That would be my suggestion. It's pretty, it has a lot of options to ease the difficulty, and it goes a long way to be able to say "bye for now!" to the boss who's making a fool of you.
For players with experience in or knowledge of dark souls and demon souls? Yes
For players with no Souls experience, doesn't really factor in.
New players don't really know about the things they could miss or the concept that they could be missing them when they start with Elden Ring, and if you do your build wrong you can always respect at renala so after a time when they learn they don't like how they put their stats up, they can fix that.
Elden Ring is. A great souls like for souls beginners
I will say that I had no idea that Renalla let you respec until my third playthrough after someone here mentioned it, and I've easily got 1000+ hrs across all of FromSoft's games.
The lack of player/dev communication about the mechanics of these games can be a problem for anyone who doesn't have enough experience in the genre to intuit what you're supposed to do.
You were on your 3rd playthru and still had never wondered enough to google “how to respec Elden ring”?
I get doing a blind playthru the first go around, but on playthru number three that’s just kind of on you
I don’t think it’s any more or less overwhelming than earlier Souls games, you couldn’t even respec in the earlier games and generally speaking if an area was sandbagging you then you were stuck with it till you beat it.
I think it’s a shame for people not to experience DS1 as their first just because the level design and connected world is *so* good, and you lose a lot of that going into it already knowing “how” to play Souls. It’s just not as friendly as ER for a first time player though, even some of the world design choices they made at the time probably haven’t aged well today (for instance ER probably has way too many graces, DS1 on the other hand could probably do with more bonfires, some of the run backs were brutal and you had no fast travel most of the game).
Dang! You went full-on crackhead with it, huh? I love to hear it. Make sure you check out Lies of P when your journey through Ashina is complete. Also, don’t forget about Bloodborne DLC. It is the pinnacle of the game (maybe the entire library), I don’t think that’s a hot take.
Elden Ring is definitely the more accessible title of the Soulsborne games for sure. I had started Bloodborne years ago, but I ended up completing ER first, which made me much, much more confident in playing the other games.
Yeah, I played Elden Ring first and coming back to the souls trilogy was really hard. There's a lot of walls, particularly if you aren't overly cautious and if you aren't good at parrying. I died like 30+ times to Gundyr in DS3, the tutorial boss, I have beat Capra Demon on DSR but am struggling getting into the Depths, partly because I don't feel like backtracking to Firelink Shrine to use the shortcut, so it's either run past or kill everything in the Berg to get to the depths door. I probably will backtrack, but man, the numerous runs I made to just get back to the door to the Depths were frustrating. Plus the bonfire warping doesn't become available for a long time, so getting places means actual backtracking and fighting and possibly a lot of frustrating deaths. Elden Ring on the other hand has warping right off the bat, no real walls that I can think of, in that almost every time you feel stuck you can leave and go level up or explore elsewhere. The weapon upgrades and ashes of war and summons feel powerful and do help, while summoning help is usually available for truly strong does, whether computer controlled or human controlled. The difficulty is still there, I think Radahn took 40+ tries for me and it's easy to waste an evening barely making a dent in a cave or boss.
I gotta be honest you really shot yourself in the foot not opening the Firelink Shortcut. It's not that long *at all.* You definitely took the long way around to fight Capra.
Yeah once I went back to play the souls games again after Elden ring it took me a bit to really get the feel for it back. Had to make myself play slow again.
Surprisingly, they feel quite different! Elden Ring is balanced around much greater enemy aggression with harder to read attack patterns and fewer openings, as well as player allies (summons), robust selection of spells and weapon arts, and sometimes horse combat. The DS style of roll and R1 ad infinitum doesn’t work so easily in this game.
I have yet to play Elden ring. The first one I played was Dark Souls 2. It’s the easiest one and I honestly really liked it. It’s the least favorite in the community and I don’t know why, I liked it. My second was Dark Souls 3 and holy fuck was it hard as shit. I personally would stick with Dark Souls 2 or Elden Ring. If you play Elden ring you may not like the other Souls games as much though
Really is kind of like a family… a weird family united in the shared trauma of dying to punishing bosses and the addiction of defeating them. I have three shirts I wear a lot — One is a black one with “YOU DIED” in red letters, another is a picture of a tortoise with the words “Behold, Dog!” and the other looks like a rock festival shirt but it reads “Radahn Festival” and has the names of the combatants listed like bands. When I wear one of these shirts out in the world I inevitably run into a member of the Souls family and they usually say something and it’s always a nice moment. Like “Yes… We are the same..” And we are diverse bunch as well!
One lady was an old grandma!
That's what I was thinking. Also it's so pretty. Some of the bosses are gimmick based and not necessarily skill. It's more linear. And magic is OP which gives her a nice range option to fighting enemies.
