The leading digital publisher FromSoftware has developed two important titles that have defined the RPG genre. We’re talking about the original Dark Souls – with the rest of the saga – and the Elden Ring latest edition.

Many players state that these games are similar, belong to the same universe, or even that developers didn’t innovate when they released their latest titles.

However, the truth is that when weapon arts and UI may look the same, there are a lot of differences starting with the open world.

But is Elden Ring’s proposal enough to dethrone Dark Souls as the fan favorite? This article will cover the main aspects of each game and will make a closure with a table comparison to let you know which is the best of the two titles.

Elden Ring is a third-person roleplay game developed by Dark Souls developers. This title tells the story of The Tarnished and his search to become the Elden Ring Lord. You’ll be playing in a vast open world filled with enemies that will try to stop you from doing that.

As with any RPG you can:

• Create your character from scratch.
• Use multiple sorts of weapons.
• Develop a singular build of skills.
• Master abilities while rejecting others.
• Summon ghosts and partners to help you on your quest.
• Explore mythical lands and follow a critical path.
• Meet many players along the way.
• Invade other worlds to get invaded and start combat for survival.

Elden Ring’s story is centered around the Lands Between, a fantasy land where the Elden Ring – a natural law in the realm – dictates life and death. It is made out of Great Runes that establish a natural order. 

However, the Lord charged with the task of controlling the Elden Ring has become rogue and corrupted, turning the territory into a wasteland. It's up to you, as the Tarnished, to restore the Lands Between to its old glory.

In comparison to other companies – and other future brands – titles, Elden Ring brings an engaging dialogue and lore. It’s one of the focus points of this game. This includes item descriptions, conversations, cutscenes, and more.

You will have to make decisions based on the land’s future and take action according to fast-paced combat. Bosses have their motives and are certain they are correct, which is why the game’s challenges are so overwhelming.

Elden Ring’s single-player gameplay follows the same structure as Dark Souls. The developers kept their method of a challenging game with no tutorial. The exception is that in this title, you can see short Elden Ring guides explaining how to play.

This is a new approach compared to the previous Souls games, where you needed to guess how to do a heavy attack, dodge, and other basic movements. This gives Elden Ring a good way to encourage players to enter.

Now, players will have to take care of:

• Stats. Like the Strength, Dexterity, or Luck stat. (We will explain them later.)
• Stamina. You don’t have infinite stamina, each time you run or attack, your endurance wears out.
• Damage. Enemies deal serious damage. You also need to beware of magical and fall damage.
• Consumable items. These products will help you improve your character in combat, agility, endurance, and more. For example: Cerulean Tears, Flask of Wondrous Physick, Estus Flasks, and fingers.

Elden Ring differs from other titles thanks to its Jump feature, which is also an improvement for the average PC gamer that is used to jumping in other games. The Mount is also important. You can now use a horse to travel faster throughout the land instead of going on foot.

The game now has Sites of Lost Grace instead of Bonfires to save your game and improve your character. They also allow you to fast travel to other places with sites of grace.

Elden Ring has a multiplayer feature as well. You can connect with up to four players and play in cooperative mode or PvP.

You also can feel the presence of other players and summon them to help you in your battles against enemies.

To start playing in a multiplayer environment, you will need Multiplayer Items. These are:

• Blue Cipher Ring: This gives you the Ready status. It sends a sign to players in case they want to summon you to help them against threads.
• White Cipher Ring: You ask for help from players with a Blue Cipher Ring after being invaded by another player with a Bloody Finger.
• Furlcalling Finger Remedy: You can see Summon Signs to bring players to your world.
• Finger Severer: These are used by a host to send players to their worlds.
• Tarnished’s Furled Finger: You create a Summon sign to bring cooperative players.
• Duelist’s Furled Finger: You leave a red summon sign so another player enters as a duelist.
• Tarnished’s Wizened Finger: You can send messages to other players.
• Bloody Finger: You try to invade another person’s world to start a fight and defeat them.
• Taunter’s Tongue: You allow players to invade you. You can let up to two invaders into your world.
• Recusant Finger: You try an invasion on another player’s world.
• Small Golden Effigy: Send cooperative signs to a pool of players.
• Small Red Effigy: Send duelist signs to a pool of players.
• Festering Bloody Finger: Follows the same function as the Bloody Finger.
• Mohg’s Great Rune: Grants a blessing of blood after a successful invasion.
• Phantom Great Rune: You bless enemies to increase their attack power as they get hit by players.

Elden Ring's visuals are entirely different from Dark Souls' themes and sounds.

