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[Yonyx]

I've only listed the modern Souls-like games and the latest Armored Core. I still need to finish Sekiro and Armored Core VI, so I can't vote for them.

Remember you can vote for two options.

My first vote goes to Dark Souls II (it was my first Souls game and I have great memories of it), for its overall challenge in progressing on the first playthrough.

I also had a tough time with Dark Souls, which I played right after, struggling with the gargoyles and the curse from the frogs that halved my health.

For me, the least difficult were Demon's Souls (it also influences that it was the last one I completed) and Elden Ring.

 

[Arsic]

Sekiro is the one I can easily pick.

Elden Ring is actually quite easy but its peak difficulty, Malenia, is a big peak. So I picked it as the second hardest.

Otherwise I would pick dark souls 1 because it has so much annoying shit especially the last third of the game where you just run by everything to avoid it.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Sekiro is hard as from the beginning to the end. I also voted DS3 for slave knight gael alone. What a dickhead that guy is. I should play ds3 again.

 

[OGM_Madness]

Everyone will vote based on their own made-up rules/preferences.

IMO Sekiro is the hardest due to the fact it has no Co-op/Online.

 

[Danjin44]

Sekiro, because its action game rather than RPG, you can't make OP build in order to power through fights you need master the combat in order to prevail.

 

[Guilty_AI]

I'll go with sekiro and AC6 just because they don't have coop. Otherwise, i don't find their games particularly hard, just a bit overwhelming until you get used to their style.

 

[Pejo]

I'll go with sekiro and AC6 just because they don't have coop. Otherwise, i don't find their games particularly hard, just a bit overwhelming until you get used to their style.

Yea my picks too. I never "clicked" with the parry bar mechanic in Sekiro, I should probably go back and try again someday.

 

[Danjin44]

Yea my picks too. I never "clicked" with the parry bar mechanic in Sekiro, I should probably go back and try again someday.

I would say the timing window for parry in Sekiro is much more forgiving compare to game like Dark Souls or even Elden Ring.

I think because parry is main mechanics in Sekiro but it’s optional tool in Elden Ring and Dark Souls.

 

[Gojiira]

I think Sekiro is undoubtedly the hardest game by FS, just beginning to end it demands your attention.
I think second most difficult is Bloodborne, it probably has the best difficulty curve of any FS game, staying relatively challenging for a first playthrough and the deeper Chalice Dungeons are just outright hard.
DaS3 is tough in parts of course as well. I can see why some might find it tougher than BB.

 

[ReBurn]

I don't like any of their souls or souls-like games. They're all unnecessarily repetitive.

 

[Pejo]

I would say the timing window for parry in Sekiro is much more forgiving compare to game like Dark Souls or even Elden Ring.

I think because parry is main mechanics in Sekiro but it’s optional tool in Elden Ring and Dark Souls.

I think I might be describing it incorrectly. I'm talking the yellow bar that you have to fill/expand before you can actually damage most enemies. I just don't get the mechanics of it so I tried to play the game as much like Tenchu as I could. It's been a long time since I tried so mabye this doesn't make sense, I don't remember a lot about it. Maybe it's a stagger bar or something?

 

[MagnesD3]

Bloodbourne is higher because more people have played it. Ds2 and 3 are way too low..
Sekiro is probably the right answer (part of why im saving it for last $-$)

 

[Yonyx]

Bloodbourne is higher because more people have played it. Ds2 and 3 are way too low..
Sekiro is probably the right answer (part of why im saving it for last $-$)

I think the sales figures tell us that quite a lot more people have played Dark Souls 1 or 2 than Bloodborne. By the way, I'm surprised to see Bloodborne in second place, with quite a distance from the third in votes. I thought it would be one of the least voted for.

 

[Danjin44]

I think I might be describing it incorrectly. I'm talking the yellow bar that you have to fill/expand before you can actually damage most enemies. I just don't get the mechanics of it so I tried to play the game as much like Tenchu as I could. It's been a long time since I tried so mabye this doesn't make sense, I don't remember a lot about it. Maybe it's a stagger bar or something?

Thats posture bar, once you break their posture you can take out one of their heath bar. You can still damage them without breaking their posture, in fact the less health they have the slower they can recover their posture but that also applies to you as well.

 

[Fbh]

Sekiro.
Because unlike the other souls games it basically has one intended way for you to fight and it demands you to get good at it.
It doesn't have multiple builds and weapons to accommodate different playstyles (nor OP builds and weapons you can look up online), and it doesn't have the built in easy mode (a.k.a summoning other players) of the other games

That said I still think Malenia is the hardest Souls boss, but she is kinda BS, and also optional.

 

[MagnesD3]

I think the sales figures tell us that quite a lot more people have played Dark Souls 1 or 2 than Bloodborne. By the way, I'm surprised to see Bloodborne in second place, with quite a distance from the third in votes. I thought it would be one of the least voted for.

