Another listicle issue in lieu of me actually having anything interesting to say this week. There's a bit of a downturn in new releases over the coming months so expect to see a considerable pivot into a lot more retro stuff for the foreseeable and, if I'm being honest, I haven't played much worth talking about over the last seven days. There's always room for a listicle, though.

The Soulsborne List - 2022 Edition

Dark Souls 3

Before I get into this I need to stress that Dark Souls 3 is absolutely not a bad game. Being the weakest of From Software's recent library is a bit like being Die Hard 2 - you're not quite as good as the original or With A Vengeance but you're still head and shoulders clear of a lot of your peers. They only made three Die Hard films, right?

The main problem with Dark Souls 3 is that it is just so... safe? It doesn't feel particularly exciting at any point and even when they're directly referencing the previous instalments, there's no subtlety to it at all. It doesn't feel like a clever way of bringing everything full circle but instead like the game is just going "oi, remember this?" in lieu of anything actually interesting.

Brilliantly, this is all part of the game's themes. It's a world that is dying, a world that has gone on too long and needs putting out of its misery. Perhaps this was Miyazaki's way of saying "I'm fucking done with Dark Souls"?

By the end of it, I was too. Far from a bad game with a few truly fantastic bosses and locations, but I found myself thinking "I'm bored of this" far too often during my playthrough. The greatest crime of all.

Dark Souls 2

A game that, if this list was based on purely mechanical aspects, would be a LOT higher up. Unfortunately, Dark Souls 2 is a bit of a mess, largely due to its fragmented and troubled development. It was a game created by a company that was in the process of becoming a big deal. They'd gone from releasing weird, cult titles to having a legitimate success story with Dark Souls and suddenly, they needed to provide a sequel.

The game is a mess but there's a charm to it that makes it far more compelling to me than Dark Souls 3. It's awkward, it's really difficult and the atmosphere is extremely bleak and oppressive but just far more memorable than the slick best-of tour that was the third game. This definitely divides opinion though, because as much as I enjoyed the weird world of Dark Souls 2, many others found it to feel a bit disjointed and far less polished than the two games that came before it. I can't argue against that, despite my personal feelings.

What it does do brilliantly, however, is get you into the cool stuff people bang on about in Dark Souls really quickly and easily. There's loads of build options and you can respec with relative ease. Factions and multiplayer stuff is a lot more clearly signposted. There's bosses EVERYWHERE too. If you want to theorycraft a specific dual-wielding whips poison magic using build of death, create it in-game and then start fighting other players, then Dark Souls 2 is the game for you. It's just, like I said, a bit of a mess.

It can be summed up quite well by the fact that the lore was such a disjointed wreck that they had to make a whole new version of the game where they chopped bits up and switched things around and even added a whole new character into the game just to make the bloody thing make sense. An acquired taste but real ones know.

Demon's Souls

This one is some people's absolute favourites. I can understand their reasons. In regards to atmosphere and location design it is among From Software's best work and there's a lot of strong memories attached to this one if you played it upon the initial release - it was unique, fresh and utterly terrifying, with every step into the unknown taken with trepidation. I understand having a strong nostalgic connection to this bizarre but extremely well-regarded import title that started a revolution.

However, with the powerful gift of hindsight, the whole thing feels like a beta test for everything that comes after it. Magic is massively overpowered, level structure is fairly simplistic and, although it has some brilliant ideas like the Old Monk boss, there's loads of stuff that just doesn't quite work as smoothly as you'd like it to. Things like World Tendency seem overly complex at first until you realise they're easily exploitable if you're willing to jump through hoops.

Despite this, the reason I understand having the strong nostalgic connection to Demon's Souls is, well, because I am one of those people. I grabbed the US release shortly after getting a PS3 and it felt like some sort of forbidden artefact, I'd never seen or played anything like it. Like a Zelda game from a dimension of damned spirits. It's a very barebones experience when compared to everything else in the Soulsborne series but one that hits a higher level of being consistently good than the second and third Dark Souls game.

Sekiro

I love it when a game series strips things back to the absolute basics and the basics are so damn good they can carry an entire game. Sekiro removes all of the things that could aid a player from their other Soulsborne games. There's no real magic, you can't summon other players for backup and you can't level up in a traditional way, so you can't just grind away and make yourself put out or be able to withstand greater damage if you get stuck anywhere. It's just you vs the game and you have everything you need to go all the way through to the end from the word go.

It lacks the incredible world and lore that makes the Soulsborne games so special and it has none of the interesting and creative build options, instead relying on a core combat mechanic that rewards you for your bravery and instincts. Bosses can destroy you in a couple of hits but you have the ultimate counter - the parry. If you can hold your nerve, learn every attack pattern and parry accordingly then no boss can touch you. Nothing can touch you. This is Street Fighter 3: Third Strike made into an action game. Spacing, defense and then countering with measured offense is key here and it has been refined to a deadly point.

