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[Henkka]

Just curious... I always think about how the series is perceived as such a brutally hard experience, when it's truly not and is seriously one of the most unique and rewarding games to date. But its frustrating because so many folks I'm sure pass because of this misconception even if they experienced it and felt it was hard. The thing is, once you adapt its fair as can be and I mean I just wish everyone could see what gems these games are. They have some of the most incredible and rewarding moments, I just want every gamer to experience it and see how good they really can be.

Just a thought, but I would love to help some who can't get into it find a way to finally break the barrier, the series is just that good

I'm more annoyed by marketing making it the games' biggest selling point.

PREPARE TO DIE!! etc

They are more difficult than most games (On normal), and purposely so. But the point was never to make a hard game for the sake of it, the point was to have peaks and valleys of difficulty to make the game interesting and rewarding to play.

 

[Black_Red]

Except that it's not the point at all. The point was to make a game that played a lot more like games of the past than the standard, ultra "dumbed down" games from 2006+. That was the point. The games of the past were only "really difficult" by comparison of the average generation 7 games that were made in such a way that you couldn't possibly ever fail, so that everyone would play them.

I dont know, a lot of the mechanics are there only to make the game harder, like:
-The aggresive NPCs that you loose when you hit them (A friend had to restart because is dog supposedly pressed R2 atacking an important NPC lol )
-The game autosaving EVERYTHING you do, meaning you cant load your game if you make a mistake.
-Not having a quick pause button (Even when playing offline).
-Losing HP everytime you die unless you use a humanity (I don't remember if the game explained this, in the humanity description, most people were told about this or had to google it).
- The "losing you currency when you die".

The only games that have similar mechanics are old school MMORPG (like Tibia or Ro whn you lose experience when you die). But aside from those, I dont see how those are there to make the game more "old school". And most of those are only there to make it harder (The "no quick pause" is especially dumb)

 

[SpecialAgentDaleCooper]

if he wants to experience it on the absolute easiest level he can watch a youtube video. he will still consume the content, the art, the music, the level design. all of it. without any difficulty barriers or lost time to get in the way.

I'm sorry, the question was, what exactly are you out if he got to play thru the game within the real life time constraints that he has because the difficulty was a little lower?

Also, I dont get how people who insist that the game should only truly be experienced at its most tedious and time consuming so as to preserve the experience (that other players have of course) can make this inane argument that watching a youtube video is somehow a decent analog to actually playing a game.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

The difficulty is completely up to the player.

If you go in blind and play the entire game without summoning they are pretty damn difficult, and often a frustrating matter of repetition and trial and error.

On the other hand someone can look everything up on the internet and summon tons of coop partners and sleepwalk their way through the game.

"The game is a cakewalk of you just sit back and let someone else play it for you" isn't exactly a defense against the difficulty charge.

 

[Playsage]

Artificial difficulty is the dumbest fucking term.

"Artificial difficulty" has its uses and it can describe a lot of game design instances and encounters.

 

[old manatee]

"The game is a cakewalk of you just sit back and let someone else play it for you" isn't exactly a defense against the difficulty charge.

I'm sure you got in a couple whacks.

 

[Henkka]

I dont know, a lot of the mechanics are there only to make the game harder, like:
-The aggresive NPCs that you loose when you hit them (A friend had to restart because is dog supposedly pressed R2 atacking an important NPC lol )
-The game autosaving EVERYTHING you do, meaning you cant load your game if you make a mistake.
-Not having a quick pause button (Even when playing offline).
-Losing HP everytime you die unless you use a humanity (I don't remember if the game explained this, in the humanity description, most people were told about this or had to google it).
- The "losing you currency when you die".

The only games that have similar mechanics are old school MMORPG (like Tibia or Ro whn you lose experience when you die). But aside from those, I dont see how those are there to make the game more "old school". And most of those are only there to make it harder (The "no quick pause" is especially dumb)

All of those design decisions have other effects than "only making the game harder", though. "Only making the game harder" would mean something like giving more health to enemies and making them hit harder, imo. Not that there aren't instances of that, especially in DSII, where the designers sometimes just spam enemies at you because they can't make the encounter interesting otherwise.

For example, losing currency when you die makes you play more carefully, especially when you're loaded up on souls. It creates a rising feeling of tension as you gain souls but lose Estus flasks. With a system like this, spying the next bonfire can give a feeling of massive relief in the player, which wouldn't exist if dying wasn't penalised. The ability to regain your souls can give a feeling of triumph and relief as well, and makes the player memorise the area, in case they have to find their way back. So it's not only to make the game harder.

