Best FromSoftware games

Elden Ring▲ Rising

George R.R. Martin's mythology and FromSoft's cruelty collided into an open world where you could stumble into a demigod boss twenty hours too early and somehow love the beating you took. Torrent the spectral steed and the sheer verticality of the Lands Between turned Soulslike design inside out, proving the formula could sprawl without losing its teeth. It won Game of the Year almost everywhere that matters, and the argument for the top spot writes itself: this is the moment the subgenre went mainstream without compromising an inch.

Year: 2022Critic score: 9.6/10

added by IJRin 13 rankings

Dark Souls▲ Rising

Lordran's interconnected map, folding back on itself elevator by elevator and shortcut by shortcut, remains one of the most astonishing feats of level design ever shipped, all in service of a game that dared you to die hundreds of times and call it fun. Bonfires, estus flasks, the Bell Gargoyles humbling newcomers atop the church roof — this is the game that turned 'git gud' into a cultural mantra and spawned an entire genre bearing its name. Everything on this list exists in its shadow, which is exactly the argument for ranking it where the votes put it.

Year: 2011Critic score: 8.9/10

added by IJRin 7 rankings

Bloodborne▼ Falling

Trade your shield for a saw cleaver and your patience for aggression: Bloodborne rebuilt the Souls skeleton into a blood-soaked hunt through Yharnam's gothic rooftops, rewarding rally-mechanic bloodlust over turtling. Father Gascoigne's mid-fight transformation and the cosmic horror lurking under every cobblestone gave the series its most unified atmosphere, a nightmare that only deepens the further you claw into it. No sequel, no PC port, just pure cult devotion — and that scarcity has only made the argument for its greatness louder.

Year: 2015Critic score: 9.2/10

added by IJRin 6 rankings

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice▼ Falling

No stats to grind, no build to theorycraft — just a katana, a posture bar, and the unblinking demand that you learn to deflect like your life depends on it, because it does. The Sword Saint Isshin duel is the genre's most exacting climax, a rhythm-game gauntlet dressed as a shinobi showdown, and the prosthetic arm and shinobi grapple made traversal feel like a superpower rather than a survival tool. It won Game of the Year by refusing to be Dark Souls at all, and that singular, uncompromising vision is exactly why it belongs in this conversation.

Year: 2019Critic score: 9/10

added by IJRin 4 rankings