Every Dark Souls Games In Order (Chronologically)

PlayStation’s Demon’s Soul Remake was the most recent entry of the Souls franchise, in any other case often known as the “Dark Souls games.” As followers of the Souls collection, we’re discussing each title that has come out thus far.

Many consider the unique Demon’s Soul is the “spiritual successor” to King’s Field. King’s Field is the primary recreation FromSoftware created. Because we neither agree nor disagree, we’re contemplating this recreation is the primary of the franchise.

That means we’re going from King’s Field in direction of the most recent remake.

The “Souls” Series

FomSoftware’s “Souls-series” begins with Demon’s Souls. The recreation debuted in 2009, and it marks the primary true success for the developer.

The Dark Souls trilogy got here after. The three video games premiered in 2011, 2014, and 2016, respectively.

Also, King’s Field debuted in 1994. Many consider it’s the non secular ancestor of the Souls collection. Yet, King’s Field has its personal set of video games.

Bloodborne debuted in 2015 as a PlayStation 4 unique. Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls creator Hidetaka Miyazaki created this title, so followers contemplate it a part of the broader “Souls-borne series.”

Finally, Demon’s Soul Remake got here out as a PlayStation 5 unique in November 2020. However, FromSoftware didn’t make the unique. Another studio took care of the title.

You ought to know Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and King’s Field stay in their very own universes. Still, they share sufficient traits to contemplate them as a part of a saga.

Dark Souls Games in Order

King’s Field -1994

King’s Field is a video-game RPG collection by FromSoftware. They supply a darkish environment, labyrinthic dungeons, and a excessive problem degree.

There’re 4 titles within the saga. The first one debuted for PlayStation in 1994. Then got here King’s Field 2 (1995), King’s Field 3 (1996), and King’s Field 4 (2001). The follow-up video games got here out for PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and Windows PCs. There have been additionally cell variations out there.

The collection’ gameplay revolves round a slow-moving character rigorously exploring 3-D mazes. You then had easy fight actions to hack & slash your enemies. Enemies drop gold, and you would use the gold to purchase gear.

Then, progressing on the dungeon was akin to a Metroidvania recreation. You may advance wherever on the map, however you wanted to unlock talents or full puzzles to maneuver ahead.

The first three video games of the collection are related and observe a singular storyline. The fourth one has a brand new character and a brand new story however continues the identical gameplay. Also, these are first-person video games. FromSoftware modified in direction of a third-person perspective for Demon’s Souls.

Demon’s Souls -2009

Demon’s Souls is a third-person RPG recreation. It debuted as a PlayStation 3 unique and achieved about 2 million copies. It’s the official first a part of the Souls collection.

The recreation’s world is “Boletaria,” a darkish realm. An evil being often known as the “Old One” is consuming the dominion following his awakening.

Players begin at a personality creation display screen the place they tweak look, gender, and stats. Moreover, they get to decide on amongst ten lessons and enter the world to defeat the Old One.

Gameplay-wise, gamers navigate totally different maps by means of a hub, the Nexus. Combat depends on blocks, weapon strikes, and particular talents. Different weapon sorts open up new actions and grant various motion speeds.

There’s a heavy emphasis on troublesome fight and mechanics round dying and respawn. More importantly, there’re 22 bosses plus 4 non-obligatory bosses.

You achieve souls by defeating enemies, and so they function the sport’s foreign money. When you die, the sport takes you to the start of the extent and resets all non-boss enemies.

Then, you lose your entire souls on dying. You can get them back by touching your stays, however you’ll lose them eternally if you happen to die once more.

Lastly, the sport had a multiplayer characteristic by means of the PlayStation Network.

Dark Souls I – 2011

Dark Souls I is the corporate’s next motion RPG recreation. It’s the non secular successor of Demon’s Souls, and so it lives in its personal universe. It’s out there for PS3, Xbox 360, and Windows PC. 

The new fictional world is the Lordran Kingdom. Players take the position of an undead character on a pilgrimage to uncover the destiny of its variety. 

As earlier than, you begin at a personality creation display screen. You choose one of many ten lessons, choose a Gift, and tweak gender and look. 

Then, you proceed on this planet with warning, be taught out of your defeats, and degree up. There’s a central hub space that connects the totally different pockets of the open world. You could discover all paths at will, however you have to meet sure requisites to unlock numerous areas. 

