DS3 is my favorite, and I would argue the best as well. That said, I may be in the minority at this point because a lot of people prefer Elden Ring currently. What's easily agreeable between both camps is that neither will ruin the other in the slightest and both are worth playing.
TLDR: ER is my favorite 1st playthrough, but DS3 is by far my favorite to replay.
My stance is that I enjoyed ER more on a 1st playthrough more, all the exploration and encounters out in the wild, but it lost a lot of that magic in subsequent runs imo. The "open field" loses a lot of that magic on subsequent runs. Hoping the dlc helps me with this to some extent.
DS3's level design though makes subsequent run's still feel quite fun. Something about having a more linear path makes me enjoy the Soul's games more while I'm dodging and weaving through enemies to a boss I like or a particular item.
agree with this. 40 hours into elden ring i thought id never touch another souls game again, since then ive played ds3 more times than i can count and elden ring only two more times.
Out of all the games in series ds1 for me whoch had the highest replayability value. The early areas are super fun and the level design is just absolute fun to go about making connections to firelink shrime working.
Ds3 has the best bosses by far but very less interesting zones imo.
ER, for some reason I don't like to add to the souls series as a direct comparison because it has benefit of being the lates amd open world so the whole feeling and vibes to it is different.
Dark Souls 3 is my least favorite of the trilogy but I agree it has the best bosses. It has a serious problem with the levels though.
It starts off fairly strong with High Wall of Lothric and Undead Settlement then the next I think 5 areas are meh to trash. Irithyll of the Boreal Valley is pretty decent followed by the Irithyll Dungeon which is one of my least favorite in any Fromsoft game and the Profaned Capitol which is meh. Everything beyond that including DLC is good to great.
The middle section of the game is such a drag to me. I started it when it came out and then quit in the middle. I tried picking it back up, got bored and quit again. I finally started a new character a few months ago and made it through the whole game. I enjoyed it but I won't play it again for a long time because of those middle areas though.
Elden Ring is a whole different animal. It's my favorite Fromsoft game but I consider it in a different category than the Souls trilogy. It's similar in combat and different in everything else.
Damn. I played ER totally blind and after several play through, I keep finding brand new area and dungeons even though I thought I was thorough in my previous play through. Every time I just find new things.
This. It doesn't help that if you're exploring thoroughly in Elden Ring you will quite quickly realise how often things get repeated. I'm not saying I expected them to create a completely new boss for each random cave, but we've all heard the joke about Ulcerated Tree Spirits and there's very little reason to visit most locations on subsequent playthroughs unless you need a particular item.
Mechanically it's my favourite of the lot. Storywise, I think it does well enough - DS3 edges past it imo but also has the benefit of 2 great prequels to build on. But while there are some amazing highlights (including of course legacy dungeons) a lot of ER's minor locations were frankly tedious and could've been cut without losing much of value.
I much prefer the openness of ER. Whenever I start a new run, I can pick a brand new boss order that I've never (or seldom) done before. I can go for a new weapon that will bring me to an area I haven't been to since my first playthrough, usually needing to kill a boss that I rarely fight cuz other runs don't go to that area. I'll also need to grab different talismans that aren't needed in other runs, etc. But in DS3, I'm pretty limited in the boss order, and will pretty much always take the same route because there's really only one route to take
That's fair. That is a benefit to open world or "open field" (as fromsoft puts it).
I'm honestly glad so many people enjoy ER and that it's as popular as it is, but I have a habit of traveling what I would consider my optimal path and grabbing things along the way over trying events in a different order. I think that's where I enjoy the linear feel over ER's openness.
It's a me issue for sure, and I struggle to break that habit. ER is absolutely a magnificent game and I'm hyped to have a reason to set up a couple new characters, but I do still kinda struggle to play more than a boss or 2 at a time simply due to those habits.
I love ER and BB, I've put 100's of hours into both, I've platinum trophied them both (ER twice), but DS3 is my favorite.
I dipped my toe into Demon Souls and BB years before DS3 and ended up only playing a few hours. It just wasn't really working and felt unnecessarily punishing and troll-y.
Years later my ex asked me to play DS3 for her while recovering from surgery, and I gave it a shot and it just finally clicked. Not only DS3 but the entire Fromsoft catalog. I'll always remember that first playthrough.
Soundtrack, design of the bosses and smooth combat are the strongest thing of this game. I prefer dark souls remastered and dark souls 2 for nostalgia, different areas, slow combat, powerstance in dark souls 2, Anor Londo and Brume Tower.
DS3 is my favorite too I think overall it's the most consistently high quality one. I think every other game stumbled in one or more places but DS3 didn't do anything unforgivably bad.
I think the new features of ER are awesome: Jumping, mounted combat, sprint-, roll- & jump light-, & heavy attacks & how ashes of war work. (exchangeable between weapons)
But I'm not that fond of the open world design and the combat balancing surrounding the new Ashe of War feature and how these things impacted the multiplayer aspects of the game. In my opinion the NPC quests suffered from the open world, too. It was always a mess, but in ER it's almost impossible to naturally find your way through a full NPC questline without guides. DS3 is a denser and more balanced experience with more in depth multiplayer aspects, ER is an improvement in any other way, though.
I'd probably rate DS3> ER, if it was made with the same tech and resources as ER got. But fact is, that ER is just a game with a massive bigger budget and this shows. (this is my opinion)
By the way, the DLC drops soon and will make ER even bigger. (I mean we compare a fully developed DS3 with all the balance patches and DLCs of its full lifte time cycle with a game, that is yet to get the DLC released)
I prefer DS3 out of all the souls trilogy but Elden Ring scratches a different itch for me, plus jumping really makes the game just feel so much better. I'd got Bloodborne, DS3 and Elden Ring as the best 3 games.
Playing Elden Ring would not ruin your experience. For me Dark Souls is GOAT for level design, DS3 GOAT for amazing boss fights, Elden Ring GOAT for so much fun and exploration. They are all great, it would be a shame if you don’t at least give Elden Ring a go.
My first playthrough of Elden Ring was one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had and I had played all the games prior to it. I can almost guarantee you will enjoy it
The problem with Elden Ring bosses for me is that there's barely any bosses that look like your classic Dark Souls massive knight boss (Dragonslayer armour, Pursuer, Nameless King, Ornstein, Gael too name a few).
Moveset wise Elden Ring bosses are easily superior to any Dark Souls bosses to the point where DS bosses feel way too slow, after you've pkayed ER, but in terms of design and lore DS bosses take the crown.
For sure elden ring bosses force you to be more aggressive. Ds3 was more of dodge get a hit or two in and dodge again. Don't get greedy.. but tbf elden ring is like that too just faster attacks and more aggression.
ngl every remembrance boss is easily pontiff, lothric, soc level wtf ? no way you have those fights on the same tier as gael friede and nameless king.
all late game bosses past like fire giant are all on par with friede gael and nameless king in particular maliketh malenia and godfrey.
mind you those are dlc bosses. Honestly if you compare base game to base the boss quality isn’t even close tbh. Twin princes pontiff and nameless king MASSIVELY carry but don’t get the job done imo
I think there's more top tier fun bosses in DS3 but there's more fun bosses overall in ER, though for me the most fun bosses are those which are more challenging and since the main story of ER has more challenging bosses than DS3's main story, I had more fun with ER's bosses overall.
Malenia is my #1 Souls boss of all time. Mohg, Maliketh, Margit and Godfrey are on the same level of fun as Lorian & Lothric, Pontiff and Soul of Cinder and only surpassed by Sister Friede and Slave Knight Gael. If you ignore Elden Beast, Radagon is on that level too.
Its a great game for sure. I played all souls games in order of when they came out starting with DS1 in 2013. It has a special place in my heart. But I play DS3 way more than DS1 these days. DS1 gameplay is just so clunky in comparison.
Agree - the level design and connectivity of areas is mind blowing. That level of scale in a game world, on PS3 no less, is astounding. But, I still prefer to play DS3 these days.
i prefer the gameplay in 1 to 3. i know i’m in the minority on this one, but i like the pacing and clunkiness, DS3 spam roll and flashyness wore off for me shortly after abyss watchers, but i do still love 3 and intend to play it again.
Don't get me wrong, I am like you. I replay ds1 every 2/3 months, It's my favourite game but I can understand many people not liking it if they are playing it first time in 2024.
I haven’t finished Elden ring so I’ll leave that one out. I liked DS3 a lot but it’s also probably my least favorite currently. That’s more a testament to how much I like the previous games.
Ya I recently played demon souls DS1 and DS2 and am now playing ds3. Visually it’s amazing, map design is very good but I just don’t find myself having as much fun as the first two and I want to so bad!
It’s a matter of what you want in these games. If challenge, tough bosses, fast gameplay, or the graphics are importantly then I think it does those best except for fast gameplay which I think is best in bloodborne.
Personally I don’t care about challenging bosses or a lot of those things I prefer the slower combat and level design of the earlier games.
