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[Majima Everywhere System]

Yeah they are pretty good and popular.

 

[Ten_Fold]

VERY popular, the combat is like similar to 3D Zelda imo, but MUCH more unforgiving which is what people want. Too many games hold your hand these days. Souls games doesn’t have a easy mode or any of that. To me it’s probably one of my favorite type of games nowadays.

 

[Imru’ al-Qays]

Wonder if the OP will see Souls pushing 90% approval in his poll and decide to actually give the series a shot instead of eating shit on the first boss and then whining about it on the internet for however many years.

 

[tommib]

Yeah, the interesting thing about Souls is that people are in love with the series as adults to the same extent that they were in love with Final Fantasy or Zelda in middle school. There's really nothing else like it in the entire medium.

Yes, they’re super adult oriented games. The aesthetics, they’re all very mature. No room for silliness.

 

[Warablo]

I played Dark Souls 1 and 2. I had enough Soul games now. The Surge was pretty good though.

 

[Kokoloko85]

There not commercially that popular but they are loved And sold well.
Moba, BattleRoyal and Minecraft all are more succesful but doesnt make them better games. Cod adn Fifa outsell most games, doesnt mean they are better games.

And we know you hate Bloodborne

 

[truth777]

After several years, I fired Dark Souls up again and was completely sucked back in to what is currently NG+++.
This series sells what feels like a legitimate achievement.

 

[Fbh]

If your baseline for popularity is Fortnite, Mobas and Minecraft then pretty much no Sony exclusive is popular .
From Software games do well with core gamers, they have a passionate following and generate a lot of buzz (not necessarily in crazy sales but in online discussion, awards, etc). And they are just great games all around, there's value in having an exclusive game in your lineup with good reviews, great word of mouth among core gamers, GOTY awards, etc.

Sony isn't leaving crazy Fortnite tier money on the table by not remastering Bloodborne. But it would still generate enough money to be profitable, and probably give them some positive buzz around gaming sites and forums which they could really use as of late.

It's studios investing in these sort of games that keeps me interested in the hobby. If gaming was all Fortnite, Minecraft, Mobas and Animal Crossing I'd have stopped playing a long time ago.

 

[Jigsaah]

Poll result is a good indication I think.

 

[ClosBSAS]

yes...pc alone has millions. to think that bamco had no idea what a PC was until that successful petition to being dark souls to PC...sekiro sold more on PC than on consoles. In the long run, all the souls game sold more on PC as well...its one hell of a popular franchise and my day 1 buy always.

 

[MonarchJT]

Sales talk, out of the hardcore base ,no they arent

 

[Eric187]

 

[prinz_valium]

With people who browse and post on gaming forums, yes. With the general gaming population, no.

I don't like them for example.

 

[Bonfires Down]

They suck.

Edit: They're definitely not niche at this point though. DS3 undeservedly sold 10 million.

 

[FrankWza]

Demon's Souls sales were SIGNIFACNTLY less ground-breaking and yet Sony still saw it as a strong enough IP to fund and entire ground up remake for it and have it as their flagship PS5 games. Bloodborne is more popular and a simple remaster would be far cheaper/more cost effective in terms of sales vs development costs.

I thought it would do much better than it has and the attach rate would be insanely high. Seemed like a perfect storm situation where it was long enough since original and really looks amazing. It’s also the easiest overall of the From games and Nioh 1 and 2.
I loved it and went NG+ before I moved on.
If you have a PS5 and you don’t have DeS youre missing out. Still, 5 months in and I have not seen it advertised less than $69.99. Maybe there’s just not enough consoles in the right hands yet and Sony knows it so they’re keeping it at that price.

 

[SkylineRKR]

Soulsborne games are very tough M-rated games that still sell millions each. And a lot of developers claim Souls inspired their work. Just look at what Respawn did with Fallen Order. BioWare also used to cite Demon's Souls as a game that inspired them. Souls games spawned a genre, which is why you will see the Soulslike term popping up now and then. Its shared world and messaging features are also being used by a lot of developers since. You can't deny the impact Souls has on gaming.

Most Soulslike aren't good though. With that I agree. Even Nioh started to bore me to tears halfway through.

Good thing Souls aren't F2P or AAA, this would mean lots of hints and compromises, and monetization.

 

[fart town usa]

The games are amazing and IMO the best thing that's happened to gaming this past decade. I say that too as someone who sucks at the games but I still buy them, not all but I bought Demon's Souls, Bloodborne, and Dark Souls. I was doing pretty good in Dark Souls but just haven't played it in forever. Bloodborne kicks the shit out of me but I still appreciate it for what it is.

Souls type games are awesome, great to just simply watch Let's Plays too. Art style, atmosphere is top notch. I would wager that more people watch streams of it rather than play it.

 

[Danjin44]

Because I think they should have exploded way more than they did with its popularity.

Thats because these games are not exactly friendly to people who barely play games and once a while play sports games and COD games with their friends.

