The Dark Souls games come under the Souls series of action role-playing games starting in 2009 with the Demon’s Souls. Many years later, the series has not fallen from being among the best for many gamers because it came with a lot of things different from anything any previous game had come with.
An interesting thing with the game apart from the boldness in the way it is the decision in making the game quite difficult to play as many gamers would agree. Even though FromSoftware has revealed that it is done with games in the series, you will still find many fans asking for another game in the franchise. This is how the game has fared since its first release:
Dark Souls Games
Table of Contents
Demon’s Souls
Release Date: February 5, 2009
Platforms: PlayStation 3
While you will find people ignoring this game, it is actually the first among the Dark Souls games. Exclusively a PS 3 game, it opens the door for the remaining games coming after it in a brutal and engrossing manner. Surprisingly enough, it has massively been underrated.
The first thing that is talked about is the challenging way of playing the game, but more than that, Demon’s Souls has a good story that is told in a very unique manner. More so, it has been able to create a great world and interesting mysteries.
With many things going well for the game, there is no denying the fact that it also has areas where it doesn’t hold up as much as one would expect. It does not have what one can say is the best combat you will get in a game and the difficulty level which is what some love most about it, is also what some others dislike most about it.
Dark Souls
Release Date: September 22, 2011
Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
To the main one that has become the redefining factor for most other action RPG that would come after, Dark Souls is a game that has amassed a lot of followers not only because it has gone across an exclusive platform but also because it came with something fresh from all angles.
Maintaining the difficulty of the Demons Souls, it genuinely allowed for players to have the adventure of figuring things out for themselves and winning without the help that you would get from many other games. Set in the land of Lordran, the game tells its story in a simple yet engaging way to complement the experience you have when playing the game itself.
Even the best games always have their own flaws. For Dark Souls, we will have to return to the combat that was also the flaw of the Demons Souls as well as a rather unflattering performance on the major consoles; PS3 and Xbox 360.
On May 24, 2018, the remastered game was released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows. This time around, there was much improvement on the previous flaws and the game was greatly accepted by fans and reviewed favorably by critics.
Dark Souls II
Release Date: March 11, 2014
Platforms: PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows
Among other Dark Souls games, this is the installment that did not hold so much with gamers. Its weakness is very obvious from the storytelling to the game itself, and almost every other thing. The game left many wondering if FromSoftware did not use the team that first worked on it. Yes, that was, in fact, what happened. Because there was Bloodborne to be developed, a different team was assigned to work on Dark Souls II and the writing was everywhere on the wall.
See Also: Dark Souls 4 Release Date, Announcements and Rumors
That said, by just continuing in the path of the previous games in the franchise, it still had a lot to offer. As many had expected, a remastered Dark Souls II was released on April 1, 2015. The remastered version saw a lot of work done on the entire game from the graphics to the way in which it was played and much more.
Dark Souls III
Release Date: March 26, 2016
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows
If there will ever come a game in the franchise that will throw the Dark Souls games to the bin, it is not this third game in the series. It came on the wings of the success of the previous games and it rightly maintained the success with an interesting storyline and engaging gameplay.
With serious speculations that it may be the last game in the series, it does a lot to wrap things up if it happens to be. The storyline is linked to the previous games in the series while also standing alone for someone who is playing it without trying previous ones in the franchise. It may not be very clear for such a person, but one should not entirely get lost.
The greatest flaw of the game for people that have followed it from the Demons Souls is that it took so much from Bloodborne rather than from the Dark Souls games. That said, it still pulls a lot from the Dark Souls series.
Bloodborne
Release Date: March 24, 2015
Platform: PlayStation 4
Released before the Dark Souls III, this is only on the list because the Dark Souls III picked a lot from it and because it was developed to follow the same idea as the other games in the franchise.
Building on the success of the Dark Souls, the game blends something entirely different using the same formula as the former games.
Conclusion
After the release of the Dark Souls III, there was a lot of anticipation that FromSoftware may come up with another game in the franchise, however, the developers have stated that the Souls Series has come to an end. That said, the series has still remained very popular among gamers with the recently remastered Dark Souls II still having a good run in the market.
A second game in the Bloodborne series may be released in some years to come, although FromSoftware has not made any announcement regarding that. If it comes, we may again get to see something in the line of the Dark Soul games and even if it deviates, one will hardly think that the deviation will be overwhelming.