Soulslike - Discussion, News, Memes

My friend in high school let me borrow his PS3 copy of DS1, telling me it was one of the best games ever.

I died to the skeletons in the graveyard around ten times (trolled lol) and promptly put it down.

Cut to much later, Elden Ring comes out and one of my friends is so excited that he gifts me the game at full price so I can experience it too.

And here comes one of the few times I'm braggadocious about gaming

For I say, "No, I have unfinished business first."

I buy Dark Souls Remastered and start a Sorceror INT/DEX build. It's tough. I recommend STR+Zwei instead for a first playthrough. Managing casts during runbacks is especially brutal. I die to the Capra Demon way too many times, git gud, and fight my way all the way to the edge of Blighttown, where I decide to stop for the night.

The next day, I boot up the game, hit Continue, and a message pops up saying, "The save data is corrupted."

But when I read it, my brain sees, "YOU DIED."

What am I going to do, go hollow?

So I start another save. Back to Blighttown. It's not easy, but it's something I just did. This time I keep playing. Get to that bonfire, kindle it, and save for the night.

The next day, "The save data is corrupted."

I'm just infuriated at this point. Really Darkin' my Soul rn.

But I restart again. Grind for the Balder Side Sword as soon as I get to the Undead Parish. Git gud. Now my level 11 character is doing as much damage as my previous level 20 character. Get to the Capra Demon. Steamroll. He should have got gud. Get to Sen's Fortress. AAAAAAAGGGHHHHHHH. Ornstein & Smough. Steamroll. Stuck on the fucking Four Kings of all bosses. Go beat Seath, get my OP magic from Logan, game over.

I beat Gwyn with 2 casts of Dark Bead, rekindle the First Flame, and immediately start a new playthrough.

I'm hooked.

I was there... 3000 years ago...

When I was younger, a friend passed me a copy of Demon's Souls for the PS3 when it came out in Europe. He said this game sucks and that I can keep it for now. This was before this franchise had any popularity at all, I didn't even know anything about it before playing aside from what's on the back cover.

Played it, hated it because I had no idea where to go or what to do. Gave it a try a month later and it quickly became one of my favorite games of all time. Been a day-one fan for the whole franchise since then. By comparison to everybody else, it's wild how coincidental my introduction to Souls was.

Demons Souls on the PS3. I recall there was some internet rumblings about it being a big deal that Altus was going to publish it and we would see it in the states. On a whim I ordered a copy.

All those years ago I had some friends over and showed it to them. It was almost unanimously regarded as unnecessarily difficult and stupid. That same set of friends now love all of these games.

I came to the series probably around the release of DS3, or slightly before. I'd heard that they were supposed to be super hard but excellent games and wanted to see what the fuss was all about.

I got a copy of Demon's Souls from GameStop for probably like $14, but didn't start it for probably another few months to a year.

When I finally did start it, I started as a knight and ragequit pretty early into it as many of us probably did - maybe not even past Boletaria 1-1 - and told myself that I'd never play the game again.

A month or so later, however, the game wouldn't get out of my head. I just kept thinking, "What could I do to do better?" and before I knew it, I had started another character.

I remember that my wife came downstairs and said "Isn't that that game you got mad at and quit playing like a month ago?" And I was like "yeah, but I think I can do better this time".

I played as a sorcerer because that's what all of the websites said was the strongest class, and I played through the game constantly terrified. I remember that I got the Lava Bow to cheese as many regular enemies and bosses as I could, and I inched my way through the game super slowly and carefully.

I used Flame Pillar cheese to beat Allant because I was so terrified of him.

I moved on to Dark Souls, becoming more and more confident and aggressive the more I played. Ten-ish years later I've beaten every modern game From has made, SL1'd multiple games, and even gone back to play King's Field. As many others have said, Fromsoft has basically ruined all other video games for me save a few similar experiences like older Monster Hunter.

Unfortunately I think the FromSoft games are also slowly losing what drew me to them in the first place, but they're still amazing games, and I always look forward to seeing what From comes out with next.

Overall ranking for anyone interested: DeS > Sekiro > DS1 > BB > ER > DS2 > DS3

Demon's Souls imported Japanese copy OG release

Elden Ring was honestly my first. I avoided Soulslike games because I don't like to play games to feel frustrated. I heard about the crazy bosses, frustrating runs back from bonfires, and obtuse storytelling, so I was not inclined to give them much thought.

