Favorite FROMSOFT Game

[hanselthecaretaker]

Before the Elden Ring hype gets ridiculous I thought it would be interesting to have a poll of what’s been played and where their games stand so far.

Note: There are a surprising amount of IP’s in their catalogue so apologies if they all couldn’t be specifically listed due to poll limits, but there is an “other” category to serve as a write type-in.

Personally it’s a tough choice since I’m very fond of Demon’s Souls for sparking my interest in their games, but it would really boil down to playability and thematic relevance. I think FROM has iterated their formula pretty well, and while I really love both the exceptional quality of Bloodborne and Sekiro as a whole, along with the former’s new setting and increased focus on aggressive play, and the latter’s rhythmic and highly mobile gameplay, I’d still have to ultimately say Dark Souls 3 especially with its DLC. The variety for builds, bosses and culmination of the storyline really win out for me in the end, and some of the locations are my favorites in all of gaming. Plus I’ve always liked the balance of using sword n board, and how the defensive hand facilitates handling environmental hazards more effectively.

Then of course there’s always FASHION SOULS!!

Having said that, FTR I’d much prefer a sequel to Bloodborne before another Dark Souls (seeing as how Elden Ring is spiritually pretty much anyways) because I’d love to see how FROM could expand upon the unique flavor of everything it brought to the table.

 

[09philj]

Oh, Armored Core 4.
I don't like Soulslikes very much. I would like them to bring AC back.

 

[Elvis Starburst]

No love for Armored Core in that poll, huh...? Hrm. When it seems all they're known for these days are souls-borne games then it's to be expected, I guess.
Either way... Armored Core 5 for me

 

[CriticalGaming]

Fucking Bloodborne and it isn't even close.

 

[SilentPony]

Y'all amateurs!

AMATEURS!

REAL FromSoftware fans play Lost Kingdoms 2! All the big boy real gamer challenge of Dark Souls, but not you can only use your attacks a limited number of times, and you're only allowed 4 of each card in your deck. So imagine doing Anor Londo or the Irithyll Dungeons, and you have 4 lizard warrior strike cards, each worth 3 uses. That's it. You get 12 front sword slashes, no more. If you miss, and you will, you're just out of luck. Time to git gud son!

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

King's Field.

 

[BrawlMan]

What about their games from the PS1 and PS2 days? You can at least edit and add some of those.

 

[Kae]

Oh, Armored Core 4.
I don't like Soulslikes very much. I would like them to bring AC back.

I haven't played 4 yet, but 3 was good and I know it's not AC but I've been playing Chromehounds too and that's really good too.

King's Field.

Which one?
I've only played The Ancient City AKA 4, but I also have the spinoff Eternal Ring which I don't think it's as good, but a lot of people swear the very similar Shadow Tower series is better, I haven't got them yet because they're expensive but I've heard that Shadow Tower Abyss is supposed to be like extremely good.

I also haven't played these yet but they have a pretty large cult following, but Metal Wolf Chaos is supposed to be really good and I'm very interested on playing Kuon that looks amazing and so do the Echo Night games, very interesting psychological horror adventure games.

Anwyays it's good that FROM soft has become mainstream but they've been making good games for a while, they didn't start with Demon's Souls.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

Which one?

Only the first one. And I didn't have a memory card the first time I played it, so every run was a hardcore run.

 

[Elvis Starburst]

REAL FromSoftware fans play Lost Kingdoms 2!

I never got super far into Lost Kingdoms 2, but I remember getting pretty far in the first game! I love the first game's battle theme.
I've considered trying to find a way to adapt the system to a tabletop RPG, but the problem is accounting for all the resources, stats, and uses of yours cards all at once. Being a game makes that much easier to do, so if I can find a way to streamline it, it could be done

 

[Kae]

Only the first one. And I didn't have a memory card the first time I played it, so every run was a hardcore run.

I did find The Ancient City enjoyable so I'll see if I can go back and play those.

For the record I had never played any From Soft games until February of this year, so it's not like I'm talking about Nostalgia, however considering how they play I can recognise they're not for everyone.

 

[Drathnoxis]

What no Echo Night? The first person adventure game about helping ghosts on a boat, and defeating a vampire or something?
I mean, it's not my favorite, but it's gotta be somebodies, right? Well, maybe not...

