Dark Souls 1 vs Dark Souls 2 vs Dark Souls 3, best to worst in my personal experience.

[Yozora]

Okay, so at this point I've played all three games and now I want to express my opinion on my souls experience. Let's start off the bat, that I played all three souls games in reverse order and may be slightly biased on my favorite souls game, which I'll get to that in a moment. I'll be listing some pros and cons from each game and critiquing them. At the end, I'll be ranking them from best to worst.
First let's start out with Dark Souls 3 since it was my very first souls game, which I started playing roughly two years ago.
Pros:
• This game probably has one of the most beautiful boss animations I have ever seen in any souls game. Not only that but, the majority of the bosses themselves were also well designed.
• Probably the most polished souls game of all. The UI was easy to navigate, and much cleaner than 2.
• Weapon arts were really fun to use via PvE, a little bit annoying in PvP.
• The difficulty was fair, despite being my first souls game, I never thought the game was overly difficult, which made the game easier for me to get into. Though gundyr did give me trouble the first time around.
• The graphics and the environment were probably the best in the series, anything you can see is where anything you can go (most of the time).
• Ember mechanics is probably my favorite next to Human Effigies. It makes killing bosses more rewarding.

Cons:
• The game is very linear. This one is quite obvious because the game was always pointing a direction for me to go. I know you can fight some bosses early and even fight "some" bosses in different orders, but I never felt the freedom to take a different path since there was always a wall that kept telling me to go back. This also impacts playing new game again since everything just feels the same over and over again.
• Not that much variety in areas. Pretty much the areas felt the same because it was more like Castle, Village, Swamp, Swamp, Cathedral that felt like a swamp, Dungeon, Swamp, back to Castle. I guess you could consider more areas, but that was basically the whole experience for me.
• The story was basically reused content. As you can see, Dark Souls 3 relies too much on Dark Souls 1's storyline and lore that it has become fan service. This didn't bother me much at first but after playing through 1, I understood why.
• A lot of great mechanics and animations were completely removed. After playing Dark Souls 2, I came across so many cool mechanics and features that would have made my souls 3 a much better experience. Too bad some of these mechanics were removed and never to be seen again.
• Too many bonfires. Literally spammed bonfires all over the place which I thought was unnecessary. I think at the very least remove the bonfires that are rewarded by the bosses.
• The tutorial boss was literally a middle finger for new players. Honestly when I got into Dark Souls 3 and fought Gundyr for the first time, I felt like it was unnecessary difficult, though now that I'm better at the game, it usually takes me first or second try to beat him every single time I make a new character.

Conclusion: I like Dark Souls 3 and it was my very first souls game as well, however I don't think there's much replayability since the game is so linear. My score, 8/10.


Next let's move on to Dark Souls 2, specifically SOTFS, the game that I probably have the most time on steam at the very moment. This is the second souls game I have played.
Pro:
• Emerald Herald. After playing through so many playthroughs, I have grown to love the Emerald Herald and it feels like she has been making her own journey just as yours. Out of all the three main fire keepers in all three souls game, the Emerald Herald is definitely my favorite, the Firekeeper from Dark Souls 3 got kind of boring, though I also like her as well, as for Dark Souls 1, let's not talk about her....
• Fashion Souls. Out of all the three games, I think this game has the best fashion souls of all, so much variety to choose from.
• The mechanics in this game were definitely the best. I really like powerstancing, bonfire ascetics, and fast climbing on ladders. It's a shame that Dark Souls 3 never included or at least try to implement some of these mechanics. There's also a lot of animation varieties for different weapons.
• The DLCs were probably the best the series had to offer. After playing through the entire crown DLCs, every single boss (not challenge bosses), were amazing. The level designs imo might have even been better than the Ringed City DLC from Dark Souls 3.
• Replayablity. This game has a lot of replay value, and I have made over 6 characters so far, with plenty of builds. What keeps this game fresh is that a lot of areas and bosses in this game can be played in so many orders. Literally you can make a DLC boss be your first boss.
• The lore is actually good imo. I hear a lot of people dislike 2 because it feels so disconnected from the rest of the franchise, but I think it's very refreshing that they took an entirely different perspective on the souls series. They do make some callbacks for those people who complain that they don't make enough of them, even if minor.
• Probably has the best game hub ever in the souls series. Honestly every single time I came back to Majula, I always felt welcomed home. The music is great and the place feels tranquil. It's even more tranquil when you gather all the NPCs in the game to your hub.