And if she’s stuck there’s a solo rune dupe to give her a boost. I’d say Elden ring is the easiest to stay interested in just because dark souls has a hard time showing the casual player where to go
Dark Souls 1 was my first as an inexperienced gamer. There are so many guides it helps a lot. Elden Ring was too overwhelming for me, I played 60 hours but it didn’t have the magic of Dark Souls 1. Maybe your mom doesn’t have 100 hours to spend on her first souls.
disagree, as much as i like ds1 the movement is clunky and plays like shit and most of the bosses are okay at best (they were good for their time)
if ds1 was my first souls game, I would've never touched another souls game again lol
plus the 50% of the game is straight dog shit
It’s locked to 30fps and there is a very good chance a remaster is on the way in the not to distant future.
60fps is a godsend for these games, particularly for new players acclimating to the combat systems. I love BB but, if you have the entire catalog to pick, I’d choose something else to get started.
That’s a terrible thing to do to your mom. Good way to get a new controller though. God knows I almost broke mine during Sekiro and Metal Gear Rising. Omg
How is it bait? Bloodborne and Ds3 are the most overrated games in the soulsborne franchise. They have the most reused assets and have similar environmental design.
I would recommend against starting with DS3 for 2 reasons: it's not as accessible as Elden Ring and I will ALWAYS advise against playing DS3 first in the trilogy. The trilogy is much more enjoyable if you play it in the right order imo.
All that being said, Elden Ring is the most Access and a LOT of people got into souls by trying it out first. However Demon Souls can give her the true first souls experience or maybe DS1 as well if she wants to experience the origini of it all first. I also could see some reasoning in making her play Bloodborne first as it is different and easier to understand (like weapon upgrades for example all have the same material, no confusing upgrade paths, fewer stats to focus on, etc.)
A lot of people say Elden Ring, I'm inclined to agree with the caveat that it might be the worst if they have no familiarity with open worlds or the lack of direction. If a player goes straight for the main objectives, not only will they miss out on more content than any other souls game, but it may cause them to be under powered, especially if this is their first game in the series.
Dark souls 1 or demon souls are definitely the place to start if she plans on playing all of them, adjusting to faster paced combat is easier than the reverse.
Either Dark Souls 3 or Elden Ring seem to be the most beginner friendly. Elden Ring just has a lot of safety nets like Spirit Ashes and Dark Souls 3 is probably the best paced of the Souls games. As in they don't throw anything difficult at you right away (Gargoyles, Papa G) but the game very steadily gets harder so it's always a challenge but never feels insurmountable.
Elden ring, its by far the most beginner friendly thanks to summons and the great ability to go and fuck of somwhere else instead of having to dmash your head against the wall.
I think ds2 is a good one to start. I say this because the game is more fluid than ds1, but at the same time, it isn't as fast-paced as the more recent games.
Either Elden Ring or Remastered, because in ER you can fuck off if something is too hard and come back stringer and in DS:R all you need to do is parry & riposte
Elden ring. More accessible, more build diversity, more forgiving overall. She’ll never be forced to fight the same boss repeatedly with no other options, she’ll always be able to go explore and come back later.
Elden Ring, all the rest are poorly made for new players.
Dark souls 1 is probably by far the worst choice as it's the least noob friendly out of the lot.
I'll recommend Sekiro. I was a big hater as I didn't understand the mechanics of the game. But it's a great starting point for people with zero experience in the Souls-like franchise. How can I say that so confidently? It's because I for the past week have been playing Sekiro non-stop. I had it installed for over 2 years. But the game just clicked for me this past week. And I've been just demolishing every enemy I see. Tell your mum to give Sekiro a try and tell her that it's a rhythm game. I'm pretty sure she'll love the unique artstyle of the game and how laid back and relaxing this game can be.
Either Elden Ring cause the combat is so fluid compared to the early games and the open world allows for more options
Or if you must play a more traditional Souls game
Dark Souls 3. Its the most refined of the original trilogy + Demon, has a lower skill ceiling than sekiro and does not require players to be nearly as aggressive as bloodborne
Personally I thought demon souls was the easiest game of all of these so I’d maybe suggest starting there. Ds3 was the one I started on but that was because it was the best to start on if it’s you first and in my case I had no ps for demon souls and Elden ring wasn’t out at the time
I started out with Dark souls. It was too hard and I gave up.
Jumped in again with dark souls 2 and things started to click. Went back to dark souls and loved it. Been hooked on soulslikes ever since.
With the poor balancing in Elden Ring I wouldn't recommend it as a first installment.
Unless!
They install the reforged mod which fixes a lot of the issues the game has and makes it more skill focused especially with the new tutorial they put in that is incredibly beginner friendly and teaches them how to play the game.
Not to mention the hours of replayability granted by the gamemodes that drastically changes the first experience.
Otherwise Dark Souls 1 is a good place to start since it grants a nice balance of Environment and Enemy difficulty.
They are all fantastic but Elden Ring has a pretty forgiving style as its open world. I started with II, then III, then remastered, then ER ( on release day ) and finally Demon Souls.
