Idk man, trying to be objective with this is hard. Sure DS3 is buttery smooth and more streamlined. But no game has ever made me FEEL the same way DS1 makes me feel. Lost magic in that one.
I completely agree, That's why I tried to cast a wide net with my discussion and make sure I touch on topics that each game can shine in! Also you're absolutely right, I'd be surprised if any game could recapture what the first half of Dark Souls did, totally timeless.
i had that w/Ds2 (it was my first souls i picked it up 10 days after release )i played it till 5am the night before we flew to san juan for vacation.The heides tower fake orenstein was a roadblock at that time😂😂😂😂😂-and we i came home and immediately downloaded Des onto my ps3 and went to gamestop to buy Ds for 16$ .Ds2 had blew my mind and i needed souls content like a heroin addict.i mean i hadnt even gotten 25% thru ds2 and i bought the 2 othere😂😂😂😂😂these games can be lifechanging
If you played DS1 first, then that tracks. You would not as likely have that same feeling of "magic" about the first one if you got your start with DS2 or DS3.
I don't think so, object just means ignore how you feel about something and talk about what's actually there. When I talk about the abysmal Ai in Dark Souls 2, that is a thing that exists and isn't subjective. There's a boss that outright kills themselves that people use to farm Souls, there are NPC invaders that can't see through ladders, there's various pathing issues with mobs in areas they obviously weren't meant to be in. You don't have to be a developer to see these things and those are objective criticisms. So if you want to be objective, never end an observation with "but it didn't bother me" or "I didn't think it was that bad" or "I never saw that when I played", because that's when it gets subjective.
Ds1 is my favorite. Like many other people are saying, theres just some magic, some beautiful feeling of playing the game that no other souls game has given me. It gave me a similar feeling to playing skyrim and oblivion for the first time.
There is something just... enchanting about how it's the first in a lot of instances. I know Demon's Souls is technically THE first for these games, and I love Demon's Souls, it's kinda tied for second place in my heart next to Bloodborne, surprisingly. Dark Souls 1 was just that spark that got this whole bonfire going.
@ I absolutely would’ve expected to see 50K+ subs man, you’re killing it! On the video itself, I loved your attention to detail & the objectivity of your takes. Not an easy thing to do in the Souls community!
I think part of what makes DS3's world feel "right" is that it's a linear experience set in a connected world, you can still see everything from everywhere, and there's lots of parts where the world loops back not functionally but stylistically that I think makes it work. Or something like that... Maybe
One of the things that I personally like about DS1 and DS2 is the how the world feels. You can go down different paths and the world actually opens up. Sure DS2 doesn't make sense at times, but that's the charm of it. DS3 feels like I'm walking down a path with 2 little forks in the road with some cool things to see on the way to end, but no real side tangents other than Arch Dragon Peak, The Demon Ruins, and the Unttended Graves. DS3 has the best combat hand down as well as the bosses. DS1 and 2 are clunky, but that good kind of clunky. I could probably keep ranbleing on different parts of the games that I enjoy and ones that are worse. But overall, Its a tie between DS1 and 2 for me. One thing I disagree with you on DS2's story/world is that it's supposed to be super disconnected from the original with only bits and pieces connecting it to it. A lot of the world is just repurposed by other kingdoms/rulers pulling bits and pieces to their cultures. Item entires that are ambiguous about who they are representing show how much time has passed. Even statues of Gywn in the blue Cathedral have eagle heads A perfect example is Have's armor which states "The origin of the name Havel is not clear. Some say it was the warrior who wore the armor, but others say it was the name of a great kingdom ruined in a barbaric war". That just my two cents. Great video overall!
And not just that it presents itself very differently with the beginning and the firekeepers telling you how your memory might not be as reliable as you thought.
This dude literally gave it 2 points because of that in the world section. This dude wants all the games to be the same lmao. I played the series in order and i was incredibly disappointed with dark souls 3 because of this, i thought it would be far more unique, but it's just a lazy alternative linear less immersive dark souls 1. Feels more like a reboot than a sequel.
The local complexities of the areas are present on all through DS2, being enhanced on the DLC. I think it is the game that did it the best. At the expense of the global map complexities from 1.
My personal favorite is Dark Souls II, but Demon’s Souls is the most slept on in the extended series. I think I prefer it specifically because of the variety of viable builds available. Especially with the amazing spells and power-stancing weapons of different types, two playthroughs usually look and feel nothing alike.
It’s by far the most innovative in the series. Dark Souls 2 is slept on by so many. Perfect blend of the tactical slow approach from DS1 and the speed of DS3.
Dark souls 2 world is made so much better when you understand the art direction. The reason why the world feels so strange and impossible with its level layout is because that’s exactly how it is supposed to make you feel. The story is more focused on the affects of the undead curse and one of the side affects of hollowing is forgetting how you ended up somewhere and not really knowing why. It’s out right stated as such a couple times throughout the game one of which being in the opening cutscene. It’s an artistic choice and a good way to immerse the player the confusion of the player character has been feeling since he entered drangliec. It’s my personal favorite for that reason and even dark souls 3 took some notes when you look at the Dreg heap. None of that makes sense realistically. I think Dark Souls 2s world deserves more points personally
I would give it more points as well. It's funny, people on both sides of this topic (DS2 is unfinished vs. DS2 is deliberately strange) cite the exact same interview, and the exact same question in said interview when they talk about how confusing DS2's world is. The truth is really somewhere between the two poles; time constraints caused them to take that direction. Given more time some of the geographical strangeness would have been made clearer, according to Tanimura. And according to the art director, his name escapes me, they still wanted the world to feel curious and fantastical.
It's publicly known fact that the development was a shit show and they had to patch the game together with maps they've made before the overhaul. The reason why the world doesn't fit together is because it was never mean to. Iron Keep isn't on top of the windmill, the connecting area was never made because they didn't have time. I have to give them credit for making a an okay game after all that shit but pretending like it wad the point of the game is just wrong. Dark Souls 3 is the one where worlds collide, not DS2.
@@Rotunder It's funny that you are telling me to open my eyes while it's DS 2 fanboys who have them closed just so they can pretend that the game is a hidden masterpiece. It's not, it's easily the worst souls game. Which is pretty good, don't get me wrong but it is the worst. Developers was a shit show and I applaud them for making at least a mid game out of that mess. But that's all, solid game, nothing more
Dark Souls 2 dared to try something a little different and built its own unique vibe. Dark Souls 3 is the most refined, building on everything learned from the previous games with some of the most fun boss fights in the FromSoft catalogue. But for me Dark Souls 1 just hit its themes and emotions so perfectly. The others have their moments. Seeing Majula for the first time was beautiful and hearing that plin plin plon during Soul of Cinder was an amazing moment. But none of the others made me feel as much and in the same way that Dark Souls 1 did. And that's why it's my favourite.
From time to time I think about how much better blacksmithing was in DS2 and that I rarely hear it come up, but it's potentially more relevant to a 'testing things' character than it is to lore or straightforward builds Being able to get Titanite slabs more or less infinitely in a single NG cycle was a blessing I miss heavily in the other games
@@Fadsy yeah 2 did make the blacksmith system way better, in demons souls it was really hard for a new player and 1 was also tough to find out to make boss souls
As good as DS2 is there are major flaws of the game. I played DS2 for 100 hours and then DS3 for 100 hours. I want to say DS2 is better, however if you do the same you will notice the differences between 2 to 3 and why 3 is the better game.
@@AndrewAung1992 DS3 is a very vanilla experience, it lacks depth, and creativity, it has no... soul. The graphics and handling are better than the other souls games, because it is newer.
I appreciate it dude! Dark Souls 3 was the game that REALLY got me into the series, the more modern mechanics make it so much more approachable, but learning it is also a great foundation for going back and appreciating the earlier entries too!
Same here, only played DS3 and consider it tied for the most fun I've had playing a game with the Halflife 2 series. I'm watching a DS1 playthrough right now just to get an idea of what it was like, but don't really have much desire to play it. At least yet.
At the end of the day, if you've *actually* played them all in their entirety, you love & hate each one in their own way. I can think of so many moments between all of them where im ready to pack it in (Lost Izalith, Shrine of Amana, Smouldering Lake, literally any DLC add filled area) only to find myself completely enamored down the line by the satisfaction of tying everything together. & that is the beauty of it all. You're either a favortism virgin or a chad sum of all enjoyer.
I only half agree, people can have favourites for their own reasons. DS2 has more replay value, DS3 has a faster pace, DS1 has the design of the first half of the game.
Dark souls 1 was the game that got me into fromsoftwares games entirely It really did cure my depression with its Dark yet fascinating story telling and its interconnected lands at one point you can be at this undead burg but then you can find an underground lake of ash that shocks and awes you Dark souls 1 truly is the one
I feel the same because there was just too much jank that effected my enjoyment of Dark Souls 2, and Dark Souls 3 felt like it nostalgia baited too hard in the base game.
ADP is so good and have more complexity than just roll frames, and the stuff you get in ADP aside from Poise you can get from ATN, and so if you're making a sorcery build, get both and have so many i-frames and casting speed, item speed you're practically a ghost
@@Terminator-py9fi sis adp is not a bad system just because circle jerkers on reddit says it is. I never understood the hate, it is just a stat, you don't have to level any particular stat up, you benefit from the ones that you do. I don't hear people constantly whining about resistance in DS1
I recently finished shadow of the erdtree, after that I played and finished DS3 + DLCs (it was my first time). Then I decided to play something a little bit older and classic, so I picked DS1 Remastered. The first thing that I started noticing was how charming and charismatic it was compared to DS3. Everything felt like it had that type of aura, it felt more immersive and interesting. After a couple hours I found myself struggling with the gargoyles and in general with some enemies, which was weird to me because I had just finished DS3 and ER and I didn't had that much trouble with those games beside a few bosses that were meant to be hard. I thought to myself "man, I don't think I'll finish this game, it feels so slow and clunky". After a few more tries, I beat the gargoyles. I still felt that the game was just way clunkier and slower... But then I realized that it wasn't a bad thing and saw the beauty of it. I had to think more carefully about every move that I made. Most enemies/bosses are also slow or predictable, I just had to adapt that way of playing. One of the best things to me about DS1 is the world design (I know, nothing new). It just made the game feel like an adventure, a journey. I know some people dislike the second half of the game but I didn't find it that dislikable (I actually liked it as much as the first half). Overall I just think the game is way more memorable than DS3... And don't get me wrong I love DS3. The average person will probably enjoy it more because it feels more modern, smoother and linear, but it just doesn't live up to what DS1 is.
My personal favorite is Dark Souls II as well, and I would massively downrate the "area" value for DS1, since you have: - sometimes a bad bonfire/shortcut placement and frequency - unfinished things like demon ruins copy&paste area - bulls**t areas like crystal caves (the invisible bridges...) In comparison to that, almost all the areas in DS2 and DS3 are somehow beautiful, nicely playable and somehow immersive. 2-4-4 if you ask me.
@@thatoneguy7388 The transition to dragon's aerie as well. There are more areas that would stick one in another, I think, and it confused me a lot in the beginning. The areas themselves are cool. About those connections: In the end it is like Drancleic is painted as a dream world, an unreal one. Everything is possible, and I don't know, after playing it through roughly 7 times, I must admit that it feels absolutely right this way. You know, "perhaps you've seen it, maybe in a dream".
@@BaerndXP yeah, these nonsensical connections and overlapping areas were created deliberately. Here's a quote from the Design Works interview: "Next we move onto The Iron Keep, although many people found the fact that these locations were linked to be something of a mystery." Art Director Daisuke Satake: "Of course, conventional wisdom would place magma underground but when you start to consider this lake and realize that there must be a reason for it being there, then the world becomes a little more interesting. I tried to implement ideas like this throughout the game, to give the player something curious and unexpected." Here's a video about it I made: ua-cam.com/video/GOpVOFJwGXI/v-deo.htmlsi=S6XAqnPq0tMSePQQ
DS1, DS2, DeS. It's impossible for me to decide wich is, and they all share first place. DS1 as a piece of art, and emotional rollercoaster, DS2 as a very innovative and moody expierience, and DeS as stright up survival horror by structure. They all do the same thing but with different tools. P.S. Story is the weirdes section of the video. Considering how you constructed the narrative (beginning, consequences, end) there shoudn't be any score. All three games handles this particular consepts very well, and from my perspective all shoud get no score\highest score. The only game wich can get pat on the head is DS2 coz it shows much more intimate part of the curse, more personal, wich is absence in both other games.
