Dark Souls II or Dark Souls III?

Gamer Bhoy 89

I'm currently playing through Nioh and it is absolutely amazing. It has also given me the idea of picking up a Dark Souls game. While I used to own DS1, I've played neither DS2 or DS3 and I'm thinking of picking one of them up but I'm unsure which one to go for.

I've little-to-zero interest in the plot of any of those games so I'm not fussed about continuity, if the series ever had it.. but which game is considered better? Or would it matter?

johnny_ultimate

Bloodborne

Assuming you've played Bloodborne, Dark Souls 3 is the one to go for. DS2 lacks the Miyazaki touch but is a perfectly excellent game on its own terms. DS3, while not the revelation DS1 and BB were, does have that extra layer of directorial control that separates it from its predecessor.

nix

Yeah defo Bloodborne if you havent played it, be sure to pick up the GOTY edition so you get the DLC, only £25 on amazon makes it all that much better. Argos were selling it dirt cheap awhile back but its back up to €50 at the mo so avoid Argos.

Then id go with DS3 and if you still crave more after those games, go with DS2 :pac:

DS2 is great but graphically, its horrible compared to BB and DS3...Nioh

YouSavedMyLife

Ill echo what has been said above in saying you should get Bloodborne. About a month ago i went back to playing Dark Souls II after finishing a playthrough of Dark Souls III and part II felt very VERY clunky. Dark Souls III feels more like Bloodborne than the first two games and thus the combat feels fluid and it much tighter.

Bloodborne > Dark Souls III - I wouldn't even bother to play Dark Souls II after either of these because its going to feel like such a downgrade. If you are intent in playing through the whole series i would say you should start with part II, but even then its gonna feel terrible compared to Nioh

CiDeRmAn

A cheap PS3 and Demon's Souls, perhaps??

Actually, my son is blazing a trail through Dark Souls at the moment.
He had milled his way through Bloodborne, finishing it very quickly, and found the change in pace a little jarring, going to DS, but he quickly understood the change in the nature of combat, the defensive stance required in the early games rather than the more attacking mode seen in Bloodborne as well as DS3, and he is really enjoying Dark Souls now.

So, yes, I think coming from Bloodborne or DS3 to DS or DS2 is going to be a bit of a leap, it is all in keeping with the play mechanics of the game and, for me at least, I prefer the game world of the original Dark Souls game over any of the sequels.

I keep meaning to play through Demon's Souls, it still looks good all these years later.

weiland79

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

I keep meaning to play through Demon's Souls, it still looks good all these years later.

Ah Twas the first RPG I ever played.

After years of playing mainly first and third person shooters i came across the Demons souls thread in this forum.

At the time you couldn't buy it in Europe, but it sounded so interesting and so far removed from anything I'd ever played that i decided to take a chance and import it from China.

Amazing.

Standing on the bridge in front of the Boletarian castle for the first time, sword in hand,was a pitiful sight and is without a doubt my most memorable moment in gaming.

I suppose maybe now after DS and Bloodbourne it may not be as impressive, but i would encourage anyone that hasn't played it yet to do so.

CiDeRmAn

I was the same!
I imported the Asian version, as english was used, and it was brilliant, and utterly confusing!
I passed it on to another Arcade & Retro user and bought a PAL collectors edition instead.
Brilliant stuff.
Maybe someday it'll be rebooted.

I think the roots of the series go back to the Kings Field games, don't they?

Mickeroo

Play all of them, including DS 1 and Demon's Souls.

DS2 is better than people are making out too, I think I put more hours into it than any of the others. And i think it only feels clunky at first because the combat is a bit different in that there's a certain stat you need to level before you get the same amount of i-frames when rolling and such that you do in the other games.

Kiith

DS1 > DeS > DS3 > BB > DS2

That's probably how i'd rate the games. DS3 is definitely better that DS2 anyway, in pretty much every way. Demon Souls is so high as it was the original, and still holds a special place in my broken heart :P

Retr0gamer

DS2 isn't a totally worthless game though. It has far and away the best mechanics of the DS series, DS3 was a big backwards step for me, just the level design can be a bit iffy. However the DLC makes up for it, the 3 DLC episodes might just be some of the best Souls gameplay and level design yet.

Mickeroo

I thought DS3 had better level design than the second game but the combat mechanics in the second game were the best of the series for me, the PvP was really great.

Osmosis Jones

Retr0gamer wrote: »

DS2 isn't a totally worthless game though. It has far and away the best mechanics of the DS series, DS3 was a big backwards step for me, just the level design can be a bit iffy. However the DLC makes up for it, the 3 DLC episodes might just be some of the best Souls gameplay and level design yet.

DS3 DLC? Haven't gone back to the game since getting bored in NG+ but if it's that good I might start a new save and pick up the DLC.