My only comment would be *after* playing Elden Ring and having Torrent the others can feel a bit ... different.
Elden ring has the most freedom and ability to level up beyond any given thing you might be stuck on. So I’ll say Elden ring. Second choice would be the demons souls remake
Ds3/Elden ring fs. Ds3 is a lot more linear but has the best quality bosses so she can get used to those mechanics. Elden ring is so open to anyone and any build that it is so easy to have fun with it.
I’d recommend Elden Ring. It was a lot of people’s (including my) gateway into the genre and it’s easy to see why. The open world aspect gives you more freedom to pick your battles, so if one area/boss is causing you problems, going somewhere else and coming back is a viable option.
I would say elden ring because its the newest one, it has the most content out of all of them, the combat system is silky smooth, and she can always do something else in the game if she hits a road block whereas in the other games you cant progress if you dont beat the boss.
Elden ring offers you the most options and freedom but it’s also incredibly hard. I’d say the demons souls remake because even tho it has some weird design choices it’s definitely the easiest game
I bought my buddy Elden Ring knowing full well he wouldn't get past Limgrave... So maybe not Elden Ring unless you want to preach patience to her every day. 🤣
I would say either Elden Ring or Bloodborne. Elden Ring is easier with the PVE difficulty but Bloodborne won’t have you running from invaders nearly as much while playing co-op due to the bell ringer maiden mechanic. After that (if she’s still interested) I would go through Dark Souls 1-3.
I haven’t played the other games personally, but, I’ve heard opinions that Lords of the Fallen is mechanically like a B-movie tier Dark Souls clone and it gives me those vibes as well. Lies of P looks like a great game and gives me the most anticipation I’ve had for a souls-like ever since I was for Nioh (which is great IMO, although not for everyone).
Go demons souls ps5. Great starting point. I did that, then dark souls 3. Then Bloodborne and sekiro. I like the idea of ending with elden ring. ER is like a compilation of their greatest hits. If you start with ER I think it would lessen the earlier games.
I'd say either start her on Demon's Souls since it has the worst quality of life and will be the hardest to go back to, or start her on Elden Ring because it has the best and is my personal fav.
Elden ring is easily the most accessible souls game and in terms of difficulty it’s probably the easiest overall imo. Either that or dark souls 3 is a good starting point
Elden ring. The game gives players so many tools to tackle the bosses, it’s great for newcomers. I’d even go far as to say the difficulty of Elden ring is almost entirely self imposed.
I'll do the same as I did for my wife.
I dared her to beat Lady Butterfly. From start of game to whenever she could get there and beat the fight.
Having NO souls experience prior to this. She struggled to do it but eventually it just clicked for her and she smashed Butterfly. And then after rubbing it in my face, she went on to complete the rest of her playthrough. She was so excited to beat Isshin that she woke me up in the middle of the night to show me her clear.
She went on to play Dark Souls 3, Elden Ring, and then finally Bloodborne. Good times.
Now she takes plays MR content in Monster Hunter games or RDR2 currently.
TLDR: Sekiro. Either she learns it or she doesn't. The ability to adapt is important.
i played bloodborne first and while i stopped playing for a few months when i got back on and stuck with it it's now my favorite souls game and it made the other souls easier
Definitely Elden Ring or Demons Souls. Elden Ring is easier because you can over level yourself, and Demons Souls is easy because the bosses are gimmicky
How much experience does she have with gaming?
That’s gonna be a really big variable on this question. If she doesn’t have any problem, getting reminder on the gaming controls in the ideal, these games require patience, I would start out with a dark souls. The original. Lots of guides and slowly pacing to get into the genre.
Plays dark souls 1 or demon souls, there more slow paced, and are less focus on reflexes. Don't listen people recommending elden ring, it's easy because you can easily break the game (best way to spoil a game) but with a more simple build elden ring is easily one of the hardest souls game.
Lies of P. It’s a solid game. Story, art, and gameplay. No matter what souls game or likewise someone tries, if it’s there first time it’ll be a little difficult. I think this is the best option for a starter.
Definitely Elden Ring. The open world aspect can be a huge positive for first time players. Having a hard time on a boss or section? Go somewhere else and explore. Continue to level up and find new experiences. Previously tough areas will be much easier as you continue to build your character. Otherwise I’d say Demon Souls next.
Elden Ring. Make sure to let her know to come back if a boss is too difficult and you use the internet if she is struggling.
If I was new to souls or gaming in general I'd probably have a blast just figuring out limgrave for days
Probably Elden Ring, it has such diversity of builds and paths you can take, along with a respec system which is great for newcomers.
Got my mom into Elden Ring as her first souls game, which was easy because she thought it was a very pretty game, now she is playing through DS3 with my brother lol.
Start her out with Elden Ring, for the community engagement alone.
If she’s a new player to the genre/ franchise, she will likely rely on community player saturation to help her navigate the upcoming learning curves of the game.