 

[NinjamicWZ]

I dont get how people who insist that the game should only truly be experienced at its most tedious and time consuming so as to preserve the experience (that other players have of course) can make this inane argument that watching a youtube video is somehow a decent analog to actually playing a game.

You saying that goes both ways, though. If there's no difference in experience in how you consume the content, then there's no difference. So just watch it.

 

[televator]

Souls games are basically what every single game was like before "experiences" took over.

Perhaps, but that still doesn't account for difficulty... and I can still pause in 100% of all the retro games I own.

 

[MajinSweet4]

I think one of the main problems is that most games now a days are specifically designed to be as straight forward as possible. To increases "accessibility" and make sure players know exactly what they are supposed to be doing at all times. The downside of this is that players are not expected to be creative. Sure, some games allow creativity but rarely is it expected. While in Souls, as a player you're expected to think outside the box to overcome certain problems. Or not to assume things based on normal video game tropes. In fact, their are already examples of that in this thread. People talking about fighting optional NPCs over and over again, when it's totally fine to just ignore them and come back later. I've had many friends try the Souls games and a lot of them have first time experiences like that. One friend for example never figured out how to beat the tutorial boss of Dark Souls the normal way. After smacking his head against the wall, who knows how many times he eventually made a bunch of different characters. At some point stumbling on using black firebombs. It never occurred to him that maybe you're not supposed to beat the giant demon thing with a broken sword.

 

[SpecialAgentDaleCooper]

You saying that goes both ways, though. If there's no difference in experience in how you consume the content, then there's no difference. So just watch it.

But that's clearly faulty logic. Nobody is saying the game would be exactly the same if it were a little easier, but the question is why do some people think they'd be out something if someone else had a slightly different, and enjoyable experience with the same game.?

You're not really telling me that watching a game on youtube and playing a game are the same thing right?

 

[Adam_Vania]

I'm sorry, the question was, what exactly are you out if he got to play thru the game within the real life time constraints that he has because the difficulty was a little lower?

Also, I dont get how people who insist that the game should only truly be experienced at its most tedious and time consuming so as to preserve the experience (that other players have of course) can make this inane argument that watching a youtube video is somehow a decent analog to actually playing a game.

this is the same hypothetical player that doesn't want to use summons, right? the game has a built-in easy mode w summons and he refuses to use this.

he is completely refusing to engage with the game on a gameplay level. you said he still wants to experience the atmosphere, the soundtrack, the art design. youtube/twitch/etc is his best option for this.

ffs "tedius" and "time consuming". again, these are video games, these are GAMES, meant for entertainment, they are by nature time wasters. yes they are time consuming, that is largely the point. if you have better things to do with your time then do that.

 

[RangerX]

I've cleared Demon's Souls,DS1 and bloodborne and it is a fact that the games are difficult but that difficulty curve drops off really quick. Games like Vanquish, Street fighter and Super Meat Boy are all much harder to master than Dark Souls. Its just getting the initial feel for the combat and remembering enemy placements. Once you have that down the games do almost become easy even.

 

[Novocaine]

I solo'd Dark Souls twice including all its DLC, beat Dark Souls II pre-Scholar and I weep like a child trying to beat Dark Souls 2 DLC. Everyone says its the tops but I'm not grinding enough to beat them all solo.

That way leads to madness.

What you get from playing the base game should be more than enough to tackle the DLC. There is a difficultly spike though, that's for sure.

With that being said each area has an encounter designed to be done by multiple people do don't feel bad about skipping those.

 

[SpecialAgentDaleCooper]

this is the same hypothetical player that doesn't want to use summons, right? the game has a built-in easy mode w summons and he refuses to use this.

he is completely refusing to engage with the game on a gameplay level. you said he still wants to experience the atmosphere, the soundtrack, the art design. youtube/twitch/etc is his best option for this.

ffs "tedius" and "time consuming". again, these are video games, these are GAMES, meant for entertainment, they are by nature time wasters. yes they are time consuming, that is largely the point. if you have better things to do with your time then do that.

Again with the summoning excuse... How many hours do you think the average first time player has to put in before they can do a summons, or understands that they can?