The recreation leans closely on fight. It contains melee assaults, dodges, defensive maneuvers, and magic. Additionally, it has an analogous soul system as Demon’s Souls.

Another core aspect is bonfires. These are scattered all through the world and function a checkpoint. By resting on the bonfire, you heal your character, in addition to your “Estus Flask“(your HP potions).

The bonfire affords different choices like repairing and upgrading tools. However, resting on the bonfire additionally respawns all non-boss enemies. Mini-bosses do come again. 

Lastly, Dark Souls I has a fancy multiplayer system that enables some form of co-op play.

Artorias of the Abyss / Prepare to Die Edition – 2012

The Prepare to Die Edition got here out for Windows PC in August 2012. It had new content material not out there for consoles.

The new content material then debuted for PS3 and Xbox 360 because the Artorias of the Abyss enlargement. Nowadays, Prepare to Die Edition is obtainable for PS3, Xbox 360, and PS4 as nicely.

The enlargement occurs 100 years earlier than Dark Souls. It has a brand new playable character, areas, bosses, objects, and a narrative arc. The setting is the land of Oolacile, and you have to put it aside from Manus, Father of the Abyss.

Dark Souls II -2014

Dark Souls II is the subsequent motion RPG recreation by FromSoftware. It debuted for PS43, Xbox 360, and Windows PCs in 2014.

It’s doesn’t observe the story we noticed on Dark Souls I, but it surely shares the identical universe.

This time, gamers go to the Drangleic kingdom. You play as an undead human and select between eight lessons. The undead are cursed people who can’t die, doomed to lose their recollections till turning into a husk with no objective. You journey the world to finish the curse.

Gameplay is comparable. The bonfire mechanic, the Souls system, and the difficult enemies are current as nicely. Upgrades embrace higher AI, efficiency, and graphics.

Another change is how your participant’s most HP goes down with every dying, and solely a uncommon merchandise can reverse the difficulty.

There’re additionally multiplayer options, each PvP and co-op PvE. Co-op works by means of “summoning” another person to your world; PvP works by visiting different worlds as a “shadow.”

The Lost Crowns Trilogy DLC – 2014

The Lost Crowns packs the three downloadable contents out there for Dark Souls II. All three DLCs debuted in 2014. These are Crown of the Sunken King, Crown of the Old Iron King, and Crown of the Ivory King.

You play along with your character and progress the story by means of about 12 hours of latest playable areas, enemies, and objects.

The DLC pack is obtainable for PS3, PS5, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Windows PC.

Scholar of the First Sin – 2015

Scholar of the First Sin debuted in 2015 for PC, PS3, Xbox 360, PS4, and Xbox One.

It doesn’t deliver new content material. Instead, it’s a compilation of the Lost Crowns trilogy DLCs plus the primary recreation.

Additionally, it packs remastered visuals, upgraded lighting results, 1080p decision, and 60fps efficiency. Other upgrades took care of enemy AI, multiplayer efficiency, single-player efficiency, objects, and more.

Bloodborne – 2015

Bloodborne is one other unique IP by FromSoftware. Dark Souls creator, Hidetaka Miyazaki, is the sport’s director. Perhaps that’s why Bloodborne is so just like Dark Souls, regardless of having its personal recreation universe.

The recreation debuted as a PlayStation 4 unique in 2015. You play as a Hunter by means of Yharnam, a gothic, decrepit metropolis. A blood-borne illness is affecting the inhabitants, and you have to uncover what’s occurring.

Bloodborne is quicker, more violent, and gory than its predecessors. Also, firearms can be found within the recreation.

Also, as an alternative of Souls, you get “Blood Echoes” by defeating enemies and exploring the world. You use them to spice up your stats, commerce, and restore your tools. You lose Blood Echoes on dying.

The different core mechanic is “Lamps.” Here’s the place you respawn upon dying, however these locations can’t heal you. Instead, you may journey by means of the world by teleporting to different lamps you’ve unlocked.

The Old Hunters – 2016

FromSoftware launched Bloodborne’s enlargement, The Old Hunters, in 2015.

The enlargement provides new areas, bosses, armor, and weapons. Also, it comes with a free patch that introduced a number of efficiency upgrades.

