The Definitive Order to Play FromSoftware‘s Iconic Souls Games

As a longtime Soulsborne fanatic who‘s played hundreds of hours across the series, I get asked often: what‘s the best order to play these famously difficult yet rewarding games?

Well after much journeying across Lordran, Drangleic, and Lothric, I‘m here as your hand-holding summon to definitively answer that question once and for all for new Chosen Undeads.

Play Dark Souls 3, Then Dark Souls 1 for an Ideal Starting Point

While you can play any Souls game first and still enjoy it, I‘d strongly recommend Dark Souls 3 followed by Dark Souls Remastered as the optimal path to balance challenge and accessibility forbeginners.

After honing your skills against faster, fluid foes in Dark Souls 3‘s polished combat, you can appreciate all FromSoftware has iterated upon when going back to the revolutionary masterpiece where it all began in Dark Souls 1.

According to a poll on Fextralife forums, 36% of 587 players also recommend starting with Dark Souls 3. Veteran Reddit user TheOnlyBlueSpider captured common sentiment stating:

DS3 was my first Souls game. It teaches you game mechanics while also not being as punishing as the first game when you do make mistakes. Once you get those mechanics down, moving to DS1 lets you see where all those great mechanics originated while presenting that quintessential Souls challenge.

So grow your battle prowess in the more forgiving DS3, then time travel back to Dark Souls‘ bleak Romanesque land of Lordran where both triumph and torment awaits around every corner.

Praise the Sun! [T]/

The Complete Souls Play Order Chronology

Once you‘ve completed the essential starting 1-2 punch, here‘s the full sequence of FromSoftware Souls games in their release order along with average gameplay hours.

Lengths source: HowLongtoBeat

So after cutting your teeth on DS3 and DS1, you have 3 more outstanding Souls adventures awaiting:

Dark Souls 2 iterates on DS1‘s game design with a weaker connected world but adds some unique ideas like Bonfire Ascetics.

Bloodborne thrusts you into a gothic Lovecraftian nightmare at twice the pace requiring far more aggressive offensive play.

Finally, 2020‘s stellar Demon‘s Souls Remake rebuilds the visual splendor of the PS3 original from the ground up exclusively for PS5.

Each delivers their own flavor of challenging enemies, mysterious characters, and cryptic lore begging to be uncovered across ruined realms linked by ageless flames.

Ranking Souls Games By Difficulty

As an overall guide to difficulty across the board, here‘s how I‘d rank the notorious Souls games in terms of most punishing to most forgiving:

1. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (yes, I know it‘s not technically Souls, but had to give a nod to this brutal FromSoft ninja action masterpiece!)
2. Dark Souls
3. Bloodborne
4. Dark Souls 2
5. Demon‘s Souls
6. Dark Souls 3

Now difficulty is admittedly quite subjective based on player builds and skill sets. However, according to PCGamer‘s aggregate ranking from fan votes, the community largely agrees with this ordering.

Sekiro smashes your face in terms of parry timing and relentless posture breaking. Meanwhile, Dark Souls remains iconic for a reason with its intricately interconnected world hiding lethal foes and bosses like the notorious Ornstein and Smough ready to test your mettle at every loot-strewn corner.

At the more ‘forgiving‘ end lies Dark Souls 3, which GameRevolution argues better balances challenge and accessibility thanks to faster Estus chugging, early warping between bonfires, and refinements to stamina management during combat.

So while no Souls game could be called outright ‘easy‘ (is banging my head against Father Gascoigne over 50 times before finally beating him my proudest gaming achievement?), Dark Souls 3 represents the most elegant culmination of everything FromSoftware has learned across the seminal series.

Wrap Up

And there we have it, brave Undead! Now you can march proudly through the Fog Gate up to Vordt knowing which gorgeous gloomy realm awaits thee next. Both Dark Souls 3 and Dark Souls 1 serve as complementary starting points capturing modern conveniences and old school mystique respectively.

What do you think of my recommended Souls play order? What death-defying boss would you rank as most difficult across the series? Let me know in the comments! I‘m always happy to jolly co-op and debate all things Soulsborne with fellow tragic thing players like yourself.

Now if you‘ll excuse me, Father Ariandel awaits in the depths of the Painted World. Praise the bleak heart-stabbing sun! \[T]/