And AGAIN you failed to answer a very simple question, what would you be out if he could play the game on a lower difficulty?

I'll give ya one more try before I write you off as incapable of rational conversation on this.

 

[Adam_Vania]

Again with the summoning excuse... How many hours do you think the average first time player has to put in before they can do a summons, or understands that they can?

i dunno, 1 or 2 hours. though yeah how will they understand, i mean there is the internet but let's assume they just want everything handed to them without doing any work. better put a summon QTE prompt in the on-screen UI.

and what if they get lost along the way? they should really put a map in, maybe quest markers. how long does it take to learn the layout of these levels? too long!

 

[zkorejo]

But that's the thing, once you learn how enemies move and what not you can run right past them

I know but its more like a hassle. It just gets too irritating.

 

[Adam_Vania]

And AGAIN you failed to answer a very simple question, what would you be out if he could play the game on a lower difficulty?

I'll give ya one more try before I write you off as incapable of rational conversation on this.

i didn't say i would be out. they can make the games they want to make, the more, the merrier.

im just not considering a hypothetical game that only exists in your mind as real. i am looking at his real world options.

 

[NinjamicWZ]

You're not really telling me that watching a game on youtube and playing a game are the same thing right?

That's how I played Outlast. What do you lose if I play the game this way?

 

[old manatee]

Again with the summoning excuse... How many hours do you think the average first time player has to put in before they can do a summons, or understands that they can?


And AGAIN you failed to answer a very simple question, what would you be out if he could play the game on a lower difficulty?

I'll give ya one more try before I write you off as incapable of rational conversation on this.

When you use the phrase "lower difficulty", are you talking about picking knight and running a quality build?

 

[Manu]

Just level up your character and you'll be fine.

Yup. I have a friend who platinum'd all the games. His strategy whenever he finds a new boss is this:

-Fight the boss once or twice, realize he can't beat him
-Spend hours faming, and returning to the boss overleveled
-Curb stomp the boss

The guy was gloating about killing Nameless King on one try. He fought him at lvl 110.

Whenever someone tries to tell him he's not playing the right way he always says something like "why? if we weren't supposed to do this then the game wouldn't allow it. If the game lets me overlevel then there's nothing wrong with it."

There's your easy mode.

 

[MajinSweet4]

Also, the timing on this was very relevant. This is why people want others to experience the game in a "pure" and difficult fashion.

https://twitter.com/Quillcannon/status/795292935017365504

It's because we care. We want you to enjoy the game, to experience the feelings of elation we did. That's why I always tell people not to use a guide on a first playthrough of a Souls game. You are robbing yourself of those unique moments. If you straight up don't enjoy the idea of earning enjoyment through challenge, then you're probably better off not playing them. Which is totally fine. Seriously, nothing wrong with that. But if you are going to give the games a try, really try. You might surprise yourself.

 

[Aters]

It's the hardest game average Joe can beat, so you hear everyone saying "OMG so hard". The real difficult games are so hard that people rarely play them, and of course you won't hear people talking about them.

 

[Zafir]

this is the same hypothetical player that doesn't want to use summons, right? the game has a built-in easy mode w summons and he refuses to use this.

he is completely refusing to engage with the game on a gameplay level. you said he still wants to experience the atmosphere, the soundtrack, the art design. youtube/twitch/etc is his best option for this.

ffs "tedius" and "time consuming". again, these are video games, these are GAMES, meant for entertainment, they are by nature time wasters. yes they are time consuming, that is largely the point. if you have better things to do with your time then do that.

I mean if you live in a place with spotty internet connection and/or you're a console player which means you have to pay subscriptions for online, you actually don't have a choice.

How does an easy mode in anyway affect current players?

You can get through the Souls game 'easily', so can I. However for those that can't they could use such a mode to get through it with no effect to either of us.

I don't get why certain Souls fans are so adamant that options shouldn't be put into the game to make the game funner for a certain subset of people. I love the souls games, but I know plenty of people that won't touch them because of their time consuming nature, between it taking a while to learn and due to the fact if you do fail you're redoing content over. Why is it a bad thing to add in something totally optional so those guys can enjoy the great experience that is the Souls games?

 

[rtcn63]

Your first is always the hardest because it's not at all clear at explaining how anything works.

