Idk... I think this might be the best Souls game. I consider Bloodborne my favorite game of all time... but man idk... there’s something truly special about this game. There’s a somber, depressive atmosphere about this game that is completely unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. The music is the best in the series, the enemy designs are the best, everything about this feels so special and lovingly crafted, that even the most polished and refined Souls games couldn’t touch it. I feel Bloodborne is an extension of this with its mechanics, and while Bloodborne is a perfect game... there’s a charm here that’s undeniable.

I'd give the edge to Dark Souls, which has one of my favourite game mechanics ever - the Estus Flasks - and that incredible, interconnected journey to Anor Londo, which takes the player down into a literal Hell and then back up to Mount Olympus to become a God. And I like the fact that Firelink Shrine is mere seconds away from danger, whereas it's a bit too easy to retreat into the Nexus here - even if the music changes and the murderous Yurt undercut its safety somewhat.

Still, what a game! Five distinct areas, overflowing with atmosphere, and with some of the best level design I've ever seen. Specialising in magic made some of the boss fights trivial, but getting to them is all kinds of incredible. Tower of Latria is an obvious standout, though all of them work together in harmony, and the player-created structure - which lets you move between levels, using the items you've found in one to help you out in the other - is so inspired. My favourite might actually be the swamp in the Valley of Defilement, which, by removing your depth perception and mobility, becomes infinitely terrifying. And even the ending is good, tempting you with the promise of more Souls for when you inevitably play through it again. I wish they hadn't bothered with a remake. It's basically perfect as it is.

FYI this is still the best one. Most inspired soundtrack, most painterly and phantasmagorical setting, best hub zone and maiden, and laden with the most lyrical sense of tragedy and loss. Sure the gameplay is a little bit clunky compared to (some of) the later titles, but Deal With It!!

it makes me deeply sad that the online has been discontinued and we haven't heard anything about a re-release. Still totally playable offline, but the full experience deserves to be remembered and kept alive!

EDIT: WAIT I SAID RE-RELEASE NOT SLEEK HIGH POLY REMAKE DEVOID OF ATMOSPHERE AND RESTRAINT!!! WHY MUST THE DEVILS AT BLUEPOINT CONSPIRE TO MURDER EVERYTHING I LOVE

Yeah, yeah, I know. It's old, filled to the eyeballs with jank and unintuitive mechanics, the world is nonsense, etc. It goes on. But I think this game has the best level design in the whole series hands down without being tied to areas needing to link to eachother in every capacity.

The opening of demon souls is probably the most brutal if you're new to the series. Almost overwhelming. You have to beat the first boss to even upgrade your weapon, you have no healing, and when you're done you have 4 different ways to choose. The areas themselves are filled with alien and madness and all sorts of bizarre things the series would never replicate. It's bosses are... weird, and the enemy design is strange, for sure, but just for the 'experience' factor Demon Souls is my strong 2nd.

I love it when a game completely blows your expectations out of the water. I expected an inferior version to Dark Souls with clunky mechanics, bad bosses and bad levels. Instead I got a game that may actually be better than Dark Souls (can't really decide that before I replay it yet again) with great mechanics, extremely unique bosses and better levels than Dark Souls on average. It was a wild ride that I enjoyed basically every second of. It was a whole lot easier than Dark Souls tho, but it felt harder on some points due to the levels actually seeming harder in my opinion. But the environments were great, and they were also very immersive due to everything just making sense. Of course the enemies in Stonefang should be miners, as it is a mine, and of course that is the place where you find the most stone-like stones which you use to upgrade certain weapons. Once I arrived there, I decided to play through the entire game with the pickaxe, which was a very fun choice. So me and my pickaxe carved our way through the different areas and bosses. My favourite area overall was probably the fourth one. I loved how different each level in that area was, and the final archdemon of that area was damn epic! Another thing that greatly surprised me was the soundtrack. Overall, I am not a huge fan of the soundtrack of the Souls series, as they tend to fall more into the category of "uninspired orchestral music" to me. But Demon's Souls has a very unique soundtrack compared to Dark Souls, using a lot of more ambient textures, and many of the boss fights actually use less bombastic tunes, which just adds to the variation. I got the urge to download the soundtrack as soon as possible, which is something that I absolutely did not feel about Dark Souls' or even Bloodborne's soundtrack. In my opinion, Demon's Souls was a huge risk that basically payed off in every way, and I loved it very much.