game, feeling like a step forward from Dark Souls in many ways but also like a big step backwards in others. I have very mixed feelings about it but one thing I appreciate is the amount of experimentation on display in a series where many of the mechanics feel standardised by this point.
Dark Souls 2’s aesthetic can make its many locations look absolutely beautiful except sometimes that doesn’t happen at all and the areas look bland and devoid of detail. It is a very strange experience going from the stunning hub area in Majula into a brick tunnel that looks very dated in comparison; this might be something to do with how the lighting works but I’m certainly no expert in that department. To be fair I also had this issue in Dark Souls 3 where some locations look very bland and some look fantastic (Catacombs vs High Wall of Lothric for example).
The world of Drangleic is structured a little bit like Demon’s Souls in that you have multiple paths available from the start that do not reconnect at any point. This feels like a step down from Dark Souls 1 but still offers more freedom to the player than Bloodborne, Dark Souls 3, and Sekiro, so it has retroactively become one of the least linear souls games. I very much enjoyed the freedom on offer, and the areas themselves are far more varied and interesting to me than those in Dark Souls 3. However, despite the multitude of interesting ideas on display, almost all of them felt underdeveloped. Unique interactions like curse pots and exploding barrels come and go before it really feels like they have challenged you in any interesting way, but I still enjoyed these elements for the novelty they added.
'I appreciate the amount of experimentation on display in a series where many of the mechanics feel standardised by this point.'
Disappointingly, I found many of the areas and bosses in Dark Souls 2 to be less memorable than those in the rest of the series, especially when compared to Dark Souls 1. For example, the tower in Earthen Peak feels like a poor man’s Sen’s Fortress, with the latter being a far more accomplished trap filled area.
As for the bosses themselves, many are basic fights which have no memorable gimmick or spectacle. The Dragon Rider boss for example felt no more threatening than the knights outside his arena. There is also the feeling of FromSoftware overusing the same ideas, with the Gutter and Black Gulch being the third time in a row that a souls game has featured a dirty pit style area which inflicts poison. Once I unlocked Drangleic Castle, I started enjoying the game significantly more. The atmosphere and bosses in the castle and the areas that followed felt like a big step up in terms of spectacle and presentation, with the Looking Glass Knight being my favourite moment from the late game.
What Dark Souls 2 does really well is the little things. Small details like your footprints changing depending on whether you are wet or dry, your stance changing depending on your health, and the visual changes as your character gradually hollows added a lot to the experience. Then there is a series of innovations including bonfire aesthetics (which allow you to progress an individual area to New Game +), power stances (allowing for duel wielding different weapons) and an enhanced New Game + mode with new enemies and items.
In contrast, I think Dark Souls 2 struggles with bigger issues like level design and the overall world. Dark Souls 2 was the first game in the series to feature some very unusual bonfire placement which made shortcuts less important. Then the actual levels don’t tend to loop back on themselves in the same way they do in the rest of the series, so you will be doing a lot more ‘out and back’ style exploring than in the other games, which negatively impacts the pacing. The world itself also lacks that quality where you can see locations you have explored in the distance, so it felt like a less cohesive experience.
Combat is slow paced and enemies tend not to stagger easily, so you can’t burst them down with quick attacks like in Bloodborne and Dark Sous 3. This made for a thoroughly enjoyable combat experience where I fully utilised the moveset of my weapons and had to take every opponent seriously. I never had an issue with the much maligned adaptability stat which dictates how effective your dodge roll is, but I’m glad it was removed in future titles as it adds a lot of unnecessary ambiguity in a series which isn’t exactly known for holding your hand.
One area of combat I did struggle with was the sheer number of enemies, which all have decently high poise. This created a sensation of combat getting stale as I played because I would have to kill so many of the same enemies just to explore properly. I like that you have to take each enemy seriously, but souls combat stumbles a bit in group fights because you can’t use you shield without locking on.
Before I move on, I have to touch on the 3 DLC areas, which for the most part have significantly better designed levels and bosses. Each DLC location features interconnected level design and are the most experimental in the series, with ideas like shooting switches to modify the level and melting the ice across an area to unlock several new paths. Dark Souls 2 is worth playing for the DLC areas alone if nothing else.
Dark Souls 3 - Ariandel and the Ringed City (2026)
Finally, after almost 10 years I reached the end of my souls journey. After playing every single game in the series, only one thing remained, going back to Dark Souls 3 for the DLC I had skipped all those years ago. It felt fitting to finish my experience at worlds end in the Ringed City.
To acces the DLC, I would first have to replay Dark Souls 3 from the beginning with a new character, taking all of the knowledge from playing the other games into my final playthrough. Whilst my opinion of Dark Souls 3 hasn’t changed massively, I did enjoy it significantly more this time round. I think the big difference was the experience I gained from playing the earlier games in the series, with patience taking precedence and using any items I could find to give me the edge in combat.
I still have very mixed feelings in that the world can sometimes be very bland and other times have really cool designs for locations and enemies. Some areas are big interconnected mazes with multiple shortcuts, which dwarf anything that released prior to Bloodborne. However, some areas really don’t hold up well, such as Farron Keep, Road of Sacrifices, and Demon Ruins just to name a few. Dark Souls 3 also looks very muddy compared to Dark Souls 2 where everything looks crisp and well defined. That being said areas like the Grand Archives and Irithyll really do look amazing and have really fun level design.
Moving on to the first DLC, Ashes of Ariandel, I found it to be a mixed experience. I enjoyed the open snowy area at the start with the Farron Followers and the wolves which showcased some seriously cool AI behaviours, but it doesn’t last long at all before you’re back in ‘brown town’. The Corvian Settlement had some very good level design but I was disappointed to discover it after expecting a snowy wilderness themed DLC. You then go back to fighting followers and wolves in a forest before the DLC quickly comes to an end at Ariandel Chapel.
