When most gamers hear of From Software, their mind wanders to the Souls series. Games such as Demon's Souls and Bloodborne offer such a unique experience that they've spawned their own subgenre of "souls-likes." However, From Software have made many more games than Dark Souls.

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Before they became known for their most recent titles, From Software developed the King's Field series as well as the Armored Core franchise. Nearly all of their games have a focus on difficult encounters. From armored mechs to Lovecraftian horrors, here are the 10 highest rated From Software games based on Metacritic scores. For the sake of consistency, this article uses Metacritic scores from the PlayStation versions of each game.

10 Armored Core 3 (74/8.7)

armored core 3

Despite having a 3 in the title, Armored Core 3 was a reboot for the franchise. The story was brought back to square one, yet many critics and fans found that the core mission design and combat were not a step up compared to past entries. Still, Armored Core's gameplay is some of the best in the genre for mech enthusiasts.

9 Armored Core 2: Another Age (75/8.5)

https://thegamesdb.net/game.php?id=5886
VIa: TheGamesDB

Armored Core 2: Another Age is a standalone expansion for Armored Core 2 that acts as a direct sequel to the second installment. While it removed the Arena mode from previous entries, it more than made up for that with over 100 missions.

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No game in the franchise has matched the content available in Another Age. When combined with the innovations and difficulty from the second game, Armored Core 2: Another Age is one of the best entries in the franchise that garnered much praise from fans and critics alike.

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Via: Darkwarlos (YouTube)

Yes, the same company that made the dread-inducing Dark Souls franchise is also responsible for The Adventures of Cookie & Cream for the PlayStation 2. Make no mistake, this game has the difficulty and unique systems From Software fans have come to expect from the developer.

Players control two characters named Cookie and Cream simultaneously in single-player or only one of them in co-op. The main goal is to make it to the end of the level, but each level is filled with puzzles, traps, and enemies that get progressively more difficult. Levels get excruciatingly difficult towards the later stages and demand a level of patience that most From Software fans understand. It's a fantastic co-op game that was weakened by a bad camera and poor controls.

7 Armored Core 2 (78/8.6)

Before From Software became known for their Dark Souls franchise, most knew them for the Armored Core franchise. These games were all about impressive visuals, highly customizable mechs known as "Cores," as well as a large number of missions to embark on. Armored Core 2 continued this trend to great effect on the PlayStation, supporting great graphics that stand to this day alongside a plethora of customization options. The controls in this installment are as clunky as the first few titles, but Armored Core 2's fun but difficult gameplay alongside its fantastic visuals won over many critics and mech enthusiasts.

6 Dark Souls (89/8.8)

Talk about a flawed masterpiece. Dark Souls is easily one of the best yet most flawed titles From Software has ever released. Never has a title evoked a sense of dread and accomplishment in equal measure.

As a spiritual successor to Demon's SoulsDark Souls takes that game's core design and interweaves it with one of the best designed open-worlds in gaming. Fans revere the game's lore and opening levels, but many have criticized the unpolished state the second half of the game was left in. With that said, it built a massive cult following that through word of mouth alone blossomed this niche action-adventure into one of the most renowned franchises in all of gaming.

5 Dark Souls III (89/8.8)

Nostalgia and boss fights are the two core pillars of Dark Souls 3. The final game in the Dark Souls trilogy took fans to Lothric, a land on the brink of collapse by converging timelines. Parts of every Dark Souls game are in here including entire levels from the first game, something a vocal portion of the community felt was lazy.

On the other hand, Dark Souls 3 made up for this with some of the best boss fights From Software have ever created. Facing off against the Nameless King or Slave Knight Gael has made high points in the franchise that are hard to beat. While it doesn't have unfinished levels as the first Dark Souls did, the reliance on nostalgia was the largest criticism amongst fans of the franchise.

4 Demon's Souls (89/8.8)

With a remake on the horizon, Demon's Souls has gained a newfound interest amongst gamers as of recently. Back when it first released, PlayStation fans couldn't get enough of the game's unique atmosphere and strange systems.

RELATED: Demon's Souls Remake: 5 Reasons We Wish It Was Dark Souls 4 (& 5 Why It's The Right Choice)

In many ways, Demon's Souls is a blueprint of things to come. It experimented with many types of boss fights that ranged from hilariously bad to jaw-dropping, birthed the core tenants for summoning and online play, and tried to experiment with persistent level changes through the World Tendency system that, frankly, fell flat. Demon's Souls is by no means a flawless masterpiece, but the number of things From Software got right in this installment is astounding. Hopefully, the remake gives this underrated gem more attention.

3 Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (90/8.0)

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Unbound to the Dark Souls IP and off the heels of Bloodborne's success, From Software went back to their roots with Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Multiplayer systems and RPG mechanics were thrown to the wayside in exchange for a deeper combat system and a focus on storytelling.

Critics and fans alike were impressed with Sekiro's combat and usage of verticality thanks to a grappling hook and a dedicated jump button. Boss fights remain as a focal point of the game with memorable setpieces and frustrating but fair fights. Most of Sekiro's criticism came from journalists frustrated with the game's difficulty that sparked massive debates on the internet if all video games need an easy mode. Regardless of stance on the issue, those that stuck through the game's punishing combat were met with the most satisfying swordplay in the genre.

2 Dark Souls II (91/8.1)

Souls fans might be shocked that Dark Souls 2 is rated so highly on Metacritic. Fans typically refer to this game as the black sheep of the series due to its perplexing world design and its overabundance of boss fights.

Even with its troubled development, most critics didn't feel this way at all when it launched. The core of Dark Souls is about overcoming insurmountable odds and improving, which Dark Souls 2 does with great effect. Soul Memory helped against "twink" characters that would invade weaker players, power standing added much-needed variety to the game, and meaningful enemy placement changes in New Game Plus meant replayability was at an all-time high. As a result, many critics rated the game highly before fans realized that systems such as Soul Memory were more detrimental than beneficial. From Software would go on to fix many of these issues with the Scholar of the First Sin edition.

1 Bloodborne (92/8.9)

bloodborne ps5 reveal event

Bloodborne is widely regarded as the best game not just in the Souls series but on the PlayStation 4 in general. It's hard to argue against that view. Bloodborne takes the mystery of Demon's Souls, the great level design of Dark Souls, and wraps it all together with a fresh coat of Lovecraftian horror. Smart changes to the healing system and itemization encouraged a much more aggressive approach that was simply not possible in Dark Souls. Along with From Software's excellent boss design, it's no wonder why so many gamers regard Bloodborne as one of the best games they've ever played.

NEXT: Dark Souls 4: 5 Reasons We Need It (& 5 We Don't)