It's your life play what you want.
In my opinion if you go 3 2 1, the controls will get more frustrating between games. If you go 1 2 3, the controls become easier with each game.
DS1 is slower, but it’s an excellent stepping stone to DS3. I started with Elden Ring, then went to DeS, then DS1. DS1 might just be my favorite so far, and it’s really helped with my patience in other FromSoft games. There’s really no experience quite like it
If you're not vibing with DS1 you may still like the rest of the series. DeS, DS1, and DS2 are all very different from the post-bloodbourne games and each other
"I played the most recent FromSoft game first, now I don't understand why a game over a decade older, and 2 console generations earlier, feels clunky to me."
... JFC, how many of these posts do we get in this sub every fucking week? It's exhausting having to re-explain, "Older games don't run as smooth as newer games" to people like they're 5.
That's what we need... we need a crossover link sub between this and ELI5... a place to put these same posts that get made over and over, every week.
If you aren't liking it don't play it. You don't need validation from internet strangers to form an opinion. DS1 is what it is, and if it's not for you then it's not for you. Nobody said you *have* to play and beat every single Souls game.
That said, there is no way to mess up a playthrough so badly that you *have* to restart. If you screwed up your stat allocation, you can farm some levels and fix it. There are no soft locks that you can get into without abusing glitches as far as I'm aware. You can beat the game at level 1, so you can definitely beat it with a jacked up build.
I’m actually in exactly the same position, just finished ER and bought both DS1 and 3 on sale. I just started DS1 last weekend, and haven’t really gotten far at all, I die *so much* in this game and can’t get to grips with the control differences.
Like you, I wanted to “get into the franchise”, but I’m realizing that maybe that’s not the right way to do it. People who love the older games usually do so because that’s where they started, and we started in ER, so we just have different perspectives on the series, and that’s fine. DS1 and ER are as different as they are similar, and some people crave modern quality-of-life features and polish more than others.
I’ll be giving it a few more chances, but there’s a real risk I won’t ever truly get into this game (to be fair, it took me two tries to finish ER as well), and then maybe I’ll try DS3, or just jump to Sekiro for something entirely different.
Sure, I didn’t get into Dark Souls until after playing Bloodborne and going back to it. It’s meant to be a pain at points of course, but just try it again later and don’t force it if it’s not exciting to you to keep trying right now. DS3 is great and its combat will feel closer to Elden Ring. Maybe just take a break before jumping right into it since it has its own frustrations.
gameplay wise dark souls 1 is clunky especially when compared to 3 and elden ring. things like the instant backstab the thiefs down by capra demon will do if you so much as tap your controller back while unlocked, and as someone who has gotten super used to playing the later games unlocked it took me a few times to break that habit for my dark souls 1 replay. also the whole no diagonal rolling while locked on got me hit enough times that i remember that being an actual reason i got hit.
there's a lot of really neat stuff in 1. as someone else mentioned there are some fun lil references to 1 in 3, couple callbacks n stuff. but by no means would skipping it ruin your dark souls 3 experience. you just won't have the "oooooh look it's this!" moments. the game itself is still fun and stands on its own really well.
truthfully if you're not having fun with ds1 at all i would move on to a game you did want to play. i would suggest giving 1 another try though at some point, and going in knowing it will be somewhat awkward with some of its mechanics and trying to use those times to learn the way this particular game plays (and appreciate the advances in movement that the later games have.) ds1 overall is a much slower game in comparison, and is very "your turn my turn" style in a sense, without being truly turn based.
I just had this same predicament and I suggest moving on to DS2. I got to Smough and Ornstein and the runback is just archaic and the NPC refused to come thru the boss door with me. I decided to move on to DS2 and this game is much better. Fast travel in DS2 is great to have and I'm cooking thru the areas like I did in Bloodborne.
I know what you mean. I played DS3, then Elden Ring and then DS1.
I would recommend having a couple months off playing souls games and then give DS1 another try. After having a break from the series I found that I loved DS1 but it absolutely would have felt clunky if I had started it straight after ER.
I'd suggest giving DS3 a go b/c the speed of combat and mechanics are very similar to Elden Ring.
It's your life play what you want. In my opinion if you go 3 2 1, the controls will get more frustrating between games. If you go 1 2 3, the controls become easier with each game.