I totally see where you're coming from! I tried to base the 'story' section on how much the narrative is directly conveyed to the player and how well that's executed when it's done, which I think Dark Souls 2 did the best, though in hindsight it may have been fairer to give Dark Souls 1+3 a four and Dark Souls 2 a five for the sake of giving each game more credit. I appreciate your thoughts dude!
I think an interesting part about why DS2 is so different is because its designer was the producer of the old King's Field trilogy. Thus, it's not surprising why it has a more methodical approach to level design, variety of items and all. They're integral King's Field tropes, as I would say that Miyazaki leans more on elements which emphasise action and combat specifically, especially from Bloodborne onwards.
Very refreshing to see a open an honest review of these games.... The result is also something I expected from the moment I saw you being honest about Dark souls 2's mechanics. All 3 of these games are roughly the same in quality, differentiating them only by personal preference. Which just highlights how well designed all of them are and flawed at the same time. I have beaten DS1, Beaten Dark souls 2, Multiple times and it's my favourite...And while I personally prefer the methodical and slow gameplay of Ds1 and Ds2, because of this Ds3 pisses me off with how fast paced and Reaction based it is (Not helping that I have horrible reflexes).. I am still trying to Finish Dark souls 3, because I want to give my due respects to the game and the Series that I love, even if I never return to it after
Ds1 is easily the worst for me. I never felt the "magic" in it, and to this day, I don't enjoy playing it. Ds2 Is my favorite in terms of world/lore and by virtue of invading being my favorite thing in all of gaming. Drangelic is such an interesting land and I love that we are exploring another nameless kingdom in a long line of fire fading. Ds3 takes it for gameplay, level design, and ost for me. For a few of you who don't know, level design and world design are two different things.
Prefacing by saying that different things gel or don't gel with different people and there's nothing wrong with that. That's the nature of art. But I think there's also value in knowing where others are coming from even if you don't agree or don't feel the same way. For me the magic of Dark Souls 1 is in the feelings it evokes. It's full of BS, often isolating, and a lot of times feels hopeless and bleak. Moments had me questioning why my character was doing what he was doing, whether it was right, whether the sense of purpose it gave him was enough reason. Sometimes it felt like it was, sometimes it didn't. There are a lot of tragedies if you look into some of the NPCs. But in that there are pockets of hope, relief, purpose, and a surprising amount of aesthetically beautiful scenery, natural and otherwise, for such a bleak world. The feeling of being on some long trek dealing with all kinds of BS, and then hearing the music and being met with this sudden relief when you realise you've found your way back to firelink. Some of the wholesome interactions with certain friendly NPCs. Seeing Ash Lake and Anor Londo for the first time. The somber sight of the great Gwyn reduced to a husk as a muted piano piece plays instead of the bombastic orchestra you've come to expect. That strange mixed feeling of empty triumph when you beat the game and that melancholic tune plays. The game for me hits feelings in a very artistic way that the others don't quite for me, as great as they are.
i gotta agree with your rankings, my only gripe with ds3 is how they nerfed spells/miracles to some being useless. gael is still one of fromsoft’s most dynamic and cinematic fights ever.
you forgot to give at ds2 extra 14 points for having the balls while being berated by the community for 10 years and not giving a fuck, or maybe thats a personal bias. nonetheless very nice video I love hearing other people put to words what we all feel about these astounding games
The last half of the game is unfinished. Even Miyazaki said so. The first half and the dlc is incredible but the last half of the game is quite bad. At least IMO anyways
@@MattDean-o1t They even were sad about Some things, like Gwyn being trivialized by parries, or the biggest case of all, Bed of Chaos, which they tried to rework It but they couldn't do anything with the time restrictions. And on the first version of DS It was even worse before, your progress wasn't even saved after destroying the weak points! I feel pity for those first players...
@@JoseViktor4099 Bed of Chaos was a war crime but Gwyn being so easy with parries honestly works for me. The great Lord of Cinder, reduced to a husk of his former self and easily swept aside. A flame doesn't go away with a bang, it shrinks and fades until it is reduced to embers. Then nameless song plays, it all feels really melancholic
Hey man, interesting video! Always hard to talk about this topic in a video which aims to be under 1h, but I think you did a good job! The only point I hardly disagree on are the quality of the bosses. Ds1 Bosses are mostly way more gimmicky then the other two games and that is why they "don't hold up" all to well. But I think longevity is the wrong lense to see this through. Most bosses in ds1 are a pure knowledge check, so you can only solve them once and try exceedingly harder methods after that. But the first time solving these bosses is where I would try to put focus on it. The problem with this is obviously, that you as a player don't get that, if you didn't start with ds1, but the solving mechanics go though all of the souls games. That's why as you can play each game only once the first time, also you can only play the first souls-game once, if that makes sense. In other words, the first game you played will always hold a special place, since it's the biggest hurdle you had to overcome. That's why I think that longevity makes ds1 bosses looks so much cheesier then the other games, since the other because most solved them first and then used that knowledge against the other two's. Won't defend bed of chaos though. :D
My order of play was; 2,3,1 remake. The level design of DS1 makes it my favorite, no question. As your skills increase you can get through the game areas in many different and interesting ways.
My favorite of the trilogy is DS1. Even with it flaws (last half of the game felling underdeveloped) I still consider it very special for me as my first Souls. My favorite part is that is the only game which at first does not rely on teletransportation and relying on shortcuts instead, which gave far more protagonism to the world more than any other. Dark Souls 3 is an excellent game as well for me. It normally goes for simplicity, but I still enjoy it bosses , the music and it lore. But as a fan of level design I considered underwhelming on retrospective and that it played too safe for my liking. Sometimes I wonder what they really wanted to do, because at first it has runbacks for instance, and then they start to alternate between nothing burger runbacks to have nothing. And for a linear game, it has a significant decrease of things like trap and puzzles compared to the previous game, which I could see it as a waste of potential, a linear game was the perfect game to exploit that. Dark Souls 2 is a game I really respect, but for my experience... Have you met a game that despite you know is really great, still doesn´t click to you even if you understand it? Thats what happens to me. Same as some people prefer slower games, I normally prefer faster challenges.Simple as that, im not fan of the pacing. DS2 ask you to be more methodical (althougt I really wished you couldn´t teleport at first using this approach), and a lot of bosses can be very gimmicky, which It comes to tastes ig, I was never a fan of neither. Im not convinced with Adapt either, is not a change I really see necesary, and sadly makes the game looks worse and provoqued the false accusation of particulary poor hitboxes.
Ds2 for me I love the way they brought it back the game is beautiful and it’s very fun once you get 100 agility you get the frames so you don’t get bs anymore
Overall I'd have to say 3. Smooth & refined combat. Weapon Arts add a new dimension to combat. Most consistent boss lineup, along with having a handful of some of the best bosses in the series. Honestly all three games are good for their own reasons and are worth repeat playthroughs imo.
My issues with 3 is that it's a bit nostalgia baiting, it feels like a "best of" album, which means you get a lot of the good, but it's also not a lot of new. As for the weapon arts, they were interesting, but FAR better realized in Elden Ring and looking back at them in Dark Souls 3, I barely ended up using a great deal of them, with only a few really good standouts.
This scoring was pretty good and fair but ill add a tiebreaker that is very obvious to anyone who nolifed these games dark souls 2 has BY FAR the best pvp also dark souls 2 had mochasun we win
I feel like the reason the spells/miracles are so bad in DS3 is because, if you try and do the opposite they become overpowered. We see this in Elden Ring as well, constant updates needed to change around spells. It makes them bounce across from overpowered to unviable over and over.
Yeah, it's a difficult thing to get right, especially when there are so many different spells to balance. I definitely lean more on the side of them being 'over' than 'under' powered though, makes the game more fun for every playstyle.
@@AndrewAung1992I mean regardless of the points u made it's a subjective opinion he's allowed to feel like it's the best ds I disagree I think it's the worst but it's his goofy opinion
@@AndrewAung1992 Healing through attacks is lame, And adds no risk to the healing mechanic in dark soul games. A lot of what you said is just generic parroting other people say to downplay Ds2. Like “Bad mechanics …. Ok?” ADP allows the player (you) to dictate how many i-frames you want in your rolls. (Also fast roll is a thing in this game so no excuse) Thats not a bad thing DS gamers don’t like it because it relies on the player on inputting perfectly meaning it actually forces you to get skilled at the game. ADP is only a flaw in your perspective because you don’t like it. Thats an opinion not a fact. As for Runbacks, they’re not that bad honestly, Ds1 has worse run backs personally. And a neat thing about Ds2 is after killing enemies enough times they’ll stop spawning. Bonfire Ascetics are cool mechanic that isn’t present in the other games. And NG + is actually unique in Ds2 thats adds different enemies in each subsequent new game ; as opposed to the other souls games where its the same play-through but enemies have more health and damage. Calling Ds2 a black sheep is like the pot calling the kettle black.
Man this made me wanna get back to finishing the DS games. The passion the fanbase have for these games is intense and infectious. DS2 just didn't click with me in the same way ds1 did. I've enjoyed a lot of the DS adjacent games like Sekiro but just never found the same love for the main series, largely because I was stuck on the idea of playing them in order and couldn't get into 2. Perhaps I shall dust off my copy of DS3 and see how I fare.
Ds1 is the best until Anor Londo imo, but after you get the lord vessel the game kinda falls off, the level design gets considerably worse, and the 4 lord soul bosses are meh at best(Nito, Seath), or just terrible (BoC and 4 kings) , the ending with Gwyn and the DLC does redeem it and makes it overall a great game, but it definetly has dip in quality in its second half. DS2 has all of its quirks, but im the type of guy who actually enjoys them, its probably my favorite, even with all of its flaws. DS3 is the only one i could never really enjoy that much, the bosses are fantastic, but i honestly dont remember enjoying a single area in the game, its also way too linear and feels almost like a boss rush, i also really dislike the greyed out color scheme of the game (yeah lore and whatnot, i still dont like it), good game, i just dont like it as much as 1 or 2. TLDR: DS2 GOATED, DS3 MID.
I mostly agree with you. The only gripe I really have is giving DS3 the lowest score in the balance category, let alone a 2; whenever, at least in terms of pure gameplay and mechanics, it’s objectively the most balanced of the three. Sure, magic isn’t as powerful as in the other two, but it was also stupid OP in the other two, to the point that it was an actual crutch. So that’s not really saying much, and it isn’t necessarily a bad thing. What DS3 did have going for it more than the other two though, and this is the biggest thing when it comes to balance imo (and it goes along with what I mentioned about gameplay and mechanics), is there was never really any points in the game that genuinely felt unfair. DS1 and DS2 obviously had much jankier combat with pretty poor hit boxes at times. The rolling was also obviously more limited in those games as well with DS1 only having 4-directional rolling while locked on, and DS2 being locked at 8-directional rolling all the time. DS3 in comparison felt much smoother and more polished in its movement and combat, and the hit boxes felt a lot more realistic. You didn’t find yourself getting hit by attacks that you felt you had no business being hit by nearly as often. You also didn’t really get stuck against enemies whenever they were launching attacks like in DS1 and DS2. Then there’s obviously bosses and levels. DS1 obviously had bosses like the Four Kings, which was basically a DPS race; Bed of Chaos, who was ridiculously bad and did massive damage along with having poor hit boxes; and Kalameet, who also had similar issues with dealing massive damage in addition to having bad hit boxes at times. DS2 had Ancient Dragon, Aava, and Royal Rat Authority; who all had bad hit boxes and dealt massive damage. In general both DS1 and DS2 has issues with bosses who had bad hit boxes and could basically instant kill you on top of that. Not to mention that they had some of the worst gank fights of all the games as well like Lud and Zallen, the Sanctuary Guardian duo, and the Pursuer duo. You could argue that those points would go under the boss category. However, as bosses are generally needed to actually progress through the game, and I’m referring specifically to how fair they actually felt, I think this should be under balance as well. And that’s not even mentioning some of the absolutely atrocious runbacks that some of the bosses had like Sir Alonne, Blue Smelter Demon, Seeth, and the Four Kings. Then there’s the levels. Levels like Tomb of Giants, Crystal Cave, New London Ruins, and Lost Izalith for DS1; or Frigid Outskirts, Shrine of Amana, Iron Keep, and Frozen Eleum Loyce for DS2. All areas which had at least one of these three things: few/no checkpoints, large ganks of enemies, or lots of environment hazards. Nowhere in DS3 ever felt as much BS as being ganked and stun locked to death by those bonewheel skeletons in DS1, or being ganked by those reindeer in DS2. Then there were other things, like DS1 being far more unforgiving whenever you died, because of having less bonfires; and not being able to fast travel for half of the game, and then only being able to fast travel to select areas even whenever it did become available. Also only being able to kill certain enemies with specific weapons, like the ghosts and skeletons. Or in DS2, requiring consumable items to progress through certain areas in the game, which were very limited in quality in each playthrough, even though there were plenty of statues to use them on and the game wasn’t really direct about which ones were needed. Plus getting interrupted, trapped, and usually killed if an enemy hit you while you were in the animation of entering a fog wall.