My general advice:

1. Focus on increasing endurance first, health second. If you have a weapon/armor set you want to use, level up the required stats to the minimum to utilize them. People will say don't worry about health since if you're good you won't get hit (which is true), but if you're new or just someone who doesn't do plan on ever doing level 1 no-hit runs, more health will help.

2. Level up your weapons. The game initially gates how many times you can upgrade something by simply not giving you enough materials, but you WILL get more and you WILL be able to switch to another weapon if you happen to find one you like.

3. If you don't know what an item is or whatever, look it up. Dark Demon Soulsborne expects people to aid each other, hence the note and summon system.

4. The joy of the suicide run. Preferably done when you're hollow/un-embered, just run through an area looking for shortcuts, bonfires, and items. Do it with zero souls so there's no effectively no penalty. You don't have to fight everything right away. Get stronger, then start taking out enemies for their souls and drops.

5. If you're having trouble with a boss- grind for stats and weapon upgrade material. That's it. Summon only if absolutely necessary, unless you're planning on doing NPC questlines since they often rely on being called on during certain fights. Grinding also helps get your mind off of the fight, so when you go back later, you're going in somewhat refreshed.

6. Bosses have tells and openings for most/all of their attacks. Try hugging/circling/dodging to the left, right, back, front, etc. and see what you can get away with and what you can't.

 

[IvorB]

Yup. I have a friend who platinum'd all the games. His strategy whenever he finds a new boss is this:

-Fight the boss once or twice, realize he can't beat him
-Spend hours faming, and returning to the boss overleveled
-Curb stomp the boss

The guy was gloating about killing Nameless King on one try. He fought him at lvl 110.

Whenever someone tries to tell him he's not playing the right way he always says something like "why? if we weren't supposed to do this then the game wouldn't allow it. If the game lets me overlevel then there's nothing wrong with it."

There's your easy mode.

Why would someone say he's not playing the right way? It's an RPG so leveling up and coming back is perfectly valid. He's getting through so it's all good.

 

[Pooya]

you can blame the marketing for that, they ran with it with Dark Souls 1.

The reality is that, most games today are extremely easy and made impossible to fail in. Dark Souls is just about right.

 

[Horp]

I play all other games on the hardest difficulty settings and rarely if ever struggle in SP.
The souls games are my favorite games.

I think they are very hard. Hardest SP games I've played. Can't beat Bloodborne DLC for example.

 

[BeastlyMandible]

I'm more annoyed by marketing making it the games' biggest selling point.

PREPARE TO DIE!! etc

They are more difficult than most games (On normal), and purposely so. But the point was never to make a hard game for the sake of it, the point was to have peaks and valleys of difficulty to make the game interesting and rewarding to play.

Absolutely this. While I do get annoyed by the constant "how do u even press start w/o dying? lul" aspect, it's difficult to fault people doing that because the entire marketing of Dark Souls 1 centered around it, and the game even makes mention to that way of thinking in the opening cinematic to Dark Souls 2.

Ultimately it doesn't affect my enjoyment of the series in any way, but it'd be nice to be able to discuss the Souls series in any general setting without immediately having the perceived difficulty being brought up.

 

[MajinSweet4]

I mean if you live in a place with spotty internet connection and/or you're a console player which means you have to pay subscriptions for online, you actually don't have a choice.

How does an easy mode in anyway affect current players?

You can get through the Souls game 'easily', so can I. However for those that can't they could use such a mode to get through it with no effect to either of us.

I don't get why certain Souls fans are so adamant that options shouldn't be put into the game to make the game funner for a certain subset of people. I love the souls games, but I know plenty of people that won't touch them because of their time consuming nature, between it taking a while to learn and due to the fact if you do fail you're redoing content over. Why is it a bad thing to add in something totally optional so those guys can enjoy the great experience that is the Souls games?

Because then it's not the same experience anymore, which defeats the whole point of it. It would be like saying "Hey, ice cream place that only makes that one really weird flavor that a lot of people don't like, why don't you make all the normal flavors too?" "Because everyone else offers those already, we have our specialty and our customers really like it." "But people want to like that unique flavor! So make normal flavors too!"

 

[Manu]

Why would someone say he's not playing the right way? It's an RPG so leveling up and coming back is perfectly valid. He's getting through so it's all good.

I wouldn't say he's playing wrong, but he's definitely missing out on the feeling of beating a hard fight, which is one of the best aspects of the series. Overcoming something that felt impossible at fist feels like an achievement. Just leveling up for a whole afternoon and then come back overpowered to the boss kinda takes the fun out of it, imo.