The only real boss fight is Sister Freide who I have to say is one of the most cinematic and memorable boss fights in the entire series. Each phase is completely unique and the spectacle and music is exquisite. However, it did irk me how quickly she can kill you in her final phase making you repeat a challenging fight just to get back to that point. This is another area where I think Sekiro improved upon the earlier games by giving multiple lives so that bosses with surprise one-shot-kill moves don’t become extremely frustrating.
'Sister Freide is one of the most cinematic and memorable boss fights in the entire series.'
The final step of my souls journey was the Ringed City which I found to be a far better DLC than Ashes of Ariandel. Entering the Dreg Heap felt like the endgame area that Dark Souls 3 was missing, being thematically tied to the ‘end of days’ setting which was originally just a backdrop on the lead up to the Soul of Cinder boss fight. The DLC introduces some memorable concepts like the angels create additional tension whilst exploring, and the giants that summon small armies to fight for them. The whole of the Ringed City felt challenging and enjoyable throughout, with some fresh enemy concepts and locations.
Unfortunately, the actual Ringed City location very short and quickly devolved into a very bland swamp area. However, any disappointment I felt at the level design was more than made up for by the excellent boss fights, with the final boss being absolutely incredible in all aspects from the combat mechanics, to the set-up, to the spectacle – a fantastic end to the Dark Souls trilogy!
Bonus! Elden Ring Nightreign (2025/2026)
Before I give my closing thoughts, I have to mention Elden Ring Nightreign, a game that is criminally overlooked. I can understand why since, at a glance, it is merely Elden Ring reorganised into a rougelike structure. However, Nightreign features a host of gameplay improvements to the FromSoftware formula that I sincerely hope carry over into their mainline games. I want to write a full separate review for Nightreign once I’ve finished it, but if you’re on the fence due to the genre shift you should know that Nightreign has a spectacular suite of boss fights and a thoroughly engaging gameplay loop that I would highly recommend. The soundtrack is also absolutely stellar!
Closing Thoughts
If you’ve made it this far, I want to say a massive thank you for sticking with me through the most self-indulgent article I’ve ever written. The souls series will always be special to me and I’m so glad that Elden Ring was successful enough to introduce so many newcomers.
After completing all 7 games and their DLCs, I have some closing criticisms that I hope are addressed in future releases:
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Levelling your character loses impact after the mid-game. There comes a point in every souls game where the amount of effort to level up exceeds the reward to doing so. I would like to see some kind of passive abilities implemented, like the ones you get on weapons in Nightreign. Having a skill tree a la Sekiro would also remove this issue, as there should be meaningful ways to make your character stronger right up until the end of the game.
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Boss fights get repetitive if they are all pattern recognition and no ‘gimmicks’. Controversial take I know, but after memorising the attack patterns of multiple challenging bosses, I feel the novelty runs out very quickly. Puzzle mechanics and special interactions would be welcome in newer titles. Again, Nightreign bosses tend to have interesting mechanics such as Libra’s seals and Caligo’s ice rain.
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Weak enemies have no place in end-game areas. Frequently, enemies from starting areas are repeated late into the game, such as the Dark Souls 3 thralls coming back in the Ringed City DLC. I feel that at certain enemy types should be limited from returning in this way as it negatively impacts the feeling of progression. In Elden Ring I found myself thinking: ‘I’ve killed multiple demigods, how can a random dog kill me instantly?’.
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World and level design was at its best early in the series. Whilst the areas get grander and more complex with each entry, something odd has happened with the placement of checkpoints and shortcuts. Demon’s Souls has one checkpoint where you spawn in and you only get another after defeating the area boss, so the main way to make traversal easier is to find as many shortcuts as you can. In Dark Souls 3 and Elden Ring, you’re practically tripping over checkpoints, which are sometimes placed right after unlocking a shortcut, making that shortcut redundant. There is also something to be said for the Dark Souls 1 world design which has yet to be topped, and how always letting the player bonfire warp in newer entries makes the world design less impactful.
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I can never use half of the weapons I find. Level requirements are common RPG practice but it really hampers experimentation in the souls series, especially in Elden Ring where you can find so many powerful weapons early on. Nightreign lets you use any weapon you find but keeps stat scaling. This is exactly what I hope FromSoftware do going forward as it allows for the player to test any weapon they find. Additionally, if weapons are placed in late game areas, they should at least be partially upgraded so players can try them out and actually do decent damage with them.
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NPC quests are unnecessarily vague. I know vague dialogue is a staple of the series but can NPCs at least tell you what they want you to do, or where you should go? So many FromSoftware quests are just a static character model saying you need to do something then you can only continue the quest if you happen to run into them again. I would love to have some dialogue choices so I could say things like ‘where are you going?’ and ‘where is the item you need?’ Delivering messages back and forth between Smithing Master Hewg and Roderika when they are in adjacent rooms was my highlight for the most ridiculous quest design in Elden Ring.
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The camera completely falls apart in close quarters. There are so many boss fights where half the difficulty is fighting the camera so you can actually see what is happening. Then because the camera is a physical object within the world it makes fighting in close quarters a nightmare because the camera is zoomed up the player’s backside. Nightreign, Sekiro and Bloodborne’s DLC all at least zoom the camera out when fighting large enemies, but why don’t all the souls games do this?
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Lastly, all player inputs play out even after your character gets hit. If I press roll too late and a boss hits me with their attack why on earth does my character immediately roll afterwards!? All souls games do this and it is extremely frustrating!
Well, that’s probably enough about the souls series for one day. Amazing games that I think could be even better with some further iteration. Until next time!
Sources
All images captured on PlayStation 5.