To be fair it wasn’t difficult to kill Ghosts or Skeletons without cursed or divine weapons that was just things that gave you more incentive to use them. DS1 grants you generous Estus Flasks meaning that it expects you to manage them effectively through areas and boss fights alike otherwise you’d breeze bosses too easily with full flasks imo. I like having to earn fast travel and the huge amount of shortcuts and limited enemies between most bonfires makes travelling feel (mostly) fair and made me more attached the games level and world design. It would’ve been nice if you could warp to any bonfire with the Lord vessel though. If we’re talking about bad Souls areas I’m surprised you left out Black Gulch. Honestly the worst thing I’ve ever seen. I’m personally not keen on Dreg Heap either but I’ll admit that it’s more fair than some DS1 and DS2 areas. DS3 has shortcomings in the boss department too though and the lack of options of where to go in the early game leaves the start feeling quite boring on repeat playthroughs as you have few options at that point for equipment and spells. I think DS3 could be overly generous with bonfire placements and the weight/poise stats were kinda thrown out the window, warping to the hub to level up each time is kinda tedious, durability is pointless, armour stats are pointless, and it rarely felt worth using big weapons over fast ones as enemies had limited poise and Straight Swords and Twinblades would just rinse everything. NPC quests felt a little rehashed at times and the magic bar makes lots of spells highly exploitable whereas they at least had limited uses in the last games. DS3 is great, I like it more than DS2 but it has its fare share of shortcomings too. Iframes were so generous that you often just roll forwards to evade any boss attack.
@@lukefitton7329 Yeah I feel you. I’m not saying that DS1 is completely unfair, I just feel like it (along with DS2) have more points that feel blatantly unfair than DS3 does. Especially when it comes to pure gameplay, DS3 just feels the most balanced to me. In terms of the ghosts and skeletons, killing them without those weapons may have not been outright difficult, but definitely tedious. Especially getting ganked by those ghosts in an area that was already like 90% surrounded by environment hazards - a pretty reoccurring thing throughout DS1, such as with the archers in Anor Londo, as well as the Painting Guardians on the ceiling above the painting in Anor Londo - and also those Bonewheel Skeletons; which, for as much as poise was made out to be superior in DS1, made poise feel nonexistent. And yeah, it’s true that DS1 was pretty generous overall with the Estus Flask uses giving you up to 20 in total, but you still had to use a ton of humanities to kindle all of the bonfires until you got that many uses; and it required a specific item that was lost on every NG cycle. DS3 at least made you only have to find all of the Estus Shards once, and after you gave them to Andre, you always had that number of uses no matter what bonfires you rested at. Having to earn fast travel was okay for a first playthrough, but after that it just became tedious having to wait until after Ornstein and Smough every time to get it. Especially since it still wasn’t even available at a lot of the bonfires. And believe me, Black Gulch is on that list as well; as are Sen’s Fortress, Chasm of the Abyss, Catacombs, Brightstone Cove Tseldora, No Man’s Wharf, and others. I just didn’t want to drag the list on. But yeah, I’m not saying that DS3 is perfect by any means, but the things that are issues with it are mostly things that either seem pointless, or too generous; like you said. Even the bosses that aren’t considered good, are mostly super easy and are only really disliked because people either find them boring or simply don’t like their design. I won’t argue that DS3 is overall generous on bonfire placement, but I would still much prefer having too much as opposed to having too little, and I like that fast travel is available right away, and for any bonfire that’s been unlocked. The poise wasn’t as good in general, but as I said before, DS1 had some enemies and bosses that made its own poise feel useless anyway. Having to return to the hub area to level up, I won’t argue with. You should’ve been able to do it at bonfires like in DS1. I will say though that it hardly feels like DS1 really had any other choice but to do it that way considering that bonfires were far less in quantity and more spread out, and most importantly that you couldn’t actually fast travel until the halfway point of the game. Durability was pointless, but at least not an inconvenience. I’ll have to disagree on the big weapons though. Dex weapons like the Twinblades were definitely the meta in the game, but quite a few of the big weapons were great, and they were extremely useful against any NPC-like enemies who had lower poise. Even against larger bosses with high poise, they were great overall because of how effective they were at breaking their poise. As for the FP bar, I get what you mean, but a lot of the spells used up a good chunk of it, which meant that you were going through your Ashen Estus Flasks pretty quick. Not to mention that the bar was also directly tied to weapon arts. So you would’ve had to invest quite a bit into it if you truly wanted to exploit sell usage. And even then, if you wanted to use it to the full extent, you would’ve had to give up some Estus Flask uses. Which imo is really just another testament to DS3 being more balanced overall. DS1 gave you a set number of uses for each spell, which could increase through leveling up attunement, along with having all of your Estus Flask uses. And with the spells being stupid OP in general. I agree that I-frames were generous overall, but I would still take generous I-frames over I-frames that were effective half the time and ineffective the other half; and a roll that often had to be in one specific direction, otherwise you were either getting hit and taking damage, or getting stuck in the boss’s attack animation and taking damage regardless. Plus another thing that was an issue with DS1, which I forgot to mention, was how jumping was tied to the same button used for sprinting; which meant that you couldn’t actually roll while sprinting. Another feature that was often times compromising.
@@handzofstone1152 overall you make good points that I agree with and I’ll keep this response somewhat short. I still feel like DS3 fast weapons are a lot stronger than big ones but I won’t deny that Greatswords and hammers etc are still fun to use, in DS1 you can reconfigure your jump button (though I’ll admit it’s not good by default), I think Ds1 gets away with four way rolling as its slower enemies would be trivialised by more freedom in movement imo and I really don’t like how rolling is just way too strong in DS3 both in terms of Iframes and low stamina consumption. DS1 has worse hit boxes easily but guarding is always a viable option for most of them but rolling is an absurdly strong option in DS3 almost regardless of what your build is since even mid rolls are very fast and equip load is hard to reach heavy with. The multi-purpose Humanity system was awesome imo (it could’ve been better explained a little bit) and I think they were easy enough to earn through fixed item positions and drops that kindling an important bonfire once is still more than enough, I’m not a fan of how DS3 Embers work in comparison but I’ll grant that it’s more welcoming for new players. Also I like Sen’s Fortress a lot. Overall I think I like DS1 over DS3 generally because I think that what DS1 does well it does incredibly well whether it’s the different experience in each playthrough, the secrets, the atmosphere, the NPC’s, the Lore, the ambient music for certain zones, the fun and somewhat goofy bestiary rather than everything looking edgy or badass, the immersive positioning of enemies and items being there for lore purposes (mostly) etc. especially for its time and what it did for Fromsoftware and the series. But I’ll admit that DS1’s flaws stare you in the face more than DS3’s. For DS3 it basically comes down to a bunch of nitpicks. It’d be nice to have an improved DS1 late game with the cut content included.
Ds2 for me had the best world to explore with so many beautiful views, ds1 for me had the best level design, ds3 for me had best bosses, out of these ds2 is my favourite it was consistent a great experience
I really appreciate that dude thanks! As my first time approaching topics which are genuinely pretty contentious, getting my reasoning straight and understandable is something that I tried my best to convey, I'm glad you're into it!
I feel like your critique of Dark Souls 2 world misses a bit of the point of both world and story, because you hear from sevreral people about the world itself feeling unreliable, that it is crazy, or untrustworthy to traverse it.
Almost guaranteed that a video with this title is going to tell the silly masses what they want to hear though, that is how you get likes and subscriptions.
@Skobeloff... yeah for real, if we compare earnest reviews of DS2 on its own they don't get that many views. Also I think he was respectful enough and all three of the games are great, I just don't agree with hid his score on the measure when it sounds like he missed the point of the story in the game and world design from that story
It's public knowledge that they tried to make a huge open world game that in the end would be impossible on that gen of consoles so they quickly patched up the game with zones they've already finished. Just because they written some dialogue into the game that says "it's meant to be there" does not make it good. I would give them props for making a quite good game after all that shit that happened but pretending thst it's some genius world design is laughable
the way i see it ds1: a masterpiece that started it (in a good way, i absolutely dont like demons souls) ds2: the best (although a bit janky) ds3: the safe option because theres nothing bad in this game but nothing too great hate me all you like
I find it difficult to agree that magic and miracles in DS3 are terrible. Yes, compared to DS2 for the first glance there is a difference, although I feel DS3 inclines the player to use them strategically rather than just spamming. Talismans give you extra pose if you activate their special skill and you can literally nuke enemies with your wrath of the gods, same with lightning stake. Let's not forget about the lighting arrow miracle! It's literally the panic attack ability - you conjure up the electric bow and while just holding it you simply observe how the enemy player goes through the meltdown. But I think I get your point - they do not as much damage and do not cause as much carnage as all spells from previous games... Forbidden Sun from DS2 could destroy most enemies in 2 hits.
@@luke_of_astora Yeah, early game mage was a thing in DS1 and DS2. DS3 you were forced to melle combat until you get better spells. But once I got my combo of spells, I was pure INT char - obscuring the view with Freezing mist and bombarding others with Crystal Souls Spears. If they got close, I had that magic longsword thing. When it comes to miracles - it was a tanky priest - heavy armour plus extra buff poise from talisman so I could ram people with lighting spears and stakes. But, again - that's in late game.
dark souls 3, the game is just perfect in every way as I could have never expect. The art direction, the bosses, the ost, Its just perfect to me. DS3 is special and I always rank it as the 1st of Souls games IMO.
Hot take over here: Bluepoint should remake DS2 like they did with Demonsouls & fix all the crap they rushed towards the end especially the volcano elevator. DS2 was my 1st Souls game. Then I went back to ds1, demonsouls, Bloodborne my favorite & then was there day 1 for DS3 & the rest that follow. Excellent work & you sparked my flames to jump back into DS1 & 2. It’s time I get the platinum trophy on these 2
If Bluepoint 'remade' ds2 they would do the exact same thing they did with demons souls, which is overhaul the games visuals to make it uglier, while leaving the broken and terrible mechanics unchanged. This just results in another pointless bloat of a remake that ultimately does nothing. Devoid of any sort of innovation. I would argue ds2 is not rushed. It has the most solid and well thought out mechanics, including the most fleshed out multiplayer systems. The iron peak elevator is a deliberate choice to invoke the feelings and themes the game is trying to convey. The concepts of confusion, loss of memory, mystery etc
DS1 - King of Atmosphere and World Depth. Punishing and obscure, but fair. DS2 - Reparations for all the errors in DS1 partially at the cost of what made it so great, but laid the groundwork for the future with most of it's experiments. Remarkably accessible thanks to ADP (optional), enemy de-spawns (optional), easier stories to understand/jump into; and offers the greatest replayability with altered NG+ cycles and Bonfire Ascetics, along with massive build variety. DS3 - Atmosphere is excellent, but the Bosses are king here. Back to back bangers in almost every level. The combat (in melee) is unparalleled, excluding the uncle Bloodborne and Son Elden Ring.
It’s so subjective ds1 is so open and has so many ways to circumnavigate through and get back to where you want and no game has had such a profound impact on me since. I still play it regularly got 1000s of hours in it. Ds2 is either love or hate I disliked everything about it for the first 20 hours but once it clicked with me I feel in love with it and again I’ve put not as many hours in as ds1 but it’s closer 900 or so. Ds3 is by far the easier of the 3 and I loved every moment of the first play through but on replaying it only on the second play through I got bored with how linear it is that said it’s the most polished and smooth of the 3 just easy and boring. I want to say ds1 but that’s what everyone says it’s ds2 for me.
Dark Souls 1 was the first game of the trilogy, I played and I played Dark Souls 3 after that. The world of Dark Souls 1 is just perfect. The bosses weren't that good, but it's still my personal favourite. Dark Souls 3's bosses were pretty good, but most of them were a little bit too easy. I beat most of the bosses in under 5 tries. Dark Souls 1 has a perfect world and atmosphere that makes it my favourite. The bosses weren't that good, but it had some really good ones, like Four Kings, Ornstein and Smough and (DLC:) Artorias and Manus Dark Souls 3 has an okay world and good bosses, but they never really challenged me and I beat most of them on my 1st or 2nd try. It had some really good bosses, like Nameless King, (which was probably the hardest for me) Soul of Cinder and the Twin Princes. Soul of Cinder and Twin Princes were a little too easy for me, since I beat them in like 3 tries. Dark Souls 3 being so easy might have been because of build. I picked Mercenary as my class, so I used the twinblades, which I think is a very good weapon. I think both are fantastic games, but I like DS1 more.