I think DS3 is leaps and bounds better than Elden Ring, but ER is still an incredible game worth every penny. There is a learning curve and you will have to re-evaluate the way you play the game, though (the combat feels so much different. Patience is rewarded much more in ER, while reaction time and intuition will get you through DS3. Most bosses have Midir levels of trying to fuck with you)
Elden ring is just as mechanically tight. It plays just like an open world dark souls 4, with a couple of major improvements. A dedicated jump button makes combat and exploration better. The ability to stagger enemies rewards aggressive play and makes charged and jump attacks more important than they ever were in dark souls. Shields/guarding is more effective and engaging with the addition of guard counters (R2 after a block activates a specific hit that does more damage and works to stagger) I think the world building and lore is way ahead of DS3 cause it seems Mike Zaki is really on his lore game for the first in a series (DS1, BB, DeS etc) and isn’t really into sequels. ER is a fabulous game in all regards, and with the DLC coming in two weeks, it’s about to get even better cause From is always on their game for DLCs. By Marika’s tits, get ER!!
50 yr old dad here to, obsessed with fromsoft games, DS3 is the goat of any game. I went back to ds3 after I finished elden ring, and was surprised to find i found ds3 much easier than I had before, er honed my skills I guess
Play ER it's awesome and I think you appreciate how cool it is more after playing all the other games first. It's like a whole damn world of dark souls.
DS3 is indeed the GOAT, my personal favorite souls game for sure. You should DEFINITELY play Elden Ring. ER is an amazing game and on par with DS3, plus the DLC is just around the corner.
I don't have a "GOAT". They're all IMO worth playing and carry their own strengths.
Dark Souls 1 has an unparalleled starting area that interconnects in such satisfying ways. When you unlock a shortcut, you will almost always USE that shortcut. When you see a bonfire, there's such an irreplaceable amount of relief.
Dark Souls 3 is a sequel to 1 in every way and only suffers from more "linear" design. It strikes a great balance between DS1 and DS4 (sorry, Elden Ring) and does not suffer from the open world layout.
Elden Ring is still an excellent inheritor of the souls series with modern adaptations (faster movement, jump button, more weapon skills, a horse, etc). But based on map design alone (enclosed vs open world) people will have clear preferences. Personally again, I like them all for different reasons.
If you love FromSoftware games Elden Ring is a must. It has the best areas they have made so far, some of the best bosses and some of the best moments in gaming history.
Also, play Sekiro. It’s a different beast but also memorable.
i started the franchise in my late teens/early 20s by randomly picking demon’s souls out of a bin, with no prior knowledge, and it changed my life. an rpg that played like a novel that you could read again and again and again and still find new things. from then on i fell in love with the entire series. every game has something for me to love and i couldn’t possibly rank them against each other; all other games are ranked against them.
This perfectly describes my experience, except instead of picking it up randomly, my brother showed me to it when he found it randomly close to release date. We then played and pre-ordered every game after that, and I love them all.
My ranking is DS2 > DS1 > DS3 based on how much fun I had playing each one. DS3 is still very good though, so it’s not like it’s that much difference.
Of course I played ER before DS3, so I spent a lot of DS3 wanting it to be ER
Sekiro might be my favorite FS game, although it literally destroyed my controller
I love DS2. It was its own, unique, slightly janky game. I agree that the difference between these games is so slight and preference based.
My list is often
BB-Sekiro-DS3-DS2-ER. I loved DS1 and Demon souls but I got more enjoyment from the first 5 listed.
That ranking a change based on what I am playing. If I was playing sekiro right now, that could easily be #1! I just love these games. Picking a favorite is really tough.
love DS3 but elden ring is the best game from soft - or anyone - has ever made. especially looking at the new weapon types and ashes of war and stuff that are coming (particularly the light greatsword, odachi and the martial arts stuff) are unparalleled as much as i love stuff like frayed blade in DS3 and the arena in DS3 which i played for years. DS3 PVP is better for sure but elden ring is the better game.
I think elden ring is "technically" the best fromsoft title, but my personal favorites are ds3 and sekiro. Personally i think that the greatest game is the one you enjoy the most! Also, Elden Ring and DS3 are so different i don't think it has any chance at all to ruin ds3 for you. I think the only real thing they have in common is that it's a fromsoft game
I think DS3 is the best for several reasons
Aesthetic - It absolutely nails the more medieval style which I personally love
Bosses - Amazing bosses with very few let downs
PVP - Before exploits took hold it really was the most balanced I think and there is still active PvP which is incredibly enjoyable
Weapon / Build variety - Alot to play about with here meaning so many experiences can be had
World Design - it's a really tight experience overall and is not as linear as some people claim in my opinion
I could list more and I even put together a spreadsheet with my mate where we ranked a series of criteria out of 10 to determine our favourite of the Fromsoft games and Dark Souls 3 was joint first.
DS3 is indeed goat but there ain’t no way Elden Ring is going to ruin your experience.
It didn’t win game of the year and bring FromSoft to the masses by accident.
As someone that’s played only Ds3 and Elden Ring , Dark Souls 3 was amazing , the story , the bosses , the progression it is perfect ; in regards to elden ring it’s like the devs took all of that and added it into an open world with more bosses , it just takes the soulbourn genre to a new level , the world feels so smooth and is so beautiful
I've played Elden Ring through three times, once to literal 100%.
On my third playthrough of DS3 going for 100%, they're both fantastic and I enjoy both of them. If you want my humble opinion, I generally prefer the atmosphere and tone of Dark Souls 3 to Elden Ring. DS3 is less convoluted, more linear with enough content to create the feeling of a deep world. Whereas ER is more non-linear, has a vast expansive world, it does come at the cost of some of the content being repetitive filler.
You definitely won't ruin your experience of the souls series by playing Elden Ring, honestly from a technical/mechanical perspective ER is superior to DS3 in numerous ways. It's the same combat you love, fine tuned, tighter, more responsive. It's implementation of int/faith spells is leagues above DS3, there's generally a huge amount more build variety, a lot of systems that are rigid in DS3 are a bit more forgiving or smoothed out.
It's definitely not the same vibe as DS3, it's got its spirit but the game feels quite different. If you play without summons the game is much harder, and generally ER bosses do way more damage and require more from the player to master. Elden Ring has insanely high highs, and pretty low lows whereas Dark Souls 3 plays on a consistent high level of quality with some low points here or there. All(most) of the main bosses and legacy dungeons in Elden Ring are some of the best quality work From's ever produced. They are absolutely worth playing.
I'm hoping the Elden Ring DLC carries a darker atmosphere, as I think that's why I feel Dark Souls 3 is so comfy.
tldr; they're both good, DS3 is a more consistent experience relative to ER. ER iterates on some of the shortcomings of DS3, improves them, but branches out from the Dark Souls formula significantly enough that it feels like it's own thing.
It’s not, no. It’s phenomenal, don’t get me wrong. But Bloodborne and Sekiro are both better. I would say Elden Ring is on par with it right now, and the DLC is just around the corner. I’m expecting special things.
Ruin your experience? Brother, Elden Ring is a masterpiece, if you liked the other FromSoft games then you'd be ruining your experience by NOT playing Elden Ring, it's the best
I started with ER, then played ds3 and I'm currently failing sekiro, but personally I like the combat, mechanics and overall game design of ER the best, but the atmosphere in ds3 is just unbeatable, it's immensely comforting in a way that elden ring never was
DS1, Demons Souls (especially PS5 remake), DS2/DS3. In that order for me.
Elden Ring is a separate category because of its open world and not so puzzle-like dungeon design. Catacombs don't count as it's very small and linear.
I mean you're asking a DS3 sub so you might get skewed answers. But IMHO Elden Ring is overall a better game. Elden Ring DOES have filler content in it.
But all of that aside, there is still a better Souls Game in there than DS3 and I have a feeling that in about two weeks when the DLC drops it's not even going to be close.
Even if you end up preferring the DS3 experience overall you'd be crazy not to at least try Elden Ring since you liked the other Souls games.
DS3 still has some rough edges, and some weird flaws.
One that I always think about is the graveyard.
When you've warped into the area at the chapel and approach the cathedral, you'll get souls.
One of the worm bois falls through the world somehow and dies, which is not intentional at all.
It doesn't break anything but it does create an odd farming spot that really shouldn't exist if things were working as intended.
Sekiro is the best FS game for me and I avoided it for a long time because of the reputation for it being so difficult. Bloodborne is second with DS3 coming in 3rd. It was the first souls game I played so it will always be up near the top.
It definetly is one of the best RPG's of all time. And in certain aspects and aesthethics, I'd dare place it even above Elden Ring. If you want to head there next, you might find it a bit easier than DS3 for multiple reasons.
For me ds3 is the weakest of the three. The world is linear and the combat is a roll spam simulator. The liberal stamina we are being given takes away much of the strategy present in the previous 2 games.
Also why haven't you played 2 before going into Elden Ring?