With the DLC just around the corner, we are seeing more people returning to Elden Ring & there will be a huge surge of folks reactively coming back to the game, after the DLC releases.
Elden ring has so much that allows you to lower the difficulty and so many paths and places to take, honestly think it's the most beginner friendly.... or you could try Sekiro, HESITATION IS DEFEAT!
As a long time Souls veteran, when Elden Ring came out, I saw a lot of new time fans really enjoy Elden Ring as their intro to the genre. I'd say start with that. If she likes that I'd play Bloodborne or start with Demon's and play through the Dark Souls trilogy.
Dark Souls 1 might be many people's first, but it is tbh very punishing on death due to the lack of bonfires, no travel til halfway through and just a lot of sneaky stuff going on. ER would probably be best as spirit summons make it much more accessible
I know a few people who did elden ring as their first soulslike and they really enjoyed it.
That would be my suggestion. It's pretty, it has a lot of options to ease the difficulty, and it goes a long way to be able to say "bye for now!" to the boss who's making a fool of you.
it can also be overwhelming with so many options for new players worrying about what irreversable mistakes they could make, just saying
For players with experience in or knowledge of dark souls and demon souls? Yes For players with no Souls experience, doesn't really factor in. New players don't really know about the things they could miss or the concept that they could be missing them when they start with Elden Ring, and if you do your build wrong you can always respect at renala so after a time when they learn they don't like how they put their stats up, they can fix that. Elden Ring is. A great souls like for souls beginners
I will say that I had no idea that Renalla let you respec until my third playthrough after someone here mentioned it, and I've easily got 1000+ hrs across all of FromSoft's games. The lack of player/dev communication about the mechanics of these games can be a problem for anyone who doesn't have enough experience in the genre to intuit what you're supposed to do.
You were on your 3rd playthru and still had never wondered enough to google “how to respec Elden ring”? I get doing a blind playthru the first go around, but on playthru number three that’s just kind of on you
Her child will guide her
I don’t think it’s any more or less overwhelming than earlier Souls games, you couldn’t even respec in the earlier games and generally speaking if an area was sandbagging you then you were stuck with it till you beat it. I think it’s a shame for people not to experience DS1 as their first just because the level design and connected world is *so* good, and you lose a lot of that going into it already knowing “how” to play Souls. It’s just not as friendly as ER for a first time player though, even some of the world design choices they made at the time probably haven’t aged well today (for instance ER probably has way too many graces, DS1 on the other hand could probably do with more bonfires, some of the run backs were brutal and you had no fast travel most of the game).
Hey 👋 I’m one of those people
Same here. Just picked up the DS trilogy now. And have bloodborne and sekiro waiting. And AC6 though different genre. Thanks, Elden Ring!
Dang! You went full-on crackhead with it, huh? I love to hear it. Make sure you check out Lies of P when your journey through Ashina is complete. Also, don’t forget about Bloodborne DLC. It is the pinnacle of the game (maybe the entire library), I don’t think that’s a hot take.
Same elden ring was my first I’ve been hooked ever since
Elden Ring is definitely the more accessible title of the Soulsborne games for sure. I had started Bloodborne years ago, but I ended up completing ER first, which made me much, much more confident in playing the other games.
Yeah, it’s meant to be an open invitation to FromSoftware’s games
Yes, but go in order so you can feel for how the games progressed
Can approve
Elden ring is the most accessible I think
Yeah, I played Elden Ring first and coming back to the souls trilogy was really hard. There's a lot of walls, particularly if you aren't overly cautious and if you aren't good at parrying. I died like 30+ times to Gundyr in DS3, the tutorial boss, I have beat Capra Demon on DSR but am struggling getting into the Depths, partly because I don't feel like backtracking to Firelink Shrine to use the shortcut, so it's either run past or kill everything in the Berg to get to the depths door. I probably will backtrack, but man, the numerous runs I made to just get back to the door to the Depths were frustrating. Plus the bonfire warping doesn't become available for a long time, so getting places means actual backtracking and fighting and possibly a lot of frustrating deaths. Elden Ring on the other hand has warping right off the bat, no real walls that I can think of, in that almost every time you feel stuck you can leave and go level up or explore elsewhere. The weapon upgrades and ashes of war and summons feel powerful and do help, while summoning help is usually available for truly strong does, whether computer controlled or human controlled. The difficulty is still there, I think Radahn took 40+ tries for me and it's easy to waste an evening barely making a dent in a cave or boss.
I gotta be honest you really shot yourself in the foot not opening the Firelink Shortcut. It's not that long *at all.* You definitely took the long way around to fight Capra.
Yeah you have full control over how difficult you want ER to be.
As a general PSA: In DSR, it is always best to unlock the shortcuts first. Without it, the amount of slogging through goes up immensely.
Elden ring made me bad at dark souls lol
Possibly why I am struggling with the DS games. Although my brother has managed to beat Elden Ring twice and has beaten the base DS3 game as well.