 

[Negotiator101]

Not popular enough for a Bloodborne sequel.

 

[Danjin44]

Not popular enough for a Bloodborne sequel.

I think thats the case of FROM wants to make new game rather sequel to Bloodborne.

 

[Negotiator101]

I think thats the case of FROM wants to make new game rather sequel to Bloodborne.

Possibly it's a shame mind.

 

[Werewolf Jones]

There's imitations of them but only the real thing will be accepted hence why there's not hundreds of these types of games on the market like the MOBA and BR explosion.

 

[Same ol G]

Yeah, the interesting thing about Souls is that people are in love with the series as adults to the same extent that they were in love with Final Fantasy or Zelda in middle school. There's really nothing else like it in the entire medium.

This is absolutely not true (at least for me) the games are hard and satisfying when you beat a boss or open another shortcut but uncomparable to the feeling of adventure you had with zelda or FF games.
When i play dark souls or bloodborne i can't lay back and enjoy the story or solve a puzzle i have to be sharp or else i can start over again.
I like the game but most definitely not in love with it, sometimes the games can be downright frustrating not a feeling i have with games that i love.
Also looking at PS trophy list shows 69% has beaten cleric beast, that means that one third of the players didn't even beat the first boss.
This is just one of those games that get's hyped up a lot by a vocal fanbase.
Same with monster hunter that series i love but alot of people can't get past the first great jaggi and never play again.
Also the games are pretty dark the setting is really depressing to play in for hours straight, i just can't compare it to something like FF or Zelda where the world feels magical.

 

[LazyParrot]

AND DESPITE ALL THAT AND YET, I've never seem this games explode like some big milestones in gaming history, like MOBAs, Minecraft or Battle Royale games.

Is that really surprising? Those are all games that are either free to play, designed to be super accessible, or both. Of course a series of full-priced game explicitly designed to be challenging isn't going to be as popular.

 

[ManaByte]

If you look up niche in the dictionary you see a pic of one of these games.

 

[Kamina]

Poll needs to be changed,

- I got gud
- I could not git gud

 

[Ellery]

Yeah, the interesting thing about Souls is that people are in love with the series as adults to the same extent that they were in love with Final Fantasy or Zelda in middle school. There's really nothing else like it in the entire medium.

Very true. When I told my friend about Dark Souls I used Zelda OoT to explain. He later played Dark Souls 3 and loved it.


Souls games are special and everyone I know that has a tiny bit of fight and ambition in them loved those games after they finished them. I am not saying that people who don't like/finish Souls games are noobs, but I think finishing your first Soulsborne game is a bit like losing your gaming virginity.

 

[skneogaf]

I absolutely love the from software games but I can't play nioh 1 and 2 and mortal she'll for more than hour before falling asleep.

There is something just absolutely amazing about their games.

Sekiro and dark souls 2 took a couple of hours before I fell in love with them but I did and I highly recommend them too.

I'm yet to play demon souls old or new I'm more than sure I'll love it too.

 

[Tg89]

They're pretty popular and easily the best thing to happen to gaming in the last decade.

 

[spawn]

I beat dark souls, but could not beat Bloodborne. I gave up on that one

 

[Salmon Snake]

I've been telling this a couple of times in some topics already but:

I fell in love with Soulsborne games because of Demon's Souls Remake.

After finishing it, I finished Dark Souls Remastered and now I'm playing Dark Souls 3, which I think is easily one of my favorite games of all time.

So fuck yeah give me Bloodborne PS5 patch.
I played BB on PS4 a couple of years ago, but got too frustrated and quit with it.

 

[RedVIper]

However, sales for Bloodborne aren't groundbreaking, even for an exclusive.

Bloodborne released super early into the ps4 generation, the platform was much smaller than it was by end.

Either way, it sold over 3m physical copies, we don't have the numbers on total copies sold. We do know that over 11 million people played the game, but since the game was free on plus the number is inflated.

 

[Arachnid]

Dark Souls 3 sold over 10 Million copies: https://www.fromsoftware.jp/ww/pressrelease_detail.html?tgt=20200519_darksoulsseries_salesdata

And the Dark Souls series sold over 27 Million. Add Bloodborne (??) and Sekiro (5 million) and you have a very successful series overall, probably close to 35 Million.

Also, didn't one of them win GOTY a few years ago? It's not so niche anymore. It's definitely not a "loud minority". People have been catching on for a while

 

[xrnzaaas]

I don't like them, but the popularity of the genre definitely skyrocketed since Dark Souls 1 came out. I see many of my real life & PSN friends playing them, despite some of them having limited time for playing video games due to work and family obligations.

 

[sackings]

Also, didn't one of them win GOTY a few years ago? It's not so niche anymore. It's definitely not a "loud minority". People have been catching on for a while

I believe Sekiro is the only won that won "GOTY" (Geoffs gameawards). Bloodborne shoulda won as well but c'est la vie

 

[Touch fuzZy. get BizZay]

That good, yes.

that popular, it's complicated. People who like them really like them and will choose their platform based on a game like Bloodborne or Demon's, but there can't be much of a casual audience.