Dark Souls 1 was the original and it had more nuanced mechanics that have never been replicated and world design is unmatched. Edit: Dark Souls 3 is garbage compared to the first one. World design was super lazy, they nerfed everything instead of balancing and it properly.
Blighttown 💀, Lost Izalith 💀, Duke’s Archives 💀, and don’t get me started on Tomb of the Giants, Nerfed Everything? Maybe learn on how to make a proper build??? Git Gud? Ever heard of that phrase?
@_____Shadow_____ I have platinum trophied every souls game, Bloodborne, sekiro and Elden Ring. I "got gud" in 2011 boy. Lost Izilalith is about the only area in DS1 that was bland, but it also still fit the lore. Sounds like you're the one who needs to learn to play if you're complaining about the more difficult locations. 🤣😂
@ oh yeah 10 fps is truly difficult by design 😂, you see I have played all of those games as well, but if you can’t invest stats properly and then complain about balancing, can you really do so?
This is probably just my problem but the original ds1 has absolutely the best looking bonfire, I have no idea why they changed it in the other games, in ds1 bonfire was totaly magical now its just a fire
DS1 > Demon Souls > DS3 > DS2 the poise mechanics in DS1 are the best of the lot DS3 while slightly more fluid in combat... honestly feels identical to DS1 ... cept any minor nick and cut will punish your unless you are trading with a heavy 2H weapon
Lol, Demon's Souls is an overly linear corridor sim. You are probably just a contrarian and like Majora's Mask more than OoT, which is simply incorrect.
I want to love DS3 as much as I loved DS1, but it has a couple things that make it hard for me. The item icons in DS1 are big which is a bit inconvenient to scroll through, but the grid in DS3 feels cluttered and overwhelming to me. Keyboard and mouse controls worked perfectly in DS1 but were extremely bugged in DS3. Having your character constantly running forward after you've let go of w isn't the most playable. Maybe these can be remedied with mods, I'm just not super familiar with the DS3 modding scene.
Yeah, you can slide down ladders in DS1. It is the exact opposite of what you would think though. You have to stop completely, then press the button to slide.
@@Domo3000 I'd recall that only happens if you have dsfix and 60fps enabled. Could be that it happens also on remastered though, which would further rise the question of why they even bothered to remaster the game without actually fixing anything.
I disagree with you on two points and they both are in regards to Dark Souls 1. Now before saying my first disagreement I'm going to say that I believe that it is possibly due to you playing the remastered version of the game. The issue I have is that the OG/prepare to die versions of Dark Souls1 had very cohesive visuals that kind of fall apart in the remaster. Most people know about the animation bugs but my main concern is about the topic you mentions, about how going to different areas can provoke huge changes in the ambient light of the game. In the Og and prepare to die version there was also some type of filter or something, I can't quite explain it, it might have simply been palate choice but there were so many areas that if I just stood there for a second I could tell that I was looking at something that had been made specifically in the concept art. Are after area after area all looked like a painting with balanced color and composition. Myself I come from the art world and Dark Souls 1 had a deliberateness and visual consistency that I feel like only Bloodborne recaptured. I will also admit to probably being the only person who liked the chromatic aberration in Bloodborne but, again, I come from the art world and I love the extra style and mystique. My second point of disagreement come from the controls in Dark Souls 1. I get it, everyone think the 4 directional rolling is limiting when you are locked on but that's the thing, you have full control when you are not locked on and it's not that much slower than dark souls3 and in fact 2 was by far the slowest. When I play Dark Souls 1 I'm rarely locked on and nearly always 2handing my weapon with just enough poise to not be knocked around by arrows. Played that way your rolls travel far and you get even a few more s and if you're rolling unlocked you have far more movement options than DS2. I also really liked the overs-wing mechanic in DS1 that no other game used. Essentially certain heavier weapons leave you a little wide open with a stagger animation if you miss. The reward for this was extra damage. So certain weapons like the clubs and halberds out performed in damage but made up for it with the higher risk. No other game had that mechanic and I felt that that created more sameness among the weapons, which against made DS1 distinct among the pack. Finally, while I'll admit that DS1 has a few bosses that are a little limp, they often make up for it with creative character designs, like ceaseless discharge or the moonlight butterfly. Moonlight butterfly feels mystical even if the fight is wimpy. Pinwheel is a compelling character even if the fight doesn't push back on a leveled character or Paladin Leeroy. All in all the cohesiveness of Dark Souls 1 puts it in a class of it's own for me with DS 2 and 3 going back and forth for 2nd place(with 3 usually winning)
Loved your notes from an artistic standpoint dude! I'm not well educated in that world so I did just try to work with what I felt had the most significant impact on me visually from each game. Also I'm a pretty big fan of the weight that the 'heavy' weapons in DS1 have too! It makes landing your blows all the more satisfying when you get better recovery to top it off.
The remastered Demon Souls is the best of the early titles but Dark Souls 3 runs it close for getting the game mechanics ready for Elden Ring. Which goes to show the first 2 Dark Souls could get a Resident Evil job done to them- clunky but charming.
liking and commenting because it was a good video. but also cause i need to disagree with you :) ds1 is the best, ds3 has better bosses over all and the combat is more fluid, but ds1 is better in every other way by a larger margin imo. i would agree with your take on ds2, however. i believe it really is under rated by the fan base. it does so many things well, just to get hate because of clunky combat and ADP. any really cool video, you should do the same thing but for demon souls, bloodborne, and sekiro since they are 'souls universe' but aren't tied blatantly together. itd be neat
I personally think that adding too much color isn’t good for Dark Souls’ aesthetic. I hate DS2’s visual style, it doesn’t fit with the setting. Washed out color palettes are perfect for this setting, with the few dashes of color being magic and fire.
Dark souls 2 had a literal recreation 2 different games twice the fun same game different enemies item placement very similar very fun played both versions scholar and non scholar
Was introduced into soulsgames via ds3 and while I can see some of the appeal for ds1 or 2 I'm just too spoiled in terms of boss quality which for me is by far the most important aspect. Ds3 is prbl always gonn abe my favorite soulsgame, maybe even just favorite game ever (only real contender being Sekiro)
control wise 3 wins, 1 is slightly better than 2, for games made at that time 1 and 2 aren't terrible, but i hate replaying them after elden ring because of their poor controls i think 3 had the best individual levels. Exploring the entire high wall and multiple ways to get down to the ground is fun, same with duke's archives going upward instead. where it fails is integrating those levels with each other. Much like DS2 which had no synergy between locations, DS3 feels like we are just teleporting from one area to the next. they should've had a way to cross back into the undead settlement from farron swamp over the broken bridge. I know it wouldn't have served a purpose like it did in DS1 because teleporting is unlocked from the start, but at least people could claim the world was more connected which is what DS1 is praised for the most. honestly, DS1 is the most expansive and well thought out world but the loss of that after the lord vessel unlocks teleporting and the "rushed" game design means it wins on only 1/4 criteria DS3 wins on 2/4 and DS2 while not exactly a bad game, was never going to outshine any of the others.
10:49 Did he just say ds2 has a bad character creator? the ds2 character Creator is one of the best we've had. I'd say it's tied with Elden Ring for the best
Ptde can’t be replicated and I don’t feel 2 or 3 hold a candle to it obviously they’re all mechanicaly different but the world and how we traverse it in 1 is what makes it’s better than the rest
Let me just say… it’s the best all around but some of the others are just more satisfying to play and more fulfilling I’m not saying Elden ring isn’t but I just think some of the others are more fulfilling
DS1 best lore/atmosphere DS2 versitile weapons/pvp DS3 boss fights/estus and ember mechanics IMO The best souls is often the first you have played, mine was ds2
Haha it'd be difficult to do that with my current setup but when the emulator's more stable I would love to cover Bloodborne, thanks for the love madhattress!
Although just as subjective as virtually everything else here, nowhere is 'fun factor' weighed into this. The closest thing is where the creator discusses balance while missing that the abusable and easily over powered builds in dark souls 1 is part of what makes it fun, where nerfing everything to the ground and turning every enemy into a sponge is arguable not fun, but good balance. I don't see any way to really compare these three games in a fair way (I like how the creator acknowledges this). One and three are so far apart that that DS3 feels like a remastered/reimagining of DS1, and DS2 feels like it should have been a different series altogether, shoehorned into the dark souls franchise by namco bandai.
Idk man, trying to be objective with this is hard. Sure DS3 is buttery smooth and more streamlined. But no game has ever made me FEEL the same way DS1 makes me feel. Lost magic in that one.
I completely agree, That's why I tried to cast a wide net with my discussion and make sure I touch on topics that each game can shine in!
Also you're absolutely right, I'd be surprised if any game could recapture what the first half of Dark Souls did, totally timeless.
i had that w/Ds2 (it was my first souls i picked it up 10 days after release )i played it till 5am the night before we flew to san juan for vacation.The heides tower fake orenstein was a roadblock at that time😂😂😂😂😂-and we i came home and immediately downloaded Des onto my ps3 and went to gamestop to buy Ds for 16$ .Ds2 had blew my mind and i needed souls content like a heroin addict.i mean i hadnt even gotten 25% thru ds2 and i bought the 2 othere😂😂😂😂😂these games can be lifechanging
If you played DS1 first, then that tracks. You would not as likely have that same feeling of "magic" about the first one if you got your start with DS2 or DS3.
@@JJ-qo7th actually the order in which I played the games was Bloodborne, Sekiro, DS3, then DS1.
I don't think so, object just means ignore how you feel about something and talk about what's actually there. When I talk about the abysmal Ai in Dark Souls 2, that is a thing that exists and isn't subjective. There's a boss that outright kills themselves that people use to farm Souls, there are NPC invaders that can't see through ladders, there's various pathing issues with mobs in areas they obviously weren't meant to be in. You don't have to be a developer to see these things and those are objective criticisms. So if you want to be objective, never end an observation with "but it didn't bother me" or "I didn't think it was that bad" or "I never saw that when I played", because that's when it gets subjective.
Ds1 is my favorite. Like many other people are saying, theres just some magic, some beautiful feeling of playing the game that no other souls game has given me. It gave me a similar feeling to playing skyrim and oblivion for the first time.
There is something just... enchanting about how it's the first in a lot of instances. I know Demon's Souls is technically THE first for these games, and I love Demon's Souls, it's kinda tied for second place in my heart next to Bloodborne, surprisingly. Dark Souls 1 was just that spark that got this whole bonfire going.
How do you not have more subs?? Excellent analysis, bro! Very excited to see more from your channel
I love the energy dude!
I'm still learning the ropes and finding my place at the moment, so even a little encouragement goes a long way! ❤
@ I absolutely would’ve expected to see 50K+ subs man, you’re killing it!
On the video itself, I loved your attention to detail & the objectivity of your takes. Not an easy thing to do in the Souls community!
I think part of what makes DS3's world feel "right" is that it's a linear experience set in a connected world, you can still see everything from everywhere, and there's lots of parts where the world loops back not functionally but stylistically that I think makes it work.
Or something like that... Maybe
One of the things that I personally like about DS1 and DS2 is the how the world feels. You can go down different paths and the world actually opens up. Sure DS2 doesn't make sense at times, but that's the charm of it. DS3 feels like I'm walking down a path with 2 little forks in the road with some cool things to see on the way to end, but no real side tangents other than Arch Dragon Peak, The Demon Ruins, and the Unttended Graves. DS3 has the best combat hand down as well as the bosses. DS1 and 2 are clunky, but that good kind of clunky. I could probably keep ranbleing on different parts of the games that I enjoy and ones that are worse. But overall, Its a tie between DS1 and 2 for me.
One thing I disagree with you on DS2's story/world is that it's supposed to be super disconnected from the original with only bits and pieces connecting it to it. A lot of the world is just repurposed by other kingdoms/rulers pulling bits and pieces to their cultures. Item entires that are ambiguous about who they are representing show how much time has passed. Even statues of Gywn in the blue Cathedral have eagle heads A perfect example is Have's armor which states "The origin of the name Havel is not clear. Some say it was the warrior who wore the armor, but others say it was the name of a great kingdom ruined in a barbaric war". That just my two cents. Great video overall!
DS3 is literally straight paths with some empty big areas in between.
There are also barely if any actual half-circular paths.
Dark souls 2 will always be the best for me. It had the balls to be different and it asks you different questions.
