Which of the major Soulsborne titles do you think is the hardest overall?

[ScOULaris]

When people talk about the Soulsborne games (let's not fight over genre labels, please), a common trait that runs through all of the major releases that people associate with these types of games is a relatively high level of difficulty compared to most AAA releases in the market. While almost everyone can agree that all of these games are difficult, it's interesting to see how much diversity of opinion there is when it comes to labeling this or that game as the most difficult of the bunch. That difference of opinion usually ends up boiling down to people's slight intuitive preferences for small game design quirks unique to each game.

So I thought I'd make a poll to gauge ERA's opinions on the matter. While I haven't played all of these games, of those that I have played I'd have to say that Nioh was the most difficult.

This game straight-up kicked my ass up and down the block when I first played it. It was demoralizing at times.

Sekiro was probably the least difficult for me, and also my favorite. In that game's case the focus on more aggressive combat with less emphasis on optimizing a character build aligned with my preferences more, so the game flowed much more naturally for me that other FromSoft games or Nioh.

 

[entremet]

Dark Souls 3. The DLC is particularly brutal, yet satisfying.

I don't count Sekiro.

 

[Tiny Chihuahueño]

Sekiro is another level of stress compared to regular souls games

 

[Kcarstel]

Whichever one you played first. Soulsborne's difficulties thrive on you not knowing how to handle situations, so the more you play the more you know what to do and the easier the genre becomes.

 

[Speedlynx]

Without a doubt it's 100% Sekiro.

 

[ghibli99]

Bloodborne was my first, so yeah, that.

I think I struggle with each game at various points though, so I wouldn't call any of them easy. They only seem easier in hindsight due to series experience or replays. Sekiro's pain is the most recent, so I want to say that, but I know I struggled just as hard with the earlier games.

 

[CRIMSON-XIII]

Really? Interesting.

I got 20 hours into sekiro struggling but getting better each time. But I have always been intimidated by Dark Souls 1 2 3 and Bloodborne bosses and difficulty. I never played those other games because of that fear

I find it interesting that folks say those are all easier. It cannot be by much.

 

[dancingphlower]

Nioh always felt overly punitive to me. I had a much easier time with Sekiro than Nioh (although you can summon in Nioh).

 

[Deleted member 44122]

sekiro, no question.
im surprised nioh is in 2nd place right now, i thought that game was one of the easiest soulsborne titles

 

[Clive]

Sekiro. When I struggle in a Soulsborne I generally head in another direction, explore and power up. In Sekiro, I had to git gud. Some Nioh DLC is supposedly really hard but I didn't play all of it. The main game was a lot easier than Sekiro for me.

I consider Sekiro a very different game though so I'm not sure it belongs in the poll.

 

[Fallout-NL]

Sekiro, no contest.

 

[cowbanana]

Sekiro is both the hardest and least fun for me. Nioh blows it clean away in terms of mechanics and fun. I just don't enjoy parry heavy gameplay as much.

Bloodborne is the best out of all of them by a massive margin.

 

[Manu]

I'm a fan of the series and I had enough of Sekiro after one playthrough, so that one.

 

[Pascal]

I'd say the one you play first. For me it was Dark Souls. Nothing in Nioh or Sekiro really compares to how brutal those first 10 hours were for me in DS1.

 

[BrickArts295]

Probably Nioh, I couldn't even beat the first boss :(
I managed to do that with each and every FromSoft game at the very least.

 

[Kinsei]

Dark Souls 1

I started with Demon's Souls so it's not a case of first Souls bias.

 

[ScOULaris]

Wow. I am genuinely shocked at the results so far. To me Sekiro is the least difficult of all of them by a good margin. That's not to say it was easy by any means, but the fact that the game was balanced around tactics alone and not ARPG-style stat progression made it much easier for me.

Maybe because I have a lot more experience with character-action games versus ARPG's where all of the overlapping progression systems cause analysis paralysis to set in and I end up building my character in a really sub-optimal way.

 

[PirateHearts]

Sekiro for sure, because it has fewer ways to approach its most difficult challenges. You can't usually do much in the way of grinding up or trying different builds. You've got what you've got, and you're going to have to play the game the way it demands to be played.

Demon's Souls is probably the second hardest because the checkpoints are fewer and farther between, and it lets you take on tougher levels way before you're ready. But that open-ended-ness is also what I love about it.