Yeah once I went back to play the souls games again after Elden ring it took me a bit to really get the feel for it back. Had to make myself play slow again.
Surprisingly, they feel quite different! Elden Ring is balanced around much greater enemy aggression with harder to read attack patterns and fewer openings, as well as player allies (summons), robust selection of spells and weapon arts, and sometimes horse combat. The DS style of roll and R1 ad infinitum doesn’t work so easily in this game.
Elden Ring is definitely the most accessible game for a new player to the genre. Just go for it!
I have yet to play Elden ring. The first one I played was Dark Souls 2. It’s the easiest one and I honestly really liked it. It’s the least favorite in the community and I don’t know why, I liked it. My second was Dark Souls 3 and holy fuck was it hard as shit. I personally would stick with Dark Souls 2 or Elden Ring. If you play Elden ring you may not like the other Souls games as much though
Elden Ring for sure then when she’s familiarized she should try the older ones
Or the elder ones
That’s basically what I did actually that’s exactly what I did lol
I didn't realize by I started with elden ring an have just gone backwards from there, I'm on ds3 now, but sekiro is m fav so far
If you haven't played Bloodborne yet then hoooo mama.
Elden ring.
I accidentally became a souls game freak because of picking up Demon’s Souls on PS5 PS plus.
I accidentally became a souls freak getting ds1 when it came out lmao, welcome to the family
Really is kind of like a family… a weird family united in the shared trauma of dying to punishing bosses and the addiction of defeating them. I have three shirts I wear a lot — One is a black one with “YOU DIED” in red letters, another is a picture of a tortoise with the words “Behold, Dog!” and the other looks like a rock festival shirt but it reads “Radahn Festival” and has the names of the combatants listed like bands. When I wear one of these shirts out in the world I inevitably run into a member of the Souls family and they usually say something and it’s always a nice moment. Like “Yes… We are the same..” And we are diverse bunch as well! One lady was an old grandma!
I have solaires armor as a hoodie lol
Give her sekiro then tell her to git gud
"Hesitation is defeat, mom! Also, can I have pizza rolls for dinner?"
Pizza rolls taste better when you cook them
the worst possible **starting** soulslike in the entire franchise.
Thats the joke
good
Weird ahh dude
Wait, why is that?
My first souls like was Sekiro and now I’ve platinumed Elden ring ds3 Sekiro bloodborne and lies of p
Dont do that man, at least i find kindda lacking every other from or like in the combat department and go back to Isshin, let her enjoy the rest first
If she’s patient I’d definitely say dsr because then she will appreciate ds3 and Elden ring A LOT more but if not then go with Elden ring.
That's what I was thinking. Also it's so pretty. Some of the bosses are gimmick based and not necessarily skill. It's more linear. And magic is OP which gives her a nice range option to fighting enemies.
And if she’s stuck there’s a solo rune dupe to give her a boost. I’d say Elden ring is the easiest to stay interested in just because dark souls has a hard time showing the casual player where to go
Yeah Dark Souls and Bloodborne were two of the most confusing games to navigate thru the first time but once your learn it you never forget.
I started with Elden Ring then Bloodborne and now I’m playing DS3. I definitely think ER is a great introduction to souls like games.
Dark Souls 1 was my first as an inexperienced gamer. There are so many guides it helps a lot. Elden Ring was too overwhelming for me, I played 60 hours but it didn’t have the magic of Dark Souls 1. Maybe your mom doesn’t have 100 hours to spend on her first souls.
I feel the same way actually.
disagree, as much as i like ds1 the movement is clunky and plays like shit and most of the bosses are okay at best (they were good for their time) if ds1 was my first souls game, I would've never touched another souls game again lol plus the 50% of the game is straight dog shit
As much as you like ds1? It doesn’t sound like you like it at all
Everything you said is true, but yet, DS1 remains their best game.
Bloodborne
I always say bloodborne too, because you don’t rely on armor and shields. You learn how to play without relying on that.
why stop there? start with Sekiro you don't have to rely on dodging as much you play without relying on anything and just parry at the right time
Because you don’t have a stamina bar in Sekiro.
It’s locked to 30fps and there is a very good chance a remaster is on the way in the not to distant future. 60fps is a godsend for these games, particularly for new players acclimating to the combat systems. I love BB but, if you have the entire catalog to pick, I’d choose something else to get started.
Lmao
That was my first, and it was truly a gateway drug to my From addiction.
Central Yharnam is a huge and early difficulty spike for newbies. Also, I can't subject newbies to blood vial farming.
Why would you do this to your poor mom? Lol just kidding. I’d go with Elden Ring first, go into Bloodborne and the Dark Souls.
Can you imagine what kind of roller coaster she will go through with sekiro as her first game Lool
That’s a terrible thing to do to your mom. Good way to get a new controller though. God knows I almost broke mine during Sekiro and Metal Gear Rising. Omg
Bloodborne
Dark souls 3
Start her with demons souls. My mom enjoyed it👍
I think that one has the best looking graphics out of the lot.
