It could be said that FromSoftware’s ever-expanding collection of punishing but rewarding role-playing games – lovingly referred to as the Soulsborne series – has been among the most influential of all time. In fact, the cultural impact of Soulsborne games has been so powerful that it’s led to an entirely new subgenre of role-playing games known as “Soulslikes.” But while many studios have tried to mimic the famed Japanese developer’s game design philosophy to varying results, few have come close to offering the same breathtaking experiences.
Granted, as the grandfather of Soulslikes, FromSoftware simply knows its way around the genre like no other. And by maintaining extremely similar gameplay mechanics, controls, and UI elements across each game, the studio ensures that its games, though not directly connected, remain familiar to fans who have played previous entries in the series. The most consistent thing of all, though, is the consistently challenging combat and exploration, which has defined the series since the beginning and is often the most-cited reason players flock to the games.
However, Soulsborne fans are a diverse bunch with varying tastes, and no game in the series connects exactly the same to one person as it does to another. As such, everyone’s ranking for the Soulsborne collection is likely to differ based not solely on quality but also on the order they played the games, their headspace at the time, and how much value they place on specific elements that may differ between entries. While there’s no right or wrong answer when it comes to a selection of such stellar games, here’s where we stand on the matter.
Every FromSoftware Soulsborne game, ranked
Editors’ Recommendations
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