Dark Souls III – 2016

Dark Souls III is the third and ultimate a part of the motion RPG trilogy and the fourth entry of the Souls collection. 

The recreation comes with the identical mechanics as earlier than, together with Bonfires, Souls, and difficult fight. However, it represents the most important improve for the franchise. Its graphical prowess, efficiency, and enemy AI nonetheless shine right this moment, a few years later.

One change is the introduction of Ashen Estus Flasks. They restore your Focus Points (FP), which you employ for magical expertise. There’s a restricted variety of costs, and you may recharge them at a bonfire. Focus Points have been current in Demon’s Souls as nicely. 

Another distinction is how shields can work as weapons. Similarly, gamers now have each a lightweight and a heavy assault, the strategy most motion RPGs have copied since. 

As for the plot, you go to a brand new space, Lothric Kingdom. The Age of Fire is dying out, and you could stop that from occurring. Otherwise, a curse that raises the lifeless will cowl the world.

Dark Souls III is FromSoftware’s most iconic and well-liked recreation. It’s additionally one of many single-player best-sellers of all time. Currently, it’s out there for PS4, Xbox One, and Windows.

Dark Souls III: Deluxe Edition – 2016

There’re two DLCs out there for Dark Souls III. The Deluxe Edition packs the bottom recreation plus the 2 downloadable contents.

Ashes of Ariandel is the primary DLC. It introduces a brand new space you may discover along with your character.

The Ringed City is the second DLC. You journey to a ruined kingdom and encounter areas current in Dark Souls II.

The Deluxe Edition is in any other case often known as The Fire Fades Edition. It got here out for PS4, Xbox One, and Windows PC.

Dark Souls Remastered – 2018

A remastered version of the traditional recreation got here out in 2018 for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Windows PC.

It contains the vanilla recreation plus the enlargement (Artorias of the Abyss). As for upgrades, it brings remastered sound and visuals. The recreation runs in 1080p and 60fps.

Here’s a video evaluating the previous vs. the remastered model:

Dark Souls Trilogy – 2018

In 2018, Bandai Namco and FromSoftware launched the entire trilogy in a single bundle.

The Dark Souls Trilogy contains:

The bundle is obtainable for Xbox One, PS4, and Windows PC. You can test availability on Bandai Namco’s website.

Demon’s Souls Remake – 2020

Bluepoint Games is behind the PlayStation 5 launch unique, Demon’s Souls Remake. Even although FromSoftware was not a part of it, the title faithfully re-creates the unique recreation with fashionable graphics and efficiency. 

The unique Demon’s Souls is an achievement when it comes to what RPG video games could be. Then, the remake showcased the powers of the brand new console technology.

Most importantly, there’re no loading screens, which is essential in a recreation the place you die lots. Everything occurs with a seamless circulation and very good efficiency. Likewise, the sport runs at native 4K/30fps, or 1440p upscaled to 4K/60fps.

Aside from visuals, builders additionally re-recorded the entire soundtrack, voice-acting, and sound results.

There’re new weapons, rings, and armors. Additionally, new objects, “Grains,” give gamers short-term resistance to damaging results. 

Another new characteristic is the “Fractured World.” It’s a recreation mode that reverses the extent structure for an additional problem.

Also, the sport features a photograph mode. It permits gamers to take screenshots throughout their gameplay with a pause menu.

Lastly, there’re new aesthetic customization choices on the character creation display screen.

To sum up, Here’s the List of Dark Souls Games in Chronological Order

FAQs

Do I Need to Play the Souls Games in Order?

You don’t need to play the Souls video games so as. 

The Dark Souls Trilogy is loosely related with the Age of Fire idea. Other than that, all of them characteristic totally different playable characters, enemies, areas, and story arcs. You may play the third installment and observe its plot with none prior data. 

The remainder of the video games within the Souls collection are stand-alone experiences. 

Will There Be Another Dark Souls Game?

Perhaps Dark Souls III is the top, with solely remakes and remasters within the close to future to sit up for. What will the long run maintain? No one is aware of…

That’s unfaithful. We do know what the long run holds. FromSoftware is as lively as ever and is engaged on a brand new souls-like known as the Elden Ring.

Speaking of souls-likes from FromSoftware, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (2019) can be a stable standalone recreation from the developer that appears like Dark Souls does.