Retr0gamer

Osmosis Jones wrote: »

DS3 DLC? Haven't gone back to the game since getting bored in NG+ but if it's that good I might start a new save and pick up the DLC.

Nope, Dark Souls 2 DLC. Dark Souls 3 DLC is good but it's by far the weakest DLC From has put out for the Soulsborne games.

YouSavedMyLife

Osmosis Jones wrote: »

DS3 DLC? Haven't gone back to the game since getting bored in NG+ but if it's that good I might start a new save and pick up the DLC.

It's not that good. I think he ment to say the Dark Souls 2 DLC which is excellent compared to the main game. The DLC for 3 is good but I think we where spoiled by Blood borne and the rest of the games, so it may feel.....lacking. But it has the best boss fight in the series hands down. Wait till the end of march when the second DLC pack for Dark Souls 3 comes out, then you might find it worth the play/price

sweetie

I started at Bloodborne and have played through all of them now. I enjoyed the earlier games as much as the later ones. Its an itch that needs to be scratched!

DS2 with dlc and Bloodborne with Dlc are on sale on US/Canadian psn stores this weekend

SeantheMan

Within the last 2 months I've completed all 3 DS games (finished DS3 3 days ago) and am playing through Bloodborne atm.

Dark Souls 1 is my fave of the lot, but 3 is definitely the most polished.
2 is good, but definitely the lesser of the 3, but still a great game (from what I read the Director of DS1 didn't work on DS2, but returned for DS3)

I'd deffo play both.

CiDeRmAn

So, in a post DS/BB world, where do I go for more?
What is there out there that brings similar combat and story telling?

Pickpocket

Osmosis Jones wrote: »

DS3 DLC? Haven't gone back to the game since getting bored in NG+ but if it's that good I might start a new save and pick up the DLC.

His post is a little unclear there. The 3 DLC's he's referring to are a part of DS2. However the first of two DS3 DLCs has already been released and the second one is out pretty soon as well.

Andrew76

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

So, in a post DS/BB world, where do I go for more?
What is there out there that brings similar combat and story telling?

Ni-Oh, a cross between the From games and Ninja Gaiden, excellent game. Wouldn't be strong on story telling but the combat/items/crafting makes it a more enjoyable game in my opinion.

Stone Deaf 4evr

Was going to start ds3 yesterday but couldn't commit, so went back to my ds1 save and started a new game +. I player up until, and defeated the belfry gargoyles and rang the first game. While I'm still impressed with the level design, the drop back to 30fps was jarring, as was the occasional stuttering. It certainly scratched my souls itch though!

I initially couldn't get a grip with 2, but went back to it and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Pickpocket

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

So, in a post DS/BB world, where do I go for more?
What is there out there that brings similar combat and story telling?

Salt and Sanctuary

Gamer Bhoy 89

Christ I completely forgot about this thread.

I got Dark Souls III in the end and I'm absolutely loving it. Just recently beat the Abyss Watchers after a 5th attempt. I have a long weekend off work and my girlfriend is off on hen party things so I have some epic free time to plough through this - provided my short-attention span doesn't kick in.

ZeitgeistGlee

I'd echo the recommendations of Bloodborne, its far and away the closest to Nioh in terms of speed and style. Between DaS2 and DaS3 it's an easy win for 3 as it better matches the pace of BB/Nioh. DaS3 dropping its final DLC soon means there's a more active rounded playerbase by comparison and the matching system is miles better than 2's.

IMO DaS2 while a perfectly decent game (generally gets a worse rap than it deserves) is much slower by comparison to Nioh/BB/DaS3 and quite frustrating until you acclimatise if you're used to faster paced gameplay. I went from DaS3 to DaS2 a few months back to platinum it and couldn't get over how trudgingly slow it felt at anything above minimal encumbrance and using anything heavier than a rapier/longsword/katana.

CiDeRmAn

My son is almost finished Dark Souls and has started Demons Souls, with some assistance from his dad.
I forgot how good Demons Souls looks, even now.
It retains a solid sense of place that the Dark Souls has, and plays really well.
I'm not sure if they've tightened it up over the years with updates but it feels just as tight as the later games.
I nearly forgot how to beat Phalanx!

Evade

Demons' Souls is still my favourite of the series but I'm not sure how well world 3 or 4 will hold up when it turns into Demons' Souls the power point presentation.

Don't forget you can't jump. That caused more than a few stupid deaths last time I replayed it.

CiDeRmAn

Evade wrote: »

Demons' Souls is still my favourite of the series but I'm not sure how well world 3 or 4 will hold up when it turns into Demons' Souls the power point presentation.

Don't forget you can't jump. That caused more than a few stupid deaths last time I replayed it.

I never really used jump in the early days, and the running roll has gotten us over a few small gaps already!
Frame drops incoming? Oh dear