 

[Kokoro]

It's hard to tell, but I'd say the DLC are often the hardest. Dark Souls 2 and Bloodborne DLC turned me crazy.

 

[Van Bur3n]

Don't know why Nioh is here, but I wouldn't say Nioh is too hard. It's mostly the side boss fights where they game makes you fight multiple bosses at once that is some masochist shit. Like Nobunaga and ice queen lady.

Of FromSoftware's games, Sekiro for me.

 

[ReddishGUI]

I've beaten all of them (multiple times) except Nioh... so yeah Nioh.

 

[jimboton]

From a pure combat viewpoint, it's Sekiro. But for a first time blind (no hints or wikis) playthrough, taking everything into account, it's Dark Souls. Most people have forgotten the time before they knew every Souls game inside out lol.

 

[Masagiwa]

Nioh without a doubt

 

[PlanetSmasher]

Sekiro, because it forces you to play one way and doesn't let you customize your character or power up to overcome challenges. It's just "play it this way and be really good at this way or die".

Nioh is up there, but a lot of Nioh's difficulty can be alleviated by having gear of the correct level for a mission. When you start out you're always rampantly underleveled so things kill you in two hits, but once your armor is up to snuff you're tanking hits and ki pulsing like a champ.

 

[Chance Hale]

Outside of the final boss and maybe Owl I found Sekiro far less difficult than Dark Souls 3 with its health draining enemies and multi stage bosses.

The Ringed City dlc bosses in particular were insanely difficult and do so much damage even at appropriate levels

 

[Smurf]

I feel like Sekiro's bosses were harder, but the overall world was pretty easy since you had 2 lives and the hook to get out of trouble with ease.

 

[vestan]

Sekiro for sure and I'm glad the poll reflects that. Bloodborne was honestly easy as shit.

 

[I_D]

Interesting poll results. I thought Sekiro was significantly easier than the rest of the series.

I'd put Dark Souls 1 and Bloodborne as the toughest games.

 

[Sumio Mondo]

Beaten every game on that poll except Sekiro. The last boss was just too much.

Currently playing Code Vein and that's a cakewalk in comparison.

Bloodborne DLC and Dark Souls 3 DLC are both bloody hard to me as well (beat the Bloodborne DLC, only played 1 of the DS3 DLCs).

 

[Pendas]

Sekiro is another level of stress compared to regular souls games

Click to shrink...

This. I like to describe Sekiro as "The best game I never want to play again."

 

[Chainshada]

Sekiro was only hard for me when I was trying to play it like Souls. Outside of 2 bosses it was far easier than most of the others. Would probably go with Nioh, but that might just be because it was the least enjoyable so the one I'll never replay. Dark Souls 3 DLC was pretty difficult, but half the bosses in the base game I beat 1st attempt so I think that disqualifies it overall.

 

[finalflame]

Sekiro by a gigantic margin.

 

[DarkFlame92]

Sekiro and this surprised me,because I've played all Souls games before it. It's not like it was my first "souls" game.

Some minibosses and bosses in this game were just brutal

 

[Necromanti]

Maybe I was underleveled, but the DS2 DLC was the only thing I gave up on.

Sekiro was probably one of the few listed that didn't have as many boss fights that felt like they'd never end and where one slip-up spelled doom.

 

[Deleted member 2834]

I solo finished all of them incl all DLC:

1. Sekiro
2. Dark Souls 3
3. Dark Souls 2
4. Dark Souls
5. Bloodborne
6. Nioh
7. Demon's Souls (I "cheesed" it with the magic missile build. Frankly, I just found it fun and didn't realize it's the easy mode)

The Dark Souls 3 DLC is about as hard as Sekiro though. Sekiro is consistently fucking hard.

 

[AmericanKirby]

Sekiro mostly because you can't grind to improve your stats.

 

[FunkyStudent]

Really? Interesting.

I got 20 hours into sekiro struggling but getting better each time. But I have always been intimidated by Dark Souls 1 2 3 and Bloodborne bosses and difficulty. I never played those other games because of that fear

I find it interesting that folks say those are all easier. It cannot be by much.

Click to shrink...

This is where I'm at. Souls/BB/Nioh got easier as I progressed because I was grinding out levels and gear improvements, but I never learned how to get better, so each new character or game kicked my ass until I crossed that threshold. Whereas with Sekiro, I was forced to improve.

