With seeing Elden Rings breakout in the industry, and see the most casual of players playing it and praising it and the SoulsBorne franchise becoming so mainstream when most "casuals" refused to ever even touch this franchise I felt the need to write this review in hopes of maybe catching the attention of someone wanting to get into this franchise. (tl;dr nostalgic review and also you should consider starting here before Elden Ring)

I hope this doesn't come off as gate keeping, but Elden Ring is a strange place to start for this franchise. Back in about 2013 I was at my local game place wanting my fantasy RPG when I stumbled across Dark Souls. I traded in two games for it, got home, played it, and didn't like it. I thought the graveyard was a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ difficulty spike and stopped. But then something hit me and I came back to it. The cycle of taking a break because I thought something was bs, and then coming back made me appreciate this game. Not long after I loved this game so much I recomended it to all of my friends who also all became obsessed with it. Before this I can't say I played too many "difficult" games, but Dark Souls never felt like it hated me. It wanted me to get better, and with it's world and storytelling it kept drawing me in. With the plot of how "Hollowing" is just someone losing their hope, and it's themes of never giving up and never losing hope it drew me in like a moth to a flame.

Dark Souls is a much easier beast to start with then Elden Ring, and playing this game before starting any other game in the franchise is like riding a bike with training wheels before you take it on without. That's not to say the original Dark Souls is easy, nor is it perfect experience with no issues (once you get to what I will only say is the "Hell" stage you'll know what I mean) but it is a absolute masterpiece to me even to this day and I think it's the perfect point to start with if anyone is considering getting into the SoulsBorne franchise.

Elden Ring throws you into 3 different flasks, the concept of summoning both players and NPCs with ashes, weapon types and smithing, crafting, and so many mechanics all within the first 30 minutes that a seasoned SoulsBorne player will make a easy transition but someone that is new won't. Dark Souls, intending to be most peoples first introduction with SoulsBorne since FromSoft really tried to push it in the west, introduces all these concepts much slower and at a much easier to learn pace. There aren't three different flasks, there is one that you get after experiencing what the game is like without it. You play through the first hour to a hour and a half of the game without meeting your first blacksmith, the game doesn't give you fast travel until about half way through, and it teaches you that you can summon NPC's and even gives you a fight with a amazing summon, and a secret summon if you explore a bit before the fight.

As for a review of the game itself I think it's a masterpiece with only one area, the aforementioned "hell" section of the game being unfinished due to rushed development and thus sucks really bad and it's easy to see. This is still my second favorite in the franchise, only being beaten by Elden Ring recently with it's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC release. There is nothing I can say that not every single YouTuber and their "Dark Souls Cured My Grandmothers Depression" video hasn't already. I know the way people talk about this game can sound like pure insanity/obsession, but honestly I think it's justified as Dark Souls means a lot to me and I honestly see why people are so attached to it because I am one of those people with stories that Dark Souls really moved and helped them through a really hard time (also being a Berserk fan gave me some bad bias).

In short, try this first. Elden Ring is 60 dollars, 100 in total if you want the base game and the DLC which is a lot for a game you ultimately might end up disliking/being so overwhelmed by that you don't understand it and stop playing it. Dark Souls 1 is usually much cheaper and on sale (the game comes with both DLCs), and the game teaches you the core fundamentals of the entire SoulsBorne franchise better than any other game in the series and once you master and beat Dark Souls 1 you can honestly get into any other game in the franchise a lot smoother.

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⢠⣶⡶⡛⣋⣥⠾⢷⡍⡃⣟⣲⠳⣿⣿⣿⢿⣸⣹⣿⣕⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⣦⣄
⣸⣿⣯⣽⡵⣤⢶⣸⢘⣩⣉⣫⣥⣰⢤⣩⣫⣝⣭⣿⣱⣿⣿⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿
⠻⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣞⣶⡿⣷⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠿⠛
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Don't you dare go hollow friends.

