Play Order (Release = Chronological)Recommended
0 / 9 playedRelease order. Mechanics build sensibly and returning references land in the right sequence.
- 1 Demon's Souls Original 2009 on PS3. Play the 2020 Bluepoint remake on PS5 as the current version.
- 2 Dark Souls Play the 2018 Remastered version on modern platforms.
- 3 Dark Souls II Scholar of the First Sin edition from 2015 is the complete version.
- 4 Bloodborne PS4 exclusive. Faster combat with trick weapons.
- 5 Dark Souls III
- 6 Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Standalone Sengoku setting. No character builds, focus on parry and posture.
- 7 Elden Ring
- 8 Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Large DLC set in the Land of Shadow. Play after the base game.
- 9 Elden Ring Nightreign Standalone co-op spinoff released May 30, 2025. Latest released entry.
About Soulsborne
Soulsborne covers Demon's Souls, the Dark Souls trilogy, Bloodborne, Sekiro and Elden Ring. The games share directors, combat ideas and bleak fantasy tones, but each story stands alone with only vague item hints linking them.
This play order follows release order, which is also the best difficulty curve. Story order is not needed because the connections are loose at most.
Good to know
New players should start with Elden Ring or the 2020 Demon's Souls remake. Elden Ring has open-world freedom and co-op help, while the remake is shorter and visually clear on PS5.
Play Dark Souls 1 through 3 in order if you care about returning characters. Sekiro drops RPG builds for pure parry combat. Nightreign is a co-op spinoff, not a sequel, and its Forsaken Hollows expansion was dated December 4, 2025.