Cons:
• The game world looks boring. Compared to Dark Souls 1 and 3, I was really disappointed on how environmentally bad this game looked. Some of geography didn't make any sense, and let's not talk about the infamous elevator to the lava castle in the sky. But there are lots of areas I love such as Eleum Loyce, Dragon Shrine, and Drangleic Castle that make up for the bad.
• Lots of good, and lots of bad bosses. This isn't just Dark Souls 2 alone but it has become a lot more notable. Yes I do mean that some of the bosses do feel uninspired and maybe they could have just turned these bosses into mini bosses or hard enemies. Those gank rats shouldn't even be counted as a boss.
• The DLCs overshadowing the base game. Yes if I were completely honest, I would say that the DLCs are way better than base game. Not saying that base game was terrible, and I could definitely say the same with Dark Souls 3, although I feel like Dark Souls 3 makes it up a little more with their secret areas.
• (SOTFS) Too many NPC summoning signs that are completely unnecessary. It kind of defeats the purpose of a difficult game I still like summoning signs from quest npcs because they fit into the world, or at the very least, I wished Fromsoft made used of these new phantom NPCs and give them a questline or at least someway for us to interact with them.
• Some questionable level designs/enemy placement, such as Iron Keep, Shrine of Amana, or Frigid Outskirts. First time I went through Iron Keep, it was literally spammed with Alonne knights.
• Soul Memory is awful. I'm surprised Fromsoft didn't change Co-op to a password system in SOTFS. Makes sense for PvP and Twinking, but still broken because it literally forces players to start a new character if they wanted to play with friends who are new to the game. The name engraved ring doesn't really help that much either.

Conclusion: After playing Dark Souls 2 for a while, it has really grown on me. Now it has become my favorite souls game surprisingly, despite flaws. Overall I would give this game 8.5/10. But really the Emerald Herald swinging her legs gave me some diabetes, I change my score to 9/10.
Alright, so Dark Souls 1, or Dark Souls remastered is the one I played last. I also hear that remastered is a downgrade, which probably doesn't make a difference to me since I never played the original and I assume all the game mechanics are the same.
Pros:
• The game is interconnected. Probably the most non-linear souls game out of the three. Aside from the Asylum Demon being your first boss. Firelink shrine leads everywhere, which I think did better than Dark Souls 2's Majula.
• Its environmentally beautiful. Aside from level designs, the game does a really good job with their parallaxes and skyboxes. Anor Londo being everyone's favorite area in the game.
• Parry is forgiving. Honestly, parrying is so easy in this game that it makes the silver knights look like a joke. But, yeah I find that you can sometimes time your parry a little early and still manage to parry your target. This also made Gwyn's boss fight look like a joke.
• Shortcuts. I really like how shortcuts were used in this game, it really encouraged the players to explore before proceeding to the next area. But honestly, this one is more of a love and hate relationship for me. This is mainly because warps are restricted until later on in game, so finding shortcuts was the best option to head back.
• Sunbro. Pretty self explanatory, one of the most reliable bros in video game history.

Cons:
• Player character looks like a potato. This is probably just a personal preference, but imo, the character creation was absolutely atrocious. While some people don't care, I wanted to make a good looking waifu character, but it never really looked right. In 2, the character creation looked best, and 3 has that weird plastic skin gloss, but still decent.
• Terrible level designs. So every souls game has terrible level designs but nothing compared to this game. Wanna know the list of stupid level designs? Blighttown, Sen's Fun house, Lost Izalith, Bridge after Taurus Demon, Underground Undead Burg, Demon Ruins, Catacombs, New Londo Ruins, Tomb of the Giants, and lastly Anor Londo first half. Wow that's a lot places, where do I start? Honestly, I asked myself a few times why I was playing this game. Most of these designs are unfair and heavily punishes you for making one simple mistake. Those Anor Londo archers probably killed me at least 20 times. Honestly though, people say Dark Souls 2 has terrible designs, but imho they are much better than a bunch of bs that Dark Souls 1 pulls off.
• Probably one of the worst boss in the entire series. Honestly, I don't even mind some of the bosses in Dark Souls, however this boss was probably the most hated boss in the entire series for its most absolute bs. I'm talking about the Bed of Chaos, you know the one that destroys the ground and makes you fall to your death and makes you run back a few miles all the way from the beginning in a pool of lava, yes I'm talking about that boss. Nothing else needs to be said.
• The lack of bonfires. So because of playing the sequel games, I've been used to finding a lot of bonfires in game. Well in this game, there is a lack of bonfires. Dying and running back from the beginning is so tedious, I know unlocking shortcuts help but sometimes I would miss these shortcuts and would end in a loop of a living hell.
• No warp until lordvessel. Since I played 2 and 3 first, I expected bonfires to warp, but to my disappointment, running back and fourth at the beginning of the game was tedious. I like idea that game encourages you to explore, but I'm an impatient person and walking miles and miles away from home is boring.
• Most clunky controls in the series. I had a hard time adjusting to the controls switching from 3 to 2, but 1 was on a whole new level. I can't really blame the game for being clunky since it's an old game, but at the same time, my experiences with combat and movement wasn't as enjoyable as 2 and 3. This is mostly because rolling was difficult and I didn't have full control on where I wanted to roll while doing so.

Conclusion: My souls experience for this game was a total downgrade, it certainly lives up for its name for being extremely difficult. I'm not exactly a masochist so it was pretty much a living nightmare to play through. My final rating for this game is 6.5/10.

TL; DR
Ranking my favorite Dark Souls games from best to worst.
DS2 > DS3 > DS1

[Darth Invader]

Bruh.

[Yozora]

Darth Invader lähetti viestin:

Bruh.