I was pushed to play it by a few friends looking for a third for a summons trio, with assurances that I'd have two Souls veterans to help me out with bosses if I got stuck. It took me a bit to get used to, but the nature of the open world and the rather more forgiving placements of graces/stakes to minimize the pain of runbacks made it a bearable game for me. Though the story is still obtuse, I really enjoyed the worldbuilding and how (excluding Caelid) surprisingly not dark the world was.

And you know what? I ended up being the friend to help one of them beat Malenia, who I defeated on my own first.

I've been enjoying Nightreign with those same friends lately. More good stuff, boiled down. It's made me get more comfortable with different playstyles just due to the nature of pre-built characters and random drops.

I'm also now playing through the remake of Demon's Souls on a whim, and while I feel better equipped to get through it just from what I know about Elden Ring, I can safely say that I would have completely bounced off of it had it been my first game. I'm definitely glad Elden Ring was my first, and Elden Ring 2 cannot come fast enough.

Friend dragged me kicking and screaming through Dark Souls 3. Must've clicked along the way somewhere.

I was bored and had heard Elden Ring had great world building and lore. This sounded like the story adventure games I usually played… yeah…

After dying in the tutorial section multiple times because this was the first real combat heavy game I’d ever played. I actually committed harder to playing it.

I had just recently been diagnosed and medicated for ADHD and I decided that forcing myself to beat this Hellish game would be a great exercise in following through with goals and not giving up on tasks that are long/difficult.

It took me longer than I’m willing to admit (in my defense I was playing with a mouse and keyboard for the first week or two), but eventually I beat the game.

Oh I should also mention I did quit about halfway through… to go beat DS1 and DS2. I was dying to the same bosses over and over and needed novelty. So I decided DS1 would give me new things to explore but still help me get better at these games. It worked well enough that I decided to restart ER from the beginning. It is very satisfying to obliterate enemies that used to feel difficult and know that it’s because of skill not upgrades this time lol.

After Bloodborne was released , everything I saw and read about it online made me feel very curious and drawn to it, specially some of the concept art. It stayed with me for a long time. I wouldn't get to play it until like 3 almost 4 years later, when I had the chance to borrow a friends console for an extended time.

I was a very on and off "gamer", and had never been hooked by a game that way before... I didn't know much about the genre and it was monstrously hard for me in the beginning, but It was also different from everything I had played until then, to me, this was what was missing from gaming before. I got through it and I loved every second of it.

When I got a console of my own I really got into the game in depth, but I didn't play any other soulslike until Elden Ring came out, and after SotE, I started playing other titles in the genre, so recently-ish... And I'm slowly but surely making my way through the catalogue.

I saw all the talk and hype about Dark Souls 1, watched some gameplay and immediately knew the difficulty was going to primarily be memorization/pattern recognition but didn't think it would have anything memorable after a run through. Then I was hit with the vague story, the lack of direction and the kinda deep but entirely obtuse mechanics. At some point it clicked that I had played ganes like this once before, but long ago when games were still 2D and I started treating it like Castlevania and loved it.

I was planning on buying a PS4 to play FFXV but it was still a few months out. I saw a used PS4 on sale for a good price and bought it and thought "I already have a good PC, so what exclusives can I buy for this until FFXV comes out?" I settled on Bloodborne and it is still to this day the greatest game I have ever played. It took a while to transition from the fast paced combat of Bloodborne to the slower pace of DS3 but it eventually clicked. Then I played DS, tried DS2 but it never clicked, Demon's Souls, and then Elden Ring. I've tried DS2 a few times since but it never clicks.

My friend in college had a copy of Demon's Souls around the time of its release, and I was really impressed with it. It was one of the first games I picked up when I got a PS3 shortly thereafter.

I first heard about Dark Souls 1 over a decade ago, years before DS3 was released, and I thought it looked neat. My nearest gameplay comparison was Monster Hunter. Unfortunately, I didn't have a PC or Console at that time that could play it, so I forgot about it. Years later, I got third or forth hand PS4 from a family member either for free or for years of IT support. I heard that Bloodborne, a game by the same developer as Dark Souls, was a must-play for the PS4 and worth even buying the console for. The GOTY edition of Bloodborne was for sale for 20€ at that time and I thought, "Why not? Might as well buy it." And then... I played hundreds of hours of Monster Hunter World and forgot I about my purchase. Over a year later, I had lots of time on my hand and remembered that game. I after booting it up, being slightly confused and drinking in the atmosphere I got beat up by the townsfolk. I took me half a dozen hours to just get past the pyre. But I presevered! Central Yharnam: best tutorial level of all time!
Bloodborne has IMO still the best atmosphere of any game I ever played. Gameplay wise? I still love Bloodborne and have to replay it for Xth time, but I'm currently hopelessly addicted to Elden Ring. Elden Ring has in my oppinion by far the best gameplay of any game in the Souls series.

