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[Drizzlehell]

In my personal experience, I think Dark Souls 2 eases the player in with the smoothest difficulty curve. I remember trying Dark Souls when it came out, and I bounced off of it after many hours of pure frustration. But then I grabbed Dark Souls 2 and found it to be a much smoother experience. The mobs in the opening areas were super easy, the first couple of bosses didn't absolutely push your shit in and it was actually easy to defeat them, and while the game eventually got really hard, it was a much more gradual journey to get to those sections. It gave you ample time to acclimatize yourself with the gameplay or even upgrade you gear/level up before the real shit started.

The fact that mobs evetually started disappearing if you've killed them enough times also made things a bit more bearable, especially when dealing with some of the harder boss fights.

Honestly, if it wasn't for Dark Souls 2, I would have never got into the series. All the other games absolutely stomp your ass from the get go but this one will pass you some slippers, make you a hot cup of cocoa, and make sure that you're nice and comfy in your recliner chair before it starts bashing your skull in with a baseball bat.

 

[darrylgorn]

I feel like Dark Souls is the quintessential Souls experience.

It's supposed to have that high barrier to entry that you return to and feel a greater sense of accomplishment after you get through it.

The mood and atmosphere is also the way to experience it, since you're always left very curious about the mysteries of this world and how to navigate the interconnected design of the game.

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

Started with Bloodborne and altough it's a bit faster and felt more complicated with the multiple weapon types to use simultaneously, it gave me a great introduction to the formula. Tried Sekiro afterwards and that was horrible.

 

[AV]

Considering the amount of people I know who didn't care about / get into Souls, and then proceeded to spend 70 hours in Elden Ring - that.

 

[Banjo64]

DeS - hub + easy to understand compartmentalised levels.

Plus, it’s just a fucking great game and I introduction to From.

 

[SJRB]

Elden Ring is easily the most friendly to new players because of all the support you can choose to call in when things get difficult. Plus the open world lets you go someplace else when you're running up against a wall.

Is has fewer instances where you get railroaded in a "get gut or enjoy dying 100 times" segment.

 

[MagnesD3]

Demons Souls Ps3 or Elden Ring both games are the most welcoming in the series having ways to do other things when you get frustrated by a difficulty wall.

These two are also my favorites of the games.

 

[SeraphJan]

Either Demon's Souls or Dark Souls 1

 

[Kurotri]

The original Dark Souls.

 

[Fabieter]

I actually think demons souls mage will always be the best starting point. I love demons souls but it's definitely the most basic.

 

[Danjin44]

Once again…..Sekiro is not “Souls” game, it FROM’s take on action game. Are people going say Armoured Core VI is also “Souls” game?

 

[existensmaximum]

Dark Souls 2 is a great game to start with if you want to absolutely hate the franchise and never return to it.

Dark Souls is the answer. It's the most Soulsy of the Souls games.

 

[FunkMiller]

Dark Souls.

There's a reason it's considered one of the best games of all time.

 

[Drizzlehell]

Once again…..Sekiro is not “Souls” game, it FROM’s take on action game. Are people going say Armoured Core VI is also “Souls” game?

 

[Labadal]

Demon's Souls is the first game, and also the most forgiving one in the "series". Start with that, and move on to Dark Souls.

 

[TrueLegend]

Dark Souls 2 has always been the best dark Souls and elden ring is a sequal to Dark Souls 2 in spirit and in flesh. It is more accessible, balanced and still more hard than any other souls game. Fume knight is still the GOAT boss and the crown dlcs are peak dark souls. Dark Souls SOTFS is the way, also has the most balanced and fun builds. Demons souls is great too but very uneven just like dark souls, ds3 is most refined but magic builds take backseat.