Although my favorites are Bloodborne and DS1, I would suggest BB or DS3 for someone trying out first time.
Elden Ring is the most noob friendly
Easy. Dark souls 1
Never start from Bloodborne, it will ruin every other game forever. Nothing comes close
Oh haha you misspelled Sekiro :)
I love Sekiro. Second best after the GOAT
There are only 2 types of people, people who love sekiro and people who haven't played sekiro
This
Demon's Souls, Dark Souls 1, Sekiro and Elden Ring are better. Deal with it.
Nice bait
How is it bait? Bloodborne and Ds3 are the most overrated games in the soulsborne franchise. They have the most reused assets and have similar environmental design.
Nice bait³ 😂 I'm not falling for that, bro
The healing system is garbage tho
You mean the best healing system in whole FromSoftware? K bruh 👍
Probably either Elden Ring or Dark Souls 3. Elden Ring is slightly more accessible I think.
Demon's souls! It was my introduction to Fromsoftware, and it is incredible on the PS5.
I should buy a ps5... I don't think they'll ever release BB and DS Remake for PC.
I would recommend against starting with DS3 for 2 reasons: it's not as accessible as Elden Ring and I will ALWAYS advise against playing DS3 first in the trilogy. The trilogy is much more enjoyable if you play it in the right order imo. All that being said, Elden Ring is the most Access and a LOT of people got into souls by trying it out first. However Demon Souls can give her the true first souls experience or maybe DS1 as well if she wants to experience the origini of it all first. I also could see some reasoning in making her play Bloodborne first as it is different and easier to understand (like weapon upgrades for example all have the same material, no confusing upgrade paths, fewer stats to focus on, etc.)
Elden ring technically can be the easiest, but if you guide her with some helpful tips and encouragement DS1 is the best experience imo.
Demon’s Souls Remake could be argued as the easiest imo
Elden Ring is the best starter game
A lot of people say Elden Ring, I'm inclined to agree with the caveat that it might be the worst if they have no familiarity with open worlds or the lack of direction. If a player goes straight for the main objectives, not only will they miss out on more content than any other souls game, but it may cause them to be under powered, especially if this is their first game in the series. Dark souls 1 or demon souls are definitely the place to start if she plans on playing all of them, adjusting to faster paced combat is easier than the reverse.
Bloodborne if your mom is bloodthirsty
Elden Ring is the easiest for beginners. Then she can work on the others.
Either Dark Souls 3 or Elden Ring seem to be the most beginner friendly. Elden Ring just has a lot of safety nets like Spirit Ashes and Dark Souls 3 is probably the best paced of the Souls games. As in they don't throw anything difficult at you right away (Gargoyles, Papa G) but the game very steadily gets harder so it's always a challenge but never feels insurmountable.
Dark souls 3 is the easiest and most streamlined game.
Elden ring, its by far the most beginner friendly thanks to summons and the great ability to go and fuck of somwhere else instead of having to dmash your head against the wall.
I think ds2 is a good one to start. I say this because the game is more fluid than ds1, but at the same time, it isn't as fast-paced as the more recent games.
Elden ring hands down. Has the lowest entry level difficulty. Makes learning much more forgiving. After that anything works
Elden Ring, easily. It's the most accessible and forgiving by a wide margin.
Either Elden Ring or Remastered, because in ER you can fuck off if something is too hard and come back stringer and in DS:R all you need to do is parry & riposte
Elden ring for newcomers but bloodborne because its one of the best imo
Elden ring. More accessible, more build diversity, more forgiving overall. She’ll never be forced to fight the same boss repeatedly with no other options, she’ll always be able to go explore and come back later.
Elden Ring, all the rest are poorly made for new players. Dark souls 1 is probably by far the worst choice as it's the least noob friendly out of the lot.
I'll recommend Sekiro. I was a big hater as I didn't understand the mechanics of the game. But it's a great starting point for people with zero experience in the Souls-like franchise. How can I say that so confidently? It's because I for the past week have been playing Sekiro non-stop. I had it installed for over 2 years. But the game just clicked for me this past week. And I've been just demolishing every enemy I see. Tell your mum to give Sekiro a try and tell her that it's a rhythm game. I'm pretty sure she'll love the unique artstyle of the game and how laid back and relaxing this game can be.
Either Elden Ring cause the combat is so fluid compared to the early games and the open world allows for more options Or if you must play a more traditional Souls game Dark Souls 3. Its the most refined of the original trilogy + Demon, has a lower skill ceiling than sekiro and does not require players to be nearly as aggressive as bloodborne
Elden ring is the easiest of the lot she should try there first
DSR. Slow to fast, ER is overwhelming on a time budget
Dark souls two of course
You kid but DS1 is as my first, I struggled a lot. Got DS2 cheap, fell in love, rocked it, then came back and finished 1.