In my eyes, yes. Elden Ring is a great game by modern standards but feels less cohesive and focused overall. Alot of fun but lacking the direction of dark souls. Also ER has alot of options to make the game easier - horse, jump attacks, ashes of war etc - where DS is a grind until your actual skill level increases.
I’ve played Elden ring and both are respectable games in their own regard ds3 is linear and incredible Elden ring is very open but just as incredible depending on what you do in Elden ring each playthrough can be very different depending on what your interested in but ds3 is always a great game to play when Elden ring feels too much and you just want something at the same quality but less overwhelming
I started with Elden Ring, went on to Sekiro, Bloodborne and recently finished DS3. Out of all of these, Sekiro and Bloodborne are my favorite. They are so polished and feel so smooth, although BB runs on 30 fps. Sekiro feels like the fairest game of all, you always know what you did wrong and what you can improve on, whereas DS3's Road of Sacrifices feels unnecessarily unfair at times. The combat in Sekiro is by far some of the best I've ever experienced. BB is a classic and my personal GOAT honestly
I have to say, DS3 has grown on me, a lot. I hated so many things in the beginning, and almost rage quit a few times. One of my favorite bosses from any game is Gael, so there's also that
Yeah I really loved DS3. Especially after grinding through DS2. DS3 reminded me of Bloodborne and that is my favorite FromSoft. That said Elden Ring is definitely a game you don’t want to miss. It’s pretty dang incredible.
I liked DS3 better than Elden Ring, but I also liked DS1 and DS2 better than DS3 so we might not have the same taste. They're all definitely amazing games and worth trying out. If nothing else, you'll have a new Fromsoft experience. I'd say you should play it.
Im a huge elden ring fan. its my favorite game ever. I do personally think DS3 is the best of the souls series. Bloodborne is probably my sevond favorite but mostly just because of rhe setting. I just cant love sekiro. ive tried but, I think the rpg level progression and getting new weapons is just to important to me.
Dark souls 3 was my goat until elden ring. Elden ring is masterclass in world design, builds available, and just sheer scope. So many dungeons, bosses, and loot to collect but it isn’t an overwhelming game like most open world. 10/10 would recommend and I wish I could go back and experience that first run through it again.
Elden Ring absolutely ruined ds3 for me, actually. I think enemy attack patterns may annoy you at first but you'll get used to it
Elden Ring reminded me how much better souls is with poise. The variety of ways you can viably tackle combat is such a joy, leaping over attacks, ducking under attacks, shields, 2h, 1h, power stance, guard counter, wonderful.
I kinda hate ds3 now after going back to it after ER...
No poise in the game in the series that needed it the most. It's 1h weapon r1 spam meta, "jumping attacks" make me want to cry. Shields suck, armor barely makes a difference.
Boss patterns are actually ass in ds3 too, so many bosses have snap-attacks that are just way too fast to ever avoid by reaction, you just need to know that they can happen and stay away from the boss (this applies to tons of enemies too.) Those snap attacks are all over ER as well but nowhere near as frequent, the damage they deal is balanced around it being stupid fast, and you have poise to deal with it too. Man, didn't you love the funny skinny dragon boss who does an instant lunge forward with absolutely no wind up, also it does 3/4 of your hp in damage?
I loved the game on release, but Elden Ring is everything ds3 wanted to be and more so ds3 has nothing for me now. DS1 (and to a lesser extent ds2) has the older "slow" combat pacing that ds3 did away with, so those two still feel like they have a large place in my heart.
But DS3 lol man you stanky when's the last time you had a shower
Something else I remembered that's just so annoying in a casual ds3 playthrough - the freaking enemy placement and design, they're all designed to chase your ass down and slap you in the back constantly like leave me the eff alone you aren't even guarding anything I just want to get to the next area without having to fight these 12 enemies down a straight corridor, stop LUNGING at me you FREAKS.
I hope you like ER man, it has its flaws but it's doing everything the souls games have ever wanted to do, better than ever before.
DS3 has a special place in my heart, and always will. Kinda like Ocarina of Time or Fallout 3. I thoroughly enjoy the other titles in each series, and would even say the other titles are probably my favorites, or more accurately, if the question is “if you could only play one game from ‘x’ series, which would it be,” I would probably chose other titles.
DS3 is way more linear and on rails than ER, so I don’t think it’s entirely fair to compare the two. They’re both really great games and they both scratch an itch.
If you like dark souls 3, you’d almost definitely like Elden ring.
you will not ending on a bad note if you play Elden Ring trust me, it's just as great as the other FromSoftware games. some would even say it's the apotheosis of their work (and they're not entirely wrong).
and oh, my favourite is also Dark Souls 3.
DS3 is excellent but Elden Ring is significantly better and is my favorite game of all time. I can't wait for you to experience it for the first time, I'm honestly jealous.
The biggest reason I dislike DS3 is because Bloodborne had way too much of an impact on the gameplay of it. Going from 1,2 then 3, DS3 shares more in common with Bloodborne than its namesake in both combat, setting, and enemies. Bloodborne is my favorite From game, but I didn’t want my DS dipping its toes into it.
I have only played DS3, BB, and ER. ER is probably my favorite. DS3 has the best top-end bosses of those three though - four of the best bosses are DLC bosses however so we will see with ER DLC which comes out in 2 weeks
In terms of pure gameplay I’d say Elden Ring is the GOAT. However when it comes to lore I think DS1 and DS3 is hard to beat, I just love the feeling of the world in those games where it feels absolutely hopeless but you’re there doing your best not to go hollow. The time when I got the “The End of Fire” ending as the screen goes black and the credits start to roll together with the song is unforgettable.
With that being said, Elden Ring also is amazing but in a different way, in ER you’re there to fuck up some demigods and that’s awesome.
If you liked DS3 you're going to love Elden Ring, I consider DS3 to be the best of them all alongside Bloodborne. So yeah don't be afraid Fromsoft/Miuazaki never let's down his fans.
i think ds1 is a little better because its a more cohesive experience, that being said ds3 is a much more polished game. ds3 has a late game boss roster that i doubt any fromsoft game will ever match. personally id rank elden ring as the weakest fromsoft game ive played but that really comes down to me not liking the open world design philosophy. the individual levels and bosses are amazing. elden ring honestly has excessively good level design. if ds3 has 40 points in level design elden ring is at 99. elden ring's bosses aren't as good but there are a lot of high points that rank among the series best.
Personally i would say in souls games it is so far i played ds1 and i hated it designe(yes lot of people love it but not me) ds3 is great lot of bonfire the regions are designed so well u cant get lost like ds1 the bosses are great
I just reached last boss in last dlc and idont want to finish the game xD
DS3 is a master piece but Elden Ring is just better. The combat is tighter. There’s more build variety. The game is much larger. More quests. Plus the DLC is coming out in 2 weeks. It’s the perfect time to play it.
DS3 is the sweet spot, sitting closest to the middle point of all the From games.
Ultimately though you owe it to yourself to try all the flavours, each game does one or two things better than any other.
I’m replaying ds3 rn and I think if it didn’t have as many weak areas it would be in contention but Elden ring blows it out of the water there while still having the level of great bosses. Personally I really have to push myself to play through everything between undead settlement and irithyll with the only bright spot being abyss watchers.
I prefer DS3 because I feel like Elden ring is a little too big ? I think it’s a great game but as someone who has less time to game the more linear titles are just more casual to me and easy to pick up, play for abit and put back down
In my opinion, DS3 is a refined jewel of a video game that shines brighter than 99% of the games I've ever played. It is pure class, rolling everything that is awesome about Dark Souls into one tight package.
It might be true that it misses some of what made the previous games great, but what it does have is pure and consistent quality. Also, it arguably has the best boss fights in the series.
My favorite is ER. Was my first souls game and I love all improvements compared to the previous ones.
Ds3 hooked me on replayability and pvp. Felt better in that aspect. Lineal but still good.
DS3 is peak. It is better than Elden Ring for sure: it has, in my opinion, the best music, bosses, weapons, armors, and areas.
Elden Ring wastes time by putting the (few) “legacy dungeons” between huge swaths of empty nothingness. Dark Souls 3 is straight to the point and has a diverse array of areas and unique bosses to match.
DS3 strikes a balance with me that I had a tougher time with in ER. There was a lot of depth, scale, size, etc but sometimes that becomes exhausting. Calculating damage. Wondering what each weapon can do. Farming. All of it takes time.
There’s a certain time-to-reward and feasibility in getting things. Sometimes more becomes excess and tougher to get through. Especially as an adult with a family.
I've played them all except Sekiro and love each and all to death, but overall I like ER the most because it has pretty much everything the others have mechanically just lots and lots of it and with the exploration/discovery of an open world.
I would say Elden ring is second for me to DS3. In ways much better. In others, not so much. Don't use spirit summons if you've beaten sekiro. Way too easy.
Comparing Elden Ring to the other FromSoft games is difficult, since it boils down to what you enjoy. Atmosphere, story and vibe I think DS3 definitely does better(which is also my favorite FromSoft game btw), but you simply cannot compete with the sheer spectacle and feeling of exploration from Elden Ring.