He obviously still loves the games (plat'd them all after all) so there's that.

Because then it's not the same experience anymore, which defeats the whole point of it. It would be like saying "Hey, ice cream place that only makes that one really weird flavor that a lot of people don't like, why don't you make all the normal flavors too?" "Because everyone else offers those already, we have our specialty and our customers really like it." "But people want to like that unique flavor! So make normal flavors too!"

I've said it before. People who want an easy mode are like people who found out about this new, trendy torture-porn horror movie and then ask for a goreless version so they can watch it. "But it won't be the same, since the gore is the point of the movie" "How is it not the same? Who says I can't enjoy the goreless version?"

 

[0coolclimate0]

I understand the difficulty problem with newcomers to the series. When I first got Demon's Souls I gave up almost immediately and lent the game to a friend. But after about a week my friend started telling me how great it was and how - this and that -. After a while he bought his own copy and convinced me to play with him. For the first half of the game I summoned him into every zone for absolutely everything. My point being now I love all the games, I play them solo and also summon people in, I feel like a better way for people to enter the series as newcomers is to have someone to help guide them in the beginning.

 

[Adam_Vania]

I love the souls games, but I know plenty of people that won't touch them because of their time consuming nature, between it taking a while to learn and due to the fact if you do fail you're redoing content over. Why is it a bad thing to add in something totally optional so those guys can enjoy the great experience that is the Souls games?

i don't think it's a bad thing to add something in totally optional. but once that option is in the are no longer enjoying "the great experience that is the Souls games", they are enjoying the experience that is whatever game has an easy mode. this will not be the same "great experience" that one has when legit playing through Souls games. they will not be as punished for bad actions like attacking early, giving them less weight. they will not be punished for missing boss dodges, so maybe they will not need to learn them at all. the result is something that looks like a Souls game but in experience is not.

if failing and doing content over is a concern, there is no way a noob is going to one-shot any Souls game, even with half damage. at that point yes, consider watching speedrun.

 

[double jump]

Actually the implied difficulty is what drew me to the series in the first place. There was a time in ps3/360 era where every aaa title I played was feeling like press "A" to awesome. This made me extremely frustrated with the medium. So when I heard about difficulty of Demons I lept at the chance to try something new and have been a fan ever since.

 

[Freshmaker]

I wouldn't say he's playing wrong, but he's definitely missing out on the feeling of beating a hard fight, which is one of the best aspects of the series. Overcoming something that felt impossible at fist feels like an achievement.

Not everyone enjoys that as much as you do.

 

[The Illiterati]

I'd say the hardcore fans playing things off like they are not that hard are probably doing more harm to newbie gathering than the game's reputation.

This. I've beaten DS 1 and 2. But they're hard. Yeah patience is a virtue. But these people who act like they're not hard are full of crap.

 

[Manu]

Not everyone enjoys that as much as you do.

Well, obviously

 

[More_Badass]

Yea and what you fail to comprehend is that a little less difficulty would not impact the atmosphere, sountrack setting or gameplay.

It absolutely would. The difficulty is what makes the enemies and setting feel as dangerous as they does, what imbues each new area with tension and fear of the unknown, what makes overcoming and mastering each encounter as satisfying, what teaches you to be careful and cautious and get better at combat and treat every enemies as a threat. It's like saying that removing traffic from Burnout wouldn't change the gameplay

If you watch a movie like 2001 or Memento and find it hard to understand, the expectation isn't that the director needs to make an annotated version that's easier for you to comprehend. Why should games be different? Why should they need to change to suit your desires rather than you adapting to the game?

 

[0coolclimate0]

This. I've beaten DS 1 and 2. But they're hard. Yeah patience is a virtue. But these people who act like they're not hard are full of crap.

Ds3 wasn't very hard at all in my oppinion. To many damn bonfires.

 

[Professor Renegade]

I just started playing DS1 not too long ago. The learning curve is hard at first, but learning how to parry has made things a lot easier. Still haven't made it past Undead Burg/Parish tho.

 

[The Illiterati]

Ds3 wasn't very hard at all in my oppinion. To many damn bonfires.

I haven't played that one. I gave up on Bloodborne when I realized the level of tension it put my body at wasn't enjoyable anymore. I loved DS1 and 2 but I just decided I didn't like how these games stress me out while I play. I wish it wasn't so, but it is.

