Every Soulsborne Game, Ranked By Lore

The Soulsborne games are known for many attributes, one of the most notable of which are their difficulty and dark aesthetic. Across the seven games that FromSoftware has released that are considered to be part of the Soulsborne franchise, difficulty and darkness have remained as the years have gone by, and the games have continued to evolve.

However, one other hugely impressive aspect of the Soulsborne franchise is the lore and world-building that have been done across all of them. Despite all the games being great examples to the rest of the gaming industry in this aspect, some of the Soulsborne games have better lore than others.

Updated on January 9, 2024 by Chris Harkin: Elden Ring remains the most recent entry in the long-running series of “Soulsborne” games. While there are plenty of potential rumors about another game being made by FromSoftware filled with the same level of world-building and frustratingly difficult combat, nothing concrete has been announced. In the meantime, the expansion for Elden Ring, Shadow of the Erdtree, is secretive, but well on the way, and players still likely have much more to uncover about the lore of the games that have already been released in the series; meaning they won’t have much to worry about when it comes to finding more lore among the Dark Souls games and their similar companions.

7 Dark Souls 2

Filled With Individual Tragedies

• Focused On Individual Character Stories
• Features Much Lore Around The Nature Of The Soul

The most divisive entry in the series, Dark Souls 2 is either loved or hated, and in terms of lore, that case stands strong. The first attempt at returning to the world of Dark Souls was not what fans hoped. Not to say that it is a bad game, or even that the lore and world-building are complete nonsense, but for the high quality expected by fans, especially replaying the complete set of Soulsborne games to date, it is a definite step down.

There are definite changes in the lore as well as the difficulty of Dark Souls 2 that set it apart from other entries in the Soulsborne games. Perhaps the most interesting lore in the game is the twisting story of King Vendrick, and how the expectations of a great battle are stopped short when he is found as a hollowed-out version of his former self. This is definitely one of the more controversial choices in the franchise but made for an intriguing difference from many of the other games. There are deeper themes in Dark Souls 2, but for them to be fully realized, players need to progress through the three DLCs, which involve the Lost Crowns and the First Sin. Other than that, the base game has plenty of lore, but more personal to individual characters than the world.

6 Dark Souls 3

Expanding The World Before It Dies A Final Death

• Focuses on The Lords Of Cinder
• Adds Much Lore About The Fading Of The Flame

Dark Souls 3 may only be one place up, but there are significant differences in the level of the lore behind the two entries in the Dark Souls franchise. There are fascinating areas and a lot better interconnection between the various places that the Ashen One visits. All of this helped a great deal with turning the final entry in the franchise into more than just fan service to the original.

It is difficult for an entry like Dark Souls 3 which is so obsessed with the original game and its atmosphere in the franchise to find its own sense of great lore away from that one. However, Dark Souls 3 did a good job of this, producing great stories in its own right, such as the Curse-Rotted Greatwood and the Pontiff, who is probably one of the most fascinatingly evil, ambitious villains in the franchise.

5 Demon's Souls

The High-Fantasy World That Came Before

• Mentions Much On The Old One's Origin
• Mostly Focuses On Stories Of Individual Demons

The biggest weakness looking back at the original game in the Soulsborne style is that the games that have come since have simply just kept setting the bar higher and higher. Nevertheless, the lore from Demon's Souls was great, even if the world it was set in seems simple in story terms compared to the games that followed after this game kick-started a genre.

Demon's Souls' lore highlights include the Old One and the story behind how he came into existence, the history behind the First Scourge, and how that led King Allant to the dark form of the Soul Arts. The stories behind other demons in the world such as The Maiden In Black and Archdemons make for a much more interesting overall lore than most games had seen in 2009, when Demon's Souls was originally released.

4 Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

A Story Focused Game Weaved With Japanese Folklore

• Uses Real World Aspects Over High Fantasy
• Creates Some Amazing Boss Backstories

There are several things that set Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice apart from every other game in the Soulsborne series. The Eastern mythological aspects make for many stylistic and lore differences from the other games. While the lore presented in Sekiro is bold and fun, with some wonderfully deep aspects to it, the innovation feels less so only because it is set in a world much closer to the real one.

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Nevertheless, lore like that behind the Sculptor and his journey to becoming the Demon of Hatred, or the Great Shinobi Owl made for such intriguing backstory and lore that Sekiro manages to remain a beloved entry for lore even when weighed against the other Soulsborne games. Particularly because Sekiro still has some of the best bosses in the franchise.

3 Dark Souls

The Telling Of The Age Of Fire Ignites The Souls Trilogy

• Created The Kingdom Of Lordran
• Told Of The Different Ages
• Set The Tone For The Sequels

The Soulsborne games have learned a lot about the lore and world-building as they go on. However, there is something about the themes used to construct the original world of Dark Souls which feel like they are hard to match. Game creator Hidetaka Miyazaki has spoken about the themes of mighty beings brought low, which make up much of the grand and tragic world of this great game, which still confuses some fans to this day.

Stories told in the original Dark Souls game, such as Lord Gwyn beginning the Age of Fire after his battles with the everlasting dragons, are incredible tales. Themes of bigotry in the tale of what happened to dragons and giants and everything about the history and character of Siegward of Catarina make for amazing stories that could work beautifully if told in a movie or TV adaption one day.

2 Elden Ring

Builds The Most Complete World Alongside George R.R. Martin

• Created The Lands Between
• Created A Wonderfully Original Fantasy World
• George R.R. Martin

The most recent entry in the Soulsborne series is a phenomenal stand-alone story set in the style of the previous games. While Elden Ring has garnered much love and a massive fan base due to the combat and graphics, the lore and story behind it are perhaps the greatest strength it has going for it.

The world of Elden Ring is open and enormous. Between legacy dungeons, bosses with incredible lore behind them such as Rennala, Godfrey, and Malenia, and the secrets lying out in the open world waiting to be discovered, the lore is huge and sweeping. It almost couldn’t have more deep-dive potential behind it, except for one game that surpasses even this great volume.

1 Bloodborne

Eldritch And Medieval Lore Rolled Into One

• Created An Incredibly Detailed World
• Very Character Driven Lore

Bloodborne may be the single game in the entire universe with the most lore. The city of Yharnam does not present the largest area to explore in any Soulsborne game, or the most bosses or characters, the complete story of the lore is by far the biggest and the best of the franchise to date.

No game has so beautifully encompassed this sort of cosmic terror and built such a deep and lasting lore that fans can never finish exploring like this one. Bloodborne is a perfect, shining example of how deep video games can go and how far they can lead fans down the rabbit hole of lore.

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