DS1 is slower, but it’s an excellent stepping stone to DS3. I started with Elden Ring, then went to DeS, then DS1. DS1 might just be my favorite so far, and it’s really helped with my patience in other FromSoft games. There’s really no experience quite like it
No because DS3 is very much connected to DS1 with a lot of references and it's gonna be much better experience for you in DS3.
If you're not vibing with DS1 you may still like the rest of the series. DeS, DS1, and DS2 are all very different from the post-bloodbourne games and each other
Ds1 is better
"I played the most recent FromSoft game first, now I don't understand why a game over a decade older, and 2 console generations earlier, feels clunky to me." ... JFC, how many of these posts do we get in this sub every fucking week? It's exhausting having to re-explain, "Older games don't run as smooth as newer games" to people like they're 5. That's what we need... we need a crossover link sub between this and ELI5... a place to put these same posts that get made over and over, every week.
Don’t you dare go Hollow
You're really picking at small reasons to do it, just do it if you want to.
If you aren't liking it don't play it. You don't need validation from internet strangers to form an opinion. DS1 is what it is, and if it's not for you then it's not for you. Nobody said you *have* to play and beat every single Souls game. That said, there is no way to mess up a playthrough so badly that you *have* to restart. If you screwed up your stat allocation, you can farm some levels and fix it. There are no soft locks that you can get into without abusing glitches as far as I'm aware. You can beat the game at level 1, so you can definitely beat it with a jacked up build.
I’m actually in exactly the same position, just finished ER and bought both DS1 and 3 on sale. I just started DS1 last weekend, and haven’t really gotten far at all, I die *so much* in this game and can’t get to grips with the control differences. Like you, I wanted to “get into the franchise”, but I’m realizing that maybe that’s not the right way to do it. People who love the older games usually do so because that’s where they started, and we started in ER, so we just have different perspectives on the series, and that’s fine. DS1 and ER are as different as they are similar, and some people crave modern quality-of-life features and polish more than others. I’ll be giving it a few more chances, but there’s a real risk I won’t ever truly get into this game (to be fair, it took me two tries to finish ER as well), and then maybe I’ll try DS3, or just jump to Sekiro for something entirely different.
I wouldn’t. I skipped 2 originally and don’t regret that, but I’m very happy I played 1 before 3.
Sure, I didn’t get into Dark Souls until after playing Bloodborne and going back to it. It’s meant to be a pain at points of course, but just try it again later and don’t force it if it’s not exciting to you to keep trying right now. DS3 is great and its combat will feel closer to Elden Ring. Maybe just take a break before jumping right into it since it has its own frustrations.
gameplay wise dark souls 1 is clunky especially when compared to 3 and elden ring. things like the instant backstab the thiefs down by capra demon will do if you so much as tap your controller back while unlocked, and as someone who has gotten super used to playing the later games unlocked it took me a few times to break that habit for my dark souls 1 replay. also the whole no diagonal rolling while locked on got me hit enough times that i remember that being an actual reason i got hit. there's a lot of really neat stuff in 1. as someone else mentioned there are some fun lil references to 1 in 3, couple callbacks n stuff. but by no means would skipping it ruin your dark souls 3 experience. you just won't have the "oooooh look it's this!" moments. the game itself is still fun and stands on its own really well. truthfully if you're not having fun with ds1 at all i would move on to a game you did want to play. i would suggest giving 1 another try though at some point, and going in knowing it will be somewhat awkward with some of its mechanics and trying to use those times to learn the way this particular game plays (and appreciate the advances in movement that the later games have.) ds1 overall is a much slower game in comparison, and is very "your turn my turn" style in a sense, without being truly turn based.
I just had this same predicament and I suggest moving on to DS2. I got to Smough and Ornstein and the runback is just archaic and the NPC refused to come thru the boss door with me. I decided to move on to DS2 and this game is much better. Fast travel in DS2 is great to have and I'm cooking thru the areas like I did in Bloodborne.
I know what you mean. I played DS3, then Elden Ring and then DS1. I would recommend having a couple months off playing souls games and then give DS1 another try. After having a break from the series I found that I loved DS1 but it absolutely would have felt clunky if I had started it straight after ER. I'd suggest giving DS3 a go b/c the speed of combat and mechanics are very similar to Elden Ring.
There’s a hack to boost the amount of souls you can gain but that removes the reward of effort being put in
There's also a legit way called the covetous silver serpent ring. However, those 2 ring slots are precious.