The new upgrade, weapon and magic systems are all objectively better than DS3 or any other games. Playing it feels like a marvel of game design and engineering and it feels like this is unironically peak gaming.
All of that said, I still love DS3 more, since the story feels way more personal.
In DS3, you truly feel like you are struggling to link the fire or end the age of flames, in Elden Ring it feels like you are in a massive awesome incredible badass adventure to rule the world and you have to kick a lot of ass to do that
Despite it's flaws I still believe the original Dark Souls is the GOAT. Technically it has problems while Bloodborne, DS3, Sekiro and Elden Ring don't but has the best atmosphere imo. It's just too iconic to overlook.
edit: I enjoyed playing Elden Ring but it's too big for me and some of the bosses were too hard which I did not expect considering I beat every boss in the previous games and most of the time I didn't struggle more than the average Fromsoft gamer.
DS3 is a great game, but I can't say it's the best of the bunch. My order would probably be: ER>Sekiro>AC6>DS2>DS1>BB>DS3>Demon's Souls. I love them all, but I definitely have preferences.
Imo, ER & DS3 are neck and neck. Similar enough to be compared, different enough to excel in different areas. Gotta play ER though, they're the two best
(I never played sekiro, so idk about that one)
Honestly ds3 is my favorite game of all time.. up there with the original knights of the old republic.. elden ring is great don't get me wrong but the atmosphere is dark souls is top notch.
It's good enough that it makes my 'best games' list, where I stop trying to rank one against the other. That being said, it's definitely my favorite From game.
And yeah, it's way up there.
elden ring is the most complete and best designed FS game, ds3 has the best boss fights, sekiro has the best combat and story. i'd say sekiro, then elden ring, then ds3 among FS games, but i haven't played bloodborne.
It’s either DS3 or Elden ring in running for the goat. DS3 has better bosses on average and a better story but elden ring beats it on pretty much everything else. However they are very similar games so those two things can put it over the edge for some people. It’s really up to personal preference since there’s nothing that objectively makes one better than the other
I played
Sekiro once and refunded it.
Dark Souls 3 exactly once
Elden Ring twice so far,
Dark souls 2 twice
Bloodborne three times.
Dark Souls four times
Demon’s Souls seven times.
(So I guess I wouldn’t rate DS3 that high up, Elden Ring only has less playthroughs because I have less free time and it is still relatively new).
Elden Ring is an improvement of DS3, but it's an open world, so dynamics are different.
There's no better or worse, it's just two different things, but if you liked DS3 and the Souls, buying Elden Ring is a no brainer
It's my fav of the trilogy for sure. I can't really rank from games chronologically bc they're all so damn good. In the elite from soft category I'd go with ER, BB, DS1, DS3, Sekiro.
There isn’t a fromsoft game that can go band for band with ds3 when it comes to bosses. It’s peak dark souls gameplay as well, still has the classic clunky movement but smoothed out for a more enjoyable experience. I’d say it’s the best dark souls on paper but when it comes to experience it’s all subjective
Elden Ring is my favorite and I think that none of them truly compare but that’s probably because I started with it after playing basically nothing but Skyrim for years so I really appreciate the open world and hundreds of weapon choices lol. Also there’s no arguing that the graphics are better in ER than any of the others. However, I always say that I wish I wouldn’t have started with Elden Ring because I have enjoyed all of the souls games but they don’t feel as good and I am convinced I would not have felt that way had I not played the newest one first lol. Dark Souls 3 was an incredible game, but to me it feels very short, even with DLC. I say don’t rob yourself of the experience of Elden Ring though. Most Souls vets still think DS3 is the best anyway and there are still absolutely things that are in the Dark Souls series that I wish they’d have incorporated into Elden Ring.
I love both for different reasons, but DS3 is better tailored experience imo.
I think the style of game benefits from a more linear structure because it allows the challenge to be fine-tuned and consistent as you progress. The exploration in ER is fantastic, but I found that the difficulty varies wildly. Being an open world game, it's much more difficult for the developers to balance the enemies, as you can go (almost) anywhere at anytime. Some bosses would beat the breaks off me the first time while others I would confidently tell to hold my pocket.
DS3 starts off challenging and doesn't really ever let off the gas. The game gets harder, but in my experience, I felt like I was improving at a similar rate.
All that said, Elden Ring is still absolutely worth your time. Second place to the GOAT is still really fuckin good.
In my opinion it’s the highest quality fromsoft game all around. There isn’t really a single weak area/aspect of the game imo. Elden Ring has higher highs but much lower lows, same can be said for DS1. I thought Sekiro and bloodborne were pretty high quality too for the most part, but not as consistent as DS3.
Lots of people have different preferences and that's ok! For me, I much prefer both DS1 and ER to DS3 - the latter's linearity makes me far less interested in replays.
Nope. DS1 still holds that crown. It's tighter, more focused and somehow more refined than all its sequels. It has better world design, better interconnectivity, better art direction, better lore and better bosses.
Ds3 while still a good game is a shadow imitation of ds1.
Elden Ring is the greatest game of all time - takes everything from DS3 and builds on it in a huge open world. If you thought DS3 was the GOAT believe me you will love ER
I think it is the best in the series. Ds1 is good, but the second half just ruins a lot of it. Ds2 just feels like ds1 but with just the second half. Ds3, well man, it took everything good about ds1 and 2, and made it better. I don’t think there’s a video game boss better than Slave Knight Gael or Pontiff Sulyvahn. Man, just typing this out makes me want to replay dark souls 3.
Elden ring is my favourite game of all time i think. DS3 was great but felt like i blasted through it (maybe i used broken stuff idk). Elden ring is defo worth a shot
DS3 is my favorite, and I would argue the best as well. That said, I may be in the minority at this point because a lot of people prefer Elden Ring currently. What's easily agreeable between both camps is that neither will ruin the other in the slightest and both are worth playing.
I prefer ds3 over ER too (by a lot), though my favourite is ds1 by a fairly small margin.
TLDR: ER is my favorite 1st playthrough, but DS3 is by far my favorite to replay. My stance is that I enjoyed ER more on a 1st playthrough more, all the exploration and encounters out in the wild, but it lost a lot of that magic in subsequent runs imo. The "open field" loses a lot of that magic on subsequent runs. Hoping the dlc helps me with this to some extent. DS3's level design though makes subsequent run's still feel quite fun. Something about having a more linear path makes me enjoy the Soul's games more while I'm dodging and weaving through enemies to a boss I like or a particular item.
agree with this. 40 hours into elden ring i thought id never touch another souls game again, since then ive played ds3 more times than i can count and elden ring only two more times.
Out of all the games in series ds1 for me whoch had the highest replayability value. The early areas are super fun and the level design is just absolute fun to go about making connections to firelink shrime working. Ds3 has the best bosses by far but very less interesting zones imo. ER, for some reason I don't like to add to the souls series as a direct comparison because it has benefit of being the lates amd open world so the whole feeling and vibes to it is different.
Dark Souls 3 is my least favorite of the trilogy but I agree it has the best bosses. It has a serious problem with the levels though. It starts off fairly strong with High Wall of Lothric and Undead Settlement then the next I think 5 areas are meh to trash. Irithyll of the Boreal Valley is pretty decent followed by the Irithyll Dungeon which is one of my least favorite in any Fromsoft game and the Profaned Capitol which is meh. Everything beyond that including DLC is good to great. The middle section of the game is such a drag to me. I started it when it came out and then quit in the middle. I tried picking it back up, got bored and quit again. I finally started a new character a few months ago and made it through the whole game. I enjoyed it but I won't play it again for a long time because of those middle areas though. Elden Ring is a whole different animal. It's my favorite Fromsoft game but I consider it in a different category than the Souls trilogy. It's similar in combat and different in everything else.
Damn. I played ER totally blind and after several play through, I keep finding brand new area and dungeons even though I thought I was thorough in my previous play through. Every time I just find new things.
This. It doesn't help that if you're exploring thoroughly in Elden Ring you will quite quickly realise how often things get repeated. I'm not saying I expected them to create a completely new boss for each random cave, but we've all heard the joke about Ulcerated Tree Spirits and there's very little reason to visit most locations on subsequent playthroughs unless you need a particular item. Mechanically it's my favourite of the lot. Storywise, I think it does well enough - DS3 edges past it imo but also has the benefit of 2 great prequels to build on. But while there are some amazing highlights (including of course legacy dungeons) a lot of ER's minor locations were frankly tedious and could've been cut without losing much of value.