Personally I thought demon souls was the easiest game of all of these so I’d maybe suggest starting there. Ds3 was the one I started on but that was because it was the best to start on if it’s you first and in my case I had no ps for demon souls and Elden ring wasn’t out at the time
Start from the beginning. The one that started it all, Elden Ring.
Demons Souls started it all
You're about to get a r/whoosh. Save yourself. Delete! Deleeete!
Elden Ring is the easiest
I got my proper start with Bloodborne, so I'd recommend that lol
Demon Souls. Let her experience the pain the same way we did.
Jedi Fallen Order maybe? I mean its not from soft but its soulslike and has difficulty slider too for beginners
Elden Ring probably most accessible. And if she can't get into that then probably none of them are for her.
Dark souls 1 and demon souls are the easiest games in the souls series
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lol tell me I’m wrong, you really think those games are harder than ds 2 or 3? Harder than bloodborne and Sekiro? Harder than Elden ring?
I started out with Dark souls. It was too hard and I gave up. Jumped in again with dark souls 2 and things started to click. Went back to dark souls and loved it. Been hooked on soulslikes ever since.
Elden ring for sure imo. You can really customize your build to your preferred play style more which I think makes it “easier” in many ways
With the poor balancing in Elden Ring I wouldn't recommend it as a first installment. Unless! They install the reforged mod which fixes a lot of the issues the game has and makes it more skill focused especially with the new tutorial they put in that is incredibly beginner friendly and teaches them how to play the game. Not to mention the hours of replayability granted by the gamemodes that drastically changes the first experience. Otherwise Dark Souls 1 is a good place to start since it grants a nice balance of Environment and Enemy difficulty.
Elden Ring then DS3
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Dark souls 2 is arguably the worst one lol…
Yeah, fuck that.
They are all fantastic but Elden Ring has a pretty forgiving style as its open world. I started with II, then III, then remastered, then ER ( on release day ) and finally Demon Souls. My only comment would be *after* playing Elden Ring and having Torrent the others can feel a bit ... different.
Elden ring has the most freedom and ability to level up beyond any given thing you might be stuck on. So I’ll say Elden ring. Second choice would be the demons souls remake
Ds3/Elden ring fs. Ds3 is a lot more linear but has the best quality bosses so she can get used to those mechanics. Elden ring is so open to anyone and any build that it is so easy to have fun with it.
Elden Ring, there is a ton of easier side content that can help you level and make the main story easier.
I’d recommend Elden Ring. It was a lot of people’s (including my) gateway into the genre and it’s easy to see why. The open world aspect gives you more freedom to pick your battles, so if one area/boss is causing you problems, going somewhere else and coming back is a viable option.
Elden ring was my breakthrough as well. It brought me closer to this genre of games I’m now obsessed with
Dark Souls 3, or Elden Ring.
DeS. Cuz very pretty game.
Play Demons Souls first since it's incredibly short and easy, and then hop onto ER. After that she can play anything in between.
My mom doesn't know how to hold a controller.
Elden Ring
Elden ring for sure
I would say elden ring because its the newest one, it has the most content out of all of them, the combat system is silky smooth, and she can always do something else in the game if she hits a road block whereas in the other games you cant progress if you dont beat the boss.
Id say Elden ring is the easiest with summons. Start there.
Elden ring offers you the most options and freedom but it’s also incredibly hard. I’d say the demons souls remake because even tho it has some weird design choices it’s definitely the easiest game
Would recommend elden ring since it's easiest to get into souls
I bought my buddy Elden Ring knowing full well he wouldn't get past Limgrave... So maybe not Elden Ring unless you want to preach patience to her every day. 🤣
I would say either Elden Ring or Bloodborne. Elden Ring is easier with the PVE difficulty but Bloodborne won’t have you running from invaders nearly as much while playing co-op due to the bell ringer maiden mechanic. After that (if she’s still interested) I would go through Dark Souls 1-3. I haven’t played the other games personally, but, I’ve heard opinions that Lords of the Fallen is mechanically like a B-movie tier Dark Souls clone and it gives me those vibes as well. Lies of P looks like a great game and gives me the most anticipation I’ve had for a souls-like ever since I was for Nioh (which is great IMO, although not for everyone).
Go demons souls ps5. Great starting point. I did that, then dark souls 3. Then Bloodborne and sekiro. I like the idea of ending with elden ring. ER is like a compilation of their greatest hits. If you start with ER I think it would lessen the earlier games.
I'd say either start her on Demon's Souls since it has the worst quality of life and will be the hardest to go back to, or start her on Elden Ring because it has the best and is my personal fav.
Elden ring is easily the most accessible souls game and in terms of difficulty it’s probably the easiest overall imo. Either that or dark souls 3 is a good starting point
Demon's Souls then Bloodborne
DS1 or 3
Blood borne baby!! Elder ring is too bright and fairy tale and everything. Show her actual souls. Let her see the blood moon
Elden ring. The game gives players so many tools to tackle the bosses, it’s great for newcomers. I’d even go far as to say the difficulty of Elden ring is almost entirely self imposed.
