The 2011 FromSoftware game that established the Souls series after Demon’s Souls was Dark Souls. Published by Namco Bandai Games, it launched in Japan on September 22, 2011, for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
Dark Souls is an action role-playing game set in the interconnected world of Lordran. Its combat emphasizes stamina, positioning, enemy patterns, and careful exploration. Death causes the player to drop accumulated souls, which can be recovered if the player reaches the location again without dying.
The game’s indirect storytelling, challenging encounters, bonfire checkpoints, and online invasions became influential design features. Its success led to Dark Souls II in 2014 and Dark Souls III in 2016.
Demon’s Souls, released in 2009, is often treated as the spiritual predecessor rather than a numbered Dark Souls entry. Bloodborne and Sekiro share some creators and design ideas but are separate properties, while Elden Ring expanded the formula into a large open world.