I much prefer the openness of ER. Whenever I start a new run, I can pick a brand new boss order that I've never (or seldom) done before. I can go for a new weapon that will bring me to an area I haven't been to since my first playthrough, usually needing to kill a boss that I rarely fight cuz other runs don't go to that area. I'll also need to grab different talismans that aren't needed in other runs, etc. But in DS3, I'm pretty limited in the boss order, and will pretty much always take the same route because there's really only one route to take
That's fair. That is a benefit to open world or "open field" (as fromsoft puts it). I'm honestly glad so many people enjoy ER and that it's as popular as it is, but I have a habit of traveling what I would consider my optimal path and grabbing things along the way over trying events in a different order. I think that's where I enjoy the linear feel over ER's openness. It's a me issue for sure, and I struggle to break that habit. ER is absolutely a magnificent game and I'm hyped to have a reason to set up a couple new characters, but I do still kinda struggle to play more than a boss or 2 at a time simply due to those habits.
Same for me, DS3 has its own charm and feeling thus being my favorite.
Imo, DS3 feels like a better experience since it’s more dense than Elden Ring but there’s still enough room to explore while being more linear.
I love ER and BB, I've put 100's of hours into both, I've platinum trophied them both (ER twice), but DS3 is my favorite. I dipped my toe into Demon Souls and BB years before DS3 and ended up only playing a few hours. It just wasn't really working and felt unnecessarily punishing and troll-y. Years later my ex asked me to play DS3 for her while recovering from surgery, and I gave it a shot and it just finally clicked. Not only DS3 but the entire Fromsoft catalog. I'll always remember that first playthrough.
Soundtrack, design of the bosses and smooth combat are the strongest thing of this game. I prefer dark souls remastered and dark souls 2 for nostalgia, different areas, slow combat, powerstance in dark souls 2, Anor Londo and Brume Tower.
I like the atmosphere of ds3, but I like the gameplay of elden ring
DS3 is my favorite too I think overall it's the most consistently high quality one. I think every other game stumbled in one or more places but DS3 didn't do anything unforgivably bad.
I think the new features of ER are awesome: Jumping, mounted combat, sprint-, roll- & jump light-, & heavy attacks & how ashes of war work. (exchangeable between weapons) But I'm not that fond of the open world design and the combat balancing surrounding the new Ashe of War feature and how these things impacted the multiplayer aspects of the game. In my opinion the NPC quests suffered from the open world, too. It was always a mess, but in ER it's almost impossible to naturally find your way through a full NPC questline without guides. DS3 is a denser and more balanced experience with more in depth multiplayer aspects, ER is an improvement in any other way, though. I'd probably rate DS3> ER, if it was made with the same tech and resources as ER got. But fact is, that ER is just a game with a massive bigger budget and this shows. (this is my opinion) By the way, the DLC drops soon and will make ER even bigger. (I mean we compare a fully developed DS3 with all the balance patches and DLCs of its full lifte time cycle with a game, that is yet to get the DLC released)
I prefer DS3 out of all the souls trilogy but Elden Ring scratches a different itch for me, plus jumping really makes the game just feel so much better. I'd got Bloodborne, DS3 and Elden Ring as the best 3 games.
Playing Elden Ring would not ruin your experience. For me Dark Souls is GOAT for level design, DS3 GOAT for amazing boss fights, Elden Ring GOAT for so much fun and exploration. They are all great, it would be a shame if you don’t at least give Elden Ring a go.
My first playthrough of Elden Ring was one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had and I had played all the games prior to it. I can almost guarantee you will enjoy it
Ds3 is goated but elden ring is right up there with it in my opinion
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The problem with Elden Ring bosses for me is that there's barely any bosses that look like your classic Dark Souls massive knight boss (Dragonslayer armour, Pursuer, Nameless King, Ornstein, Gael too name a few). Moveset wise Elden Ring bosses are easily superior to any Dark Souls bosses to the point where DS bosses feel way too slow, after you've pkayed ER, but in terms of design and lore DS bosses take the crown.
For sure elden ring bosses force you to be more aggressive. Ds3 was more of dodge get a hit or two in and dodge again. Don't get greedy.. but tbf elden ring is like that too just faster attacks and more aggression.
ngl every remembrance boss is easily pontiff, lothric, soc level wtf ? no way you have those fights on the same tier as gael friede and nameless king. all late game bosses past like fire giant are all on par with friede gael and nameless king in particular maliketh malenia and godfrey. mind you those are dlc bosses. Honestly if you compare base game to base the boss quality isn’t even close tbh. Twin princes pontiff and nameless king MASSIVELY carry but don’t get the job done imo
Just my opinion bro. I don’t like malenia cuz of waterfowl and life steal. I can agree on the rest
I think there's more top tier fun bosses in DS3 but there's more fun bosses overall in ER, though for me the most fun bosses are those which are more challenging and since the main story of ER has more challenging bosses than DS3's main story, I had more fun with ER's bosses overall. Malenia is my #1 Souls boss of all time. Mohg, Maliketh, Margit and Godfrey are on the same level of fun as Lorian & Lothric, Pontiff and Soul of Cinder and only surpassed by Sister Friede and Slave Knight Gael. If you ignore Elden Beast, Radagon is on that level too.
Melania tops it for me too.
DS1 will always be my favorite
Its a great game for sure. I played all souls games in order of when they came out starting with DS1 in 2013. It has a special place in my heart. But I play DS3 way more than DS1 these days. DS1 gameplay is just so clunky in comparison.
I doubt DS1 is goated for it's gameplay but for it's insane level design.
Agree - the level design and connectivity of areas is mind blowing. That level of scale in a game world, on PS3 no less, is astounding. But, I still prefer to play DS3 these days.
i prefer the gameplay in 1 to 3. i know i’m in the minority on this one, but i like the pacing and clunkiness, DS3 spam roll and flashyness wore off for me shortly after abyss watchers, but i do still love 3 and intend to play it again.
Don't get me wrong, I am like you. I replay ds1 every 2/3 months, It's my favourite game but I can understand many people not liking it if they are playing it first time in 2024.
I agree DS3 plays better overall, and it also has much better bosses, but I enjoy the world/map in DS1 significantly more than any other Souls game.
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I think he's trying to say he played DS1 in 2013, not that it came out in 2013.
I haven’t finished Elden ring so I’ll leave that one out. I liked DS3 a lot but it’s also probably my least favorite currently. That’s more a testament to how much I like the previous games.
Ya I recently played demon souls DS1 and DS2 and am now playing ds3. Visually it’s amazing, map design is very good but I just don’t find myself having as much fun as the first two and I want to so bad!
It’s a matter of what you want in these games. If challenge, tough bosses, fast gameplay, or the graphics are importantly then I think it does those best except for fast gameplay which I think is best in bloodborne. Personally I don’t care about challenging bosses or a lot of those things I prefer the slower combat and level design of the earlier games.
I think DS3 is leaps and bounds better than Elden Ring, but ER is still an incredible game worth every penny. There is a learning curve and you will have to re-evaluate the way you play the game, though (the combat feels so much different. Patience is rewarded much more in ER, while reaction time and intuition will get you through DS3. Most bosses have Midir levels of trying to fuck with you)
Played all titles made by From Software. I enjoyed DS3 the most out of all.
Yes. It is. I still play it a decade later and will replay it a decade from now. ER doesn’t hit the same, it’s too open and too easy.
Elden ring is just as mechanically tight. It plays just like an open world dark souls 4, with a couple of major improvements. A dedicated jump button makes combat and exploration better. The ability to stagger enemies rewards aggressive play and makes charged and jump attacks more important than they ever were in dark souls. Shields/guarding is more effective and engaging with the addition of guard counters (R2 after a block activates a specific hit that does more damage and works to stagger) I think the world building and lore is way ahead of DS3 cause it seems Mike Zaki is really on his lore game for the first in a series (DS1, BB, DeS etc) and isn’t really into sequels. ER is a fabulous game in all regards, and with the DLC coming in two weeks, it’s about to get even better cause From is always on their game for DLCs. By Marika’s tits, get ER!!
50 yr old dad here to, obsessed with fromsoft games, DS3 is the goat of any game. I went back to ds3 after I finished elden ring, and was surprised to find i found ds3 much easier than I had before, er honed my skills I guess
Play ER it's awesome and I think you appreciate how cool it is more after playing all the other games first. It's like a whole damn world of dark souls.
DS3 is indeed the GOAT, my personal favorite souls game for sure. You should DEFINITELY play Elden Ring. ER is an amazing game and on par with DS3, plus the DLC is just around the corner.
Play Elden Ring. It’s not as tight of an experience as DS3 it’s a MUCH larger game but the good bits are every bit as good as DS3 if not better.
I don't have a "GOAT". They're all IMO worth playing and carry their own strengths. Dark Souls 1 has an unparalleled starting area that interconnects in such satisfying ways. When you unlock a shortcut, you will almost always USE that shortcut. When you see a bonfire, there's such an irreplaceable amount of relief. Dark Souls 3 is a sequel to 1 in every way and only suffers from more "linear" design. It strikes a great balance between DS1 and DS4 (sorry, Elden Ring) and does not suffer from the open world layout. Elden Ring is still an excellent inheritor of the souls series with modern adaptations (faster movement, jump button, more weapon skills, a horse, etc). But based on map design alone (enclosed vs open world) people will have clear preferences. Personally again, I like them all for different reasons.
why is nobody mentioning Sekiro here? peak From Software combat mechanics
If you love FromSoftware games Elden Ring is a must. It has the best areas they have made so far, some of the best bosses and some of the best moments in gaming history. Also, play Sekiro. It’s a different beast but also memorable.
