You Died: Ranking The Dark Souls Games And Their Imitators

1) Dark Souls

Release date: 2011

Ah, the daddy. The main man. The true Dark Soul. In my opinion, it doesn’t get better than this. Dark Souls is the game that launched the series into the mainstream; the game that captured the hearts and minds of players all over the world. What makes it so brillaint though?

Look no further than the land of Lordran, the domain of Lord Gwyn; Nito, the First of the Dead; Seath the Scaleless and the Witch of Izaith. Here we have towering, knightly Anor Londo, the impenetrable deathrap that is Sen’s Fortress, and the twinkling interiors of the Crystal Caves.  There are so many varied environs, and yet they all come together to form a cohesive whole. This is a world in which you cannot warp between bonfires until you’ve beaten a half of the game, and that means wandering the clutches of Blighttown, navigating the Garden and peering into the Depths.

Ah, I could go on and on. Look, it’s a marvel of level design likely never to be bettered, and a pitch-perfect action game, too. Flaws? It’s hard to think of any. The framerate is a bit silly sometimes, but to this day, there’s never been a game I’ve beaten and returned to so easily.

It all just makes sense. Chances are, if you’re reading this article, you know what I mean. But, by the slim chance you don’t, sell your loved ones, mortgage your house and do what it takes to buy an Xbox 360 and a copy of Dark Souls.