And not just that it presents itself very differently with the beginning and the firekeepers telling you how your memory might not be as reliable as you thought.
yes!
@@babyjuggalo6991 too many people fail to appreciate it.
This dude literally gave it 2 points because of that in the world section. This dude wants all the games to be the same lmao. I played the series in order and i was incredibly disappointed with dark souls 3 because of this, i thought it would be far more unique, but it's just a lazy alternative linear less immersive dark souls 1. Feels more like a reboot than a sequel.
@@mate8115 yep, ds3 sucks
The local complexities of the areas are present on all through DS2, being enhanced on the DLC. I think it is the game that did it the best. At the expense of the global map complexities from 1.
My personal favorite is Dark Souls II, but Demon’s Souls is the most slept on in the extended series.
I think I prefer it specifically because of the variety of viable builds available. Especially with the amazing spells and power-stancing weapons of different types, two playthroughs usually look and feel nothing alike.
Terrible taste in games
Love dark souls 2
It’s by far the most innovative in the series. Dark Souls 2 is slept on by so many. Perfect blend of the tactical slow approach from DS1 and the speed of DS3.
@@jarlwhiterun7478 Terrible cock taste
Demon's Souls is criminally slept on and I personally think the PS3 version is the superior experience.
Dark souls 2 world is made so much better when you understand the art direction. The reason why the world feels so strange and impossible with its level layout is because that’s exactly how it is supposed to make you feel. The story is more focused on the affects of the undead curse and one of the side affects of hollowing is forgetting how you ended up somewhere and not really knowing why. It’s out right stated as such a couple times throughout the game one of which being in the opening cutscene. It’s an artistic choice and a good way to immerse the player the confusion of the player character has been feeling since he entered drangliec. It’s my personal favorite for that reason and even dark souls 3 took some notes when you look at the Dreg heap. None of that makes sense realistically. I think Dark Souls 2s world deserves more points personally
I would give it more points as well. It's funny, people on both sides of this topic (DS2 is unfinished vs. DS2 is deliberately strange) cite the exact same interview, and the exact same question in said interview when they talk about how confusing DS2's world is. The truth is really somewhere between the two poles; time constraints caused them to take that direction. Given more time some of the geographical strangeness would have been made clearer, according to Tanimura. And according to the art director, his name escapes me, they still wanted the world to feel curious and fantastical.
@@michaelcarroll5801his name is Daisuke Satake, the art director
It's publicly known fact that the development was a shit show and they had to patch the game together with maps they've made before the overhaul. The reason why the world doesn't fit together is because it was never mean to. Iron Keep isn't on top of the windmill, the connecting area was never made because they didn't have time.
I have to give them credit for making a an okay game after all that shit but pretending like it wad the point of the game is just wrong. Dark Souls 3 is the one where worlds collide, not DS2.
@@gamefan987 Open your eyes, sometimes human error can make beautiful things.
@@Rotunder It's funny that you are telling me to open my eyes while it's DS 2 fanboys who have them closed just so they can pretend that the game is a hidden masterpiece. It's not, it's easily the worst souls game. Which is pretty good, don't get me wrong but it is the worst.
Developers was a shit show and I applaud them for making at least a mid game out of that mess. But that's all, solid game, nothing more
Dark Souls 2 dared to try something a little different and built its own unique vibe. Dark Souls 3 is the most refined, building on everything learned from the previous games with some of the most fun boss fights in the FromSoft catalogue.
But for me Dark Souls 1 just hit its themes and emotions so perfectly. The others have their moments. Seeing Majula for the first time was beautiful and hearing that plin plin plon during Soul of Cinder was an amazing moment. But none of the others made me feel as much and in the same way that Dark Souls 1 did. And that's why it's my favourite.
Ds1 is the best for me it kickstarted it all and it’s just so well designed and I love both endings
From time to time I think about how much better blacksmithing was in DS2 and that I rarely hear it come up, but it's potentially more relevant to a 'testing things' character than it is to lore or straightforward builds
Being able to get Titanite slabs more or less infinitely in a single NG cycle was a blessing I miss heavily in the other games
@@Fadsy yeah 2 did make the blacksmith system way better, in demons souls it was really hard for a new player and 1 was also tough to find out to make boss souls
If i took anything away from this video, its that more people need to play more ds2, desperately.
Yes
Play everything overlooked, learn more.
Most people are followers though
As good as DS2 is there are major flaws of the game. I played DS2 for 100 hours and then DS3 for 100 hours. I want to say DS2 is better, however if you do the same you will notice the differences between 2 to 3 and why 3 is the better game.
@@AndrewAung1992 DS3 is a very vanilla experience, it lacks depth, and creativity, it has no... soul.
The graphics and handling are better than the other souls games, because it is newer.
Good video bro. Only played dark souls 3 so it’s my favorite lol
I appreciate it dude!
Dark Souls 3 was the game that REALLY got me into the series, the more modern mechanics make it so much more approachable, but learning it is also a great foundation for going back and appreciating the earlier entries too!
Same here, only played DS3 and consider it tied for the most fun I've had playing a game with the Halflife 2 series. I'm watching a DS1 playthrough right now just to get an idea of what it was like, but don't really have much desire to play it. At least yet.
At the end of the day, if you've *actually* played them all in their entirety, you love & hate each one in their own way. I can think of so many moments between all of them where im ready to pack it in (Lost Izalith, Shrine of Amana, Smouldering Lake, literally any DLC add filled area) only to find myself completely enamored down the line by the satisfaction of tying everything together. & that is the beauty of it all. You're either a favortism virgin or a chad sum of all enjoyer.
I only half agree, people can have favourites for their own reasons. DS2 has more replay value, DS3 has a faster pace, DS1 has the design of the first half of the game.
Excellent analysis of the series. algorithm gods please share this amazing video
I appreciate the love dude!!!
Dark souls 1 was the game that got me into fromsoftwares games entirely
It really did cure my depression with its Dark yet fascinating story telling and its interconnected lands at one point you can be at this undead burg but then you can find an underground lake of ash that shocks and awes you
Dark souls 1 truly is the one
I feel the same because there was just too much jank that effected my enjoyment of Dark Souls 2, and Dark Souls 3 felt like it nostalgia baited too hard in the base game.
I love dark souls 2 the most. I never understood the hate for ADP. I only use that stat for tanky characters.
ADP is so good and have more complexity than just roll frames, and the stuff you get in ADP aside from Poise you can get from ATN, and so if you're making a sorcery build, get both and have so many i-frames and casting speed, item speed you're practically a ghost
but the proplem is it isnt told that it increases s
I only ever start levelling ADP when I get into the DLC, meanwhile 10 million tweens whining about ADP
@@Skobeloff... bro adp is not a good system still just because someone can beat the game without leveling it it doesnt make it good
@@Terminator-py9fi sis adp is not a bad system just because circle jerkers on reddit says it is. I never understood the hate, it is just a stat, you don't have to level any particular stat up, you benefit from the ones that you do. I don't hear people constantly whining about resistance in DS1
I played ds2 last out of the three games, and its always been my favorite, but I definitely know its not the best
nah it's the best
DS2 is the best, DS3 is the most polished due to being the newest, but is very vanilla, DS1 is currently the most overrated.
@@Skobeloff... 100% true
@@Skobeloff... Overrated? I think ds1 is amazing!
@@bushdudebro it is indeed amazing but it is also overrated
I recently finished shadow of the erdtree, after that I played and finished DS3 + DLCs (it was my first time). Then I decided to play something a little bit older and classic, so I picked DS1 Remastered. The first thing that I started noticing was how charming and charismatic it was compared to DS3. Everything felt like it had that type of aura, it felt more immersive and interesting. After a couple hours I found myself struggling with the gargoyles and in general with some enemies, which was weird to me because I had just finished DS3 and ER and I didn't had that much trouble with those games beside a few bosses that were meant to be hard. I thought to myself "man, I don't think I'll finish this game, it feels so slow and clunky". After a few more tries, I beat the gargoyles. I still felt that the game was just way clunkier and slower... But then I realized that it wasn't a bad thing and saw the beauty of it. I had to think more carefully about every move that I made. Most enemies/bosses are also slow or predictable, I just had to adapt that way of playing.
One of the best things to me about DS1 is the world design (I know, nothing new). It just made the game feel like an adventure, a journey. I know some people dislike the second half of the game but I didn't find it that dislikable (I actually liked it as much as the first half). Overall I just think the game is way more memorable than DS3... And don't get me wrong I love DS3. The average person will probably enjoy it more because it feels more modern, smoother and linear, but it just doesn't live up to what DS1 is.
My personal favorite is Dark Souls II as well, and I would massively downrate the "area" value for DS1, since you have:
- sometimes a bad bonfire/shortcut placement and frequency
- unfinished things like demon ruins copy&paste area
- bulls**t areas like crystal caves (the invisible bridges...)
In comparison to that, almost all the areas in DS2 and DS3 are somehow beautiful, nicely playable and somehow immersive. 2-4-4 if you ask me.
DS2 immersive bro what about that transition to iron keep 😭 I know it’s a game but wtf (Dw DS2 my fav souls game)
@@thatoneguy7388its immersive if you pretend to be like your character, losing memories due to the curse
@@TheJungIeDragon Fr that intro had me hooked I literally love that we finally got to see why we hollow and fuck the fire let me do my own shit
@@thatoneguy7388 The transition to dragon's aerie as well.
There are more areas that would stick one in another, I think, and it confused me a lot in the beginning.
The areas themselves are cool.
About those connections: In the end it is like Drancleic is painted as a dream world, an unreal one. Everything is possible, and I don't know, after playing it through roughly 7 times, I must admit that it feels absolutely right this way.
You know, "perhaps you've seen it, maybe in a dream".
@@BaerndXP yeah, these nonsensical connections and overlapping areas were created deliberately.
Here's a quote from the Design Works interview:
"Next we move onto The Iron Keep, although many people found the fact that these locations were linked to be something of a mystery."
Art Director Daisuke Satake: "Of course, conventional wisdom would place magma underground but when you start to consider this lake and realize that there must be a reason for it being there, then the world becomes a little more interesting. I tried to implement ideas like this throughout the game, to give the player something curious and unexpected."
Here's a video about it I made: ua-cam.com/video/GOpVOFJwGXI/v-deo.htmlsi=S6XAqnPq0tMSePQQ
DS1, DS2, DeS. It's impossible for me to decide wich is, and they all share first place. DS1 as a piece of art, and emotional rollercoaster, DS2 as a very innovative and moody expierience, and DeS as stright up survival horror by structure. They all do the same thing but with different tools.
P.S. Story is the weirdes section of the video. Considering how you constructed the narrative (beginning, consequences, end) there shoudn't be any score. All three games handles this particular consepts very well, and from my perspective all shoud get no score\highest score. The only game wich can get pat on the head is DS2 coz it shows much more intimate part of the curse, more personal, wich is absence in both other games.
I totally see where you're coming from!
I tried to base the 'story' section on how much the narrative is directly conveyed to the player and how well that's executed when it's done, which I think Dark Souls 2 did the best, though in hindsight it may have been fairer to give Dark Souls 1+3 a four and Dark Souls 2 a five for the sake of giving each game more credit.
I appreciate your thoughts dude!
I think an interesting part about why DS2 is so different is because its designer was the producer of the old King's Field trilogy. Thus, it's not surprising why it has a more methodical approach to level design, variety of items and all. They're integral King's Field tropes, as I would say that Miyazaki leans more on elements which emphasise action and combat specifically, especially from Bloodborne onwards.
Dark Souls 2 is the best Dark Souls!
💯💯💯💯
Very refreshing to see a open an honest review of these games.... The result is also something I expected from the moment I saw you being honest about Dark souls 2's mechanics.
All 3 of these games are roughly the same in quality, differentiating them only by personal preference. Which just highlights how well designed all of them are and flawed at the same time.
I have beaten DS1, Beaten Dark souls 2, Multiple times and it's my favourite...And while I personally prefer the methodical and slow gameplay of Ds1 and Ds2, because of this Ds3 pisses me off with how fast paced and Reaction based it is (Not helping that I have horrible reflexes).. I am still trying to Finish Dark souls 3, because I want to give my due respects to the game and the Series that I love, even if I never return to it after
Ds1 is easily the worst for me. I never felt the "magic" in it, and to this day, I don't enjoy playing it.
Ds2 Is my favorite in terms of world/lore and by virtue of invading being my favorite thing in all of gaming. Drangelic is such an interesting land and I love that we are exploring another nameless kingdom in a long line of fire fading.
Ds3 takes it for gameplay, level design, and ost for me. For a few of you who don't know, level design and world design are two different things.