Yeah, I did write a lot of stuff that could have been cut down

[☆𝑾𝒐𝒍𝒇𝒚｡⭒❤]

DS2>DS1>DS3

[Yozora]

☆Wolfy lähetti viestin:

DS2>DS1>DS3

Thanks for you're opinion, I too also like DS2

[Mythily]

Definitely not DSR (1). I couldn't even bother to finish it. So many things wrong with that game.

[Inanis Potest]

Mythily lähetti viestin:

Definitely not DSR. I couldn't even bother to finish it. So many things wrong with that game.

Remaster with just quality and reshade nothing else

[𝓡𝓮𝓽𝓻𝓸𝓒𝓪𝓽]

Mythily lähetti viestin:

Definitely not DSR (1). I couldn't even bother to finish it. So many things wrong with that game.

It was a lazy cash grab in all honesty. I'm just going to come out and say it: it had the potential to be the best in the entire series but the clunkiness, dated graphics, and various exploits and glitches abused during PvP completely killed it.

It really should have gotten the Demon Souls treatment. That is to say that it should have been rebuilt from the ground up and gotten a remake instead of some barely half baked remaster with still terrible anti-cheat.

[Yozora]

𝓡𝓮𝓽𝓻𝓸𝓒𝓪𝓽 lähetti viestin:

Mythily lähetti viestin:

Definitely not DSR (1). I couldn't even bother to finish it. So many things wrong with that game.

It was a lazy cash grab in all honesty. I'm just going to come out and say it: it had the potential to be the best in the entire series but the clunkiness, dated graphics, and various exploits and glitches abused during PvP completely killed it.

It really should have gotten the Demon Souls treatment. That is to say that it should have been rebuilt from the ground up and gotten a remake instead of some barely half baked remaster with still terrible anti-cheat.

Well, I mean at least it was a better pc port, 60 fps blight town... ah blighttown...

[Sparhawk 59]

Ds3-Ds1-Ds2. Started on 3 it has my heart

[Sovietkotek]

DS3 my only souls game so far, so technically it's been my best and also worse Dark Souls experience.

[paulaus333]

DS1 (PTD with DSFix) > DS2 = DS3 for me.

Parts of DS3 I like better than DS2 and vice versa. The original has a unique dreamy atmosphere (exemplified by Moonlight Butterfly & soundtrack), despite its bugs and dated aspects.

[☆𝑾𝒐𝒍𝒇𝒚｡⭒❤]

paulaus333 lähetti viestin:

DS1 (PTD with DSFix) > DS2 = DS3 for me.

Parts of DS3 I like better than DS2 and vice versa. The original has a unique dreamy atmosphere (exemplified by Moonlight Butterfly & soundtrack), despite its bugs and dated aspects.

Now that I agree most with. But I can argue that DS 2 is in a way slightly better than ds 1 coz the locations are always fresh and interesting while in DS 1 only the beggining is good, late game we start to get emm eemmm blighttown , ohh catacombs and oh nooo tomb of giants and the rest areas are green, dark, green and.. oh dark, exept Anor Londo.. While DS 2 has soooo many colorful locations, Iron keep, Dragon aerie, heide's tower, ALL the DLC's, pretty much 90% of the areas

[paulaus333]

"Wolfy" lähetti viestin:

the rest areas are green, dark, green and.. oh dark, exept Anor Londo..

Dark Souls, too dark edition! Except Anor Londo... except when you break the illusion and reveal DARK Anor Londo. :D

"Wolfy" lähetti viestin:

While DS 2 has soooo many colorful locations, Iron keep, Dragon aerie, heide's tower, ALL the DLC's, pretty much 90% of the areas.

Personally, I dislike art styles in games which seek to be 'vibrant' (even disco) or varied at the expense of atmosphere (for example, Diablo 3 versus Diablo 2). Many people hate the excessively 'brown' look of Quake II. I love the consistent, oppressing nature of it, even though it's samey & repetitive.

It's kind of accepted that DS1's later areas (particularly Bed of Chaos) after obtaining the Lord Vessel are less refined than those preceding.

[Not Solaire]

Such a controversial opinion. If you are on Reddit you would get crucified. Not gonna lie though I hate having been forced to level up ADP for i-frames and chugging speed.

[Scraps]

DS1 > DS3 > DS2 (Scholar)

DS1 has some of the most fascinating details in the world design that isn't replicated in DS2 or 3, which is a bit of a damn shame. Exploring the world's great, the lore is at it's best. PvP is rough and there's no quality-control regarding twinks, but keep hollowed until post-gargoyles. Upper Blighttown is the only area I don't like, but it can be avoided entirely. Lower Blighttown? Well every game has their smelly poo-water swamps and I find its the least offensive.

DS3's a helluva lot faster and probably the best on purely gameplay and bosses. World isn't as good and the story wasn't as interesting; I felt it relied a bit too much on DS1. I prefer DS1 but not by a large margin.

DS2's PvP is pretty good. It's a slog to get through and 9/10 of the bosses are lacklustre. Doesn't help there's 42 of them. The longest of the Souls games and definitely a quantity over quality experience.