If true that surprises me, I feel BB to be the most talked about besides ER. The Dark Souls era was quite a bit more niche imo. Maybe it's because it was an exclusive its sales are worse but from the vibe check it doesn't seem like it.

 

[Yonyx]

If true that surprises me, I feel BB to be the most talked about besides ER. The Dark Souls era was quite a bit more niche imo. Maybe it's because it was an exclusive its sales are worse but from the vibe check it doesn't seem like it.

Let's see if someone has the figures on hand, but I think across all versions of Dark Souls (including the later Remastered), it was around 10 million, and Dark Souls II surpassed that figure.

Due to the leak from Insomniac, we know that Bloodborne has sold nearly 8 million copies.


Edit: I can't verify if these figures are accurate or not, but on this website they say that Dark Souls I sold 16 million and Dark Souls II 13 million:

Dark Souls

Dark Souls is an action role-playing game series developed by From Software and published by Bandai Namco outside Japan. The series has sold over 35 million units worldwide. It began as a niche series that went on to earn mainstream popularity, due to critical acclaim for its skillful combat and...

vgsales.fandom.com

Edit2: Now I realize that in that link they put Bloodborne with 14 million. I don't know where they got that figure, honestly.

 

[intbal]

Otogi 2
Murakumo

 

[Naked Lunch]

Sekiro - first and foremost. Easily one of the most difficult games of all time [outside of bullethell shmups imo] that demands your attention, dedication, and practice. A true masterwork.

Number 2 is whatever your first Souls-era From Software game is. When you were learning to get your feet wet. Thats part of my problem with current From Software - they keep making the same fucking game over and over again.
As good as their games are - the formula has gone stale for me. I could barely even be bothered with same-ey but easy mode Elden Ring.

[edit] Hmmm - now that I think harder about it. Ill drop 'Armored Core For Answer' in the 2 spot. Still the fastest action game ever created.

 

[RaZoR No1]

Without having played the DS games, but isn't Armored Core Last Raven famous for beeing the most difficult AC game?
I dont know where it puts it against the other FS games, but Armored Core VI is not that difficult to be included in this list, especially after the updates.

 

[bender]

Sekiro and Adventures of Cookie and Cream

 

[Paltheos]

The correct answers are Sekiro and Dark Souls 2 imo.

Sekiro is legit hard and there's no way around it (without cheating).

Dark Souls 2 is horseshit. Of course, Elden Ring has allot of crap in it too that's unfair but Elden Ring also gives you plenty of cheap tools to get around its nonsense (Mimic Tear topping the list). In DS2 you've just gotta eat the shit sandwich at every turn: Pittance of flasks and limited life gems at the start, three times too many enemies everywhere and always in the worst places, the existence of ADP as a stat, the many awful NPC fights.

DS1 has spikes of some cheap/trying stuff - figuring out how to navigate Tomb of the Giants, slippery physics in Blighttown, Lost Izalith's dragon asses and the universally reviled BoC, the awful Four Kings fog door run, the Anor Londo archers - but it's balanced by the rest of the game being pretty easy. DS3 and Bloodborne are pretty balanced experiences for the most part: Hard but not cheap or overly difficult (like Elden Ring, which wanted to up the ante from DS3 regardless of whether or not that was a good idea).

 

[Antwix]

Voted Sekiro which is pretty obvious. But voted Elden Ring as #2. Maybe if Bloodborne is one of your first souls game it would be #2 but I recently played it fully after not finishing it back when it came out and I don't think I died to any boss more than like 3 times, including Orphan. I actually think Dark Souls 1&2 are harder than Bloodborne. I think that there's just so many bosses with different resistances/move sets in Elden Ring that a few of them are bound to give you some issues. Plus Malenia.

 

[IAmRei]

Sekiro, at the point screw it and i installed easier mod, and Good God, the gake feels heavenly perfect for me (or my hands just older than before and my react is slower now, i dunno)

Dark souls 2 also comes at mind. i can play first or three, hard, but still manageable. but i dont know why, the 2nd is hard for me. I forgot the two, and skip to three.

Elden ring in other way, easier because the option and one button to rule them all : jump
The boss sometimes still hard though.

But all fromsoft games, 13/10 definitely would replay those masterpieces <3

(Cept DS2, i hate the game)

 

[RoadHazard]

I haven't played Sekiro, but it's that and BB (which I have played) probably.

Who's voting for Demon's?! That's by FAR the easiest one lol.

 

[rofif]

Sekiro and Elden ring. But for Elden ring only last stretch of the game from farum szuka.

Dark souls 3 is easy but the ringed city dlc is hard

 

[killatopak]

Demon’s Souls.

Nothing beats that first experience.

 

[Sentenza]

They are all games where the difficulty is entirely situational/contextual. The right build at the right time can often simplify if not even trivialize most of the fights.

