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?
DS1 has the best map. It feels a lot like the first resident evil where you get so far and unlock a door just to be back at the beginning. DS3 is the most polished as far as combat and just movement overall. Ive also found the mods for DS3 to be the best. DS2 is cool but definitely the most obscure of the 3. Id maybe argue its the easiest since you can just keep beating the enemies until thet stop respawning. Its a tough one but i think you could get rid of DS2 and you wouldnt miss out on much. Bloodborne is the hardest since the limited shield interaction but its definitely fun. Elden ring is great but is way to easy.