Prefacing by saying that different things gel or don't gel with different people and there's nothing wrong with that. That's the nature of art. But I think there's also value in knowing where others are coming from even if you don't agree or don't feel the same way.
For me the magic of Dark Souls 1 is in the feelings it evokes. It's full of BS, often isolating, and a lot of times feels hopeless and bleak. Moments had me questioning why my character was doing what he was doing, whether it was right, whether the sense of purpose it gave him was enough reason. Sometimes it felt like it was, sometimes it didn't. There are a lot of tragedies if you look into some of the NPCs. But in that there are pockets of hope, relief, purpose, and a surprising amount of aesthetically beautiful scenery, natural and otherwise, for such a bleak world. The feeling of being on some long trek dealing with all kinds of BS, and then hearing the music and being met with this sudden relief when you realise you've found your way back to firelink. Some of the wholesome interactions with certain friendly NPCs. Seeing Ash Lake and Anor Londo for the first time. The somber sight of the great Gwyn reduced to a husk as a muted piano piece plays instead of the bombastic orchestra you've come to expect. That strange mixed feeling of empty triumph when you beat the game and that melancholic tune plays. The game for me hits feelings in a very artistic way that the others don't quite for me, as great as they are.
i gotta agree with your rankings, my only gripe with ds3 is how they nerfed spells/miracles to some being useless. gael is still one of fromsoft’s most dynamic and cinematic fights ever.
High quality content. I came for dark souls but subscribed to get more eyes on your channel.
Thanks for the love dude!
you forgot to give at ds2 extra 14 points for having the balls while being berated by the community for 10 years and not giving a fuck, or maybe thats a personal bias. nonetheless very nice video I love hearing other people put to words what we all feel about these astounding games
Its dark souls 2
Demon's souls and DS2 are tied first place for me.
Your content is awesome dude
Thanks a bunch dude, I'm trying my best to make each video better than the last!
wheever I want to pic my fav souls game I can't decide becaue each one is so unique.
except elden ring. This game is really good but it has no soul for me
How the heck do you have only 300 subs lmao,I watched the entire video thinking you have a couple 100k subs, great video!
DS2 would have been my least favorite in the trilogy... if DS1 was actually a finished game.
What do you mean?
Izalith section moment
The last half of the game is unfinished. Even Miyazaki said so. The first half and the dlc is incredible but the last half of the game is quite bad. At least IMO anyways
@@MattDean-o1t They even were sad about Some things, like Gwyn being trivialized by parries, or the biggest case of all, Bed of Chaos, which they tried to rework It but they couldn't do anything with the time restrictions. And on the first version of DS It was even worse before, your progress wasn't even saved after destroying the weak points! I feel pity for those first players...
@@JoseViktor4099 Bed of Chaos was a war crime but Gwyn being so easy with parries honestly works for me. The great Lord of Cinder, reduced to a husk of his former self and easily swept aside. A flame doesn't go away with a bang, it shrinks and fades until it is reduced to embers. Then nameless song plays, it all feels really melancholic
Hey man, interesting video!
Always hard to talk about this topic in a video which aims to be under 1h, but I think you did a good job!
The only point I hardly disagree on are the quality of the bosses. Ds1 Bosses are mostly way more gimmicky then the other two games and that is why they "don't hold up" all to well. But I think longevity is the wrong lense to see this through. Most bosses in ds1 are a pure knowledge check, so you can only solve them once and try exceedingly harder methods after that. But the first time solving these bosses is where I would try to put focus on it. The problem with this is obviously, that you as a player don't get that, if you didn't start with ds1, but the solving mechanics go though all of the souls games. That's why as you can play each game only once the first time, also you can only play the first souls-game once, if that makes sense. In other words, the first game you played will always hold a special place, since it's the biggest hurdle you had to overcome. That's why I think that longevity makes ds1 bosses looks so much cheesier then the other games, since the other because most solved them first and then used that knowledge against the other two's.
Won't defend bed of chaos though. :D
My order of play was; 2,3,1 remake. The level design of DS1 makes it my favorite, no question.
As your skills increase you can get through the game areas in many different and interesting ways.
My favorite of the trilogy is DS1. Even with it flaws (last half of the game felling underdeveloped) I still consider it very special for me as my first Souls. My favorite part is that is the only game which at first does not rely on teletransportation and relying on shortcuts instead, which gave far more protagonism to the world more than any other.
Dark Souls 3 is an excellent game as well for me. It normally goes for simplicity, but I still enjoy it bosses , the music and it lore. But as a fan of level design I considered underwhelming on retrospective and that it played too safe for my liking. Sometimes I wonder what they really wanted to do, because at first it has runbacks for instance, and then they start to alternate between nothing burger runbacks to have nothing. And for a linear game, it has a significant decrease of things like trap and puzzles compared to the previous game, which I could see it as a waste of potential, a linear game was the perfect game to exploit that.
Dark Souls 2 is a game I really respect, but for my experience... Have you met a game that despite you know is really great, still doesn´t click to you even if you understand it? Thats what happens to me. Same as some people prefer slower games, I normally prefer faster challenges.Simple as that, im not fan of the pacing. DS2 ask you to be more methodical (althougt I really wished you couldn´t teleport at first using this approach), and a lot of bosses can be very gimmicky, which It comes to tastes ig, I was never a fan of neither. Im not convinced with Adapt either, is not a change I really see necesary, and sadly makes the game looks worse and provoqued the false accusation of particulary poor hitboxes.
Ds2 for me I love the way they brought it back the game is beautiful and it’s very fun once you get 100 agility you get the frames so you don’t get bs anymore
Overall I'd have to say 3. Smooth & refined combat. Weapon Arts add a new dimension to combat. Most consistent boss lineup, along with having a handful of some of the best bosses in the series.
Honestly all three games are good for their own reasons and are worth repeat playthroughs imo.
Same. I'll add the world itself & atmosphere. Finest dark fantasy world ever created. Insanely refined & polished
And the most replay value. I've played the fuck out of Dark Souls 3 because it seems to get better with each playthrough
My issues with 3 is that it's a bit nostalgia baiting, it feels like a "best of" album, which means you get a lot of the good, but it's also not a lot of new. As for the weapon arts, they were interesting, but FAR better realized in Elden Ring and looking back at them in Dark Souls 3, I barely ended up using a great deal of them, with only a few really good standouts.
This scoring was pretty good and fair but ill add a tiebreaker that is very obvious to anyone who nolifed these games
dark souls 2 has BY FAR the best pvp
also dark souls 2 had mochasun
we win
I feel like the reason the spells/miracles are so bad in DS3 is because, if you try and do the opposite they become overpowered. We see this in Elden Ring as well, constant updates needed to change around spells. It makes them bounce across from overpowered to unviable over and over.
Yeah, it's a difficult thing to get right, especially when there are so many different spells to balance. I definitely lean more on the side of them being 'over' than 'under' powered though, makes the game more fun for every playstyle.
Dark Souls 2
@@AndrewAung1992 Andrew i disagree wholeheartedly
@@AndrewAung1992 Thank you
@@AndrewAung1992I mean regardless of the points u made it's a subjective opinion he's allowed to feel like it's the best ds I disagree I think it's the worst but it's his goofy opinion
@@MaxwellPost-f7w Maxwell you’re goofy hope to at helps
@@AndrewAung1992 Healing through attacks is lame, And adds no risk to the healing mechanic in dark soul games. A lot of what you said is just generic parroting other people say to downplay Ds2. Like “Bad mechanics …. Ok?” ADP allows the player (you) to dictate how many i-frames you want in your rolls. (Also fast roll is a thing in this game so no excuse) Thats not a bad thing DS gamers don’t like it because it relies on the player on inputting perfectly meaning it actually forces you to get skilled at the game. ADP is only a flaw in your perspective because you don’t like it. Thats an opinion not a fact. As for Runbacks, they’re not that bad honestly, Ds1 has worse run backs personally. And a neat thing about Ds2 is after killing enemies enough times they’ll stop spawning. Bonfire Ascetics are cool mechanic that isn’t present in the other games. And NG + is actually unique in Ds2 thats adds different enemies in each subsequent new game ; as opposed to the other souls games where its the same play-through but enemies have more health and damage. Calling Ds2 a black sheep is like the pot calling the kettle black.
Man this made me wanna get back to finishing the DS games. The passion the fanbase have for these games is intense and infectious.
DS2 just didn't click with me in the same way ds1 did. I've enjoyed a lot of the DS adjacent games like Sekiro but just never found the same love for the main series, largely because I was stuck on the idea of playing them in order and couldn't get into 2.
Perhaps I shall dust off my copy of DS3 and see how I fare.
Get back to streaming them kiddo!
Ds1 is the best until Anor Londo imo, but after you get the lord vessel the game kinda falls off, the level design gets considerably worse, and the 4 lord soul bosses are meh at best(Nito, Seath), or just terrible (BoC and 4 kings) , the ending with Gwyn and the DLC does redeem it and makes it overall a great game, but it definetly has dip in quality in its second half.
DS2 has all of its quirks, but im the type of guy who actually enjoys them, its probably my favorite, even with all of its flaws.
DS3 is the only one i could never really enjoy that much, the bosses are fantastic, but i honestly dont remember enjoying a single area in the game, its also way too linear and feels almost like a boss rush, i also really dislike the greyed out color scheme of the game (yeah lore and whatnot, i still dont like it), good game, i just dont like it as much as 1 or 2.
TLDR: DS2 GOATED, DS3 MID.
I mostly agree with you. The only gripe I really have is giving DS3 the lowest score in the balance category, let alone a 2; whenever, at least in terms of pure gameplay and mechanics, it’s objectively the most balanced of the three. Sure, magic isn’t as powerful as in the other two, but it was also stupid OP in the other two, to the point that it was an actual crutch. So that’s not really saying much, and it isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
What DS3 did have going for it more than the other two though, and this is the biggest thing when it comes to balance imo (and it goes along with what I mentioned about gameplay and mechanics), is there was never really any points in the game that genuinely felt unfair.
DS1 and DS2 obviously had much jankier combat with pretty poor hit boxes at times. The rolling was also obviously more limited in those games as well with DS1 only having 4-directional rolling while locked on, and DS2 being locked at 8-directional rolling all the time. DS3 in comparison felt much smoother and more polished in its movement and combat, and the hit boxes felt a lot more realistic. You didn’t find yourself getting hit by attacks that you felt you had no business being hit by nearly as often. You also didn’t really get stuck against enemies whenever they were launching attacks like in DS1 and DS2.
Then there’s obviously bosses and levels. DS1 obviously had bosses like the Four Kings, which was basically a DPS race; Bed of Chaos, who was ridiculously bad and did massive damage along with having poor hit boxes; and Kalameet, who also had similar issues with dealing massive damage in addition to having bad hit boxes at times. DS2 had Ancient Dragon, Aava, and Royal Rat Authority; who all had bad hit boxes and dealt massive damage. In general both DS1 and DS2 has issues with bosses who had bad hit boxes and could basically instant kill you on top of that.
Not to mention that they had some of the worst gank fights of all the games as well like Lud and Zallen, the Sanctuary Guardian duo, and the Pursuer duo. You could argue that those points would go under the boss category. However, as bosses are generally needed to actually progress through the game, and I’m referring specifically to how fair they actually felt, I think this should be under balance as well. And that’s not even mentioning some of the absolutely atrocious runbacks that some of the bosses had like Sir Alonne, Blue Smelter Demon, Seeth, and the Four Kings.
Then there’s the levels. Levels like Tomb of Giants, Crystal Cave, New London Ruins, and Lost Izalith for DS1; or Frigid Outskirts, Shrine of Amana, Iron Keep, and Frozen Eleum Loyce for DS2. All areas which had at least one of these three things: few/no checkpoints, large ganks of enemies, or lots of environment hazards. Nowhere in DS3 ever felt as much BS as being ganked and stun locked to death by those bonewheel skeletons in DS1, or being ganked by those reindeer in DS2.
Then there were other things, like DS1 being far more unforgiving whenever you died, because of having less bonfires; and not being able to fast travel for half of the game, and then only being able to fast travel to select areas even whenever it did become available. Also only being able to kill certain enemies with specific weapons, like the ghosts and skeletons. Or in DS2, requiring consumable items to progress through certain areas in the game, which were very limited in quality in each playthrough, even though there were plenty of statues to use them on and the game wasn’t really direct about which ones were needed. Plus getting interrupted, trapped, and usually killed if an enemy hit you while you were in the animation of entering a fog wall.
It really does FEEL the most balanced, at least.