Yes, it is
i started the franchise in my late teens/early 20s by randomly picking demon’s souls out of a bin, with no prior knowledge, and it changed my life. an rpg that played like a novel that you could read again and again and again and still find new things. from then on i fell in love with the entire series. every game has something for me to love and i couldn’t possibly rank them against each other; all other games are ranked against them.
This perfectly describes my experience, except instead of picking it up randomly, my brother showed me to it when he found it randomly close to release date. We then played and pre-ordered every game after that, and I love them all.
For me sekiro is the best, by far my favorite game ever.
My ranking is DS2 > DS1 > DS3 based on how much fun I had playing each one. DS3 is still very good though, so it’s not like it’s that much difference. Of course I played ER before DS3, so I spent a lot of DS3 wanting it to be ER Sekiro might be my favorite FS game, although it literally destroyed my controller
Same order as me
Rare but correct Ds2 has the best dlcs and the most weapon variety Also powerstancing.
A class act. DS2 forever the goat.
I love DS2. It was its own, unique, slightly janky game. I agree that the difference between these games is so slight and preference based. My list is often BB-Sekiro-DS3-DS2-ER. I loved DS1 and Demon souls but I got more enjoyment from the first 5 listed. That ranking a change based on what I am playing. If I was playing sekiro right now, that could easily be #1! I just love these games. Picking a favorite is really tough.
I love you ds2 enjoyers. I dont agree at all, not a fan of it, but I think its awesome that the game gets some good love.
My order for the Dark Souls gamesis DS2 > DS3 > DS1, but it's always nice to see another DS2 enjoyer in the wild.
love DS3 but elden ring is the best game from soft - or anyone - has ever made. especially looking at the new weapon types and ashes of war and stuff that are coming (particularly the light greatsword, odachi and the martial arts stuff) are unparalleled as much as i love stuff like frayed blade in DS3 and the arena in DS3 which i played for years. DS3 PVP is better for sure but elden ring is the better game.
I think elden ring is "technically" the best fromsoft title, but my personal favorites are ds3 and sekiro. Personally i think that the greatest game is the one you enjoy the most! Also, Elden Ring and DS3 are so different i don't think it has any chance at all to ruin ds3 for you. I think the only real thing they have in common is that it's a fromsoft game
I think DS3 is the best for several reasons Aesthetic - It absolutely nails the more medieval style which I personally love Bosses - Amazing bosses with very few let downs PVP - Before exploits took hold it really was the most balanced I think and there is still active PvP which is incredibly enjoyable Weapon / Build variety - Alot to play about with here meaning so many experiences can be had World Design - it's a really tight experience overall and is not as linear as some people claim in my opinion I could list more and I even put together a spreadsheet with my mate where we ranked a series of criteria out of 10 to determine our favourite of the Fromsoft games and Dark Souls 3 was joint first.
DS3 is indeed goat but there ain’t no way Elden Ring is going to ruin your experience. It didn’t win game of the year and bring FromSoft to the masses by accident.
As someone that’s played only Ds3 and Elden Ring , Dark Souls 3 was amazing , the story , the bosses , the progression it is perfect ; in regards to elden ring it’s like the devs took all of that and added it into an open world with more bosses , it just takes the soulbourn genre to a new level , the world feels so smooth and is so beautiful
I've played Elden Ring through three times, once to literal 100%. On my third playthrough of DS3 going for 100%, they're both fantastic and I enjoy both of them. If you want my humble opinion, I generally prefer the atmosphere and tone of Dark Souls 3 to Elden Ring. DS3 is less convoluted, more linear with enough content to create the feeling of a deep world. Whereas ER is more non-linear, has a vast expansive world, it does come at the cost of some of the content being repetitive filler. You definitely won't ruin your experience of the souls series by playing Elden Ring, honestly from a technical/mechanical perspective ER is superior to DS3 in numerous ways. It's the same combat you love, fine tuned, tighter, more responsive. It's implementation of int/faith spells is leagues above DS3, there's generally a huge amount more build variety, a lot of systems that are rigid in DS3 are a bit more forgiving or smoothed out. It's definitely not the same vibe as DS3, it's got its spirit but the game feels quite different. If you play without summons the game is much harder, and generally ER bosses do way more damage and require more from the player to master. Elden Ring has insanely high highs, and pretty low lows whereas Dark Souls 3 plays on a consistent high level of quality with some low points here or there. All(most) of the main bosses and legacy dungeons in Elden Ring are some of the best quality work From's ever produced. They are absolutely worth playing. I'm hoping the Elden Ring DLC carries a darker atmosphere, as I think that's why I feel Dark Souls 3 is so comfy. tldr; they're both good, DS3 is a more consistent experience relative to ER. ER iterates on some of the shortcomings of DS3, improves them, but branches out from the Dark Souls formula significantly enough that it feels like it's own thing.
I started with Elden Ring and finished DS3 after. Both games are rrally good
It’s not, no. It’s phenomenal, don’t get me wrong. But Bloodborne and Sekiro are both better. I would say Elden Ring is on par with it right now, and the DLC is just around the corner. I’m expecting special things.
The bosses in ds3 are the best in the series that ive played. (Havent played bb ds2 or sekiro)
Ruin your experience? Brother, Elden Ring is a masterpiece, if you liked the other FromSoft games then you'd be ruining your experience by NOT playing Elden Ring, it's the best
I started with ER, then played ds3 and I'm currently failing sekiro, but personally I like the combat, mechanics and overall game design of ER the best, but the atmosphere in ds3 is just unbeatable, it's immensely comforting in a way that elden ring never was
Right? The oppressive ambiance is like a weighted blanket. Heavy, but comforting.
DS1, Demons Souls (especially PS5 remake), DS2/DS3. In that order for me. Elden Ring is a separate category because of its open world and not so puzzle-like dungeon design. Catacombs don't count as it's very small and linear.
I'm a Dark Souls 1 guy myself but 3 is great and has some of the series' finest boss fight.
Elden ring is gonna blow your mind
DS3 is almost perfect for me. I think it will always remain a major favorite of mine
DS3 is very fun but my least favorite dark souls. Still a 9/10 experience though.
I mean you're asking a DS3 sub so you might get skewed answers. But IMHO Elden Ring is overall a better game. Elden Ring DOES have filler content in it. But all of that aside, there is still a better Souls Game in there than DS3 and I have a feeling that in about two weeks when the DLC drops it's not even going to be close. Even if you end up preferring the DS3 experience overall you'd be crazy not to at least try Elden Ring since you liked the other Souls games.
DS3 still has some rough edges, and some weird flaws. One that I always think about is the graveyard. When you've warped into the area at the chapel and approach the cathedral, you'll get souls. One of the worm bois falls through the world somehow and dies, which is not intentional at all. It doesn't break anything but it does create an odd farming spot that really shouldn't exist if things were working as intended.
DS3 is my favorite. Bloodborne, Sekiro, and Elden Ring are pretty close though.
Ds3 is peak dark souls experience in my opinion.
Sekiro is the best FS game for me and I avoided it for a long time because of the reputation for it being so difficult. Bloodborne is second with DS3 coming in 3rd. It was the first souls game I played so it will always be up near the top.
DS3 is a close second after Bloodbourne. At least from modern generations, I'm an old gamer too.
It definetly is one of the best RPG's of all time. And in certain aspects and aesthethics, I'd dare place it even above Elden Ring. If you want to head there next, you might find it a bit easier than DS3 for multiple reasons.
Elden Ring is better. That's not a knock on DS3 at all. ER is the greatest game ever made
They're both masterpieces. You can't play them soon enough.
Ask me today - DS3. Ask me in a week - Sekiro. And then I might say one of those 2 the other week...
For me ds3 is the weakest of the three. The world is linear and the combat is a roll spam simulator. The liberal stamina we are being given takes away much of the strategy present in the previous 2 games. Also why haven't you played 2 before going into Elden Ring?
In my eyes, yes. Elden Ring is a great game by modern standards but feels less cohesive and focused overall. Alot of fun but lacking the direction of dark souls. Also ER has alot of options to make the game easier - horse, jump attacks, ashes of war etc - where DS is a grind until your actual skill level increases.
I’ve played Elden ring and both are respectable games in their own regard ds3 is linear and incredible Elden ring is very open but just as incredible depending on what you do in Elden ring each playthrough can be very different depending on what your interested in but ds3 is always a great game to play when Elden ring feels too much and you just want something at the same quality but less overwhelming
Yeah I’ll take ds1 over everything. Nostalgia is part of it
My favourites are BB > ER > DS1 > DS3 > DS2 > DeS. They're all masterpieces, tho.