This game is the one that could have the most movement if I ever go back and play through it again. Despite its position, there are times when I watch someone playing Sekiro, or I talk about it with friends or I even THINK about some parts of it and I genuinely think it could just sit right at the top of the pile here. For now, after one thorough playthrough, this is where it sits.

Dark Souls

Building on the base established by Demon's Souls, Dark Souls is a true masterpiece. A game that allows for varied playstyles in a brilliantly designed interconnected world that is full of silent moments of storytelling around every corner that most games can't even get right once. It has iconic boss fights that have become the archetypes for the rest of this genre and the various pretenders out there. The difficulty forced people to work together in jolly co-operation not only in the game via summons but outside of the game, be that through social media, group chats and long talks in the pub while you bore everyone who hasn't played it to tears over the minutiae of that time you managed to beat Ornstein and Smough. All of the brilliant art, video content, music inspired by this incredible game that, for the most part, still stands up among the top Soulsborne games.

For the most part, I say, because unfortunately Dark Souls is beginning to show its age. Sure, the stuff mentioned above is timeless and the reason it'll always been an essential videogame, but after playing From Software's more recent works, it feels a bit clunky and a lot of the quality of life stuff is sorely missing.

Dark Souls is an undeniable 10/10 and arguably the most influential game of the past decade but there are some games that have been released in its wake that do categorically improve on certain areas in it. It'll never be forgotten and it'll always be something I recommend you play through at least once in your life but I can't sit here with a straight face in 2022 and tell you that it is From Software at the very pinnacle of their powers. They actually managed to improve on true greatness.

Elden Ring

The true sequel to Dark Souls. The total package, a combination of everything From Software have learned about their games - everything that works is included and everything that missed the mark has been cast aside. It is so bursting with cool ideas lifted from their other titles that they had to go open world if only just to bloody fit them in.

I talked about Elden Ring in greater detail a couple of weeks ago so if you want a bit more analysis, check out that issue (and subscribe so you don't miss one!!!) but in short, the way From Software managed to create a vast world that feels handcrafted, filled it with meaningful and compelling things to do and STILL managed to keep their trademark atmosphere is little short of actual genius. The world lore is rich and complex and still being figured out by the community, with every discovery or theory adding a new layer and vibe to the things you see and do throughout a playthrough.

It also takes all of the stuff that Dark Souls 2 brought to the table and further expands on it. Multiplayer is dead simple to engage with, co-operatively or competitively. Build diversity is vast and the ability to make more magic/physical hybrid builds allows for even greater variety than what has come before it and you're practically encouraged to respec and mess around with this stuff.

Some of the areas are genuinely breathtaking and some of the bosses are among the best From Software have ever created. It does eventually run out of steam if you're trying to 100% clear it, because it eventually succumbs to the eternal open world game problem of repeated or very similar content but I only found this starting to creep in after I hit the EIGHTY HOUR mark, so that's still pretty good going compared to the rest of the genre.

Top tier DLC could elevate this to the top because it was CLOSE. That's how good Elden Ring is.

Bloodborne

This is Miyazaki's masterpiece. The high watermark for the Soulsborne genre. The only negative, which I'll get out the way immediately, is a lack of depth within the magic use aspect of build creation. In Bloodborne, your weapon dictates your playstyle. This is important because Bloodborne always wants you to be on the front foot - there's no room here for people who want to sit back and toss magic missiles at their foes - and features on of my favourite risk/reward mechanics in all of videogames.

When you get hit in Bloodborne, you can recover a large portion of the lost health by hitting enemies immediately after the hit lands, while the segment of your health bar is highlighted. Sure, you can cure by the traditional Soulsborne means of using a flask but this is something that is completely intended to keep you pushing forwards, constantly going in for attacks and to stick to the philosophy that offense is the best defense. There's no blocking in Bloodborne, just a firearm carried in the off-hand that allows you to do a parry if timed perfectly. You have to constantly move, constantly time your dodges to avoid enemy attacks. If Sekiro prioritised testing your nerve, Bloodborne is a pure test of your reflexes. There's no shield to hide behind, you MUST be aggressive.

The bosses are right up there among the best From Software have ever designed but the world of Yharnam is the real start of the show. Like a black metal cover you can explore, it is a nightmarish gothic city and surrounding area that is unique and compelling as much as it is horrifying and disgusting. The lore is also Miyazaki at his absolute best, with an early game backdrop of body horror and classic Hammer horror movie vibes taking a sudden, sharp but still perfectly fitting turn into Lovecraftian cosmic terror at around the halfway mark. When your design is this good, simply having a rich history that makes everything feel real and consistent elevates it to a level that very few developers get near.

I prefer to play these Soulsborne games on the front foot and tend to avoid using a shield a lot of the time, so Bloodborne was like they made "they way I like to play Dark Souls: The Game" and wrapped it up in an aesthetic that appeals to me as a horrid greebo metal fan.

Oh, it runs at 30fps too, thus rendering any argument you see from people stating that 30fps is unplayable because Bloodborne is one of the best videogames ever and it really doesn't matter. From Software's finest work and one that only something that I would consider one of the best games of all-time will be able to knock it off it's perch.