To be fair it wasn’t difficult to kill Ghosts or Skeletons without cursed or divine weapons that was just things that gave you more incentive to use them. DS1 grants you generous Estus Flasks meaning that it expects you to manage them effectively through areas and boss fights alike otherwise you’d breeze bosses too easily with full flasks imo. I like having to earn fast travel and the huge amount of shortcuts and limited enemies between most bonfires makes travelling feel (mostly) fair and made me more attached the games level and world design. It would’ve been nice if you could warp to any bonfire with the Lord vessel though.
If we’re talking about bad Souls areas I’m surprised you left out Black Gulch. Honestly the worst thing I’ve ever seen. I’m personally not keen on Dreg Heap either but I’ll admit that it’s more fair than some DS1 and DS2 areas. DS3 has shortcomings in the boss department too though and the lack of options of where to go in the early game leaves the start feeling quite boring on repeat playthroughs as you have few options at that point for equipment and spells. I think DS3 could be overly generous with bonfire placements and the weight/poise stats were kinda thrown out the window, warping to the hub to level up each time is kinda tedious, durability is pointless, armour stats are pointless, and it rarely felt worth using big weapons over fast ones as enemies had limited poise and Straight Swords and Twinblades would just rinse everything. NPC quests felt a little rehashed at times and the magic bar makes lots of spells highly exploitable whereas they at least had limited uses in the last games. DS3 is great, I like it more than DS2 but it has its fare share of shortcomings too. Iframes were so generous that you often just roll forwards to evade any boss attack.
@@lukefitton7329 Yeah I feel you. I’m not saying that DS1 is completely unfair, I just feel like it (along with DS2) have more points that feel blatantly unfair than DS3 does. Especially when it comes to pure gameplay, DS3 just feels the most balanced to me. In terms of the ghosts and skeletons, killing them without those weapons may have not been outright difficult, but definitely tedious. Especially getting ganked by those ghosts in an area that was already like 90% surrounded by environment hazards - a pretty reoccurring thing throughout DS1, such as with the archers in Anor Londo, as well as the Painting Guardians on the ceiling above the painting in Anor Londo - and also those Bonewheel Skeletons; which, for as much as poise was made out to be superior in DS1, made poise feel nonexistent. And yeah, it’s true that DS1 was pretty generous overall with the Estus Flask uses giving you up to 20 in total, but you still had to use a ton of humanities to kindle all of the bonfires until you got that many uses; and it required a specific item that was lost on every NG cycle. DS3 at least made you only have to find all of the Estus Shards once, and after you gave them to Andre, you always had that number of uses no matter what bonfires you rested at. Having to earn fast travel was okay for a first playthrough, but after that it just became tedious having to wait until after Ornstein and Smough every time to get it. Especially since it still wasn’t even available at a lot of the bonfires.
And believe me, Black Gulch is on that list as well; as are Sen’s Fortress, Chasm of the Abyss, Catacombs, Brightstone Cove Tseldora, No Man’s Wharf, and others. I just didn’t want to drag the list on. But yeah, I’m not saying that DS3 is perfect by any means, but the things that are issues with it are mostly things that either seem pointless, or too generous; like you said. Even the bosses that aren’t considered good, are mostly super easy and are only really disliked because people either find them boring or simply don’t like their design.
I won’t argue that DS3 is overall generous on bonfire placement, but I would still much prefer having too much as opposed to having too little, and I like that fast travel is available right away, and for any bonfire that’s been unlocked. The poise wasn’t as good in general, but as I said before, DS1 had some enemies and bosses that made its own poise feel useless anyway. Having to return to the hub area to level up, I won’t argue with. You should’ve been able to do it at bonfires like in DS1. I will say though that it hardly feels like DS1 really had any other choice but to do it that way considering that bonfires were far less in quantity and more spread out, and most importantly that you couldn’t actually fast travel until the halfway point of the game. Durability was pointless, but at least not an inconvenience.
I’ll have to disagree on the big weapons though. Dex weapons like the Twinblades were definitely the meta in the game, but quite a few of the big weapons were great, and they were extremely useful against any NPC-like enemies who had lower poise. Even against larger bosses with high poise, they were great overall because of how effective they were at breaking their poise. As for the FP bar, I get what you mean, but a lot of the spells used up a good chunk of it, which meant that you were going through your Ashen Estus Flasks pretty quick. Not to mention that the bar was also directly tied to weapon arts. So you would’ve had to invest quite a bit into it if you truly wanted to exploit sell usage. And even then, if you wanted to use it to the full extent, you would’ve had to give up some Estus Flask uses. Which imo is really just another testament to DS3 being more balanced overall. DS1 gave you a set number of uses for each spell, which could increase through leveling up attunement, along with having all of your Estus Flask uses. And with the spells being stupid OP in general.
I agree that I-frames were generous overall, but I would still take generous I-frames over I-frames that were effective half the time and ineffective the other half; and a roll that often had to be in one specific direction, otherwise you were either getting hit and taking damage, or getting stuck in the boss’s attack animation and taking damage regardless. Plus another thing that was an issue with DS1, which I forgot to mention, was how jumping was tied to the same button used for sprinting; which meant that you couldn’t actually roll while sprinting. Another feature that was often times compromising.
@@handzofstone1152 overall you make good points that I agree with and I’ll keep this response somewhat short. I still feel like DS3 fast weapons are a lot stronger than big ones but I won’t deny that Greatswords and hammers etc are still fun to use, in DS1 you can reconfigure your jump button (though I’ll admit it’s not good by default), I think Ds1 gets away with four way rolling as its slower enemies would be trivialised by more freedom in movement imo and I really don’t like how rolling is just way too strong in DS3 both in terms of Iframes and low stamina consumption. DS1 has worse hit boxes easily but guarding is always a viable option for most of them but rolling is an absurdly strong option in DS3 almost regardless of what your build is since even mid rolls are very fast and equip load is hard to reach heavy with. The multi-purpose Humanity system was awesome imo (it could’ve been better explained a little bit) and I think they were easy enough to earn through fixed item positions and drops that kindling an important bonfire once is still more than enough, I’m not a fan of how DS3 Embers work in comparison but I’ll grant that it’s more welcoming for new players. Also I like Sen’s Fortress a lot.
Overall I think I like DS1 over DS3 generally because I think that what DS1 does well it does incredibly well whether it’s the different experience in each playthrough, the secrets, the atmosphere, the NPC’s, the Lore, the ambient music for certain zones, the fun and somewhat goofy bestiary rather than everything looking edgy or badass, the immersive positioning of enemies and items being there for lore purposes (mostly) etc. especially for its time and what it did for Fromsoftware and the series. But I’ll admit that DS1’s flaws stare you in the face more than DS3’s. For DS3 it basically comes down to a bunch of nitpicks. It’d be nice to have an improved DS1 late game with the cut content included.
@@lukefitton7329 Funnily enough DS3 hitboxes are worse on average, it's just hard to notice due to how fast everything is.
That intro sounds so much like risk of rain (great game series) it caught me hella off guard
Ds2 for me had the best world to explore with so many beautiful views, ds1 for me had the best level design, ds3 for me had best bosses, out of these ds2 is my favourite it was consistent a great experience
Loved the way you did this video :D I dont agree with all the "5"' 's :D but overall the way you did it and the reasons made sense :D
I really appreciate that dude thanks!
As my first time approaching topics which are genuinely pretty contentious, getting my reasoning straight and understandable is something that I tried my best to convey, I'm glad you're into it!
I feel like your critique of Dark Souls 2 world misses a bit of the point of both world and story, because you hear from sevreral people about the world itself feeling unreliable, that it is crazy, or untrustworthy to traverse it.
Almost guaranteed that a video with this title is going to tell the silly masses what they want to hear though, that is how you get likes and subscriptions.
@Skobeloff... yeah for real, if we compare earnest reviews of DS2 on its own they don't get that many views.
Also I think he was respectful enough and all three of the games are great, I just don't agree with hid his score on the measure when it sounds like he missed the point of the story in the game and world design from that story
It's public knowledge that they tried to make a huge open world game that in the end would be impossible on that gen of consoles so they quickly patched up the game with zones they've already finished. Just because they written some dialogue into the game that says "it's meant to be there" does not make it good.
I would give them props for making a quite good game after all that shit that happened but pretending thst it's some genius world design is laughable
@@gamefan987 Who said anything about the world design being genius? That kind of praise is reserved for DS1 according to all of the clone tweens.
@@Skobeloff... Many people in this comment section
Giving DS2 the highest balance rating while lifegems, adaptability and the rapier exist is certainly a choice.
the way i see it
ds1: a masterpiece that started it (in a good way, i absolutely dont like demons souls)
ds2: the best (although a bit janky)
ds3: the safe option because theres nothing bad in this game but nothing too great
hate me all you like
1 bad thing about ds3: linearity
DS2 is one of the worst games ever made
@@jarlwhiterun7478clearly you've never played dark souls 2. you're just repeating what some youtuber said
No hate, I agree that DS3 played too safe. Which is a shame, DS3 best lore and areas is when it does not relies on DS1.
I find it difficult to agree that magic and miracles in DS3 are terrible. Yes, compared to DS2 for the first glance there is a difference, although I feel DS3 inclines the player to use them strategically rather than just spamming. Talismans give you extra pose if you activate their special skill and you can literally nuke enemies with your wrath of the gods, same with lightning stake. Let's not forget about the lighting arrow miracle! It's literally the panic attack ability - you conjure up the electric bow and while just holding it you simply observe how the enemy player goes through the meltdown. But I think I get your point - they do not as much damage and do not cause as much carnage as all spells from previous games... Forbidden Sun from DS2 could destroy most enemies in 2 hits.
There are some cool spells but they're mostly locked away until later in the game or NG+, which is annoying
In Dark Souls and DS2, I can play a mage. In DS3, I can at the absolute most play a half-mage. It got nerfed hard.
@@luke_of_astora Yeah, early game mage was a thing in DS1 and DS2. DS3 you were forced to melle combat until you get better spells. But once I got my combo of spells, I was pure INT char - obscuring the view with Freezing mist and bombarding others with Crystal Souls Spears. If they got close, I had that magic longsword thing. When it comes to miracles - it was a tanky priest - heavy armour plus extra buff poise from talisman so I could ram people with lighting spears and stakes. But, again - that's in late game.
dark souls 3, the game is just perfect in every way as I could have never expect. The art direction, the bosses, the ost, Its just perfect to me. DS3 is special and I always rank it as the 1st of Souls games IMO.
Hot take over here:
Bluepoint should remake DS2 like they did with Demonsouls & fix all the crap they rushed towards the end especially the volcano elevator.
DS2 was my 1st Souls game. Then I went back to ds1, demonsouls, Bloodborne my favorite & then was there day 1 for DS3 & the rest that follow.
Excellent work & you sparked my flames to jump back into DS1 & 2. It’s time I get the platinum trophy on these 2
If Bluepoint 'remade' ds2 they would do the exact same thing they did with demons souls, which is overhaul the games visuals to make it uglier, while leaving the broken and terrible mechanics unchanged. This just results in another pointless bloat of a remake that ultimately does nothing. Devoid of any sort of innovation.
I would argue ds2 is not rushed. It has the most solid and well thought out mechanics, including the most fleshed out multiplayer systems.
The iron peak elevator is a deliberate choice to invoke the feelings and themes the game is trying to convey. The concepts of confusion, loss of memory, mystery etc
Oh god no.
They'd ruin the entire aesthetic.
@@asdergold1 hahahaha guess I’m the only 1 but hey it’s ok I still like DS2
It’s 2.
if you consider the Mods, community fixes and Overhauls for each Dark Souls Game, it can screw up your ranking pretty quick
Nameless king boss fight is the most memorable fight for me for all time.
OK, this is how they attached as the best atmosphere DS one nostalgia story and npc DS3 boss fight beautiful story DS2 gameplay
You can't say that you want to rank the games objectively and then conclude that ds1 and ds2 are on the same level.
It's a bold strategy Cotton, lets see if it pays off for 'em.
I was hoping you'd rate the games in each category with an S - E ranking.
DS1 - King of Atmosphere and World Depth. Punishing and obscure, but fair.
DS2 - Reparations for all the errors in DS1 partially at the cost of what made it so great, but laid the groundwork for the future with most of it's experiments. Remarkably accessible thanks to ADP (optional), enemy de-spawns (optional), easier stories to understand/jump into; and offers the greatest replayability with altered NG+ cycles and Bonfire Ascetics, along with massive build variety.
DS3 - Atmosphere is excellent, but the Bosses are king here. Back to back bangers in almost every level. The combat (in melee) is unparalleled, excluding the uncle Bloodborne and Son Elden Ring.
