Poll: Hardest Souls Game (including Bloodborne)

[Fox12]

Having just finished Demon Souls, and started another playthrough of Dark Souls, I've been trying to decide which one is the hardest, now that I've beaten them all.

Personally, I think Bloodborne has given me the most trouble so far. Dark Souls is pretty simple once you master the mechanics, and Demon Souls is far to easy to cheese. By comparison I found the fast paced Bloodborne bosses much more difficult, and I was actually forced to call in multiplayer aid during some of the more difficult battles.

Which game did you think was the hardest, and why?

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Well I've only played Demon's Souls. I agree that the tougher bosses (Flamelurker and Maneater) are easy to cheese. Flamelurker gets stuck in that one rock, and you can kill one of the Maneaters by sniping it from just outside the fog door. Lady Astraea can be cheesed as well from atop the cliff, and Garl commit seppuku after that. The rest of the bosses I don't recall having much trouble with, except for the fire spider, whatever its name was.

I suffered the most at the very beginning, because learning curve, and while navigating the Valley of Defilement (AKA Blightown before Blightown).

 

[MysticSlayer]

I've only played the two Dark Souls games. I picked up Dark Souls a few years ago, played about 20 hours, and then stopped. I just started playing Dark Souls 2 and have played about 20 hours.

And given what I've seen, I would say Dark Souls is the tougher of the two. Sure, the actual combat and level design of Dark Souls 2 so far has seemed a little harder. However, Dark Souls 2 also has a respawn limit on enemies, which makes long-term progress much easier.

 

[Fox12]

Well I've only played Demon's Souls. I agree that the tougher bosses (Flamelurker and Maneater) are easy to cheese. Flamelurker gets stuck in that one rock, and you can kill one of the Maneaters by sniping it from just outside the fog door. Lady Astraea can be cheesed as well from atop the cliff, and Garl commit seppuku after that. The rest of the bosses I don't recall having much trouble with, except for the fire spider, whatever its name was.

I suffered the most at the very beginning, because learning curve, and while navigating the Valley of Defilement (AKA Blightown before Blightown).

It's amazing how much of the game can be essentially broken with a bow, which I didn't know before focusing on an archer build. It was an interesting game, but it lacked the depth and imagination of Dark Souls.

 

[DefunctTheory]

To start with:

Demon Souls - 5-7 Clears (Time Unknown)
Dark Souls - 252 hours
Dark Souls 2 - 71 minutes
Bloodborne - N/A

I'd have to say Dark Souls was the hardest, but Demon Souls often felt harder because it did a lot of cheap things to you.

 

[SmallHatLogan]

Dark Souls was my first game so it was the most difficult by default. Because Demon's Souls, Dark Souls and Dark Souls 2 play almost identically the skills you learn are transferable and my first playthroughs of Demon's Souls and Dark Souls 2 were nowhere near as difficult as my first run of Dark Souls because I already knew what I was doing.

That said Dark Souls 2 is the only game in the series that still gives me trouble on repeat playthroughs. Mainly due to the fact that I'm not very good at dealing with multiple threats at once and Dark Souls 2 does that a lot.

I instinctively voted Dark Souls because of my first reason but I probably should've voted Dark Souls 2.

Note: I haven't played Bloodborne.

 

[meiam]

Having played them in order I'd say dark soul, mostly cause of Anor condo and a bit Capra demon.

It's hard to judge since we get better with every game. For example, my play style has always been to rely on shield and never backstab/parry, so blood borne should have been super hard (I played it without ever using gun parry) yet I think it's really easy, only slightly harder than DS2 which is also pretty easy. I killed more than half of the boss in 2 attempt or less, giving you a ton of healing and stamina makes it really easy. So it's really hard to judge, since I'd figure I wouldn't get much advantage from playing earlier soul game but apparently I did.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Originally, Dark Souls was the hardest for me. I played it when it first came out, and I had a terrible time. I couldn't figure out what to do, where to go, or what the hell was going on. It drove me nuts, and asking for help only resulted in me being mocked. So I gave up.

Now though, after having played Dark Souls, Dark Souls II, and Bloodborne and getting the platinum for all of them, I say Bloodborne is the hardest. I love the fast pace of it and the fact that I can actually dodge the way I want to--staying on my feet instead of rolling--but some of those bosses, especially in the DLC...ouch.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

I don't know why but Bloodborne seems the hardest to me. That game seems to have a license to kick my ass and it abuses the hell out of that privilege. Its not like I don't know how to play Souls games, I finished Demon's and Dark (hated DS2) and though they wrecked me regularly, they never stopped me from advancing like Bloodborne has.
I might be psyching myself out though. I have considered that.
However I will say there's a few areas in Dark Souls that aren't really hard as they are cheap as hell. I hate cheap.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I'd say Bloodborne simply because you have very limited options when dealing with enemies. In the previous Souls games you can use magic, shields, and arrows. In Bloodborne you can use either a light or heavy weapon to attack enemies and then dodge out of the way. That's it. You can also use the gun to stagger, but it's limited by the shots not being instant with your button press, the lock-on system not being optimal, and bullets actually running out.

