Controversial opinion, but I’d probably pick Dark Souls 1. It’s the one I’m most disinterested to play. DS2 is the outsider and has earned its accolades via that alone, plus it’s the most experimental DS game, which is cool. DS3 has fun world building and good combat, or rather my preferred speed, so it beats DS1 in that regard too. DS1 wasn’t particularly fun to play for me in comparison.
The others are one-ofs and have all brought something truly unique to their catalogue, culminating in ER which is arguably, next to DS1 maybe, the most influential Soulslike in existence.
What’s your take?
My friend and I just started playing nightreign. So far we like it but find it difficult due to the battle royal mechanic. My friend lives to explore so we end up forgetting and then getting consumed by the border.
If I had to delete one forever, it would be ds1. I enjoyed the game very much so, but I enjoy the newer titles more and could live without it.