Their overall difficulty is also often way overstated. While they can be challenging, they are rarely so to the point of not being fun or rewarding, not to mention nowhere near to be the masochistic marathon some tossers insist on describing them as.

That said I’m going to pick Sekiro and AC6 (which I’m currently playing) as they are the only two ones where you can’t simply over level content and/or rely on co-op/summons to get past a difficulty spike.

 

[newtypepilot]

king's field

/thread

 

[Gp1]

Sekiro. You can't power level it, you can't call for help, you can't explore somewhere else, you can't build that OP fextralife build. Or you have the groove to parry the shit of everyone or you don't.

The second i'll go with DS2 remastered version. DS 2 already is one of those BIGGER BADDER sequence, and the remaster only amplify it.

ps. Of course, considering only the "modern" From.

 

[Banjo64]

I’ve gone with Dark Souks and Sekiro.

Dark Souls became a bit of a mess in the second half, which added to the difficulty/frustration.

World tendency aside, DeS is one of the easiest (despite it being my first game). There’s so much cheesing you can do in that game.

I could have gone DaS II, simply because the combat is dreadful which again made it ‘difficult’ for me to play.

 

[Rickyiez]

Sekiro is the answer but funny thing is , one you get the parry down , it became the easiest .

 

[Sentenza]

Sekiro is the answer but funny thing is , one you get the parry down , it became the easiest .

The “parry” is incredibly forgiving in Sekiro. The perfect parry a bit more demanding but not by a lot.

What makes the challenge of the game is pairing the above with properly timed Mikiri counters, headstomps, etc while maintaining the high level of aggression required to dispatch enemies A LOT faster.

 

[Johnny Concrete]

I listed Elden Ring, while there sure are a lot of mechanics that can help you beat stuff, it's the sheer amount of content that's killing me.

I feel there are like way more than 100 enemy types all with their different attack timings that you need to memorize. I went back into the game a year later and I died to everything again. You can't just rely on the animations and your reflexes either, because they often wind up for seconds and the attack itself is only a couple of frames before it hits. So you have to remember the timing and telling of each attack. Which for people like me who are playing like twice a week for a couple of hours is just almost impossible.

And yes when you get stuck you can try to do something else, but that refreshes the problem: new enemies with a bunch of new attacks you have to learn how to avoid.

I love the game to death, but it's often grueling to play.

 

[FunkMiller]

I voted Sekiro twice.

 

[Kiya's Guard]

I only played sekiro and elden ring once, so in my recent memory I'll pick those. But actually, shadow tower

 

[tommib]

Sekiro and Bloodborne because of no shield.

 

[Bernardougf]

Sekiro the most difficult one to finish to the fullest, specially the gauntlets... but that makes extra special, best Fromsoft game together with BB.

Elden Ring 2nd most difficult to finish to the fullest because of how shit tier this game is as a souls game. From the awful open world bloated gimmick and repetitive enemies to the badly designed boss mechanics because of the gameplay choices. Is the worst souls game by a planet. And get that Platinum was painfully boring.

The other games all have more or less the same difficult... never played AC6

 

[magnumpy]

the most difficult 'thing' about From software is the name, exemplified in the OT quote "from From Software"

that's just awkward to say and how dare they

 

[KiteGr]

Demon's Souls was the OG hard game before it was cool.
It's actually insane how many things it pioneered, that dark souls later built upon.

 

[thefool]

It’s whatever you played first.

 

[TintoConCasera]

I think Bloodborne and Sekiro kicked my ass the most, although the later became much easier once it clicked.

Runner up would be AC VI. My first AC game, easy for the most part but some of those bosses were a really though challenge.

It’s whatever you played first.

Was about to pick Dark Souls for this very reason lol.

 

[Fabieter]

Armored core 6 by far

 

[nkarafo]

The original Dark Souls was the hardest for me because it was the first i played so everything was new. The others were easier just because i already practiced most of the mechanics during the first game.

Only Sekiro was just as hard because it was the most different.

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

Sekiro is hard as from the beginning to the end. I also voted DS3 for slave knight gael alone. What a dickhead that guy is. I should play ds3 again.

Archthrones mod is great

 

[keefged4]

Sekiro. But its also the most rewarding video game I've ever platinumed. Nothing else comes close.

 

[R6Rider]

It’s whatever you played first.

Nah, I played Demon's Souls first and it's now by far the easiest one.

Hardest for me is probably DS3 or Bloodborne. I haven't played Sekiro yet.

 

[Schmendrick]

Sekiro is simultaneously the hardest and the easiest depending on if the parry system clicks or not for you.

 

[Sentenza]

Sekiro. But its also the most rewarding video game I've ever platinumed. Nothing else comes close.

Eh, I enjoyed "achieving things" in terms of beating bosses and getting endings, but the farm-related stuff ("buy every skill", "farm materials for all the tools in multiple playthroughs", etc) was annoying as hell to unlock.

 

[Esppiral]

Where is Otogi? Kids these days....