History of Soulsborne Games



To celebrate the launch of From Software’s Elden Ring, we chart the history of the Soulsborne games, from the early success of Demon’s Souls and breakout hit Dark Souls, as well as its sequels, to Bloodborne, a spin-off that is regarded as one of the best games ever made, and Elden Ring, a collaboration between Hidetaka Miyakazi and George R. R. Martin. #eldenring

It’s hard to overstate the impact From Software has had on gaming. From birthing its own genre to acting as the inspiration for countless developers, the studio’s games have not only left their mark on how games are designed but also how players interact with them. To celebrate the release of the studio’s latest title, Elden Ring, here’s the history of Soulsborne games.

In the above video, we chart the history of From Software, and how Hidetaka Miyazaki took its games in bold new directions. Beginning with King’s Field, the spiritual predecessor to the Souls games and then charting the course of the series from there. We also take an in-depth look at the creation of Demon’s Souls and the daring ideas that Miyakazi brought to the game, which Sony deemed too difficult, and bombed at release, before coming a cult hit in the West. From there, we take a look at the enormous success of Dark Souls, Dark Souls II, and Dark Souls III, and the communities that sprung up to mine every last secret from the games. While we don’t linger too long on Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, as it’s not typically considered a Soulsborne game, we do delve into Bloodborne, and chart the evolution of From Software’s approach to game design and how it’s changed over the years in the lead up to Elden Ring.

Elden Ring launches on February 25, 2022 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. For more on the game, including our review, make sure to subscribe to GameSpot.

00:25 – King’s Field (1994)
01:20 – Demon’s Souls (2009)
07:27 – Dark Souls (2011)
11:51 – Dark Souls II (2014)
14:27 – Bloodborne (2015)
17:46 – Dark Souls III (2016)
20:16 – Elden Ring (2022)

source

48 thoughts on “History of Soulsborne Games”

  1. I have been waiting for a video like this thank you! I really would love a documentary series on each Soulsborne release. Like an hour long each. Speaking with developers and fans alike, really going into the nitty gritty of each game and what they have meant for the gaming landscape. Soulsborne I think has changed the gaming landscape more than any series in a long long time…

    Reply
  2. I think Demon Souls remake was very well timed and brought in a lot of new players. It's the perfect entry point as this is arguably the easiest one of the bunch. It definitely brought me back! Just finished DS3 for the first time and now let us praise the sun on the morrow!!

    Reply
  3. Never understand why people say "souls Borne games" it's just "souls games" adding borne because of Bloodborne makes no sense it didn't do anything revolutionary and arguably sekiro changed the formula the most but we don't say "soulsbornesekiro games". It's cringy

    Reply
  4. You can always tell if someone came into the series late , there favourite game will be darksouls 3 and they'll hate darksouls 2 because they have no idea how good the game was when it released for online play

    Reply
  5. Bloodborne is the only Soulsborne game I've played. I don't play alot of single player games in general though. I started it, got stuck as BSB, and stopped playing. Then like 6 months later something made me really want to go back to it. Suddenly it clicked, and I got hooked.

    It became basically the only game I played until I platinumed it. I never went back and did the DLC though, mainly because I pretty much only play PC now and my PS4 hasn't even been hooked up for months. Can't wait until this evening and get to dive back into a From game.

    Reply
  6. The beta for dark souls 2 had the graphics intended for the game along with all the dark areas. I was soo disappointed when I bought the game only to find it all became completely downgraded. Such a shame. Decent game but definitely the worst in the series

    Reply
  7. My bro bought demon's souls.
    I preordered dark souls. They decided to give everyone the tin version of Dark Souls for the preorder. The reason why? the art book that was with it was RUINED. The glue binding the pages were all over the place lol.

    I then became an PC gamer and bought Dark Souls on PC. After that I bought DS II: SoFS, DS III, Sekiro about 2-3 years after their release to get the game and their DLCs..

    I did not buy elden ring. I'll wait 2-3 years for the same reason.

    Reply
  8. bloodborne and my favorite weapon of all time the whirligig saw is awesome. I played demon soul back then, but I like the challenge, but it wasn't something I liked playing overall. Why i never got on with the dark soul series. Dragon age is my D&D series.

    Reply

Leave a Comment