Now, I did not play Dark Souls 1, but my favorite of the ones I've played is Dark Souls 2. Maybe just because it was my first, but I also feel that DS2 is the game in the series that shows the best how the Undead curse is really a terrible curse.

I wasn't the biggest fan of Dark Souls 3. In a lot of ways it felt like it was just trying too hard to be like the previous 2 games, and didn't do enough to set itself apart. Besides, I couldn't help to notice when things I liked from DS2 were lacking. No Powerstance, no resetting single areas, no weapon as cool as bone fist, no ng+ changes, no npc invaders at the level of Maldron the Assassin, no fun and unique rings like Gower's Ring of Ghostly Hugs.

However, I really liked Elden Ring. It felt like it took a lot of inspiration from the things DS2 did well, but did much more than that to set itself apart to really feel like it's own game.