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Can't resist playing along.
If I'm being honest, my 1, 2, and 3 are all basically tied in first place, each for different reasons. And believe it or not, I actually preferred Nioh over Nioh 2 overall, though Nioh 2 obviously gets a nod for improved graphics, etc. And I'm conflating the OG Demon's Souls with the remake - the remake's graphics (and load times!) are wonderful, but you can't separate the OG from the time in which it was released, and just how fresh and innovative it felt then.- Demon's Souls. THE OG OG. Even the original, despite its antiquated graphics and non-continuous (i.e. loading screens) world, has an elegance about it unmatched by anything since. The way the level designs of each "world" complemented the structure of the game as a whole turned the whole thing into clever puzzle box for the player to unravel. Combat, pacing, and atmosphere are just perfect.
- Dark Souls 1. In many ways, objectively superior to Demon's Souls. (Though Demon's Souls has that strange, oppressive atmosphere and a coherency that just edges it for me.) Dark Souls is, for the most part, one big continuous level, and its design - with various shortcuts to exploit - is sublime.
- Nioh 1 and 2. As @laxu said: extremely deep combat mechanics, an insane amount of variety between various weapons classes and complementary skill trees. And I actually think the feel and fluidity outclass even FromSoft's best work. The presentation is more "gamey", and sometimes a bit hoaky. The level and mission design is often downright lazy. But the gameplay is SO good, I could play either of them forever. (Or until the difficulty curve eventually beats me up, as with Nioh 2 DLC.) I strongly disagree with regard to Nioh 1, however. I thought it was a silly Souls wannabe at first, but as it progressed, it really impressed me. Even the graphics seemed to improve late in the game. Weird how much it fails to "put its best foot foward". Nioh 2 was a bit prettier, but Team Ninja took an already very complex game and threw a few more systems on top of it, and sometimes it feels like overkill - one too many things to have to decipher and worry over.
- Elden Ring. This is a beautiful, state of the art game, and overall I really loved it. But I agree the open world thing doesn't really complement the Soulsborne formula very well. Signposting was often weak, and it was too easy to lose track of the various plot threads (already opaque AF as per FromSoft's usual). I was always happiest in this game when I was in "legacy dungeons", which are basically structured like mini Demon's/Dark Souls games.
- Dark Souls 3. This game doesn't quite achieve a sense of identity or cohesion the way DS1 or Demon's Souls did, but it is still a really excellent game by any measure. The extended combat techniques (I forget their name) add a little bit of depth, and the graphics engine is a nice improvement over DS1 and DS2.
- Dark Souls 2. Always felt like a "dog's breakfast". Just a big old pile of random content with no cohesion or identity whatsoever. Still fun to hack your way through. I mean, it's Dark Souls. Bad Dark Souls is still better than a good day at the office.
- Bloodborne. I've never gotten the hype this game gets from the community. Gothic horror? Meaning I run around in an overcoat instead of armor? Weird. But more importantly, this game strips away almost all of the other systems from the preceding games - magic, archery, armor, shields, etc. etc. etc. - leaving only melee and a weird analog for a parry mechanic. Why was I supposed to happy about this again? There are just far fewer options, so playing feels a lot less creative to me. I eventually finished it, and actually enjoyed the DLC, but meh.
- Sekiro. OMG I HATE THIS GAME SO MUCH AND WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND THE "BEST FROMSOFT GAME EVAR" HYPE. It's the only one in the list I haven't played to completion, but I played enough. This is like, commit the same crime as with Bloodborne, but then overshoot that mark tenfold. EVERYTHING is gone except for what amounts to a parry mechanic. If you don't love that, well, LEARN TO LOVE IT IT'S ALL WE'VE GOT. Oh and by the way, we've changed all the controls around for no real reason except to seem clever. And the graphics are weirdly shit even though it's 2019. That'll be $60.
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