Often credited as the beginning of the Soulslike genre’s legacy, 2011’s Dark Souls has persisted as an influential release by FromSoftware. Largely cementing the blueprint that the studio has followed in the years since, Dark Souls is seen as the progenitor of many concepts that found their way into both Elden Ring and recent ventures into the genre by other developers. Despite this reputation, however, Demon’s Souls was actually the first project in which Hidetaka Miyazaki experimented with what has become a famous set of mechanics. Released back in 2009, Demon’s Souls would end up receiving a spiritual successor that built upon its foundation in the form of Dark Souls.