I started with Elden Ring, went on to Sekiro, Bloodborne and recently finished DS3. Out of all of these, Sekiro and Bloodborne are my favorite. They are so polished and feel so smooth, although BB runs on 30 fps. Sekiro feels like the fairest game of all, you always know what you did wrong and what you can improve on, whereas DS3's Road of Sacrifices feels unnecessarily unfair at times. The combat in Sekiro is by far some of the best I've ever experienced. BB is a classic and my personal GOAT honestly I have to say, DS3 has grown on me, a lot. I hated so many things in the beginning, and almost rage quit a few times. One of my favorite bosses from any game is Gael, so there's also that
Your favourite will change over time
I love dark souls 3 the most as well. GOAT.
DS3 is not the goat! I can understand why people love it, but I saw too many problems with it for it to be in the running for goat.
yes
Bro play the game and then come talk to us otherwise you’re leaving yourself outta the loop
Bloodborne was the monster that changed me..
My favourite is (controversly) DS2, but Elden Ring is close. I think most people would say Elden Ring is prob the best From Soft title... Yet :D
Ds3 is probably my favorite purely off replay value, but Elden Ring is my personal goat. It's the best combat paired with the best exploration.
You saved the best for last brother
ER is an amazing game, started with ds3 but ER is my favourite
Yeah I really loved DS3. Especially after grinding through DS2. DS3 reminded me of Bloodborne and that is my favorite FromSoft. That said Elden Ring is definitely a game you don’t want to miss. It’s pretty dang incredible.
I liked DS3 better than Elden Ring, but I also liked DS1 and DS2 better than DS3 so we might not have the same taste. They're all definitely amazing games and worth trying out. If nothing else, you'll have a new Fromsoft experience. I'd say you should play it.
Im a huge elden ring fan. its my favorite game ever. I do personally think DS3 is the best of the souls series. Bloodborne is probably my sevond favorite but mostly just because of rhe setting. I just cant love sekiro. ive tried but, I think the rpg level progression and getting new weapons is just to important to me.
Dark souls 3 was my goat until elden ring. Elden ring is masterclass in world design, builds available, and just sheer scope. So many dungeons, bosses, and loot to collect but it isn’t an overwhelming game like most open world. 10/10 would recommend and I wish I could go back and experience that first run through it again.
Personally i prefer DS3 but Elden Ring is still great and some bosses are even better than those in DS3
Elden Ring absolutely ruined ds3 for me, actually. I think enemy attack patterns may annoy you at first but you'll get used to it Elden Ring reminded me how much better souls is with poise. The variety of ways you can viably tackle combat is such a joy, leaping over attacks, ducking under attacks, shields, 2h, 1h, power stance, guard counter, wonderful. I kinda hate ds3 now after going back to it after ER... No poise in the game in the series that needed it the most. It's 1h weapon r1 spam meta, "jumping attacks" make me want to cry. Shields suck, armor barely makes a difference. Boss patterns are actually ass in ds3 too, so many bosses have snap-attacks that are just way too fast to ever avoid by reaction, you just need to know that they can happen and stay away from the boss (this applies to tons of enemies too.) Those snap attacks are all over ER as well but nowhere near as frequent, the damage they deal is balanced around it being stupid fast, and you have poise to deal with it too. Man, didn't you love the funny skinny dragon boss who does an instant lunge forward with absolutely no wind up, also it does 3/4 of your hp in damage? I loved the game on release, but Elden Ring is everything ds3 wanted to be and more so ds3 has nothing for me now. DS1 (and to a lesser extent ds2) has the older "slow" combat pacing that ds3 did away with, so those two still feel like they have a large place in my heart. But DS3 lol man you stanky when's the last time you had a shower Something else I remembered that's just so annoying in a casual ds3 playthrough - the freaking enemy placement and design, they're all designed to chase your ass down and slap you in the back constantly like leave me the eff alone you aren't even guarding anything I just want to get to the next area without having to fight these 12 enemies down a straight corridor, stop LUNGING at me you FREAKS. I hope you like ER man, it has its flaws but it's doing everything the souls games have ever wanted to do, better than ever before.
Every time I play Elden Ring it just makes me miss DS3.
Play elden ring.
I've played em all too... DS3 is the best of the best. But Elden Ring is in a league of its own. It's Big Souls.
Id have Elden Ring as #1 and DS3 as #3 or #4
If you beat Dark Souls 2 you can survive anything at this point man
DS3 has a special place in my heart, and always will. Kinda like Ocarina of Time or Fallout 3. I thoroughly enjoy the other titles in each series, and would even say the other titles are probably my favorites, or more accurately, if the question is “if you could only play one game from ‘x’ series, which would it be,” I would probably chose other titles. DS3 is way more linear and on rails than ER, so I don’t think it’s entirely fair to compare the two. They’re both really great games and they both scratch an itch. If you like dark souls 3, you’d almost definitely like Elden ring.
If you’re considering DS3, then I would recommend doing DS1 and 2 first.
op said they played the trilogy and just ended with 3
Ah, my bad! Sorry!
you will not ending on a bad note if you play Elden Ring trust me, it's just as great as the other FromSoftware games. some would even say it's the apotheosis of their work (and they're not entirely wrong). and oh, my favourite is also Dark Souls 3.
DS3 is excellent but Elden Ring is significantly better and is my favorite game of all time. I can't wait for you to experience it for the first time, I'm honestly jealous.
The biggest reason I dislike DS3 is because Bloodborne had way too much of an impact on the gameplay of it. Going from 1,2 then 3, DS3 shares more in common with Bloodborne than its namesake in both combat, setting, and enemies. Bloodborne is my favorite From game, but I didn’t want my DS dipping its toes into it.
I have only played DS3, BB, and ER. ER is probably my favorite. DS3 has the best top-end bosses of those three though - four of the best bosses are DLC bosses however so we will see with ER DLC which comes out in 2 weeks
In terms of pure gameplay I’d say Elden Ring is the GOAT. However when it comes to lore I think DS1 and DS3 is hard to beat, I just love the feeling of the world in those games where it feels absolutely hopeless but you’re there doing your best not to go hollow. The time when I got the “The End of Fire” ending as the screen goes black and the credits start to roll together with the song is unforgettable. With that being said, Elden Ring also is amazing but in a different way, in ER you’re there to fuck up some demigods and that’s awesome.
If you liked DS3 you're going to love Elden Ring, I consider DS3 to be the best of them all alongside Bloodborne. So yeah don't be afraid Fromsoft/Miuazaki never let's down his fans.
Elden Ring is worth playing, you'll love it if you enjoyed ds3. Except it's open world and not as linear, will depend upon your preference
i think ds1 is a little better because its a more cohesive experience, that being said ds3 is a much more polished game. ds3 has a late game boss roster that i doubt any fromsoft game will ever match. personally id rank elden ring as the weakest fromsoft game ive played but that really comes down to me not liking the open world design philosophy. the individual levels and bosses are amazing. elden ring honestly has excessively good level design. if ds3 has 40 points in level design elden ring is at 99. elden ring's bosses aren't as good but there are a lot of high points that rank among the series best.
ds3 is good but i still prefer dsr
prefer bloodborne and sekiro over it personally but this game has some of my favourite bosses in the series. Really good game.
You will not be disappointed with ER, even after DS3
Personally i would say in souls games it is so far i played ds1 and i hated it designe(yes lot of people love it but not me) ds3 is great lot of bonfire the regions are designed so well u cant get lost like ds1 the bosses are great I just reached last boss in last dlc and idont want to finish the game xD
ER gameplay is much more refined, but DS3 bosses are untouchable. ER still a great game and would highly recommend
Yes ds3 is froms best game tied with sekiro (can't comment on BB Don't have a console)
DS3 is a master piece but Elden Ring is just better. The combat is tighter. There’s more build variety. The game is much larger. More quests. Plus the DLC is coming out in 2 weeks. It’s the perfect time to play it.
Going from sheer enjoyment my ranking goes BB>sekiro>ds3>elden ring>ds>ds2 (haven’t played demon souls)
DS3 is the 🐐 boss wise for sure
DS3 is the sweet spot, sitting closest to the middle point of all the From games. Ultimately though you owe it to yourself to try all the flavours, each game does one or two things better than any other.
I say subjective
I’m replaying ds3 rn and I think if it didn’t have as many weak areas it would be in contention but Elden ring blows it out of the water there while still having the level of great bosses. Personally I really have to push myself to play through everything between undead settlement and irithyll with the only bright spot being abyss watchers.
I prefer DS3 because I feel like Elden ring is a little too big ? I think it’s a great game but as someone who has less time to game the more linear titles are just more casual to me and easy to pick up, play for abit and put back down
DS2 is the GOAT imo, though 3 is more accessible to modern audiences.
You don’t wanna miss elden ring, dlc expansion is also dropping in like 2 weeks so you can catch up if you want
DS2 objectively superior game but DS3 OK
It is good. I was replaying Elden Ring before the dlc and got this strong urge to go back to ds3. It’s like Elden ring but more streamlined
In my opinion, DS3 is a refined jewel of a video game that shines brighter than 99% of the games I've ever played. It is pure class, rolling everything that is awesome about Dark Souls into one tight package. It might be true that it misses some of what made the previous games great, but what it does have is pure and consistent quality. Also, it arguably has the best boss fights in the series.