 

[Trunkage]

I've always hated Anor Londo, mainly because I didn't know you could improve weapons. I would say the original Dark Souls is the hardest, but I think it comes down silly situations like this. It has trained me not to try DS2 without seeing some sort of guide. Going guideless make the game so unenjoyable.

 

[Dragonlayer]

I only played Dark Souls until the gargoyle boss fight on the Undead Church roof (I think), at which point I said "Fuck. This." and traded the game in - one day after I got it - for Deus Ex: Human Revolution. But that was when I was an ignorant heretic, who scoffed at the franchise's claims of ultra-difficulty, and went into the game in the worst possible mindset; determined to never die and taking every reversal as a personal affront. Redeeming myself in Bloodborne and enjoying it so much more, I have to say that that game is fucking brutal - if the previous games have anything close to the Orphan of Kos or Martyr Logarius, I think I'd just bury my head in my lap and weep when seeing the cover art in EB Games.

I'd say Bloodborne simply because you have very limited options when dealing with enemies. In the previous Souls games you can use magic, shields, and arrows. In Bloodborne you can use either a light or heavy weapon to attack enemies and then dodge out of the way. That's it. You can also use the gun to stagger, but it's limited by the shots not being instant with your button press, the lock-on system not being optimal, and bullets actually running out.

Not to mention enemies like to pick and choose whenever they want to be stagged by a bloody mercury bullet to the face. Coming to the end of NG+ on my current playthrough, and I still haven't mastered parrying.

 

[jhoroz]

Dark Souls has a more consistent difficulty, but individual bosses from BB and DS 2 pretty much trounce the hardest of bosses in the original Dark Souls. If we're including Chalice Dungeons, than BB by default. The Watchdog of the Old Lord in the defile dungeon is probably the most hours I've put in bashing my head against a wall in terms of boss fights, with Ludwig on NG++ creeping in at second place. OG Dark Souls definitely has the most bullshit areas e.g. Lost Izalith, Tomb of the Giants, Anor Londo and Blight Town

 

[Pheo1386]

Tough one. I've played and platinum'd all 4 and it's a bit dependant on various factors.

If you don't cheese, Maneater is an absolute ball ache. The same could be said however for bosses like Amygdala in bloodborne (easy with bowblade and the holy blade, tough without), the poison dragon in the Ds2 dlc (a piece of piss with a good bow) and the four kings in DS (if you have a high dps, defence isn't an issue). Same again with play style (for example, a player good at dodging will have no problem whatsoever with 95% of DS2's bosses, see my YouTube channel "PheoDex" if you don't believe me, and a lot of the bosses in bloodborne are very easy if you are particularly good at setting up visceral attacks) and build (the snake queen lady in DS2 is a joke to a pyromancer).

As a player who favours Dex/skill based builds, is reasonable but not perfect at parry/visceral attacks, and always preferrs dodging to shields, I'd say the bosses that personally gave me the best challenge were the Maneater (DeS), Old King Allant (DeS), Ornstein and Smough (DS), Knight Artorais (DS DLC), Kalameet (DS DLC), Sinh the slumbering dragon (DS2 DLC) and Ludwig the Accursed (Bloodborne DLC). Going by amount that makes DS the most challenging to me. Honourable mentions however go the the bloody crow of cainhurst (Bloodborne) who is the ONLY enemy in any of the games that I have never beaten without cheesing or co-op (but is technically not a boss) and the bed of chaos (DS) who is just an asshole.

In terms of enemy placements and level design, finding out the way to go without a guide the first time I played, Dark Souls wins hands down due to its open world and the fact that the graveyard area is both immediately assessable and blocked halfway until you progress through the game (first time I spent WEEKS getting my ass kicked, making it to the area after the darkness by sheer luck and then getting blocked by the force field. After realising I had to go all the way back I promptly deleted the file and restarted). The others were more linear and explicit in the direction to progress.

Finally, in terms of the challenge due to co-op, DS2 wins hands down. The PVP community is still very active and I still get invaded regularly by very skilled players who provide a fun challenge. DeS and DS are pretty much dead (invasions/PVP was very hit and miss anyway) and Bloodborne has very few PVP moments due to its online multiplayer structure (no surprise invasions except in spacific areas).