I guess I'll be really original and say Dark Souls, since I've only played that and Demon's Souls and I've played the former more times and feel it has the better design.

 

[meiam]

Oh, Armored Core 4.
I don't like Soulslikes very much. I would like them to bring AC back.

I quite like soulborne but I still go for AC over it, AC:silent line for me. There was a little bit of noise about them possibly working on a new AC game about 1-2 year back but I don't think anything ever came of it.

 

[Trunkage]

Fucking Bloodborne and it isn't even close.

FS didn't bother porting Bloodborne.

So that's a no from me

 

[stroopwafel]

Bloodborne with Sekiro as a close second. I love the Souls series as well but the quality isn't entirely consistent. Dark Souls 1 starts to dip after acquiring the Lordvessel with rushed levels that are a chore to navigate. Dark Souls 2 misses Miyazaki's touch with other than a few standouts very boring geography, mostly unimaginative enemies and floaty combat. Dark Souls 3 is fantastic but plays mostly like a 'best of' Dark Souls megamix and misses the kind of cohesive approach that gave DkS1, Sekiro and even Demon's Souls such a unique identity. It also suffers from quite a few bullshit areas like the catacombs of carthus and a very tedious swamp section(a regular occurence in From games it seems). I also didn't like Ringed City very much but consider Ashes of Ariandel the best Souls content ever made. Demon's Souls was the first and it's amazing to see how much they got right from the get go but pretty much everything from that game has been improved upon by succeeding titles. The game still have very strong atmosphere but having played the remake recently the bosses are nothing to write home about compared to the bosses in all of the games that came after.

Bloodborne I still consider the best game ever made though it's very much in need of a performance patch or (preferably) other kind of overhaul that cleans up some of the low poly assets. Other than that even after more than 6 years the game is still gorgeous. Everything in this game just comes together seemlessly; art, atmosphere, music, story, ambiance. It's the product of such strong, singular vision and the boundless imagination of those in the art team that made it all come to life. One of the few games with genuine artistic merit. And if the game isn't perfect enough in comes the DLC which tilts the game beyond perfection and into legendary status.

Sekiro I think is mechanically the best in that it iterated on the combat of the previous games but improved upon it by introducing entire new elements making the combat much more dynamic and engaging. You could argue it suffers from lack of replayability but I disagree as I had a lot of fun replaying the game much more so than the Souls games where I was always dreading some area that just wasn't fun. Story, art and atmosphere were also fantastic. Just a pristine game that knows exactly what it wants to be with gameplay elements that are most likely a perfect starting point for Elden Ring.

 

[Chimpzy]

Metal Wolf Chaos. Only game by them I've liked so far.

Also, poll is missing a lot, including like a decade and half worth of games from before their Soulslikes era.

 

[Baffle]

Tenchu is one of the only games of theirs I've played, but I really liked that. On the PS2 I guess.

Tried Dark Souls and just didn't enjoy it, so haven't tried any of their other Souls games.

 

[BrawlMan]

Tenchu is one of the only games of theirs I've played, but I really liked that. On the PS2 I guess.

I remember renting a couple of them back in the day during the PS1 era. I never touched the PS2 games. Armored Core I barely played outside of demos.

As far as entertainingly bad games, there's Ninja Blade. Their attempt at a Ninja Gaiden/God of War/DMC game. The gameplay is mediocre and the QTEs go on for way too long. It's just best to watch a YouTube playthrough to see the cut-scene spectacle. President Mike from Metal Wolf Chaos is in the game as a supporting cameo.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

No love for Armored Core in that poll, huh...? Hrm. When it seems all they're known for these days are souls-borne games then it's to be expected, I guess.
Either way... Armored Core 5 for me

I did note the poll was starting with Souls but also I wasn’t even aware they were still making those games. Just realized the last one (Verdict Day) was released eight years ago and flew completely under the radar. Probably because most of its reviews were in the yellow.

What about their games from the PS1 and PS2 days? You can at least edit and add some of those.

I don’t see an option to edit polls, sorry.

 

[BrawlMan]

I did note the poll was starting with Souls but also I wasn’t even aware they were still making those games. Just realized the last one (Verdict Day) was released eight years ago and flew completely under the radar. Probably because most of its reviews were in the yellow.




I don’t see an option to edit polls, sorry.

Really? I remember doing a poll thread a couple of times and allowing to edit it. They must have changed it. Oh well.