 

[Bkdk]

I like them on the pc where I can tune down some tedium and difficulty using trainer and enjoy some of the atmosphere, world and monster designs.

 

[Aenima]

Yes, they are one of my favorite type of games. Platinumed all Dark Souls, Demon's and Bloodborne.

They are not mainstream popular, but they are very popular among hardcore gamers.

 

[xBlueStonex]

I honestly don't see the appeal. I've tried countless times to get into Dark Souls 1/2/3, Bloodborne, Nioh etc., and and I just can't go a few hours without getting dreadfully bored. Zero narrative to push you forward, repetitive combat, lack of feeling really any meaningful progression. They literally feel like tech demos that people give a pass to because they're 'hard'. Well I hate to say it, but hard doesn't necessarily mean good. In that sense, I equate them to the Flappy Bird craze back in the day.

I can't think of another franchise/genre as hyped up as the Soulslike games - aside from maybe Assassin's Creed - that I find so painfully mediocre.

 

[ArtemisClydeFrog]

I honestly don't see the appeal. I've tried countless times to get into Dark Souls 1/2/3, Bloodborne, Nioh etc., and and I just can't go a few hours without getting dreadfully bored. Zero narrative to push you forward, repetitive combat, lack of feeling really any meaningful progression. They literally feel like tech demos that people give a pass to because they're 'hard'. Well I hate to say it, but hard doesn't necessarily mean good. In that sense, I equate them to the Flappy Bird craze back in the day.

I can't think of another franchise/genre as hyped up as the Soulslike games - aside from maybe Assassin's Creed - that I find so painfully mediocre.

 

[Dark Star]

Bloodborne is my favorite game of all time, and Dark Souls 1-3 aren't far behind. I like the difficulty of the games, and I think once you figure out shortcuts and how to properly create builds (strength, pyromancer, dex, etc) you can make the game easier. Likewise, leveling up your character and grinding for special items can make the game really easy. One thing I like about Souls games is that you can choose your class/character, and I love being able to play as a knight in a game (love the Lothric Knight armor set in DS3) ! The worldbuilding/lore is also pretty deep and epic.

I think FromSoftware games are very popular with the core gaming community, especially those who frequent forums like GAF. Most casual gamers play multiplayer games like COD, Fortnite, and also party games like Dead Before Daylight. Souls games do have some online co-op but it's hardly competitive and more of a "I need help so I'll summon" or "i'm bored so I'll invade some rando haha". If PVP was more focused and almost like a optional melee tournament with 5-10 players and rounds with specialized maps, it could be very interesting and appealing to normies, but that kind of takes away from main single player experience, which is running to bosses over and over again.

 

[pramod]

I'm a hardcore gamer but these games are just not my style, I just don't like the really dark gothic art style. I like my games to have a bit more color in them.

The design also seem generic as hell. Knight in armor killing monsters....maybe Bloodborne is a bit better, but overall the Souls games don't look interesting enough for me to play them.

 

[Aldric]

I don't like Souls games but I noticed some rather bizarre trend in recent online discussions where games or franchises are considered unimportant if they don't sell dozens of millions of copies. It's a very strange mindset to have, a kind of purely quantitative evaluation of a game's worth completely divorced from its place in culture. I've seen it often used to dismiss Metroid for example but this applies to quite a few other classics like the Mother series or even recently Sony Japan Studio's entire catalog.

Souls games might not be as popular as Roblox, PUBG or Fate Stay Night or whatever but they're definitely one of the most influential franchises of the decade and FromSoft is a prestigious developper, if Microsoft manage to get their hands on an exclusive game from them like rumors imply it'll be a huge win for them.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Currently 37 people need to git gud taste.

 

[rapid32.5]

I like them the first time, for the lore and bosses and exploring areas, but these games have zero replayability for me after first completion.

 

[zaanan]

Also looking at PS trophy list shows 69% has beaten cleric beast, that means that one third of the players didn't even beat the first boss.

Also Cleric Beast is optional. Father Gascione is first required boss:

 

[Darlingcognito]

Only bloodborne and only cos exclusives are the only things Sony can brag about.

 

[Dream-Knife]

Nah. The game play in them isn't fun to me. The only notable thing about them is the difficulty, which just seems really dumb.

Blasphemous was really good though.

 

[Same ol G]

Also Cleric Beast is optional. Father Gascione is first required boss:

Ok i didn't remember it's quite a while ago i played this game.
Also your screenshots show the percentage is not even 50% how is that possible that's even worse.
Also fuck Playstation download speed.
I just booted my PS4 to double check (i only looked online the first time) and i have to update my firmware.

Fucking 5 hours i have 300mb connection this is bullshit

 

[Pejo]

Poll needs to be changed,

- I got gud
- I could not git gud

Alternatively:
- I am not a gaming journalist
- Souls game should have easy mode