In the Lands Between you have a vibrant world with stunning landscapes and colorful places. Sounds are epic, relevant to an ancient adventure. Effects are renewed using technology better than the one used for DS 3.

The main Elden Ring’s attraction – just as in the other Souls games – is the moment when you encounter bosses.

These are thrilling fights, with fast-paced environments and erratic movements. You will have to memorize their combat skills to avoid dying. Of course, they react differently based on your attacks and their health.

Elden Ring has eight main stats. All characters need them if they want to improve their performance in the game.

These attributes are:

• Vigor.
• Dexterity.
• Mind.
• Arcane.
• Endurance.
• Strength.
• Faith.
• Intelligence.

You will have to combine them to wear gear and use the playstyles you decide in the late game. As a result, there will be characters with the same class and similarly applied stats but can use completely different skills.

Dark Souls is the game that changed how RPGs were played. This title brought crimson tears to players that wanted to enter this dark world. In comparison to Elder Ring's latest release, Dark Souls III centers in a decaying world filled with monsters. 

The ashes of war cover certain areas, threatening to destroy the realm. You are the only one who can change the fate of this deserted land.

If you have played other Souls games before, you are aware of the game mechanics. They are similar to Elden Ring’s, but you can’t:

• Cast a summoning spell to summon ghosts companions.
• Jump while fighting.
• Use a mount to speed up your travels.
• Have open-world freedom.

Other than that, you have the same skill and stats mechanics.

You quickly realize that you’re not playing in the same universe as Elden Ring.

The night has taken over the world. You are surrounded by environments full of dark magic, terrors, daunting and cursed creatures trying to survive. Your journey as the Hollowed takes you through the wastelands and lands filled with pain, worry, and struggle.

There’s no sense of hope in the writing of this story. Developers have made it in a way that you can’t succeed.

Dark Souls' gameplay is less forgiving than Elden Ring. The challenge is almost tangible, and your progress will feel less significant.

The game is filled with death, narrow corners, stretch alleys, and a lot of dark fun.

Bandai Namco and FromSoftware ensured that Elden Ring had a partly different gameplay experience compared to Dark Souls. However, you can still use some of the mechanics similar to the game.

For example:

• You can guard counter with shields.
• An air attack reduces fall damage.
• You lose your souls when you die.
• You can carry a certain number of items.
• Your armor wears off.
• You need a shield for blocking enemies.
• You can wield two handing weapons.
• Customize your character with a bunch of weapons, armor, and more.
• Create fire mages, light warriors, and more.

There’s not a lot of exploration since neither of the Dark Souls games is set in an open world.

It's common knowledge that the Souls multiplayer servers don’t work well. Multiplayer gameplay is also limited to co-op and invaders.

You can summon co-op players near a resting place or a boss gate so they can rescue you in case something wrong happens.

Compared to our beloved Elden Ring, you can’t play the entire game in co-op, just a few parts.

Dark Souls' level design and graphics are on point to the period they were released. The entire audience and fans were delighted with the quality, textures, ground, and more.

Sounds also lead to a darker environment where your figure blends with landscapes and the rest of the monsters.

Now, in comparison to Elden Ring, its colorful landscapes, shapes, triumphant sounds, and new effects are a contrast to the usual darker world that souls players are used to.

Boss Fights are less dynamic than Elden Ring’s. You can easily predict the next offensive attack and even spend a bit of time before you kill them.

But don’t relax, they will be as hard to defeat as always. Thankfully, boss stages don’t scale as much as in Elden Ring.

If you want to get Dark Souls 3, other Souls titles, or Elden Ring, you can do it in two ways.

• You can go to official stores like Steam and get them at 100% price.
• Use third-party sellers as trusted partners to purchase the FromSoftware games at a discounted price.

The best choice here would be getting an original Elden Ring or Dark Souls CD Key from RoyalCDKeys.

Once you obtain the key code of the game you want to play, you can go to Steam – or the corresponding gaming platform – and activate it in the Redeem Code window.

After that, you’ll get to play the FromSoftware’s title and store it in your digital library.

In definitive, the Dark Souls formula developed by FromSoftware has worked several times now. You can see it in Elden Ring, Demon’s Souls, and the entire Dark Souls series.

Thus, deciding which game is better than the other is a difficult decision. Both bring different challenges and explore different paths. Even when they have similar gameplays and effects, they can’t be compared.

What is certain is that whether you want to become the Elden Lord or enter into an endless boss fight with the Great Grey Wolf Sif, you’ll be able to enjoy incredible worlds that were created by FromSoftware.