With seeing Elden Rings breakout in the industry, and see the most casual of players playing it and praising it and the SoulsBorne franchise becoming so mainstream when most "casuals" refused to ever even touch this franchise I felt the need to write this review in hopes of maybe catching the attention of someone wanting to get into this franchise. (tl;dr nostalgic review and also you should consider starting here before Elden Ring) I hope this doesn't come off as gate keeping, but Elden Ring is a strange place to start for this franchise. Back in about 2013 I was at my local game place wanting my fantasy RPG when I stumbled across Dark Souls. I traded in two games for it, got home, played it, and didn't like it. I thought the graveyard was a bullshit difficulty spike and stopped. But then something hit me and I came back to it. The cycle of taking a break because I thought something was bs, and then coming back made me appreciate this game. Not long after I loved this game so much I recomended it to all of my friends who also all became obsessed with it. Before this I can't say I played too many "difficult" games, but Dark Souls never felt like it hated me. It wanted me to get better, and with it's world and storytelling it kept drawing me in. With the plot of how "Hollowing" is just someone losing their hope, and it's themes of never giving up and never losing hope it drew me in like a moth to a flame. Dark Souls is a much easier beast to start with then Elden Ring, and playing this game before starting any other game in the franchise is like riding a bike with training wheels before you take it on without. That's not to say the original Dark Souls is easy, nor is it perfect experience with no issues (once you get to what I will only say is the "Hell" stage you'll know what I mean) but it is a absolute masterpiece to me even to this day and I think it's the perfect point to start with if anyone is considering getting into the SoulsBorne franchise. Elden Ring throws you into 3 different flasks, the concept of summoning both players and NPCs with ashes, weapon types and smithing, crafting, and so many mechanics all within the first 30 minutes that a seasoned SoulsBorne player will make a easy transition but someone that is new won't. Dark Souls, intending to be most peoples first introduction with SoulsBorne since FromSoft really tried to push it in the west, introduces all these concepts much slower and at a much easier to learn pace. There aren't three different flasks, there is one that you get after experiencing what the game is like without it. You play through the first hour to a hour and a half of the game without meeting your first blacksmith, the game doesn't give you fast travel until about half way through, and it teaches you that you can summon NPC's and even gives you a fight with a amazing summon, and a secret summon if you explore a bit before the fight. As for a review of the game itself I think it's a masterpiece with only one area, the aforementioned "hell" section of the game being unfinished due to rushed development and thus sucks really bad and it's easy to see. This is still my second favorite in the franchise, only being beaten by Elden Ring recently with it's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC release. There is nothing I can say that not every single YouTuber and their "Dark Souls Cured My Grandmothers Depression" video hasn't already. I know the way people talk about this game can sound like pure insanity/obsession, but honestly I think it's justified as Dark Souls means a lot to me and I honestly see why people are so attached to it because I am one of those people with stories that Dark Souls really moved and helped them through a really hard time (also being a Berserk fan gave me some bad bias). In short, try this first. Elden Ring is 60 dollars, 100 in total if you want the base game and the DLC which is a lot for a game you ultimately might end up disliking/being so overwhelmed by that you don't understand it and stop playing it. Dark Souls 1 is usually much cheaper and on sale (the game comes with both DLCs), and the game teaches you the core fundamentals of the entire SoulsBorne franchise better than any other game in the series and once you master and beat Dark Souls 1 you can honestly get into any other game in the franchise a lot smoother. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢣⡞⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣸⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣿⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢰⡟⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠠⣠⣼⣇⣀⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠘⣿⣿⠛⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣼⡃⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠸⣿⠇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢈⣟⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢸⣿⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣿⡟⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣡⠀⣯⡇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣼⠃⠀⣾⡇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣯⣀⢰⣿⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠠⣞⣿⣾⣿⡂⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⠙⡽⣽⢻⣇⣰⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢼⣗⣿⢹⡿⣏⣶⣄⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢲⢠⣾⣾⣾⣯⣽⡗⣯⣿⣤⣤⡄⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣴⢿⡻⣷⡽⣞⣻⣷⢿⣿⢿⣷⣾⣡⣀⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣹⣏⢟⣬⡷⢮⡳⣿⠟⣳⣿⣼⢻⣽⣿⣿⣟⣝⡢⡀⠀⠀⠀ ⢠⣶⡶⡛⣋⣥⠾⢷⡍⡃⣟⣲⠳⣿⣿⣿⢿⣸⣹⣿⣕⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⣦⣄ ⣸⣿⣯⣽⡵⣤⢶⣸⢘⣩⣉⣫⣥⣰⢤⣩⣫⣝⣭⣿⣱⣿⣿⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⠻⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣞⣶⡿⣷⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠿⠛ ⠀⠀⠀⠈⠉⠉⠉⠉⠙⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠉⠉⠋⠉⠉⠁⠀⠀ Don't you dare go hollow friends.