My boyfriend. He's been playing Elden Ring since its release and back then, I used to find the photos from its steam page intimidating and lowkey creepy but also, beautiful. It stopped from there but eventually, come 2024, I started becoming more curious about the game. I'm the type of person who, if I want something, I'll do everything I can to get it so I did everything I can to get enough money to buy it 😂.

And from then on, I started exploring the genre itself and got myself a few games on sale over the time

My school friend shared his PSN when I bought a PS4, so I could check out Bloodborne. I could not stop playing, this game uprooted my sleep schedule. I especially enjoyed the lore, soundtrack, architecture, atmosphere and overall vibe of living through a Lovecraft story.

Since then I have played Demon Souls, DS1&3, Elden Ring with DLC. Still nothing hits the same.

Picked up Dark Souls 2 at a videogame cafe on a whim back in my youth and got absolutely owned by the first Heide Knight you encounter. Tried it a few more times at the cafe, I don't think I ever made it to Huntsmans Copse, before finally picking up Dark Souls 1. Bounced off it first at the Undead Berg bull, and then at Sens.

Several years later, I picked up Sekiro because it was the FotM hotness, and I fell in love with it because I wasn't a stupid teen anymore and no longer bounced off difficult games. Went back through the franchise from there, completing DS1, DS2, and DS3 within like a month.

I'm the unchosen undead.

I tried ds2 on a lark when I was very isolated and in a new place. Didn't have internet and a friend suggested it as an offline activity when I wasn't working. The message of the story and gameplay resonated with me finding meaning in my own fears and uncertaintude. Didn't get obsessed though until Jacob Geller made a video about how DS3 was about deciding to die. After trying it From has had their hooks in me ever since.

Which is funny because before Dark Souls I was obsessed with Armored Core and didn't even realize who the developer was

My son asked for Bloodborne, I knew nothing about it, so bought it for him. He couldn't figure it out, and neither could I, so it just sat.

For Christmas maybe the next year, my bro got me ds3. I couldn't figure it out either, but I realized that the games were made by From. I'd heard of Dark Souls but didn't know it was a From title, I was like confused why they weren't making AC games in a long time.

Went back to Bloodborne, made some progress but still couldn't figure it out, went back to DS3, completed it a few times, went back to Bloodborne and got obsessed with it.

I've beaten ER, Sekiro, mastered Nightreign, couldn't really get into the older ones but everything since Bloodborne ive logged hundreds of hours. I actually have 1600 hours in Bloodborne alone.

Alot of you guys need to give the Armored Core series a try. I've been a fan since Silent Line back on the ps2. Armored Core 3 was cool, but it took the sequel to really hook me.

Armored Core as a series is like a deep dive back into the development of Fromsoft as a storytelling company in addition to being a game developer. The scale of the conflicts, the ability to truly affect the story with your choices, and showing you the impact those choices have in more than just dialog. Its all a road map leading up to masterpieces like Armored Core 6, Bloodborne, and Elden Ring.

I've honestly never beaten Elden ring, despite playing and enjoying for a while. I just dont have the drive to sit down and invest hundreds of hours to build the muscle memory I need to complete a game like that. But I already have those muscles for Armored Core, and a 20 hour story run is much more palatable to fit into a week than a 100 hour souls slog.

I had a bunch of friends talking about DS1 and I tried it, wasnt positive I liked how hard it was. Then I got to undeadburg and spent HOURS trying to beat Havel and the torus demon both. I ended up leveling to 60 in undeadburg. And after that, I did more of the same by getting stuck at hellkite drake. I eventually got the helkite drake sword and tried using that until I got to S&O. I was not smart, but i was dedicated.

I'd played a few hours of dark souls 2 and 3 but never really clicked with the gameplay until Elden Ring. In fact, I spent several hours trying to kill tutorial Gundyr in 3. Came back recently and beat him about 30 seconds, lol.

Even in Elden Ring, I had to restart my playthrough to feel like I'd actually learned anything about the gameplay. I do that a lot with games. I'll get several hours in and drop it for months. Then I come back and start fresh, never getting to the end. But it actually helped with this series. It's amazing how big of a gulf there is between past me and now.