 

[JasoNsider]

Sekiro by a long shot, but I'd put Bloodborne as second.

 

[jonamok]

Sekiro because no co-op. The end.

 

[Sumio Mondo]

Sekiro and this surprised me,because I've played all Souls games before it. It's not like it was my first "souls" game.

Some minibosses and bosses in this game were just brutal

Click to shrink...

"S'up?"

 

[TreIII]

I love Nioh, but I don't consider it that hard. Early game is a struggle because you're trying to stay alive and wrap your head the game's mechanics, but by the time you start getting good gear and your own skills to start to level up, as well, you'll die much less. You also have much more flexibility in how you can choose to play.

Sekiro, on the other hand, doesn't have any gear/stats to fall back on. And if you don't have a good handle of that game's parrying system, you're going to be in for a bad time, because there really isn't any other way to play.

So....Sekiro.

 

[badcrumble]

Sekiro by a long shot.

Wish it had had the Regain mechanic from Bloodborne; it'd be a small but very meaningful crutch.

 

[Pascal]

For Sekiro, I feel like the actual levels are fairly easy for the most part. It's just got some tough bosses and mini bosses.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

Sekiro is another level of stress compared to regular souls games

Click to shrink...

This. I like to describe Sekiro as "The best game I never want to play again."

Click to shrink...

Yup. The number of times I said out loud "this isn't fun" while playing Sekiro could fill an entire novel. Emotionally exhausting, and at least for me, the wins I eventually eked out against the bosses weren't satisfying, I was just relieved to be done so I'd never have to put up with them again.

 

[Necromanti]

Sekiro mostly because you can't grind to improve your stats.

Click to shrink...

Is grinding that common? Maybe it is.

 

[Luap]

Tough choice, but I think it might be DS2. The level design/enemy placement was the most frustrating of the trilogy and the controls/movement were the most unwieldy by far.

 

[Video Games Are Dumb]

I'm so happy everyone voted Sekiro. I thought I was just shit at it.

 

[Morrigan]

Recency bias made me vote Nioh because whew that Nioh 2 demo boss kicked my ass for hours. And I'll never forget insanity like Return of the Gourd etc.

But, honestly, it really depends.

- The hardest fight I've ever done among all those games? Probably an optional mission from Nioh 1 like Return of the Gourd or Iga-Style. That shit was insane.
- But! They are cheesable if you respec to some cheese build and farm gear etc. and nuke them in seconds (which I didn't do because fuck that). Some of them might even support coop (though some of those missions don't). If you can't count that as factor... then probably Defiled Dungeon Watch Dog or Amygdala in Bloodborne, or Sister Friede in Dark Souls 3, or something. But those also have coop...
- Hardest to simply finish the game? Sekiro.
- Hardest overall game, all modes included? Either Dark Souls 2 - Scholar of the First Sin in the Company of the Champions (the DLC bosses in particular are brutal), or Sekiro with Demon's Bell and without Kuro's Charm active.

Edit: you know what, I changed my vote to Sekiro. You can't cheese with magic or OP builds, you can't rely on grinding or gear, you can't resort to coop. You have to git gud no matter what. And it's got not one but two difficulty modifiers that stack together to make it even harder. I played through NG (after beating the game multiple times) with just one of those modifiers (charmless), and it was already really hard, can't imagine adding the Demon's Bell too.

Before Sekiro I would have said that completing DS2 Scholar of the First Sin in the Company of the Champions is the hardest From/Souls experience overall, but Sekiro with those modes probably takes the cake.

 

[NazoNazoXLR]

Sekiro is a lot more sink-or-swim. You have fewer options in general, and to top it off, you can't cheese stuff with co-op allies. Granted, if you synch well with the parry system early, it might be that much easier for you.

After Sekiro I would say the DLC for all of the games is an order of magnitude more difficult than the base game content. Kalameet and Ludwig were so brutal for me, I've never bothered trying to finish the DS2 and 3 DLC.

 

[No Depth]

Haven't played DS3 yet and I didn't finish Sekiro or Nioh(but played super far into both)

Feel like it would be a choice between those three when looking at the rest, so I abstain from voting.

But prob Sekiro due to its demand of reactionary timing and little to no shortcuts to give advantage.