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The best Souls-like game from FromSoft is...?

What's the best Souls-like game from FromSoft?


  • Total voters
    398
I am sure people are forgetting having to farm for blood vials all the time - especially after failed boss fights - estus spoils us by comparison.
 
I am sure people are forgetting having to farm for blood vials all the time - especially after failed boss fights - estus spoils us by comparison.
I just bought them and went about my merry way.
💪 Good day and pleasant evening to the 6 other Dark Souls II GigaChads. 💪

DS2 is the filter within a filter
It is both the best and worst installment. It has the best jumping attacks but the heavy attacks on many weapons get redirected when locked on by joystick direction. It has the best movement options and estus recovery possible but they are both tied to agility stat. It has the best combos for many weapons but stamina recovery is abysmal. It has the best balanced spells and weapon classes but the number of uses and durability are low. It has the most varied armory in the catalogue with great effects but many pieces do not fit well. It has the most choose your own adventure structure on replays but the starting stats are terrible for every class. There are times I enjoy it more than any other game but it has problems.
 
Most people were over the 2020 Demon Souls remaster the moment they had their hands on Elden Ring in 2022. It is actually funny that the PS4 version of Elden Ring feels two generations ahead of this PS5 exclusive.
I don’t agree with this at all. Demons souls is a better game. ER has a massive balancing problem.
 
Elaborate
I thought the Shadow Keep was way more dense and cleverly designed than Cainhurst Castle.
I was originally referring to Bloodborne DLC but a sterilized Grand Archives-like expansion is not exactly a highlight of Elden Ring much like the Grand Archives were not a high point in Dark Souls 3. In contrast, Cainhurst is a unique experience from the horse-drawn carriage showing up to take you there to meeting the Queen of the castle after defeating her captor. Throughout it is filled with picturesque views and nods to classic horror.
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Bernardougf

Member
It’s not Dark Souls 3, and it sure as hell isn’t Elden Ring.

For me, nothing beats the tension and brutality of Demon’s Souls, or the perfect structure and the excellent fairness and balance of Dark Souls 1. For me, it all went downhill from there - though I didn’t play Bloodborne.

Dark Souls 1 has the best swamp in the series, and even Lost Izalith is still better than any fucking swamp seen later in the series.
Elden Ring can suck my rotten, tarnished peepee.
Demons Souls has the hardest transition to ng+ .... is fucking awesome
 

simpatico

Gold Member
I just bought them and went about my merry way.

It is both the best and worst installment. It has the best jumping attacks but the heavy attacks on many weapons get redirected when locked on by joystick direction. It has the best movement options and estus recovery possible but they are both tied to agility stat. It has the best combos for many weapons but stamina recovery is abysmal. It has the best balanced spells and weapon classes but the number of uses and durability are low. It has the most varied armory in the catalogue with great effects but many pieces do not fit well. It has the most choose your own adventure structure on replays but the starting stats are terrible for every class. There are times I enjoy it more than any other game but it has problems.
It has Majula and the hex caster build.
 

Bernardougf

Member
Drugs are bad
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Yeah I know Im in the minority but to each their own I guess... ER for me is dog shit souls tier.. zero replayability after the easy platinum , dont even want to try the DLC for the first time ever and I fucking love souls games... can only hope Miyazaki has taken the open world bullshit out of his system and can go to something new or at least classic souls like.

Going through Lies of Pi right now ... kick ass game btw.
 
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Arsic

Loves his juicy stink trail scent
Yeah I know Im in the minority but to each their own I guess... ER for me is dog shit souls tier.. zero replayability after the easy platinum , dont even want to try the DLC for the first time ever and I fucking love souls games... can only hope Miyazaki has taken the open world bullshit out of his system and can go to something new or at least classic souls like.

Going through Lies of Pi right now ... kick ass game btw.
Lies of P is the best souls like not made by fromsoft.

By the way Miyazaki gang gave you armored core 6. It’s amazing. Play it.

ER DLC is far more compacted with vertical layers and cuts a lot of the endless open areas down by about 80%. These guys refine every iteration. I don’t see them going away from open world but I do expect them to get damn good at it.

Miyazaki has said his dream game to make with unlimited budget is ultima online or EverQuest. So I don’t think small scale or scope is where he wants to keep taking his vision. His B team may crank those out though.
 