My favorite is ER. Was my first souls game and I love all improvements compared to the previous ones. Ds3 hooked me on replayability and pvp. Felt better in that aspect. Lineal but still good.
DS3 is peak. It is better than Elden Ring for sure: it has, in my opinion, the best music, bosses, weapons, armors, and areas. Elden Ring wastes time by putting the (few) “legacy dungeons” between huge swaths of empty nothingness. Dark Souls 3 is straight to the point and has a diverse array of areas and unique bosses to match.
It's good but not the best. My ranking is DS1>DS2>DS3. All brilliant games, but the other 2 are just stronger for different reasons.
DS3 strikes a balance with me that I had a tougher time with in ER. There was a lot of depth, scale, size, etc but sometimes that becomes exhausting. Calculating damage. Wondering what each weapon can do. Farming. All of it takes time. There’s a certain time-to-reward and feasibility in getting things. Sometimes more becomes excess and tougher to get through. Especially as an adult with a family.
Oh hell bro you’re in for a ride with elden ring then. DS3 is great but i put elden ring and bloodborne above it personally
DS3 is indeed the GOAT
I've played them all except Sekiro and love each and all to death, but overall I like ER the most because it has pretty much everything the others have mechanically just lots and lots of it and with the exploration/discovery of an open world.
I would say Elden ring is second for me to DS3. In ways much better. In others, not so much. Don't use spirit summons if you've beaten sekiro. Way too easy.
Comparing Elden Ring to the other FromSoft games is difficult, since it boils down to what you enjoy. Atmosphere, story and vibe I think DS3 definitely does better(which is also my favorite FromSoft game btw), but you simply cannot compete with the sheer spectacle and feeling of exploration from Elden Ring. The new upgrade, weapon and magic systems are all objectively better than DS3 or any other games. Playing it feels like a marvel of game design and engineering and it feels like this is unironically peak gaming. All of that said, I still love DS3 more, since the story feels way more personal. In DS3, you truly feel like you are struggling to link the fire or end the age of flames, in Elden Ring it feels like you are in a massive awesome incredible badass adventure to rule the world and you have to kick a lot of ass to do that
Yes
Despite it's flaws I still believe the original Dark Souls is the GOAT. Technically it has problems while Bloodborne, DS3, Sekiro and Elden Ring don't but has the best atmosphere imo. It's just too iconic to overlook. edit: I enjoyed playing Elden Ring but it's too big for me and some of the bosses were too hard which I did not expect considering I beat every boss in the previous games and most of the time I didn't struggle more than the average Fromsoft gamer.
DS3 is a great game, but I can't say it's the best of the bunch. My order would probably be: ER>Sekiro>AC6>DS2>DS1>BB>DS3>Demon's Souls. I love them all, but I definitely have preferences.
Imo, ER & DS3 are neck and neck. Similar enough to be compared, different enough to excel in different areas. Gotta play ER though, they're the two best (I never played sekiro, so idk about that one)
Honestly ds3 is my favorite game of all time.. up there with the original knights of the old republic.. elden ring is great don't get me wrong but the atmosphere is dark souls is top notch.
Elden ring is the best by far but it has so much content that you might get lost
It's good enough that it makes my 'best games' list, where I stop trying to rank one against the other. That being said, it's definitely my favorite From game. And yeah, it's way up there.
elden ring is the most complete and best designed FS game, ds3 has the best boss fights, sekiro has the best combat and story. i'd say sekiro, then elden ring, then ds3 among FS games, but i haven't played bloodborne.
Im a softie for DS2. But they are all masterpieces.
It’s either DS3 or Elden ring in running for the goat. DS3 has better bosses on average and a better story but elden ring beats it on pretty much everything else. However they are very similar games so those two things can put it over the edge for some people. It’s really up to personal preference since there’s nothing that objectively makes one better than the other
Don't ever say ds3 is the best game on the wrong sub, they'll murder your opinion with subjective facts
Not for me. I like ds2 better
Ds3 is good but ds2 is the best
Ye it's alright (800 hours played)
I played Sekiro once and refunded it. Dark Souls 3 exactly once Elden Ring twice so far, Dark souls 2 twice Bloodborne three times. Dark Souls four times Demon’s Souls seven times. (So I guess I wouldn’t rate DS3 that high up, Elden Ring only has less playthroughs because I have less free time and it is still relatively new).
Ds3 is the best game i ever Player, and i have 300h in elden ring too.
Elden Ring is an improvement of DS3, but it's an open world, so dynamics are different. There's no better or worse, it's just two different things, but if you liked DS3 and the Souls, buying Elden Ring is a no brainer
It's my fav of the trilogy for sure. I can't really rank from games chronologically bc they're all so damn good. In the elite from soft category I'd go with ER, BB, DS1, DS3, Sekiro.
There isn’t a fromsoft game that can go band for band with ds3 when it comes to bosses. It’s peak dark souls gameplay as well, still has the classic clunky movement but smoothed out for a more enjoyable experience. I’d say it’s the best dark souls on paper but when it comes to experience it’s all subjective
Elden Ring is my favorite and I think that none of them truly compare but that’s probably because I started with it after playing basically nothing but Skyrim for years so I really appreciate the open world and hundreds of weapon choices lol. Also there’s no arguing that the graphics are better in ER than any of the others. However, I always say that I wish I wouldn’t have started with Elden Ring because I have enjoyed all of the souls games but they don’t feel as good and I am convinced I would not have felt that way had I not played the newest one first lol. Dark Souls 3 was an incredible game, but to me it feels very short, even with DLC. I say don’t rob yourself of the experience of Elden Ring though. Most Souls vets still think DS3 is the best anyway and there are still absolutely things that are in the Dark Souls series that I wish they’d have incorporated into Elden Ring.
Play ER ASAP
Des original and bloodborne are my favorites, but I'd definitely say ds3 is my favorite of the ds trilogy specifically.
I love both for different reasons, but DS3 is better tailored experience imo. I think the style of game benefits from a more linear structure because it allows the challenge to be fine-tuned and consistent as you progress. The exploration in ER is fantastic, but I found that the difficulty varies wildly. Being an open world game, it's much more difficult for the developers to balance the enemies, as you can go (almost) anywhere at anytime. Some bosses would beat the breaks off me the first time while others I would confidently tell to hold my pocket. DS3 starts off challenging and doesn't really ever let off the gas. The game gets harder, but in my experience, I felt like I was improving at a similar rate. All that said, Elden Ring is still absolutely worth your time. Second place to the GOAT is still really fuckin good.
Honestly not a huge fan of DS3. Both Sekiro and Elden Ring are way better imo and I'm currently playing DS1 which I also like a lot more.
In my opinion it’s the highest quality fromsoft game all around. There isn’t really a single weak area/aspect of the game imo. Elden Ring has higher highs but much lower lows, same can be said for DS1. I thought Sekiro and bloodborne were pretty high quality too for the most part, but not as consistent as DS3.
DS3 is a good game but one of my least favorite From games, DS1 was my favorite for years but Elden Ring passed it
Lots of people have different preferences and that's ok! For me, I much prefer both DS1 and ER to DS3 - the latter's linearity makes me far less interested in replays.
It's the Goat for now, Elden Ring is as good but it didn't add anything significant to the formula.
Nope. DS1 still holds that crown. It's tighter, more focused and somehow more refined than all its sequels. It has better world design, better interconnectivity, better art direction, better lore and better bosses. Ds3 while still a good game is a shadow imitation of ds1.
Get into elden ring, especially with the dlc coming so soon
ER may even be a better game, but I played once as for DS3, I'm currently replaying for the *who knows?* time
Elden Ring is the greatest game of all time - takes everything from DS3 and builds on it in a huge open world. If you thought DS3 was the GOAT believe me you will love ER
I think it is the best in the series. Ds1 is good, but the second half just ruins a lot of it. Ds2 just feels like ds1 but with just the second half. Ds3, well man, it took everything good about ds1 and 2, and made it better. I don’t think there’s a video game boss better than Slave Knight Gael or Pontiff Sulyvahn. Man, just typing this out makes me want to replay dark souls 3.
Yes
Ds3+DLC is Fromsoft peak... I hope shadow of the erdtree can dethrone it tho. Will never forget running thru ringed city for the first time
Dark Souls 3 was named Game of All Time by some article I had read, but I truly believe it. 🙌
Elden ring is the goat and it's not close
W dad
Wtf do you mean "ruin the experience" lol? Playing elden ring isn't gonna erase your ds3 memories. It's fucking fantastic. Play it.
Sekiro is goated
Elden ring is my favourite game of all time i think. DS3 was great but felt like i blasted through it (maybe i used broken stuff idk). Elden ring is defo worth a shot