 

[0coolclimate0]

I haven't played that one. I gave up on Bloodborne when I realized the level of tension it put my body at wasn't enjoyable anymore. I loved DS1 and 2 but I just decided I didn't like how these games stress me out while I play. I wish it wasn't so, but it is.

I feel you. I'm pretty sure DS1 caused my tooth enamel to decay.

Spoiler

I grind my teeth when I get stressed out

 

[SpecialAgentDaleCooper]

That's how I played Outlast. What do you lose if I play the game this way?

Nothing, Your not playing (or playing, but definitely not playing in that case) has no effect on me at all, something all the git gud gatekeepers don't get.

 

[Aters]

Dragon Quest is as hard as Dark Souls. Difference is everyone is overleveled in DQ and is perfectly fine with it. Try beat DQ without grinding for every piece of armor in every town, that's the way to play it. Try play Fire Emblem games before the "Phoenix mode" was introduced. Try play SMT.

Unsurprisingly those games are niche in the west and FE only became popular when it was more "accessible".

 

[MajinSweet4]

It absolutely would. The difficulty is what makes the enemies and setting feel as dangerous as they does, what imbues each new area with tension and fear of the unknown, what makes overcoming and mastering each encounter as satisfying, what teaches you to be careful and cautious and get better at combat and treat every enemies as a threat. It's like saying that removing traffic from Burnout wouldn't change the gameplay

Too add on to this, I want to talk about how great the role playing in Souls is. It's some of the absolute best in modern gaming and hardly anyone talks about it. The difficulty plays a huge part in what makes it so good. An important part in making role playing in a game actually work, is making sure players care about the world you've created. You need consistency. In a lot of games you are simply told how horrible of a plight you're in, but it feels totally artificial because as the player you take out whatever the problem is without a thought. You end up overlooking tons of things in the world and story because of this. In Souls, when a character tells you how terrible things are in a certain area, your trials in that place can reinforce that. As a player, you feel like a part of the world, not simply an actor playing a role. In Dark Souls for example, you hear a lot of talk about hollowing, "don't you go hollow". Hollowing in this context basically means, giving up on the game. Those words would ring totally hollow if the game was easy, Games are a system of complex mechanics all working together to achieve a bunch of different goals. When you say "oh, just change this and that, what difference will it make to the experience?" you are disrespecting the medium.

 

[SpecialAgentDaleCooper]

It absolutely would. The difficulty is what makes the enemies and setting feel as dangerous as they does, what imbues each new area with tension and fear of the unknown, what makes overcoming and mastering each encounter as satisfying, what teaches you to be careful and cautious and get better at combat and treat every enemies as a threat. It's like saying that removing traffic from Burnout wouldn't change the gameplay

If you watch a movie like 2001 or Memento and find it hard to understand, the expectation isn't that the director needs to make an annotated version that's easier for you to comprehend. Why should games be different? Why should they need to change to suit your desires rather than you adapting to the game?

Meh, until you've sunk hours of tedium and grind in and carve thru everything like butter anyway... a little less of that wouldn't sink the entire experience, and certainly wouldn't actually change things like the soundtrack or the setting. I mean that's just, come on man level of ridiculous.

 

[takriel]

Yea, I think people feel it's a game to just put your balls in a vice and crush them and it's not. It's not about being difficult to be difficult

Dark Souls 2 comes dangerously close to this design philosophy, though.

 

[SmokedMeat]

Dragon Quest is as hard as Dark Souls. Difference is everyone is overleveled and are perfectly fine with it. Try beat DQ without grinding for every piece of armor in every town, that's the way to play it.

Dragon Quest requires zero dexterity in playing. All it requires is time to spend grinding to win. Time doesn't guarantee you anything in Souls titles. You either have the skill to defeat these monsters or you don't.

 

[RoadHazard]

Yes because you can't say souls isn't hard without someone getting severely tilted about them having issues with it.

If you go in with the right mindset or play patiently, the series isn't really that hard at all. It teaches you how to play with this mindset, learn it and the entire series is easier than most action games are.

Well, this isn't really true IMO. Most games these days are easy as shit. Souls is harder. But not "OMG, so unfair" hard. They're very beatable by any somewhat competent and patient gamer.

 

[Timeaisis]

Dark Souls is not that hard. It's obtuse. That's the biggest barrier to entry, in my opinion.