Since I'm currently replaying some of these games, here are my thoughts on the way they compare to one another. Not as a simple boring list, but as the different ways each specific game excels at. (Because clearly, the internet needs more Souls-themed discussions.) Spoilers, obviously.
Demon's Souls
I feel like Demon's Souls has been improved upon in almost every other aspect, but its signature sense of adventure, isolation and dread is still unmatched for me, with only Dark Souls coming close to it at times. Whereas the other games tend to end in bombastic and empowering boss battles, Demon's Souls remains opaque, inhospitable and confusing until the very end. The deck is stacked against you in this one, now and forever.
Personal highlights: Boletarian Palace, the noticeable differences in sound design between Body Form and Soul Form, the delightfully anti-climactic final boss.
Dark Souls
Replaying it recently reminded me of how wonderful the traversal is in the first half of this game. The world manages to feel like a lived in place instead of a quick succession of video game levels. The lore is at its most simple and potent here, and the various NPCs are simply dripping with tragic charm and personality.
Personal highlights: New Londo Ruins, Painted World of Ariamis, seeing a pair of eyes loom over you out of the pitch darkness in Tomb of the Giants, arriving back at Firelink Shrine after Blighttown, Hawkeye Gough one-shot no-scoping that loser Kalameet, Knight Artorias battle, saving Sif (the beauty of Life), fighting Sif (the tragedy of Death), Gwyn soundtrack, getting invaded + losing 100k Souls + swearing off the game for all eternity + popping it back in 15 minutes later.
Dark Souls 2
HEX builds are simply fantastic. Giving the magic path the equivalent of a quality build sounds like a complete no-brainer and yet it has inexplicably never been better implemented than in this one. No, the half-baked physical spells in AotA don't count. Power stancing is neat and the multiplayer options are very nice, if that's your thing.
Not a huge fan of DS2 overall, but it certainly has its strengths.
Personal highlights: Darklurker, the massive quality improvement in the DLCs.
Dark Souls 3
Level design and bosses are the two most important aspects of the series for me, and this game delivers on both fronts. Which is probably why I hold it in higher reward as most other fans, although I definitely understand the criticisms aimed towards it. Also, the soundtrack is stellar and the Estus system has never been better balanced.
Personal highlights: Stumbling upon Irithyll of the Boreal Valley for the first time, Untended Graves, The Ringed City, the two different soundtracks for Firelink Shrine, Pontiff Sulyvahn, Twin Princes, Nameless King, Sister Friede, Darkeater Midir, Slave Knight Gael, getting emotional over the end (?) of the series.
Bloodborne
- Best Character & Costume Design
- Best Unique Mechanic (Insight)
The fast-paced combat is excellent and I love just how wonderfully distinct every weapon feels in this one. But it's the setting that really seals the deal. Medieval fantasy stories are a dime a dozen (although most don't come close to the world design of Dark Souls for my money), but a Victorian-era werewolf fiction undergoing a thematic change into full-fledged Lovecraftian eldritch horror at the mid-way point is simply a marvel to behold. World Tendency and Dark Sigils are nice, but the Insight mechanic is a stroke of genius and one of the best implementation of an "organic" plot twist I've ever witnessed in the medium.
Personal highlights: Smashing fools with the Kirkhammer, landing a life-saving backstab mid-battle, fighting Father Gascoigne, chasing Micolash, performing a visceral attack on Ebrietas, looping back to Iosefka's Clinic from the Forbidden Woods, "Aah, you were at my side, all along. My true mentor... My guiding moonlight...", the first Insight-related mind-screw, everything about Lady Maria, seeing the Hunter's Dream on fire, "Oh, good Hunter...", receiving a love mail for helping a random defeat Ludwig after a dozen tries.
Thoughts?