PeteBull

Gold Member
Bloodborne is the GOAT Souls of all time. A bonafide masterpiece. Doubt we'll see anything like it ever again.

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I loved it and bought/completed it on launch, its one of the best games i ever played, only big flaw it has- no pc version, no remaster, so technical side of game(perfromance, not even talking about resolution, just performance) is really nasty.

As u see its early game footage and 2nd boss at the end, dont look at fps, which is 30, but look at frametime graph, framepacing is so terrible that it does affect players perfromance- remember its not tactical rpg but action rpg, u need(should;p) parry/dodge etc for that incorrect astroucious framepacing really makes it less fun.

Tldr despite all my love for BB i cant say game is perfect/best in the series with that performance profile, once we get remaster with 60fps and proper framepacing( even in 1080p, dont mind resolution at all here) then i will put it on 1st place draw with Elden Ring :)
 

simpatico

Gold Member
I loved it and bought/completed it on launch, its one of the best games i ever played, only big flaw it has- no pc version, no remaster, so technical side of game(perfromance, not even talking about resolution, just performance) is really nasty.

As u see its early game footage and 2nd boss at the end, dont look at fps, which is 30, but look at frametime graph, framepacing is so terrible that it does affect players perfromance- remember its not tactical rpg but action rpg, u need(should;p) parry/dodge etc for that incorrect astroucious framepacing really makes it less fun.

Tldr despite all my love for BB i cant say game is perfect/best in the series with that performance profile, once we get remaster with 60fps and proper framepacing( even in 1080p, dont mind resolution at all here) then i will put it on 1st place draw with Elden Ring :)

This is my thing: no one has ever really played Bloodborne. We don’t know how good it is. Potential to be one of the greatest of all time. Hopefully we get to find out soon. I’m an unabashed From fanboy. I bought Bloodborne to play on my daughter’s PS4, and the frame pacing is so bad I put it down as to not sour my experience with the title. You’ve really got to think, the last time I played a full game at a frame rate like that was early in the PS360 era. I’m not even a snob, I can handle 60 with dips. But that was just too much. Especially is a game where timing is so critical.
 

TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
Bloodborne's amazing but imho it has a few faults, mostly the blood vials farming (specially at the beggining until you get good), some bosses really sucking dick (Rom, The One Reborn, fucking Micolash...) and the environments are very samey since most of the game takes place in Yharnam with a few exceptions. Some people also complained about lack of builds but I didn't care too much about that.

I also found super lame that you can't explore the castle at the end of Hemwick's Lane but rather just fight the worst boss of the game in it's basement. What a tease! :goog_relieved:

Chalice dungeons were nice, although having a bit more variety in those would have been great. Enjoyed the challenge that was the later ones tho, holy shit that was difficult to beat.

Still hoping for a remaster. Be it on PC, officialm release or emulated, or just on console I don't care at this point, just hope the game is playable at 4K/60fps some day. It sure deserves it, even if it's not perfect by any means.
 

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
This is my favorite type of game. They’re like story books for my mind. I memorize where to go and it tells its own story along the way. I for one think Demon’s Souls is fantastic, but it’s also the most linear out of the bunch. While that’s great to have, it’s also the reason to why it’s not my all time favorite. What’s difficult is that I really like Bloodborne/Dark Souls III the most. Elden Ring is awesome, one of my favorites and I’ve done like 6 play throughs of the game. It’s probably approaching that top list. I wonder how it’ll stack up 5-10 years from now. There are a lot of fond memories from Elden Ring.

Bloodborne has some awesome lore and creature design. I don’t think I’d appreciate the HP Lovecraft style if it wasn’t for Bloodborne. Especially the DLC. Dark Souls III has some of the best level design and bosses. Grand Duke’s Archives reminds me of Shadow Keep from Elden Ring.

I imported Demon’s Souls from NCSX and Play-Asia before it came to NA. What truly sets it apart is that I got to experience the game with 0 influence from press.

Anymore you have dozens and dozens of websites talking about this and that of Elden Ring. Elden Ring has all the qualities of a fantastic fantasy world. My point is it’s overly exploited. You’ve got hardcore fans doing naked runs and then your irritated crowd who hates the gameplay loop. I feel like this genre is top tier. I don’t want another Final Fantasy or Diablo, give me FromSoftware’s next game.
 
