If I were making a Top 10 of the decade list for a publication, Dark Souls would definitely be on it.
But Demon / Dark Souls just weren’t for me, despite playing them for dozens of hours. Ultimately they’re about twitchy combat skill and no matter how i try i don’t have twitchy combat skills - and every year both the capacity and desire to have them keeps going down.
I’m suffering from the same problem with the current crop of Metroidvania side scrollers - i can’t stick with them long enough to really master them, and without mastering them i get bored and wander off to play something else.
I think if Bloodborne was on PC and more of us had access to it it might have done better. I know that is why I haven’t played it. I do own it now, but access to the console is limited compared to access to my PC.
I don’t either but have logged probably over 1,000 hours on the trilogy. I still use a shield and one hand my sword, well, 99% of the time anyway. I just don’t have the dexterity or the reflexes to play the game at the top level, but damn I love them. And I have finished all three and solo’d probably 95% of the bosses.
That debate will never end, but I think people having a hard time with Dark Souls (I’m only speaking of the first one) are having issues because they play it as a twitchy game, as you put it, while it is slow paced. If one tries to play it like a standard action game, then sure, you probably need godlike reflexes, or snappier neurons.
I am the worst when it comes to any action games, I am a turn based player, yet I was at home in that game.
Which is the best Dark Souls-like game, if you have never played one before? I think I played about 10 minutes once and it was too hard so I dropped it. But I’d like to give it another shot since so many people liked it.
I’m not even sure how many clones there are at this point. Which is the best?
Nice! Looking through the entire list of entries I recognized quite a number of games I was interested at some point but haven’t picked up yet due to my outrageous backlog. Some, I outright forgot about. I will keep this as a checklist.
It will be interesting to revisit my top 10 in another year or so after (if) I make a dent into said backlog which includes a good number of the entries (some of which I bought on release. Shame on me).
Surprised RDR 2 and Monster Hunter World weren’t higher.
I think the first game is the best, because I played it first. For me it has the best memories. And playing them in order does make later events better. But if you wanted just one game and weren’t planning to play them all I would say DS3. The graphics are better, the play is a little quicker as well. Not too fast, but a touch quicker.
Bloodborne is From Software’s best game and the best Souls like IMO. Dark Souls remastered is a good place to start, or maybe 3 if you need more modern graphics. For knock offs Ashen is a decent crack at a more streamlined and easier Souls.
If you can try it again, set the field of view higher. I had issues with it in the default FOV. It’s very tight, like a lot of Source-based games. As soon as I turned it up (same with Apex Legends), I was fine.
I’d say play Dark Souls. I don’t think any other game since has recreated its folding and highly memorable geography, which is a major part of its genius. I’m curious though how well it plays now with a lower population of players–a significant part of these games is the multiplayer features. My playstyle was to attempt a boss a few times and then, when I’d thrown my controller across the room, summon a teammate or two to take it down. Or, later, I’d get a big XP boost from helping other players.
Control being a third person game would probably put it in a different category for me tbh. I do expect to enjoy it though. We’ll see!
There were a number of strong first-person shooters over the last decade. Doom 2016 being one that’s way up there, too. I also really liked Halo: Reach.
If we include third person, Vanquish has to be waaaaay up there. Sam Gideon is among the coolest dudes to play as too.
Bulletstorm, even though some don’t particularly like the dialogue, is a ridiculously entertaining shooting gallery. I’m definitely venturing into top ten first/third person shooting games now, though.
I’ll echo the recommendation for Dark Souls 3 if you’re only going to play one of them. Getting around the game is so much easier than the first one but Dark Souls is a better experience IMO.
If you’re only going to play 2 of them, go with DS3 and Bloodborne. I love all four though, plus Demon’s Souls, so would recommend all of them if you have the time/inclination.
And if you’re interested in understanding what the hell is actually happening in the game, lore-wise, then check out some of the lore videos on Youtube or listen to something like the Bonfireside Chat podcast. Because the game will definitely not hold your hand when it comes to the story. More like pushing you off the sidewalk into the mud, pretending to help you up, pulling back its hand, laughing at you as you fall back into the mud, etc.
Thanks arrendek and Scott for making all this happen! The last two weeks were painful trying to come up with a top 10 ;-) I wish I’d ranked them but my head was fried.
Aye same!
I didn’t get a one but I didn’t expect to either to be fair :-) Offworld Trading Company was my highest at 35! Good grief.
It was one of the few games that never left my list. So so good.
Dude. Get on that. You can do it in one or two sessions!
I wanted to add The Wonderful 101 but I just couldn’t fit it in. Splatoon was alongside Titanfall 2 for a long time too. Mario + Rabbids made the cut though (almost edged out by Steamworld Heist).
Yeah, I had it on my list, then took it off, then had it on, then took it off. It’s a really great game that I absolutely loved beginning to end. Much more so than Titanfall 2, in fact, where I’m still stuck in the factory level, I believe. That level was a brick wall for me. And before that level, I never had the kind of fun that I had in Doom 2016.
Hahaha that’s partially my fault. My algorithm expects some people to misspell/capitalize, so it uses the majority of user’s spellings/capitalization/whatever to determine how to present the game. 10 people voted for “Rimworld” and 8 people voted for “RimWorld” so it decided that the former was the correct capitalization and here we are. :D
This is actually a good example of the whole PC vs Console debate in the other thread. I got the game on the PS4 and I’m just too bad with a controller so could never even finish the tutorial when they start teaching you wall running. So yeah, I never actually played the main game, perhaps if I’d gotten a PC copy and could use the M/KB controls things would be different…
Yeah, perhaps RDR1 & 2 kinda cancelled each other out? Otherwise I’d have expected at least one of the rockstar games to make the top 10 (GTA or RDR)
