Game rankings

[balance>max]

is there anyone that owns DS 1-3 including DLC

how would you rank them highest to lowest and why, be as detailed as possible

[Missy]

1. DS2 - it's simply the GOAT
2. DS1 - Cool, fun and with great bosses
3. DS3 - Dark Souls for kids

[JellyPuff]

1: Elden Ring
FromSoft's Magnum Opus as far as i'm concerned. Fun gimmicks, insane PvE build variety and it's simultaneously the most challenging but also the most accessible and fair soulsborne. There's a huge enemy variety - and i mean variety. People like to dunk on "copy&paste bosses", but as true as that might be, it has still more variety than any previous game.
The open world can feel a bit empty at times, but it's also full of scenic vistas and environmental story-telling if you look for it. Honestly, no matter where you point your camera at, it looks like a deliberate painting.

The biggest issues i have are the clear signs of certain areas being unfinished as well as balancing being all over the place. There are also still some technical issues on PC. All of these 3 things are especially true for the DLC. All of those things are also FromSoft RPG staples. Get used to them.

2: Dark Souls II: SotFS
From all soulsbornes, i simply had the most fun with it. Can't fully articulate why. It feels very stimulating to play for me. Combat just has the right amount of speed and weight for my personal tastes. Weapons feel the most unique and on top, it has the best dual-wielding out of all the other games. And while balancing is still bad and there are some weapons way better compared to others (mostly slower weapons), everything's PvE viable.

My biggest issue are the bosses. They are all just kinda lame and have very low HP for the most part. There are a lot of them though, so there's quantity, but unlike ER, it's lacking quality. Level design also has been done better in other games (mainly DS1 and BB). In fact, it's much more cleverly designed in the DLC, which also has much more stimulating bossfights. They are still relatively simple compared to later soulsgames though. Also, at least on PC, this version should've been free for people who bought the original and all DLC, because of how it split the playerbase and just launched weeks after the final DS2 DLC, but that ship has sailed a decade ago.

3: Dark Souls
The OG. I would start with this one. Not because of story reasons - all games are more or less self-contained - but if you've played something like DS3 first, going to this game might make it look and feel more jank, clunky and dated. But behind all that jank is the most cleverly interconnected level design in any 3D game i've ever played. And what some might consider clunky, i consider chunky. Ever played a visceral shooter, like the DOOM reboots? The one's where hitting something with a shotgun feels really good in terms of audio visuals? DS1's combat gives me a similar feel at times. Close 2nd to DS2 in that regard.

But boy is this game rough around the edges sometimes. The perceived drop in quality past Anor Londo will not just be your imagination, especially Lost Izalith/Demon Ruins. It was a low budget, niche product that still had to meet deadlines. Don't expect anything new from the Remaster. Same game, but in HD and 60FPS (even on PC, the original was capped at 30 and needs modding to practically make anything work better) and some very minor changes, like an extra bonfire.

4: Dark Souls III
This one feels the most polished and like the most complete game. Almost the same combat mechanics as Elden Ring, minus crouch and jumping. Also the most self-referencial soulsgame yet to the point where it's just a giant Demon's and Dark Souls circlejerk. Patches, Onion Bro, old locales, direct DS1 lore connection and of course the Moonlight Greatsword. It's all there.

The DLC acts a good wrap-up for the series, especially Ringed City which for the first bit directly references DS2! Yeah, the base game didn't touch on that one much, besides a weapon and a ring or two. I won't fault anybody for thinking, that Ringed City is peak Dark Souls.

5: Dark Souls II (vanilla)
DS2 and by extend, SotFS are considered the black sheep of the series for a reason and the awful launch of the original version is the biggest reason why. The game did not even remotely looked like the gameplay shown just weeks before launch. The development was troubled, because execs wanted DS2 to run on XB360 and PS3 which for some reason resulted in a downgrade for all versions. The time wasted on those versions also meant less time to tweak item and enemy placements, which is the main difference between that version and SotFS.
There was also no (reasonable) way to farm weapons or armor from enemies back then or any way to control your SM, so co-op with buddies or keeping your SM at the most active ranges was impossible w/o savescumming. This things have been fixed with SotFS though and the original also got these tweaks.

DLC's are the same between both versions.

6: Bloodborne
Despite being a great game, i somehow never vibed with it as much. The interconnected level design is back (for the most part), great unique atmosphere which isn't medieval for once, trick weapons are fun and you are encouraged to play aggressively due to the rally mechanic which feels fresh. The DLC is great, too. They regressed with the checkpoints, though which are more like Demon's Souls, so you can't warp between them, but you need to warp to the HUB and then you can pick a destination from there. Also the MLGS is not in the basegame, which seems blasphemous. They added it in the DLC though.

I guess i didn't quite liked it as much as i wanted it due to being shackled by the PS4. 30FPS is bad enough on it's own, but it drops frames on top constantly (also a FromSoft staple on consoles). Online is also paywalled behind PSN+. The loadtimes are also awful, especially with that aforementioned checkpoint system.

It needs a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ PC port.

7: Demon's Souls
Proto Dark-Souls. Omega-janky, almost all bosses are gimmick-bosses, 7th console-gen bloom, the most unhinged and obscure mechanics you'll ever see in a game, which require a long trip to the wiki, which i kid you not is linked on the back of my (later released) physical copy officially: "In case you get stuck, visit: http://demonssouls.wikidot.com/".
Brilliant.

It also has the most miserable Poison Swamp.

But all of this experimental stuff was vital to the series' unexpected success. If you play this after most other games, you'll feel like that one Fresh Prince meme, where Will does sightseeing in LA. "Oh Bloodborne also had a chained, eldritch fleshy thing you had to make fall down! *snap*".
Never played the remake, but it's not a true remake like FF7 or RE2/3/4. It's almost the exact same game under the hood, ported to a new engine with fancier audio visuals (which are the only things remade), more like the Oblivion Remaster that came out recently.

Edit: Sorry if i gave you more than you asked for.

[NightmareGats]

There's only Dark Souls PTDE

[StreamWhenGuy]

Originally posted by NightmareGats:

There's only Dark Souls PTDE

W

[Edgarek]

I didnt played Elden Ring yet, but here is my convoluted content rating:
DS3 boss: Gael
DS3 bosses: Nameless King, Lord of Cinder, Dragonslayer Armor.
DS2 DLC: all locations, 6/9 bosses, many interesting items.
DS2 base game. DS3 bosses.
DS3 base game. DS1 DLC. DS2 60% of bosses, DS1 40% of bosses.
DS1 base game. DS2 DLC coop bosses. DS2 other 40% of bosses. DS1 other 60% of bosses
DS3 DLC locations. Designed to run past through, because its otherwise would stomp any newbie players here.
DS2 DLC Frigit Outskirts, DS1 Hollow tree, DS2 DLC Brume Tower, after second bonfire the deadliest room in the game, after NG+4 Iron Passage. Literal hell.