This is based on the PS3 versions of Demons Souls (duh) and Dark Souls and the PS4 versions of Dark Souls 2 and Bloodborne (duh again).

Soooo....... Yeah. I'm done now.

TL;DR Dark Souls is the toughest bosswise and in terms of its overall design, Bloodborne has toughest NPC players (well, one, but it's a bloody hard one) and Dark Souls 2 has the most skilled and therefore most challenging PVP community.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I'd say Bloodborne simply because you have very limited options when dealing with enemies. In the previous Souls games you can use magic, shields, and arrows. In Bloodborne you can use either a light or heavy weapon to attack enemies and then dodge out of the way. That's it. You can also use the gun to stagger, but it's limited by the shots not being instant with your button press, the lock-on system not being optimal, and bullets actually running out.

Not to mention enemies like to pick and choose whenever they want to be stagged by a bloody mercury bullet to the face. Coming to the end of NG+ on my current playthrough, and I still haven't mastered parrying.

I can parry well enough, it just never becomes a second nature, like dodging, or quickly shielding up in Dark Souls. In Bloodborne it feels like I need to prepare myself to execute one; I need to stop attacking, put some distance between me and the enemy, wait for him to come to me and attack, and then fire at the correct time. It feels slow, plodding, and wooden, not something you would use in a combo.

 

[stroopwafel]

I can parry well enough, it just never becomes a second nature, like dodging, or quickly shielding up in Dark Souls. In Bloodborne it feels like I need to prepare myself to execute one; I need to stop attacking, put some distance between me and the enemy, wait for him to come to me and attack, and then fire at the correct time. It feels slow, plodding, and wooden, not something you would use in a combo.

If they made parrying super easy in Bloodborne you basically have the Gwyn scenario of aggressive enemies rendered a complete joke. There is a very small window of opportunity for parrying and the risk is high but when you succeed so is the reward. You have to prepare and time just right. The regain system in Bloodborne is also very much designed around this risk vs reward concept.

In terms of hardest Souls game; I'd say Bloodborne is most dependent on player skill. Both Dark Souls and Demon's Souls could be easily cheesed either with magic or maxed out strength weapons and greatshields. Bloodborne doesn't really have any of these crutches so when you're up against bosses(or even regular enemies) the challenge is much higher. Not to mention the enemies in Bloodborne themselves being a fair amount smarter instead of just having the 'blind aggression' they had in the Souls games. Never had any kind of resistance the likes of Ludwig or Orphan of Kos in Souls. Well maybe False King that boss fight was also incredibly intimidating(and cool). But again one that could be easily cheesed with Soulray.

 

[Fappy]

Bloodborne was much more difficult than Darksouls 1 & 2, imo (haven't finished Demon Souls yet). Sure, DS1 has some hard as fuck fights, even on multiple playthroughs *cough* Artorias *cough*, but I feel like the difficulty curve levels off considerably after finishing the game at least once. With Bloodborne most of the bosses and many areas remain difficult, even on multiple playthroughs. Just look at the DLC bosses. Those guys are fucking trucks.

 

[THM]

Haven't played Demon's Souls or Bloodbourne yet.

As for the other two...meh. I'm not sure 'hard' is the word I'd go to first - they are (with DS2 having the added wrinkle of the lowering health bar every time you die), but I'd go for 'irritating, repetitive, time-consuming' before I'd go for hard.

Then again, I probably wouldn't have to get further than 'not for me'. Like Yahtzee said in his reviews, DS has a 'wall'; you can either get through it, or you give up and walk away.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I can parry well enough, it just never becomes a second nature, like dodging, or quickly shielding up in Dark Souls. In Bloodborne it feels like I need to prepare myself to execute one; I need to stop attacking, put some distance between me and the enemy, wait for him to come to me and attack, and then fire at the correct time. It feels slow, plodding, and wooden, not something you would use in a combo.

If they made parrying super easy in Bloodborne you basically have the Gwyn scenario of aggressive enemies rendered a complete joke. There is a very small window of opportunity for parrying and the risk is high but when you succeed so is the reward. You have to prepare and time just right. The regain system in Bloodborne is also very much designed around this risk vs reward concept.

It's not about it needing to be super easy, it's easy enough. It's that it's a secondary attack that's slow and cumbersome when the rest of the game's combat is generally swift. Performing attack/dodge combos feels very fluid, dipping in, out, and around while slashing away, and gun parries awkwardly cut into that. It breaks the flow of the combat, when it should be adding to it.