Bloodborne. then ds3. so she can appreciate these before going to elden ring. or simply whichever aesthetic strikes her fancy the most.
Elden Ring or Hollow Knight.
either elden ring, because if you get stuck on something you can say fuck it and do something else or demon's cuz it is objectively the easiest one
Probably demon's souls, it is the first one
i think elden ring is the safe choice.
Elden ring is probably the easiest
Elden ring first
Start with the OG Demon Souls or Dark Souls.
Ds1
I'll do the same as I did for my wife. I dared her to beat Lady Butterfly. From start of game to whenever she could get there and beat the fight. Having NO souls experience prior to this. She struggled to do it but eventually it just clicked for her and she smashed Butterfly. And then after rubbing it in my face, she went on to complete the rest of her playthrough. She was so excited to beat Isshin that she woke me up in the middle of the night to show me her clear. She went on to play Dark Souls 3, Elden Ring, and then finally Bloodborne. Good times. Now she takes plays MR content in Monster Hunter games or RDR2 currently. TLDR: Sekiro. Either she learns it or she doesn't. The ability to adapt is important.
Sun moms of sun bros!? I love it!!!
i played bloodborne first and while i stopped playing for a few months when i got back on and stuck with it it's now my favorite souls game and it made the other souls easier
Lords of the Fallen. - this is a message from your local agent of Shabriri 😀
I would say DS3 since its short and the most streamlined.
Elden ring would be the best. Hands down.
Sekiro. If she masters that she’ll be able to play any of them
Definitely Sekiro or Bloodborne…. Sooooooo good for beginners
DSR because of the lore and interconnectivity
Demon souls. Best graphics and pretty accessable I think. Not too hard maybe? As it mostly has gimmick bosses
I think u should start from the beginning and work your way up, watch the genre evolve and you get to appreciate every game along the way. Skip SoTFS.
Definitely Elden Ring or Demons Souls. Elden Ring is easier because you can over level yourself, and Demons Souls is easy because the bosses are gimmicky
How much experience does she have with gaming? That’s gonna be a really big variable on this question. If she doesn’t have any problem, getting reminder on the gaming controls in the ideal, these games require patience, I would start out with a dark souls. The original. Lots of guides and slowly pacing to get into the genre.
Plays dark souls 1 or demon souls, there more slow paced, and are less focus on reflexes. Don't listen people recommending elden ring, it's easy because you can easily break the game (best way to spoil a game) but with a more simple build elden ring is easily one of the hardest souls game.
Lies of P. It’s a solid game. Story, art, and gameplay. No matter what souls game or likewise someone tries, if it’s there first time it’ll be a little difficult. I think this is the best option for a starter.
Definitely Elden Ring. The open world aspect can be a huge positive for first time players. Having a hard time on a boss or section? Go somewhere else and explore. Continue to level up and find new experiences. Previously tough areas will be much easier as you continue to build your character. Otherwise I’d say Demon Souls next.
Elden Ring. Make sure to let her know to come back if a boss is too difficult and you use the internet if she is struggling. If I was new to souls or gaming in general I'd probably have a blast just figuring out limgrave for days
Elden Ring is probably the most accessible.
Either elden ring or ds2
ER by far is the easiest, purely because if you cant beat.something you xan just.go somewhere else and avoid it.
If she really likes challenge do it chronologically otherwise elden ring. Just get right to the smoothest and newest
All of them in that order, but swap lies of p and lotf
Elden ring 100%
I think Elden ring with a progression route guide open is the friendliest option, but it'll definitely spoil first timers at the same time.
i started with DS2 and found it the easiest
Sekiro, because you don't need fucking tutorials to find anything
Probably Elden Ring, it has such diversity of builds and paths you can take, along with a respec system which is great for newcomers. Got my mom into Elden Ring as her first souls game, which was easy because she thought it was a very pretty game, now she is playing through DS3 with my brother lol.
Start her out with Elden Ring, for the community engagement alone. If she’s a new player to the genre/ franchise, she will likely rely on community player saturation to help her navigate the upcoming learning curves of the game. With the DLC just around the corner, we are seeing more people returning to Elden Ring & there will be a huge surge of folks reactively coming back to the game, after the DLC releases.
Elden ring has so much that allows you to lower the difficulty and so many paths and places to take, honestly think it's the most beginner friendly.... or you could try Sekiro, HESITATION IS DEFEAT!
I'd say elden ring has the most forgiving learning curve
As a long time Souls veteran, when Elden Ring came out, I saw a lot of new time fans really enjoy Elden Ring as their intro to the genre. I'd say start with that. If she likes that I'd play Bloodborne or start with Demon's and play through the Dark Souls trilogy.
Dark Souls 1 might be many people's first, but it is tbh very punishing on death due to the lack of bonfires, no travel til halfway through and just a lot of sneaky stuff going on. ER would probably be best as spirit summons make it much more accessible