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gtabro

Member
I did almost everything in ER in one playthrough in 190 hours. Had a blast at the time but I always “score” games a few months after I’ve beaten them.
And, sadly, I found ER very forgettable. At least they returned some of the “weightiness” in the combat, DS3 weapons feel like your swinging light feathers.

So for me it’s

DS > BB > Sekiro > DeS > DS3 >>> DS2
 
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GigaBowser

The bear of bad news
The answer is always bloodborne. Best setting, best bosses, best weapon mechnics (after ER now), best movement system AND its the only one that doesnt have a weight system

(Dark souls 3 and ER are in my top three though)
annnnd best art and best music
 

Raven117

Member
There is an absolutely solid arguement for each “new” IP being the best. (Demons, Dark, Bloodborne, Elden Ring)

That said, my favorite remains Demons followed ever… ever… so slightly by Dark Souls.

The format works better in tighter more controlled environments than the more open world. If they made the world more interactive in Elden Ring and not just a collection of dungeons thrown on a map.. with some caves in between, it has potential to be better, but that’s not what the pulled off. (Don’t get me wrong, Elden Ring is awesome, but that open world is just beautiful are to run through and find the next dungeon or cave).

Demons to me has the best design philosophy. The levels were the showcase. They were hard. They were slow going. No “bonfires” so it actually was very tense. The boss themselves weren’t actually too hard (but usually got with the level). I loved this. Dark souls is pretty much this as well.

I also loved the slower combat in Demons and Dark Souls. It felt more tactical. More thoughtful. Now, as things sped up, it just feels like movement pattern memorization and reflexes. (And don’t get me started on dumb fuck delays, tracking, and no sense of weight behind bosses. As the series has progressed (and sped up) the movement has become more illogical. (To compare, look at Monster Hunter, that makes way more sense in terms of weight. Wind ups, tracking, etc).

So yeah, there you go. :D. That’s for coming to my Ted talk.

Edit: Bloodborne is absolutely insane and incredible. But to me, it’s different enough to not be in the “souls” line.
 
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Mozzarella

Member
I was originally referring to Bloodborne DLC but a sterilized Grand Archives-like expansion is not exactly a highlight of Elden Ring much like the Grand Archives were not a high point in Dark Souls 3. In contrast, Cainhurst is a unique experience from the horse-drawn carriage showing up to take you there to meeting the Queen of the castle after defeating her captor. Throughout it is filled with picturesque views and nods to classic horror.
You are probably talking about art direction, but level design wise Shadow Keep is way more dense and intricate with its design, it also has more secrets and multilayered paths, better loop as well.
Cainhurst looked great and had a great atmosphere but as a level i found it to be too shallow and linear, it was too simple. Both levels suffer from lack of enemy variety though.
I prefer the Astral Clocktower to Cainhurst
But the best level in Bloodborne is easily Yhanam. The only interconnected area from Central Yharnam to Old Yharnam up to Catherdral Ward and the upper area are the best level design in the game, the DLC wasn't close to topping that.
 

Dacvak

No one shall be brought before our LORD David Bowie without the true and secret knowledge of the Photoshop. For in that time, so shall He appear.
I keep checking in on this thread just to make sure Bloodborne is still winning. GAF doesn’t disappoint 💪
 
I downloaded BB on my PS5 during my ER binge just to keep my Souls fix going. Hopped on for about 30 minutes…

What an absolute joke and tragedy that we still only have this one version of the game almost a decade later. It runs like complete shit and is basically unplayable by modern standards. The difference between it and Elden Ring could not be more stark. And no matter how amazing the bones of Bloodborne are I am not touching it again until it is brought up to a far better standard. It’s an insult to that game to keep it in this state.
 

SJRB

Gold Member
For two years I thought Elden Ring was the pinnacle of Fromsoftware's skills but I'm currently replaying Bloodborne after 200 hours of Elden Ring and I can honestly say that Elden Ring is a masterpiece but Bloodborne is on a whole different league.

The atmosphere, the combat, the art design, the dungeon designs, the music and most importantly the story are all S-tier.


bloodborne-hunters-workshop-thumb.jpg
 
I am sure people are forgetting having to farm for blood vials all the time - especially after failed boss fights - estus spoils us by comparison.
People forget because you only really have to farm in the first area. Once you reach area 2 (or 3 at the latest) everyone normally has a large surplus stock of blood vials to last them a long time.
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
I fucking HATE the word “Souls-like” so much especially when describing FROM games, since they the one actually made Souls games.
 
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