DS1 cured my depression. My favorite souls game and forever will be.
It’s so subjective ds1 is so open and has so many ways to circumnavigate through and get back to where you want and no game has had such a profound impact on me since. I still play it regularly got 1000s of hours in it.
Ds2 is either love or hate I disliked everything about it for the first 20 hours but once it clicked with me I feel in love with it and again I’ve put not as many hours in as ds1 but it’s closer 900 or so.
Ds3 is by far the easier of the 3 and I loved every moment of the first play through but on replaying it only on the second play through I got bored with how linear it is that said it’s the most polished and smooth of the 3 just easy and boring. I want to say ds1 but that’s what everyone says it’s ds2 for me.
Dark Souls 1 was the first game of the trilogy, I played and I played Dark Souls 3 after that. The world of Dark Souls 1 is just perfect. The bosses weren't that good, but it's still my personal favourite.
Dark Souls 3's bosses were pretty good, but most of them were a little bit too easy. I beat most of the bosses in under 5 tries.
Dark Souls 1 has a perfect world and atmosphere that makes it my favourite. The bosses weren't that good, but it had some really good ones, like Four Kings, Ornstein and Smough and (DLC:) Artorias and Manus
Dark Souls 3 has an okay world and good bosses, but they never really challenged me and I beat most of them on my 1st or 2nd try. It had some really good bosses, like Nameless King, (which was probably the hardest for me) Soul of Cinder and the Twin Princes. Soul of Cinder and Twin Princes were a little too easy for me, since I beat them in like 3 tries.
Dark Souls 3 being so easy might have been because of build. I picked Mercenary as my class, so I used the twinblades, which I think is a very good weapon.
I think both are fantastic games, but I like DS1 more.
Dark Souls 1 was the original and it had more nuanced mechanics that have never been replicated and world design is unmatched.
Edit: Dark Souls 3 is garbage compared to the first one. World design was super lazy, they nerfed everything instead of balancing and it properly.
Blighttown 💀, Lost Izalith 💀, Duke’s Archives 💀, and don’t get me started on Tomb of the Giants,
Nerfed Everything? Maybe learn on how to make a proper build??? Git Gud? Ever heard of that phrase?
@_____Shadow_____ I have platinum trophied every souls game, Bloodborne, sekiro and Elden Ring. I "got gud" in 2011 boy. Lost Izilalith is about the only area in DS1 that was bland, but it also still fit the lore. Sounds like you're the one who needs to learn to play if you're complaining about the more difficult locations. 🤣😂
@ oh yeah 10 fps is truly difficult by design 😂, you see I have played all of those games as well, but if you can’t invest stats properly and then complain about balancing, can you really do so?
This is probably just my problem but the original ds1 has absolutely the best looking bonfire, I have no idea why they changed it in the other games, in ds1 bonfire was totaly magical now its just a fire
DS1 > Demon Souls > DS3 > DS2
the poise mechanics in DS1 are the best of the lot
DS3 while slightly more fluid in combat... honestly feels identical to DS1 ... cept any minor nick and cut will punish your unless you are trading with a heavy 2H weapon
Lol, Demon's Souls is an overly linear corridor sim. You are probably just a contrarian and like Majora's Mask more than OoT, which is simply incorrect.
DS1 is boring
💯🍻
@@jarlwhiterun7478 And Dark Souls 3 is an overly linear courtyard sim.
Dark Souls 1 & 2 experimented, 3 refined. So DS3 is the best, but i love DS1&2 more for trying there own thing more regardless of if they worked!
I want to love DS3 as much as I loved DS1, but it has a couple things that make it hard for me.
The item icons in DS1 are big which is a bit inconvenient to scroll through, but the grid in DS3 feels cluttered and overwhelming to me.
Keyboard and mouse controls worked perfectly in DS1 but were extremely bugged in DS3. Having your character constantly running forward after you've let go of w isn't the most playable.
Maybe these can be remedied with mods, I'm just not super familiar with the DS3 modding scene.
DID YOU JUST SLIDE DOWN A LADDER IN DS1??????
Yeah, you can slide down ladders in DS1. It is the exact opposite of what you would think though. You have to stop completely, then press the button to slide.
/head explodes
@@TheRedRobin96 and there have been a few times where I just fell through the floor, so the developers did not even test it on all ladders
Yeah you only have to hold the sprint button instead of sprint and move down.
@@Domo3000 I'd recall that only happens if you have dsfix and 60fps enabled. Could be that it happens also on remastered though, which would further rise the question of why they even bothered to remaster the game without actually fixing anything.
My takes for other souls games:
Bloodborne:
Machanics: 5
Balance: 3
Visuals: 4
Story: 3
World: 3
Areas: 2
Systems: 4
Bosses: 3
Final score: 27
Sekiro:
Machanics: 5
Balance: 4
Visuals: 3
Story: 3
World: 4
Areas: 3
Systems: 4
Bosses: 4
Final score: 30
Elden Ring:
Machanics: 4
Balance: 4
Visuals: 5
Story: 4
World: 5
Areas: 5
Systems: 4
Bosses: 5
Final score: 36
Ranking (havent played ds2 or DeS):
5: ds1 6/10
4: BB 8/10
3: sekiro 8.8/10
2: ds3 9.2/10
1: elden ring 10/10
2. 1. then 3
Based
Objectively wrong
for the world
ds getting 5
ds2 getting 3
and ds3 gets barely 1 it's terrible
Forced hate, linear ≠ bad and art direction made sense lorewise. But thats just my opnion
2
No pressure mate but I'm deleting the two that don't win at the end of this video. I can’t keep flitting between them constantly 👌🏻
I disagree with you on two points and they both are in regards to Dark Souls 1.
Now before saying my first disagreement I'm going to say that I believe that it is possibly due to you playing the remastered version of the game. The issue I have is that the OG/prepare to die versions of Dark Souls1 had very cohesive visuals that kind of fall apart in the remaster. Most people know about the animation bugs but my main concern is about the topic you mentions, about how going to different areas can provoke huge changes in the ambient light of the game. In the Og and prepare to die version there was also some type of filter or something, I can't quite explain it, it might have simply been palate choice but there were so many areas that if I just stood there for a second I could tell that I was looking at something that had been made specifically in the concept art. Are after area after area all looked like a painting with balanced color and composition.
Myself I come from the art world and Dark Souls 1 had a deliberateness and visual consistency that I feel like only Bloodborne recaptured. I will also admit to probably being the only person who liked the chromatic aberration in Bloodborne but, again, I come from the art world and I love the extra style and mystique.
My second point of disagreement come from the controls in Dark Souls 1. I get it, everyone think the 4 directional rolling is limiting when you are locked on but that's the thing, you have full control when you are not locked on and it's not that much slower than dark souls3 and in fact 2 was by far the slowest. When I play Dark Souls 1 I'm rarely locked on and nearly always 2handing my weapon with just enough poise to not be knocked around by arrows. Played that way your rolls travel far and you get even a few more s and if you're rolling unlocked you have far more movement options than DS2. I also really liked the overs-wing mechanic in DS1 that no other game used.
Essentially certain heavier weapons leave you a little wide open with a stagger animation if you miss. The reward for this was extra damage. So certain weapons like the clubs and halberds out performed in damage but made up for it with the higher risk. No other game had that mechanic and I felt that that created more sameness among the weapons, which against made DS1 distinct among the pack.
Finally, while I'll admit that DS1 has a few bosses that are a little limp, they often make up for it with creative character designs, like ceaseless discharge or the moonlight butterfly. Moonlight butterfly feels mystical even if the fight is wimpy. Pinwheel is a compelling character even if the fight doesn't push back on a leveled character or Paladin Leeroy.
All in all the cohesiveness of Dark Souls 1 puts it in a class of it's own for me with DS 2 and 3 going back and forth for 2nd place(with 3 usually winning)
Loved your notes from an artistic standpoint dude!
I'm not well educated in that world so I did just try to work with what I felt had the most significant impact on me visually from each game.
Also I'm a pretty big fan of the weight that the 'heavy' weapons in DS1 have too! It makes landing your blows all the more satisfying when you get better recovery to top it off.
The remastered Demon Souls is the best of the early titles but Dark Souls 3 runs it close for getting the game mechanics ready for Elden Ring. Which goes to show the first 2 Dark Souls could get a Resident Evil job done to them- clunky but charming.
Dark Souls 2 for me.
liking and commenting because it was a good video. but also cause i need to disagree with you :) ds1 is the best, ds3 has better bosses over all and the combat is more fluid, but ds1 is better in every other way by a larger margin imo. i would agree with your take on ds2, however. i believe it really is under rated by the fan base. it does so many things well, just to get hate because of clunky combat and ADP. any really cool video, you should do the same thing but for demon souls, bloodborne, and sekiro since they are 'souls universe' but aren't tied blatantly together. itd be neat
I personally think that adding too much color isn’t good for Dark Souls’ aesthetic. I hate DS2’s visual style, it doesn’t fit with the setting. Washed out color palettes are perfect for this setting, with the few dashes of color being magic and fire.
Dark souls 2 had a literal recreation 2 different games twice the fun same game different enemies item placement very similar very fun played both versions scholar and non scholar
Was introduced into soulsgames via ds3 and while I can see some of the appeal for ds1 or 2 I'm just too spoiled in terms of boss quality which for me is by far the most important aspect. Ds3 is prbl always gonn abe my favorite soulsgame, maybe even just favorite game ever (only real contender being Sekiro)
If only the earthen peak elevator went down instead of up...
There is no way that dark souls 3’a visuals are equal to 1
This is easy. The best Souls game is the one you personaly wnjoy playing the most.
Solved.
control wise 3 wins, 1 is slightly better than 2, for games made at that time 1 and 2 aren't terrible, but i hate replaying them after elden ring because of their poor controls
i think 3 had the best individual levels. Exploring the entire high wall and multiple ways to get down to the ground is fun, same with duke's archives going upward instead. where it fails is integrating those levels with each other. Much like DS2 which had no synergy between locations, DS3 feels like we are just teleporting from one area to the next.
they should've had a way to cross back into the undead settlement from farron swamp over the broken bridge. I know it wouldn't have served a purpose like it did in DS1 because teleporting is unlocked from the start, but at least people could claim the world was more connected which is what DS1 is praised for the most.
honestly, DS1 is the most expansive and well thought out world but the loss of that after the lord vessel unlocks teleporting and the "rushed" game design means it wins on only 1/4 criteria
DS3 wins on 2/4 and DS2 while not exactly a bad game, was never going to outshine any of the others.
Great Video 🙏❤
Armored core is the best dark souls
All of them, maybe not, but definitely agree
10:49 Did he just say ds2 has a bad character creator? the ds2 character Creator is one of the best we've had. I'd say it's tied with Elden Ring for the best
Ptde can’t be replicated and I don’t feel 2 or 3 hold a candle to it obviously they’re all mechanicaly different but the world and how we traverse it in 1 is what makes it’s better than the rest
Dark souls 0 the prequel
Underrated gem.
The best Dark Souls game is Elden Ring. Obviously.
Let me just say… it’s the best all around but some of the others are just more satisfying to play and more fulfilling I’m not saying Elden ring isn’t but I just think some of the others are more fulfilling
That’s not even part of the souls series 🤦♂️
@@orest395 thats the joke
it's the worst dark souls game... obviously
@@orest395 it is in my book if you compare it to bloodborne and sekiro as being actual unique and new IPs
Ds3 had the best bossfights. But dark souls is so much more than just bossfights so I have to give it to ds2 to be the best piece of art.
DS1 best lore/atmosphere
DS2 versitile weapons/pvp
DS3 boss fights/estus and ember mechanics
IMO
The best souls is often the first you have played, mine was ds2
King’s Field is the best, no further questions or comments allowed.
Tbh I want to see an analysis of Bloodborne like this. I'm that starved for Bloodborne content
Haha it'd be difficult to do that with my current setup but when the emulator's more stable I would love to cover Bloodborne, thanks for the love madhattress!
dark souls
Although just as subjective as virtually everything else here, nowhere is 'fun factor' weighed into this. The closest thing is where the creator discusses balance while missing that the abusable and easily over powered builds in dark souls 1 is part of what makes it fun, where nerfing everything to the ground and turning every enemy into a sponge is arguable not fun, but good balance. I don't see any way to really compare these three games in a fair way (I like how the creator acknowledges this). One and three are so far apart that that DS3 feels like a remastered/reimagining of DS1, and DS2 feels like it should have been a different series altogether, shoehorned into the dark souls franchise by namco bandai.
2 is the best. end of discussion.